Kiss the Girls

CHAPTER 67.

WHAT THE HELL is Cross doing?" Agent John Asaro asked his partner.

They were in the thick woods on the other side of the cabin at Big Sur.

The cabin reminded Asaro of The Band's first album, Music from Big Pink. He half expected flower children and hippies to step out of the fog.

“Maybe Cross is a peeping Tom, Johnny. What do I know? He's a guru, a squirrel profiler. He's Kyle Craig's boy,” Ray Cosgrove said with a shrug.

“So that means he can do whatever he wants to do?” “Probably.” Cosgrove shrugged a second time. He had seen far too many crazy situations, too many “special accommodations,” in his Bureau career to let this one bother him.

“First of all,” Cosgrove said, “whether we like it or not, he has Washington's blessing.” “I hate Washington with a freaking passion that just won't quit,” Asaro said.

“Everybody hates Washington, Johnny. Second, Cross strikes me as a pro at least. He's not just some glory hound. Third,” the older, more experienced partner continued, "and most important, what we have on Dr. Rudolph is hardly conclusive evidence that he's our squirrel.

Otherwise, we would have called in the LAPD, army, navy, and marines."

“Maybe the late Ms. Lieberman made a mistake when she logged his name into her computer?” “She definitely made some kind of mistake somewhere, Johnny. Maybe her hunch was all wrong.” “Maybe Will Rudolph was an ex-boyfriend of hers? She was just doodling his name on her PC?” “Doubtful. But a possibility,” Cosgrove said.

“So we watch Dr. Rudolph, and we watch Dr. Cross watch Dr. Rudolph?” Agent Asaro said.

“You got it, partner.” “Maybe Dr. Cross and Dr. Mctiernan will provide us with a little entertainment at least.” “Hey, you never know about these things,” Raymond Cos-grove said. He was smiling now. He thought this whole thing was probably a wild goose chase, but it wouldn't be his first one. This was a huge, nasty case no matter what. It was interstate now, and every possible lead was being chased down with a vengeance. A coast-to-coast serial squirrel connection! So he and his partner, and two other FBI agents, were going to hang around in the dark woods of Big Sur all night and into the morning, if need be. They would dutifully watch the summer cabin of a plastic surgeon from L. A." who maybe was a real bad killer, but maybe was just a plastic surgeon from L.A.

They would watch Alex Cross and Dr. Mctiernan, and speculate about the two of them. Cosgrove wasn't really in the mood for any of this. On the other hand, it was a big case. And if he did happen to catch the Gentleman Caller, he might just become a glory hound himself. He wanted Al Pacino to play him in the movie. Pacino did Spanish guys, right?