It was four o’clock in the morning when he finally emerged through a side door of the Atlanta City Jail. McCall had elected to stay at FBI headquarters for the rest of the night and write what was sure to be a lengthy report on the events leading up to and following their encounter with Lou Welcome at the Blue Ox Tavern. After that, he would get a ride back to their hotel from one of the guys, and they would meet later in the morning.

There had been virtually nothing said between them about the episode in the interview room. As before, he had lied to his new partner about having migraines, and as before, as far as he could tell, McCall had bought it.

Sometime around nine, Vaill would retrieve Welcome from his cell and ferry him to a magistrate’s hearing in the courthouse. After that, it would be up to Lady Justice to decide the man’s fate, and Vaill could, and most certainly would, join his partner in continuing to track down Alexander Burke.

During the short walk to the jail parking lot, Vaill tried with no success to immerse himself in the serenity of the early morning. Something wasn’t right with his brain, and the headaches seemed to be getting worse and more distracting. Once he had nailed Burke, he would consider going back for a consultation with Dr. Gunter, his neurosurgeon. Maybe another MRI. But not until Maria’s killer was behind bars … or dead.

Vaill’s cell phone had rung several times before the sound intruded on his thoughts. He checked the caller ID and was not surprised to see his boss’s name.

“McCall gave me the lowdown,” Beth Snyder said, “and we’ve started running things down. Good job on the interrogation, Tim.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

“You think this Humphrey Miller is really a player here?”

“Could be. Lou Welcome, the doctor, is safely tucked away until he goes to court in a few hours. By then, I hope we’ll have something on Miller.”

Vaill’s knees and back creaked as he climbed into the motor pool sedan, and the rumbling in his stomach had him considering a frozen burrito from the first all-night convenience store he could find. But there was another stop he wanted to make first.

“Have you gotten Miller’s address yet?” he asked. “I’ll drive over there right now.”