Lisa saw the chance to interject what she hoped would catch Hauser’s attention. “I don’t think Douglas came in last night. He was out when I went to bed, and I don’t think he’s here this morning. At least I haven’t heard him, and I’ve been up for a while.”

“Interesting,” was all Hauser said. “Very interesting.”

***

At a few minutes before seven, Douglas Gray drove his silver Honda Accord slowly down North Highland Street. The faint light of the pending sunrise enabled him to cut off his headlights, and he hoped he would find curbside parking within a block of Ethel’s house.

Although she and the others were used to his crazy hours, he wasn’t returning wearing his customary dark blue suit but rather the black jeans and tan fleece of the night before. The problem with living with fellow agents was they were so damned observant. With luck, he’d enter through the back door unobserved.

As he approached Ethel’s, he saw Lisa’s and Jesse’s cars parked in front. If his fellow roomers were up, he’d say he’d crashed at a friend’s apartment. But as he passed the house, the front door opened, and Detective Frank Mancini stepped out on the front porch. Ethel stopped on the threshold behind him. Both looked his way. Well, he was an adult. He didn’t owe them an explanation. Maybe better than the friend excuse, it would be more plausible if he claimed he’d been on overnight surveillance.

Maybe it was good he’d been seen. It gave him a reason to ask why the Arlington detective had made such an early call. Whatever he learned, he’d parlay that information into a need to contact Bradshaw. He wanted to have the director’s ear and stay in the loop.

His phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. Speak of the devil. “This is Gray, sir.”

“Are you up?” Bradshaw asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Come to Roosevelt Island Park immediately. No questions and don’t talk to anyone.” A click and he was gone.

Douglas Gray felt a knot tighten in his stomach. Bradshaw’s tone had been ice cold. Suddenly, he wondered whether getting close to the director had been such a good idea after all.

Chapter 26

The alarm clock on Jesse’s phone chimed softly, waking him at the desired time of six forty-five. It took a few seconds for him to fully emerge from what had finally become a deep sleep. He rolled out of bed, stretched, and exchanged his sleeping wardrobe of T-shirt and boxers for a clean T-shirt, clean boxers, and yesterday’s pair of jeans. Then he walked barefoot down the hall to the bathroom.