EVERY DAY, EVERY NIGHT, I was out on the streets of Southeast, working harder than ever, but with nothing much to show for it. I continued to search for the mysterious purple and blue cab, and for the late-model black Mercedes that DeWitt Luke had seen on S Street.

Sometimes I felt as if I were sleepwalking, but I kept at it, sleepwalking as fast as I could. Everything about the investigation seemed a long shot at best. I received tips and leads every day that had to be followed up; none of them went anywhere, though.

I got home at a little past seven that night, and tired as I was, I still let the kids drag me downstairs for their boxing lesson. Damon was showing me a lot of hand speed, and also some pretty good footwork and power for his age. He’s always had good spirit, and I was confident that he wouldn’t abuse his burgeoning boxing skills at school.

Jannie was more a student of boxing, though she seemed to recognize the value of being able to defend herself. She was quick at mastering techniques, seeing connections, even if her heart wasn’t completely in the sport. She preferred to torture her brother and me with her taunts and wit.

“Alex, telephone,” Nana called down from the top of the cellar stairs. I looked at my watch, saw it was twenty to eight.

“Practice your footwork,” I told the kids. Then I trudged up the steep stone stairs. “Who is it?”

“Wouldn’t say who it was,” Nana said as I got up to the kitchen. She was making shrimp and corn fritters, and the room was also filled with the glorious smells of honey-baked apples and gingerbread. It was a late dinner for us — Nana had waited until I got home.

I picked up the phone on the kitchen counter. “Alex Cross.”

“I know who you are, Detective Cross.” I recognized the voice immediately, though I’d heard it only once before — in the Belmont Hotel, in Bermuda. A chill went right through me, and my hands shook.

“There’s a pay phone outside the Budget Drugs on Fourth Street. She’s safe for now. We have her. But hurry. Hurry! Maybe she’s on the pay phone right now! I’m serious. Hurry!”

Chapter 62

I EXPLODED out the back kitchen door without saying a word to Nana or the kids. I didn’t have time to explain where I was going, or why. Besides, I didn’t really know exactly what was happening. Had I just spoken to the Weasel?

Hurry! Maybe she’s on the pay phone right now! I’m serious.

I sprinted across Fifth Street, then down a side alley and over to Fourth. I dashed another four blocks south toward the Anacostia River. People on the streets watched me running. I was like a tornado suddenly roaring through Southeast.