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short and he had eyes that moved around the room. “Are you expecting someone else?”
    “I’m sorry,” said Vaughan. “I don’t come to this neighborhood a lot. It’s nothing personal.”
    Taylor didn’t know what to make of him. So far, he wasn’t very impressed. “Dr. Stern thinks you may be able to help us.”
    “Dennis is a good man.”
    It was an odd reply. “You’re a police officer, but not a detective, correct?”
    “That’s right.”
    “But you are a lawyer.”
    “I am,” he responded.
    Taylor paused, waiting for some sort of a sales pitch as to why he should hire him, but nothing came. Whatever this man was, he was definitely no salesman. “Setting aside your relationship with Dr. Stern, why should I consider hiring you?”
    “Well, it depends on what you want.”
    “We want to find the driver of the taxi who ran down our daughter.”
    “Good, because that’s what I want too.”
    Finally, Taylor saw a spark in the man.
    Vaughan continued. “Are you familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? You know, categories of needs that have to be met before a person can start focusing on achieving the needs of the next category?”
    “I am.”
    “Well, when it comes to cops, detectives in particular, that’s pretty much BS. There are two types of cases that will always get solved—the easy ones and the ones where there is so much pressure grinding down on the investigators that they absolutely have to climb out of the ring with a victory.”
    “So which one is Alison’s?”
    “Unfortunately, neither. There are more than five thousand Yellow Cabs in this city and the only witnesses to the crime were so inebriated, their testimony is worthless. So that scratches your daughter’s case from the easy category. And let’s face it, if this was an easy case, you and I wouldn’t be sitting here.
    “As far as crushing the investigators with pressure, unless you have a very close relationship with the mayor, our police superintendent, or your daughter is some sort of notable personality, there’s just not going to be enough pressure to make this case a priority and get it solved.”
    Taylor was confused. “Then where does that leave us?”
    John Vaughan smiled. “It leaves you with me.”
    “And what would you do differently?”
    “For starters, I’d do the job the detectives were supposed to. I’d investigate the entire incident from front to back.”
    “Then what?”
    “I’d follow up on any leads and see where they take me.”
    “That’s it?”
    “That’s how it’s done,” said Vaughan.
    “Officer, how many hit-and-run cases have you ever investigated?”
    “To be honest with you, none.”
    “How many violent crimes?”
    There was a pause, so Taylor added, “Give or take.”
    “Two or three,” responded Vaughan.
    Taylor was beginning to feel that this had all been a waste of time. “How old are you?”
    “Thirty-five.”
    “And exactly how long have you been an attorney?”
    “Six months, sir.”
    “ Six months? When the heck did you get out of law school, yesterday?”
    “Actually, four years ago.”
    Taylor was now completely convinced that he had wasted his time. “It took you that long to pass the bar?”
    “No. I took a four-year leave to fight in Iraq.”
    Taylor wondered if maybe he had the man. “What branch of the service?”
    “The Marine Corps.”
    “You’re a Marine ?”
    “Yes, sir. I worked in intelligence and helped shape our counterinsurgency strategy.”
    After several moments of silence Taylor said, “Do you believe you can help with my daughter’s case?”
    “I wouldn’t waste your time, sir, if I believed otherwise.”
    Waving the waiter over, he replied, “Then let’s order some lunch and talk about what you can do for my family.”

CHAPTER 6
 
    V IRGINIA
    Coming up from the dock, Harvath decided to stay out of sight until he knew what was going on.
    He cut across his neighbor’s property and used a stand of trees for cover. Peering