Smoke drifted through his fingers. "You asked me what I wanted? It was the right question. I always act out of self-interest, always have." He sighed out loud. "All right, let me tell you what I'm looking for."

I knew enough to listen, not talk.

"First of all, nobody got hurt from Metro Hartford We've never hurt anybody on any of our jobs."

"What about the Buccieris? James Bartlett? Ms Collins?" I asked.

Macdougall shook his head," I didn't do those jobs. You know I didn't do them. ," know you know."

He was right, at least I didn't believe they had done the earlier jobs. The style was different for those. Plus, the detectives' attendance logs showed they had worked on several of the days when robberies took place. "Okay. So where do we go from here? You also know that we want to get the person who set up the jobs. That's what we care about now."

"I know that. So here's my offer. It'll be hard for everybody to swallow, but it's non-negotiable. I want the best deal that I ever saw as a cop. That means witness protection inside a country club like Greenhaven. I'm out in ten years' maximum time. I've seen that same deal on counts of murder one. I know what can be done, and what can't be."

I didn't say anything, but I didn't have to. Macdougall knew I couldn't make the deal by myself. "Let me hear the punch line," I said. "What do we get from you?"

He stared into my eyes. His look was unwavering.

"In return I'll give him to you. I'll tell you how to find the guy who planned the jobs. He's called the Mastermind. I know where he is."

Book Five All Fall Down

Chapter Eighty-Eight

The FBI, NYPD, and the Justice Department were holding a series of high-level meetings to try to frame the best possible response to Brian Macdougall's offer. I was fairly certain that nothing decisive would happen with Macdougall until at least Monday.

At four-thirty I took the shuttle back to Washington. Betsey Cavalierre and Michael Doud stayed in New York, just in case something happened.

I had some important business myself. That night, the kids, Nana, and I went to see Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. We had a good time, though we'd hoped to see more of Samuel L Jackson in the film. I had been noticing a subtle change between Jannie and Damon. Since she'd been sick, Damon was so much more patient with her. Jannie was also pulling some punches with her brother, torturing him less. They had grown up a lot in the past few weeks. I figured they were becoming friends and that would last for the rest of their lives.

Early on Saturday, I decided to have a heart-to-heart with the kids. I had already taken some good counsel from Nana about what needed to be said to them. Her own response was typical Nana: She was sorry as could be about what had happened between Christine and me. As for little Alex, she said she couldn't wait for him to come to love babies, Alex. This will add ten years to my life." I almost believed her.

"This is not good," Damon proclaimed as he stared across the breakfast table at me. "Is it?"

I grinned at him. "Well, that's only half true. Where do I begin with this?” I said, stumbling a little out of the gate.

"At the beginning," Jannie suggested.

The beginning? Where exactly was the beginning?

I finally just dove into the subject matter. "Christine and I have been very close for a long time. I think you both know that. We still are, but things have changed lately. After the school year, she's going to move away from the Washington area. I don't know exactly where she's going yet. We won't be seeing her as much, though."

Jannie's jaw dropped and Damon spoke up. "She's different in school, Dad. Everybody says so. She gets mad easy. She always looks sad."

It hurt for me to hear that. I felt it was partly my fault. "She went through a very bad, very scary thing,” I said to him. "It's hard for anyone to imagine what it was like for her. She's still recovering from it. It might take a while longer."

Jannie finally spoke and her voice was surprisingly small. Her eyes were full of concern and worry. "What about the big boy?" she asked.

"Little Alex is going to come live with us. That's the good news I promised."

"Hooray! Hooray!" Jannie shouted and did one of her impromptu dances. "I love little A}."

"That's real good," Damon said and beamed approval. 'I'm glad he's coming home."

I was too, and I wondered how a single moment could be so joyful, but also so sad. The boy was coming to live with us, but Christine was gone. It was official now; I had told Nana Mama and the kids. I hadn't felt so empty and alone for a long time.

Chapter Eighty-Nine

The more dangerous it was, the better the thrill. The Mastermind already knew the truth in that maxim, and this was dangerous indeed. The money was nice; but the money wasn't enough. It was the danger that got his adrenaline flowing and turned him on.

FBI agent James Walsh lived alone in a small rented ranch house out in Alexandria. The house was as plain and unassuming as Agent Walsh himself. It suited his personality perfectly. It was such an 'honest' and 'forthcoming' abode.

The Mastermind had little trouble getting into the house and that didn't surprise him. Police officers could be incredibly sloppy about security systems in their own homes. Walsh was lax, or maybe he was just arrogant.

He wanted to get in and out quickly, but the Mastermind didn't want to be careless. The floorboards creaked. He already knew that he'd been inside the house before.

The floorboards continued to make distressing noises as he got closer and closer to James Walsh's bedroom.

The more dangerous, the better. The more outrageous, the greater the thrill.

That was how it always worked for him.

He slowly, silently pushed open the bedroom door and he started to enter, when

"Don't move, "Walsh said from the semi-darkness of the room.

He could just barely see the FBI agent across the bedroom. Walsh had positioned himself behind the bed. He had a shotgun in his hands. Walsh kept the gun under his bed, never slept without it there.

"You can see the gun, mister. It's aimed right at your goddamned chest. I won't miss you, I promise."

"So I see," the Mastermind said and chuckled softly. "Checkmate, huh? You caught the Mastermind. How clever of you."

Still smiling, he started to walk toward Walsh.