Jodie crossed and uncrossed his arms and burrowed into the center seat, playing with the seat belt, knocking into Sachs again.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

She wanted to slug him.

The house didn’t live up to the driveway.

It was a rambling split-level, a combination of logs and clapboard. A ramshackle place, added on to over the years with plenty of federal money and no inspiration.

The night was overcast, filled with dense swatches of mist, but Sachs could see enough to note that the house was set in a tight ring of trees. The grounds around it had been cleared for two hundred yards. Good cover for the residents of the house and good groomed open areas to pick off anyone trying an assault. A grayish band in the distance suggested the resumption of the forest. There was a large, still lake behind the house.

Reggie Eliopolos climbed out of the lead van and motioned everyone out. He led them into the main entryway of the building. He handed them off to a round man, who seemed cheerful even though he never once smiled.

“Welcome,” he said. “I’m U.S. Marshal David Franks. Want to tell you a little about your home away from home here. The most secure witness-protection enclave in the country. We have weight and motion sensors built into the entire perimeter of the place. Can’t be broken through without setting off all sorts of other alarms. The computer’s programmed to sense human motion patterns, correlated to weight, so the alarm doesn’t go off if a deer or dog happens to wander over the perimeter. Somebody—some human—steps where he shouldn’t, this whole place lights up like Times Square on Christmas Eve. What if somebody tries to ride a horse into the perimeter? We thought of that. The computer picks up a weight anomaly correlated to the distance between the animal’s hooves, the alarm goes off. And any motion at all—raccoon or squirrel—starts the infrared videos going.

“Oh, and we’re covered by radar from the Hampton Regional Airport, so any aerial assault gets picked up plenty early. Anything happens, you’ll hear a siren and maybe see the lights. Just stay where you are. Don’t go outside.”

“What kind of guards do you have?” Sachs asked.

“We’ve got four marshals inside. Two outside at the front guard station, two in the back by the lake. And hit that panic button there and there’ll be a Huey full of SWAT boys here in twenty minutes.”

Jodie’s face said twenty minutes seemed like a very long time. Sachs had to agree with him.

Eliopolos looked at his watch. He said, “We’re going to have an armored van here at six to take you to the grand jury. Sorry you won’t get much sleep.” He glanced at Percey. “But if I’d had my way, you’d’ve been here all night, safe and sound.”

No one said a word of farewell as he walked out the door.

Franks continued, “Few other things need mentioning. Don’t look out windows. Don’t go outside without an escort. That phone there”—he pointed to a beige phone in the corner of the living room—“is secure. It’s the only one you should use. Shut off your cell phones and don’t use them under any circumstances. So. That’s it. Any questions?”