Amanda said, "You know, rationally, I can't say that I disagree with Fuller."

"Not you, too?" Matt said incredulously.

She shrugged and said, "It's really no different from what my father said about humans not being very far removed from other animals. He compared the criminals, particularly the most heinous, to hyenas, saying they were nothing more than opportunistic savages. And that it took a predator, like a lion, to weed them out, essentially cleaning up its environment. If someone had done that a long time ago with Delgado and Jimenez, a lot of people would never have been hurt."

Matt looked at her for a moment.

Well, I can understand her wanting vengeance for being abducted.

He then said: "I'm afraid to ask what you think about the mating ritual of the female praying mantis."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, grinned playfully, and replied, "Nothing to lose your head over, sweetie."

On-screen, Fuller was taking his time pointing toward the crowd, then said, "You, sir. Your question?"

A male voice said, "How do you respond to those who say that your reward to 'remove evildoers from free society' actually encourages killing, as opposed to simple capture and arrest?"

Fuller tried to square up his short, paunchy body, and then said with strong conviction, "I believe the results, as noted, speak for themselves. Next question."

"And the Law of Talion is above our legal system?" the same reporter asked.

"No. Of course not. I would simply characterize it as a more effective system, both for dealing with the worst of our criminal element and for discouraging others who consider crime acceptable. People have choices. Some make very bad ones, time and again."

He picked up from the lectern the Wanted sheet for Kendrik LeShawn Mays. He held it out toward the crowd and cameras. The mug shot was clearly visible on the television.

"Take, as an example, this latest evildoer. Among his many other crimes, Kendrik Mays preyed on children, forever corrupting their innocence for his sexual pleasure. He was a fugitive, on the run for years after serving time for involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and rape of an unconscious or unaware person. It is my understanding that his victim was a fourteen-year-old girl whom he drugged and then committed unspeakable acts upon. Mays's mother told me that he continued such corrupt and contemptible behavior right up until his moment of Lex Talionis."

Fuller paused dramatically, then went on: "I put to you that the traditional legal system failed not only to either change or stop Mays, but that it also failed to protect us citizens from him. And there are countless other evildoers just like him, ones fearless of the legal system."

Amanda said, "And I don't disagree with that, either."

Matt caught himself nodding, then he stopped himself just before he said aloud: That's what's known in my business as job security, baby.

Fuller pointed to another reporter: "Yes?"

"What are your thoughts about Operation Clean Sweep?"

Matt said, "Now, this should be interesting."

Fuller nodded solemnly, took a long moment to gather his thoughts, then said: "My first thought on the police department's task force is this: If anyone can make it successful, it's the Wyatt Earp of the Main Line."

He paused and almost grinned.

Matt blurted, "Five-Eff, you sonofabitch!"

Fuller went on: "And I mean that sincerely. Sergeant Payne is not only a fine law-enforcement officer, but a fine friend of mine, too."

"Bullshit," Matt said again.

"Now," Fuller said, "with all due respect to my good friend Mayor Carlucci, I say this to his statement concerning this new task force: Why waste effort trying to stop someone who is doing good by removing the evildoers from our city? Such people should not be condemned and hunted but, rather, encouraged in whatever way. Indeed, rewarded. And that's why Lex Talionis is here today. And it's why it will be here tomorrow and the days after."

Francis Franklin Fuller the Fifth then smiled and raised his right index finger, wagging it at shoulder height.

"And that brings me to today's big announcement," he said. "I am genuinely honored to say that, henceforth, Lex Talionis will double each new reward to"-he poked the air with his index finger for each word-"twenty thousand dollars!"

The microphone picked up the loud and indignant voice of a young male just out of camera view: "Say what? And we only get ten grand, muthafucka?"

Matt Payne chuckled. "That was that backward kid."

Then he thought: Wait. He's doubling the reward?

He thumbed the remote control to back up to where Fuller raised his finger, then watched him poke the air and say, "Twenty thousand dollars!"

"Sonofabitch! There'll be mayhem in the streets!"

Amanda said, "You're right. Now what happens?"

Matt looked at her. "I don't know exactly, but it's going to have to come from someone with stars on his white shirt. Or higher. And soon."

Matt looked at his phone and quickly read through the other texts.

The second one from Harris, time-stamped almost thirty minutes earlier than the other, read: -ANTHONY HARRIS-

GOOD NEWS: THE PRINTS CAME BACK FROM IAFIS ON REGGIE JONES.

ONE WAS A NO-MATCH. BUT THE OTHER WAS A HIT FOR (I SHIT YOU NOT) A DRUG DEALER NAMED MARCUS CICERO, AKA MARC JAMES, WHITE MALE, AGE 28. LONG LIST OF PRIORS.

Matt shook his head.

Some druggie murderer trying to pass himself off as a Roman emperor? What's up with that?

Then he read Harris's third text, the most recent, which was time-stamped fifteen minutes after the second one: -ANTHONY HARRIS- FYI-THERE'S NOW AN UNDERCOVER SITTING ON JAMES'S LKA IN PORT RICHMOND. HE'S WORKING A COUPLE CI'S TOO. Well, maybe one or both confidential informants will want to cash in the wannabe Roman for a twenty-grand reward…

Matt then went to Rapier's message: -CPL KERRY RAPIER- THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT I HEARD FROM FORENSICS ON THE PRINTS FROM KENDRIK MAYS'S HOUSE. GOT A HIT: IT'S YOUR OLD BUDDY SNU 2010-56-9280

Damn. But no surprise there. The mystery shooter strikes again.

Finally, he got to Coughlin's.

Payne was amazed that Coughlin had actually thumbed out a cleanly written text message, and he wondered how long the two sentences had taken him. They read: -UNCLE DENNY- BE PREPARED FOR CONFERENCE IN ECC TOMORROW 0800. YOUR PAL 5-F JUST CAUSED CARLUCCI TO REALLY BLOW HIS CORK AGAIN.

"Oh, shit," Matt said as he quickly thumbed and sent the reply: "Yes, sir. I'll be there."

"What, Matt?" Amanda asked.

"I was right. Something from very high up. Uncle Denny says that Carlucci has blown his cork and that he will hold another conference first thing in the morning. Which means I'll have to be there at oh-dark-thirty. Anytime he plays the Boy Scout motto card, it's code for me to really be on my toes."

"Be Prepared?" she said, reading the screen.

"Uh-huh."

Amanda then reached over and picked up the television remote from beside his knee. She hit its red OFF button.

She then snuggled up to him and tugged his cell phone out of his hands. She turned it off, too, and slipped the phone back into his pants pocket.

Then she put her head on his shoulder and softly said, "That's tomorrow, sweetie. Now it's Be Prepared for tonight." [FOUR] Two Liberty Place, Thirty-seventh Floor 50 South Sixteenth Street, Philadelphia Sunday, November 1, 10:12 P.M. "Seriously?" Jan Harper said, her tone sharp and incredulous. She tried keeping her voice low to avoid being overheard in the five-star restaurant high atop one of Philly's tallest buildings. "Rapp, I don't know if you can cover your ass this time. Those guys are dead. And the demolition company is raising hell that we-HUD-said it was clear to take down those condemned buildings. And I don't know who gave them the go-ahead."