"Where?"
"We do not know yet. The vehicle is dark."
"They were not coming for me."
"No."
Eight minutes. That is how long she has been in Crane's hands.
"Does Alessandro know about the room?"
"He does not know about the envelope."
Matteo looks at me for a long second.
"I am going to tell him I was running you for Crane. That we have been working on a mutual lead. The lead is now an active operation. I will brief him when it is done."
"That is a lie."
"That is a lie. Because if I tell him what is in the envelope before we have her, his eyes are going to be on you tonight. I am not going to let his eyes be on you tonight." A pause. "Tomorrow, you tell him yourself."
The Ranger studies the SEAL.
"Move."
I move.
The first thingI do when we get to a vehicle is call Reyes.
The third line. The line a partner uses when he is about to ask a thing he does not want a record of.
"Donovan."
"Reyes."
"You missed IA."
"I know. I need Frank's old case files. All of them. The cold ones. The closed ones. The ones in the basement of the 114 with my father's name on them."
"Donovan."
"I do not have the time to explain. I am asking. I do not have the right to ask. I am asking anyway."
A longer pause.
"Where?"
"Atlantic and Fourth. 11:00 p.m. Black SUV. Roll your window down. Hand the box through. Do not look at the driver."
"You are asking me to hand evidence to a man whose face I am not allowed to see."
"Yes."
"Tell me you are alive."
"I am alive."
"That will have to do."
