“That’s me. Who are you?”

The man had no interest in answering her question.

With a fast, assessing look at Sachs, he reached into his jacket.

Sachs prepared to launch herself into him, muscles tensing, fingers folding into fists.

Can I get to him in time to grab his hand when it appears, pull my knife out, flick it open?

She crouched and felt a stab of pain. Then got ready to surge forward.

Wondering too if, as before in the alley, her knee would give out again and send her sprawling to the floor, in helpless agony, giving the man all the time he needed to shoot or slash them both to death.

Chapter 67

CHAPTER 67

THE MOMENT BEFORE SHE LEAPT, though, Sachs saw that an envelope, not a Glock or a blade, was emerging.

The man noted Sachs’s curious pose with a frown then stepped closer and handed the envelope to Laurel.

“Who are you?” Laurel persisted.

Still no response to her query. Instead he said, “I’ve been asked to give this to you. Before you go any further, you should know.”

“‘Go any further’?”

He didn’t elaborate but simply nodded at the envelope.

The prosecutor extracted a single sheet of paper. She read methodically, word by word, to judge from her slow eye movements. Her teeth seemed to clench.

She looked up at the man. “You work for the State Department?”

Sachs’s impression was that, though he said nothing, the answer was yes. What was this all about?

A glance at the document. “Is it authentic?” Laurel asked, eyeing the State Department minion closely.

The man answered, “I was asked to deliver a document to Assistant District Attorney Laurel. I have no interest in or knowledge of the contents.”

Good use of prepositions, Sachs reflected cynically. Lincoln Rhyme would have approved.

“Shreve Metzger had you do this, didn’t he?” Laurel said. “Did he fake it? Answer the question. Is it real?”

No knowledge of, no interest in…

The man said nothing more. He turned away, as if the women no longer existed, and left them. He paused at the end of the corridor and was buzzed out.

“What is it?” Sachs asked.

“Didn’t some of the intelligence we got from Fred Dellray report that Moreno was seen in or around U.S. embassies or consulates just before he was shot?”

“Right,” she confirmed. “Mexico City and Costa Rica. After he left New York on May second.”

Sachs’s concerns were further allayed when she glanced back and saw the round, dark face of the guard at the door peering in, unharmed and unconcerned about the visitor. She returned to her station and her celebrities.