And sure enough, within hours, the newscasters were announcing that police were seeking Frederick Whitfield IV for questioning in connection with the killing of four members on the fugitives list.

Freddy? There had to be a mistake. Impossible to believe that he was masterminding something like this. Freddy had always been completely under the control of Everett Corey.

That idea no sooner occurred to him than he became certain of it. Everett, and probably Cameron, too. The two of them were almost inseparable, and he knew they must be behind this somehow. Maybe Morgan was in on it, too. But why?

Then came the special report on the news radio station, the story of an apparent suicide pact between two wealthy young men. Freddy was one of them, and although the reporter said the other man’s name was being withheld pending notification of his next of kin, when the car was described as a red Maserati Bora, Gabe was sure it was Morgan. There was some speculation, the reporter said, that these two were the so-called Exterminators who had been killing members on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

He had never liked either of them much, and yet hearing of their suicides was as unsettling as it was unexpected. You didn’t want to think of anyone you knew committing suicide, he supposed, let alone someone you grew up with, went to school with.

He couldn’t understand it. Freddy just didn’t seem the type to do something like this. Freddy made excuses for anything that went wrong, blamed other people. Even with the law after him, he could have found a way out of the country-he was probably wealthier than any of the people Gabe had gone to school with, with the possible exception of Kit. Hard to tell about Kit, but Gabe remembered his dad saying that Sedgewick would have kicked every other student out to have a chance to have old Elizabeth Logan as one of its patrons.

The more he thought over the events of the last few days, the more desperate his situation seemed to be. He wasn’t convinced that Freddy and Morgan were the only ones involved. He was sure that Everett and Cameron were behind what was happening, and he didn’t want to think about what they had planned for him.

He suddenly felt unbearably lonely. He turned away from the view of the trees and went into the living room. It was chilly there, so he built a fire and paced for a while to keep himself warm-and to try to work off the tension he felt. He went to the phone. He had lifted its receiver dozens of times over the last few months but had fought off the urge to call Meghan. This time, he lost the fight.

It rang four times, then went to voice mail. He could tell from the outgoing message that he had reached her cell phone-she must be forwarding messages to it from her home phone. He hung up without leaving a message.

He sat staring into the fire for a moment, then called again-the cell phone directly this time. He’d leave a message for her this time-

“Hello?” she said drowsily.

“Sis? I woke you up-I’m sorry.”

“Gabe! Oh, thank God-Gabe!”

He could hear her crying.

“Meggie…don’t cry,” he said, but he was crying, too.

“Don’t mind me. I’ve done more weeping in the last few days than I have since Mom and Dad died. Gabe, I’ve been so afraid for you! I’m so glad you’ve called.”

“I’m okay, Sis,” he said. “I’m fine. Especially now that I’m talking to you.”

“Where are you?”

He hesitated, then said, “I can’t tell you, Meggie. I’d like to, but I promised the person who let me stay here that I wouldn’t talk about it. I’m safe, though. I just wanted to let you know that. And that I miss you. I’ve missed you for a long time.”

“Gabe, if you’re in the States-anywhere in the country-we’ve got to get you out. Do you know-”

“About the Exterminators? Yes. Look, I probably shouldn’t talk to you too long-I don’t know what can be traced from a cell phone, but-”

“Don’t hang up! Listen, I’m staying with Kit, and he-”

“Staying with Kit? In Colorado?”

“No, in Malibu-the house that used to be his grandmother’s. Gabe, you should talk to him-”

“Maybe. Tell him I said hello, okay?”

“I will, but Gabe-”

“And tell him to keep my little sister safe, okay?”

“I’m your big sister. Listen-”

“Gotta go. I’ll call again.”

“When?”

“Whatever you hear-No, wait, that’s not important. Forget that.”

“Gabe, I don’t care what you’ve done, I don’t. But-”

“You’re the best, Meggie. I just called to let you know that-well, that I love you, that’s all. I never say that to you anymore, I know, but please don’t ever doubt that I do.”

He heard her calling his name as he hung up. He kept his hand on the receiver for a long time before letting it go.

So Meghan was with Kit.

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Too bad, he thought, staring into the fire. Too bad.

38

Malibu, California

Thursday, May 22, 3:42 A.M.

Kit wondered what had delayed Moriarty. He had left three hours ago with one of his men to pick up the Suburban from LAX. It would have taken him about an hour to get to the airport from the house. He had called once to tell Kit to listen to a radio news station-to hear the reports of the suicides-but Kit hadn’t heard from him since.

Kit had spent the time waiting for him to return by gathering Molly’s things and placing them in a large cardboard box. He moved the leather couch in the study to reveal a treasure trove of flip chips and the knotted ends of rawhide bones. Under tables and chairs, beneath beds, and in the corners of closets, he found tennis balls, squeaky toys, and the lamb’s wool exteriors of formerly plush toys-he pictured her ridding them of their stuffing, shaking her head vigorously as she pranced in victory over her “kill.”

Many of these prized possessions of Molly’s would have to be thrown away, but he wasn’t sure he could be the one to march them out to the trash bin. To distract himself from his grief, he thought of Chase Brandon’s excitement over Rusty. He thought the two of them would be good for each other. And he had learned a great deal about Alex Brandon in those few minutes. Brandon hadn’t wanted a dog. That much was plain. He hardly knew his nephew, unless reports were mistaken. But he had agreed to take Rusty home all the same.

Kit checked on Spooky, who was sound asleep. She was unhappy with him, he knew, but he wasn’t sure how best to smooth things out between them. Over the last few years, he’d worked hard to help her feel more secure, to be trusting of him. He felt almost as if they were back to square one today. He found the reversal unsettling and wondered how an experienced foster parent or guardian would have handled this problem.

He heard the muted ringing of a cell phone and rushed down the hallway, toward the study. As he passed Meghan’s room, he realized that the ringing was coming from behind her door. He stopped, puzzled, and wondered how his phone had come to be in her room.

Then he heard her shout Gabe’s name.

Her phone ringing, then.

Gabe was alive. For a few minutes, that was all that mattered.

He moved away from the door, not wanting to eavesdrop. Or, he admitted to himself, wanting to eavesdrop but overcoming the temptation. He called Moriarty from the study.

“Just getting ready to call you,” Moriarty said. “There’s a reason you were feeling like you were being followed.”

“You saw someone?”

“No, we waited around for a little while, just watching, and then we decided to look the car over-I’ve got a suspicious nature, you see.”

“That’s why you’re good at what you do,” Kit said. “What did you find?”

“A transmitter. Secured near the back bumper.”

“Any idea how long it’s been there?”

“Judging by the amount of undisturbed mud near it, maybe before you left Colorado.”