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to meet the captain.
Deborah had been looking the scene over from the outside and directing
Snyder s partner to move the perimeter tape back a little. By the time she
finally walked over to talk to me, I had reached a startling conclusion. It
had started as an exercise in ironic whimsy, but it grew into something that I
couldn t argue with, as much as I tried. I stepped over to Coulter s expensive
window and stared out, leaning on the wall and looking hard at the idea. For
some reason, the Dark Passenger found the notion hugely amusing and began
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whispering frightful counterpoint. And finally, feeling like I was selling
nuclear secrets to the Taliban, I realized it was all we could do. Deborah,
I said as she stalked over to where I stood by the window, the cavalry isn t
coming this time.
No shit, Sherlock, she said.
We are all there is, and we are not enough.
She pushed a lock of hair away from her face and blew out a deep breath.
What have I been saying?
But you didn t take the next step, Sis. Since we are not enough, we need
help, somebody who knows something about this
For Christ s sake, Dexter!We ve beenfeeding people like that to this guy!
Which means the only remaining candidate at the moment is SergeantDoakes ,
I said.
It might not be fair to say that her jaw dropped. But she did stare at me
with her mouth open before turning to look atDoakes , where he stood beside
Burdett s body, talking to Captain Matthews.
SergeantDoakes , I repeated. FormerlySergeantDoakes .Of the Special
Forces.On detached service inEl Salvador .
She looked back at me, and then atDoakes again.
Deborah, I said, ifwe want to find Kyle, we need to know more about this.
We need to know the names on Kyle s list and we need to know what kind of team
it was and why all this is happening. AndDoakes is the only one I can think of
who knows any of it.
Doakeswants you dead, she said.
No working situation is ever ideal, I said with my best smile of cheerful
perseverance. And I think he wants this to go away as badly as Kyle does.
Probably not as much as Kyle, Deborah said. Not as much as I do, either.
Well then, I said. This looks like your best shot.
Deborah still didn t look convinced for some reason. Captain Matthews won t
want to loseDoakes for this. We d have to clear it with him.
I pointed to where that very same captain was conferring withDoakes .
Behold, I said.
Deborah chewed her lip for a moment before she finally said, Shit. It might
work.
I can t think of anything else that might, I said.
She took another breath, and then as if someone had clicked a switch, she
stepped toward Matthews andDoakes with her jaw clenched. I trailed along
behind, trying hard to blend in with the bare walls soDoakes wouldn t pounce
and rip out my heart.
Captain, Deborah said, we need to get proactive with this.
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Even though proactive was one of his favorite words, Matthews stared at her
like she was a cockroach in the salad. What we need, he said, is for these
. . .people. . . inWashington to send somebody competent to clean up this
situation.
Deborah pointed at Burdett. They sent him, she said.
Matthews glanced down at Burdett and pushed his lips out thoughtfully. What
do you suggest?
We have a couple of leads, she said, nodding toward me. I really wished she
hadn t, since Matthews swung his head in my direction and, much worse,
sodidDoakes . If his hungry-dog expression was any indication, he apparently
hadn t mellowed in his feelings toward me.
What is your involvement with this? Matthews asked me.
He s providing forensic assistance, Deborah said, and I nodded modestly.
Shit, Doakes said.
There s a time factor here, Deborah said. We need to find this guy before
he before more of these turn up. We can t keep a lid on it forever.
I think the term media feeding frenzy might be appropriate, I offered,
always helpful. Matthews glared at me.
I know the overall shape of what Kyle of whatChutsky was trying to do,
Deborah went on. But I can t go on with it because I don t know any
background details. She stuck her chin out in the direction ofDoakes .
SergeantDoakes does.
Doakeslooked surprised, which was obviously an expression he hadn t practiced
enough. But before he could speak Deborah plowed ahead. I think the three of
us together can catch this guy before another fed gets on the ground and
catches up to what s happened so far.
Shit, Doakes said again. You want me to work withhim ? He didn t need to
point to let everyone know he meant me, but he did anyway, pushing a muscular,
knobby index finger at my face.
Yeah, I do, Deborah said. Captain Matthews was chewing on his lip and
looking undecided, andDoakes said, Shit, again. I did hope that his
conversational skills would improve if we were going to work together.
You said you know something about this, Matthews said toDoakes , and the
sergeant reluctantly turned his glare away from me and onto the captain.
Uh-huh, saidDoakes .
From your, uh From the army, Matthews said. He didn t seem terribly
frightened byDoakes s expression of petulant rage, but perhaps that was just
the habit of command.
Uh-huh, Doakes said again.
Captain Matthews frowned, looking as much as he possibly could like a man of
action making an important decision. The rest of us managed to control our
goose bumps.
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Morgan, Captain Matthews finally said. He looked at Debs, and then he
paused. A van that said Action News on the side pulled up in front of the
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