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figured out what I had in five seconds flat. I bet you were hell on wheels back in the day. Look, I’m not asking you to come with me out into the field. Just work with me, help me by filling in what I don’t know.”
    “Then tell me what you already do know. I’m going to figure it out anyway. Would you rather I started poking around separately?”
    No, I really wouldn’t. An uncoordinated investigation might snarl things up badly, get someone killed.
    I stared at him. My gut told me he was on the level even while my head nagged that he might be dirty. No. Nobody could fake the reaction I had seen. No way this guy could be part of anything that threatened a child. I decided I’d rather have him inside than out.
    “Okay. The warehouse manager, Mira Sorkin, had her daughter kidnapped on Friday. They blackmailed her into revealing all the information for someone to get into the warehouse, but it doesn’t appear the heist has come off and they haven’t let her daughter go. She’s a wreck, as you might expect, and of course they told her not to go to the cops.”
    “Taken Friday and they had all weekend to pull the job – but here it is Monday.” Bill snapped his fingers. “Something delayed them. But what?”
    “No way to know, and I’m not sure it matters.” I filled him in on everything else Mira had told me.
    Bill sat forward, rubbing his hands together – either a theatrical gesture, or from the cold bottle. “We ought to set a trap.”
    “How?”
    “Now that I know, my guys and I can be looking for anyone that tries to impersonate Sorkin and get in. Once we got eyes on them…” He clapped his cupped hands together as if catching an insect.
    “Look, Bill, no offense, but we only met today. I get a good vibe off you , but one of your guys might be in on it.”
    “No way!”
    “For a cut of, oh, tens of millions? You sure? Any of them seem different lately? Anybody specifically ask to work Friday overnight, or Saturday?”
    Bill sat back, realization dawning on his face. “Lattimer. Dammit. And he switched with Cy to get on tonight.”
    “That’s our boy. With a guy on the inside they don’t have to worry as much about slip-ups or anyone noticing the oddity of anyone going in at that hour. They have cover.” I pointed at him. “Something delayed them before, but the longer they wait, the more likely something will go wrong. So they’re going to do it this evening. You mentioned a trap, but that doesn’t get us the girl back. In fact, if the cops swoop in and grab the thieves, whoever is watching the kid might…”
    “Yeah. But look, I got a simple plan. They won’t have any reason to think we’re on to them, so we stake the place out and then follow. They’ll probably lead us right to her. We can call PD when we have something solid.” Bill began to pace and seemed suddenly filled with a zealot’s flaming heart, as if he recognized his opportunity for moral redemption.
    I nodded, checking my watch. 3:30 p.m. “Seems like our best chance. Let’s do it.”
    “Pick me up at the diner across the street from here at about eight, all right?”
    “No problem.” We exchanged cell numbers, I waved off a handshake, and then I headed back to my office for a meal and a nap on my sofa. Stakeouts often turned into long, boring nights and I needed to be fresh, because if Bill was right, this was our big chance to follow the perps back to Talia.
    You might think I’d have had a hard time going to sleep, but as a cop I’d long ago learned to compartmentalize, to ignore what I couldn’t control and shut down my impatience. In this case, I dropped off instantly.
    I woke to find a fax from Mira in my machine. Skimming it quickly, I didn’t see anything new, merely more detail. I handed it off to Mickey on the way out. He hummed and waved over his shoulder, eyes glued to the screens as I shut the door.

Chapter 4
    Just after sundown I parked Molly at the curb on the corner facing the single vehicle