Sudden prey

EIGHTEEN

LUCAS HURRIED THROUGH THE CROWD OF MEDIA IN the lobby, shaking his head, saying,

''No, I'm sorry… the chief should be out in a minute, I'm really sorry I can't say anything.''

Outside, he hurried, slipping and sliding, back toward City Hall. His office was dark, and he went up to Homicide, where he found Sloan, Del and Sherrill.

''How's Franklin?'' Sloan asked, standing up. They all were beginning to fade.

''He's in surgery, but it's not critical,'' Lucas said. '' Somebody said he might have some peripheral nerve damage in his arm. I'm not sure, but I think that means he might have some patches of skin where he can't feel anything.''

''Could be worse,'' Del said.

''Where's his wife?'' Sloan asked.

''She's at the hospital,'' Lucas said. ''What happened with Palin?''

''We're keeping him around, in case you or the chief wants to talk to him. But it's not him,'' Sloan said.

''Tell me,'' Lucas said.

''Have you heard the tapes?''

''No.''

''Well, if it's him,'' Sloan said, ''he's disguising his voice. But why is he disguising his voice, when he gives his squad number? And even if you figure it's disguised, it sounds too much not-like him.''

''Huh.'' Lucas nodded. ''What was he doing earlier on the tape?''

''That's the other thing,'' Sherrill said. ''I went down and listened to them, and he and Dobie Martinez cleared out a burglary report and then said they were going to stop for a cup of coffee, and they went off the air. Then ten minutes later, there's the request on the Darling car… then ten minutes after that, they come back on the air again, ready to go back to work.''

''Shit,'' Lucas said. ''Did you talk to Martinez?''

''Yeah. He remembers clearing the burglary, then stopping at Barney's. He says they were in there for fifteen or twenty minutes, that Arne never left him, and then they came back and started working again. He says they never called in any

Wisconsin plates. So unless they're working together, the identification was bullshit.''

''It's bullshit,'' Lucas said. ''But I'd like to hear the tapes.''

''I've got a copy on cassette, I'll get it,'' Sherrill said.

She stepped away, and Lucas said to Del, ''Have you heard about Sell-More?''

''No, I just got here.''

''Stadic called just about the time Franklin got shot. He was on a call down south. Sell-More was lying in the street with a couple of bullet holes in his head.''

''Sonofabitch,'' Del said. ''They used Sell-More to set up Palin.''

''But I don't understand why,'' Lucas said. ''It's gotta be a cop, and he's gotta know that it wouldn't hold up.''

They all looked at each other, and then Sloan said, ''Maybe he ain't the brightest.''

''Bullshit. He's been leading us around by the nose,'' Lucas said. ''Who's working the scene down at Franklin's?''

''Some of Lester's guys, I don't know who-Christ, people are all over the place.''

''I want to talk to whoever it is…''

Lester came in, and they turned toward him, and a second later, Rose Marie Roux followed Lester through the door. She looked at Lucas and said, ''Give me an idea.''

Lucas said, ''I got nothin' that we aren't already doing. He's gotta be holed up with a friend.''

''We've shaken down every biker in the fuckin' city,'' Lester said. ''The question is, who was a good enough friend that they'd put up with this shit?

Maybe he's staying with… you know.''

He didn't say it, but he meant, ''the cop.''

Lucas shook his head and said, ''My brain isn't working right. I need to lie down for a while.'' Then he said to Roux, ''There is one thing. We should talk to Sandy Darling. She's freaked out about lawyers, she thinks we're gunning for her with the rest of them…''

''So what do we say? Without giving her away?''

Lucas rubbed his chin. ''Suppose we say that we had a source who has been useful, but now is apparently afraid and has gone into hiding. We're asking her to come back out, that we'll protect her and offer her immunity.''

''I don't know about immunity,'' Roux said doubtfully. ''What if she's deep into it, and she's just playing an angle?''

''All right, so we just say, 'Protect her.' I mean, there's three ways we can get them: we can take them on the street, we can find the cop who's pulling our dick or we can getDarling to give them up. We're doing everything we can on the street, but we're getting nowhere with the cop…''

Roux nodded. ''All right. I'll put this out. They're using everything we give them, so it'll be on the air in ten minutes.''

Sherrill walked up, carrying a tape recorder, and said, ''Something else. What they're doing-they're not gonna back off. I think we've got to set up a combat team anywhere they might show. Everybody's house. The hotel's already covered.

But maybe we should set up at the hospital to cover Franklin and Cheryl and whoever.''

Sloan said, ''And I don't think anybody ought to be running around loose.'' He looked at Lucas and said, ''Weather and Jennifer. Somebody is feeding these guys everything…''

Roux said, ''Lucas, get those goddamn women under control, will you? Can you do that?''

Lucas said, ''I'll talk to them.''

SHERRILL PLAYED THE TAPE, AND LUCAS LISTENED, EYES closed. The voice wasn't right: too smooth, too high-pitched: faked. Whoever it was would have fooled the

Dispatch people, because the unit number was right and the request was routine.

''I think-I can't swear to it-but I think that's the guy who called me and warned me that Butters was cruising Jennifer and Sarah,'' Lucas said.

''Why?''

''I'll tell you why,'' Lucas said. ''Because that fuckin' LaChaise is blackmailing him, and he figures that if we take them alive, they'll deal him.

And they probably will. So he's got to have them dead.''

LUCAS HEADEDOUTTOTV3 IN A CITY CAR, MONITORING the radio, his cell phone in his pocket. This was like nothinghe'd ever heard of: this was like a war. He didn't have the usual intervals of quiet, when he could sit and think about patterns, and the way the opponents were working. Puzzle pieces were slipping past him; he could feel it. Maybe if he got some sleep…

The TV3 lobby was locked. When he approached the glass doors, four men ranged behind two reception desks waved him off. He stood next to the glass, held up his ID. One of the men, large, in a heavy, dark suit, crossed the lobby to the door. Lucas realized that he was wearing a vest and carried a pistol on his hip.

The man looked at the ID, looked at him, then turned the knob on the lock.

''I thought that was you,'' the man said, looking over Lucas's shoulder as Lucas came through.

''Who're you?''

''Thomason Security,'' the man said. ''We're on all the doors.''

Lucas nodded. ''Good.'' Thomason was a heavy-duty security firm, used mostly for moving money at sports events and rock concerts, but also as a source of armed guards and bodyguards for celebrities. He asked for Jennifer.

''We'll call up,'' the man said. Lucas waited, leaning on a countertop. As the man called, he noticed that the other guard on his side of the lobby had a

Winchester Defender twelvegauge at his feet. Even better.

The first guard turned to Lucas and said, ''Go on up. You know the way?''

''Yeah.''

Jennifer met him at the elevators: ''What's going on?''

''We've decided that we've got to pull everybody in tight- back at the hotel,''

Lucas said. ''These guys are suicidal.''

Jennifer shook her head: ''I know, but you saw our security. There's no way they can get at me. I'm as safe here asI'd be at the hotel. I've got to work; I'm on camera four hours a day. This is the biggest story of my life.''

''Look, goddamnit, we know they were coming after you guys…''

''That's all taken care of. They can't find out where the kids are, because nobody knows but you and me and Richard. And I'm safe in here,'' she said. ''I'm sorry, but we've figured the risks. I'm staying here.''

He gave up. ''All right. But I want to talk to Small. I want to make goddamn sure that you've got a tight communications link between here and City Hall, and the second something happens…''