6.

"Sorry, Jack," Gia said, shaking her head. "It won't work."

They sat in the old-fashioned kitchen of number eight Sutton Square, one of the toniest neighborhoods in the city, he nursing a cup of coffee, she sipping green tea. Gia had been letting her corn-silk-colored hair grow out a little; it wasn't so close to her head anymore, but still short by most standards. She wore low-cut jeans and a white scoop-neck top that clung to her slim torso. Although into her third month of pregnancy, she had yet to show even the slightest bulge.

Gia's discovery last month that she was pregnant had thrown them both for a loop. It had not been on the radar, and they hadn't been prepared for it. It meant changes for both of them, most drastically for Jack, but they were dealing with it.

Jack had told her about his father as soon as he stepped through her door this morning. Gia had never met him but had been upset by the news and urged Jack to hurry down to Florida. Jack didn't share her sense of urgency. All he could do down there was stand next to his unconscious father's bed and feel helpless; he could think of few things in the world he hated more than feeling helpless. And if and when his father awoke, how long before he started in on why Jack had missed Kate's funeral.

So Jack had sprung his plan on Gia and she had shot him down.

He tried to hide his disappointment. He'd thought it was a sure thing. He'd offered to fly her and Vicky down to Orlando and put them up in Disney World. He'd shuttle back and forth between his father and Orlando.

"How can you say no?" he said. "Think of Vicky. She's never been to Disney World."

"Yes, she has. We went with Nellie and Grace when she was five."

Jack saw a cloud pa.s.s through her sky-blue eyes at the mention of Vicky's two dead aunts.

"That was three years ago. She needs another trip."

"Did you forget school?"

"Let her play hooky for a week. She's a bright kid. How much of a challenge can third grade be for her?"

Gia shook her head. "Uh-uh. New year, new cla.s.s, new teacher. She just started two weeks ago. I can't pull her out for a week this early in the year. If it was November, maybe, but then"-she patted her tummy-"I'd be far enough along to where I wouldn't want to fly."

"Swell," Jack said. He took a turn patting her tummy. "How's Little Jack coming along?"

"She's doing just fine."

This had been their tug-of-war since learning she was pregnant. Jack was sure it was a boy-had to be-while Gia insisted it was a girl. So far the fetal doppler had been inconclusive as to s.e.x.

"Hey, I just had an idea. What do you think about hiring Vicky a nanny for a week and..."

Gia's azure stare stopped him. "You're kidding, right?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

What had he been thinking? Obviously he hadn't. Gia going off to Disney World without her daughter? Never. It would crush Vicky. And Jack would be as uncomfortable as Gia about leaving her with anyone else for a week.

He leaned back and watched her take tiny sips of her tea. He loved the way she drank tea, loved the way her whole face crinkled up when she laughed. Loved the way she did everything. They'd met a little over two years ago-twenty-six months, to be exact-but it seemed as if he'd known her all his life. All the women before her, and there'd been more than a few, had faded to shadows the first time he saw her smile. No one had a smile like Gia's. They'd hit a few speed b.u.mps along the way-her discovery of how he earned his living had almost derailed them-and still didn't see eye to eye on everything, but the deep regard and trust they'd developed for each other allowed them to live with their differences.

Jack couldn't remember feeling about anyone as he felt about Gia. Every time he saw her he wanted to touch her-had to touch her, even if only for an instant brush of his fingertips against her arm. The only other person who approached Gia in his affections was her daughter Vicky. Jack and Vicks had bonded from the get-go. He couldn't think of too many people or things worth dying for, but two of them lived in this house. to touch her, even if only for an instant brush of his fingertips against her arm. The only other person who approached Gia in his affections was her daughter Vicky. Jack and Vicks had bonded from the get-go. He couldn't think of too many people or things worth dying for, but two of them lived in this house.

"Aww," Gia said, smiling that smile and patting his knee. "Feeling shot down?"

"In flames. Looks like I'll be going alone. Usually you're the one getting on a plane and leaving." Gia made regular trips back to Iowa to keep Vicky in touch with her grandparents. Those weeks were like holes in his life. This one would be worse. "Now it's me."

"I've got a cure for those hurt feelings." She put her cup down, rose, and took his hand. "Come on."

"Where?"

"Upstairs. It's going to be a week. Let's give you a bon voyage party."

"Do we get to wear dopey hats?"

"No hats allowed. No clothes allowed either."

"My kind of party."

7.

Jack was feeling a little cross-eyed and weak in the knees when they left Gia's. She had that effect on him.

On their way to his apartment on the West Side-she'd volunteered to help him pack-he stopped at a mailing service and picked up a couple of FedEx overnight boxes, along with some bubble wrap.

"What are those for?"

"Oh...just have to mail a couple of things before I go."

He didn't want to tell her more than that.

When they reached his third-floor apartment in a West-Eighties brown-stone, he opened the windows to let in some air. The breeze carried a tang of carbon monoxide and the throbbing ba.s.s of a hip-hop song with the volume turned up to 11.

Gia said, "How are you going to work this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Buying the ticket."

They stood in the cluttered front room filled with Victorian wavy-grained golden oak furniture laden with gingerbread carving.

"How else? Buy a ticket and go."

"Who are you going to be this time?"

"John L. Tyleski."

After careful consideration, Jack had settled on Tyleski as his ident.i.ty for the trip. Tyleski's Visa card, secured with a dead kid's Social Security Number, was barely six months old, and so far he'd made all his payments on time. Tyleski had a New Jersey driver license with his photo on it, courtesy of Ernie's ID. It was as bogus as everything else Ernie sold, but the quality was Sterling.

"Isn't that risky?" she said. "You get caught buying a ticket under an a.s.sumed ident.i.ty these days and you're in trouble. Big, Federal trouble."

"I know. But the only way I can get caught is if someone checks the number on the driver license with the Jersey state DMV. Then I'm screwed. But they don't do that at airports."

"Not yet."

He looked at her. "You're not making this any easier, Gia."

She dropped into a wing-back chair, looking worried. "I just don't want to turn on the news tonight and hear that they're investigating some man with no ident.i.ty who tried to board a plane, and see a picture of you."

"Neither do I."

Jack shivered. What a nightmare. The end of his life in the interstices. But even worse would be having his picture in the papers and on TV. He'd made a fair number of people very unhappy during the course of his fix-it career. The only reason he was still alive was because they didn't know who he was or where to find him. A very public arrest would change all that. Might as well paint a bull's-eye on his chest.

While Gia checked the Miami weather on the computer in the second bedroom, Jack seated himself at the claw-foot oak table and took out a spare wallet. He removed all traces of other ident.i.ties, leaving only the Tyleski license and credit card, then added about a thousand in cash.

Gia returned from the other room. "The three-day forecast for Miami is in the nineties, so I'd better pack you light clothes."

"Fine. Throw in some running shorts while you're at it." He was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt now, but he needed something more for the trip. "While you're in there, pull me out a long-sleeved shirt, will you?"

She made a face. "Long-sleeved? It's hot."

"I have my reasons."

She shrugged and disappeared into his bedroom.

While she was digging through his drawers, Jack swathed his 9mm Glock 19 in bubble wrap, then wrapped that in aluminum foil, and shoved it into the FedEx box; he did the same with his .38 AMT Backup and its ankle holster, then packed in more wrap to keep them from shifting around in the box. That done he wrapped duct tape around the box wherever the FedEx logo appeared.

"How many days should I pack for?" Gia called from the other room.

"Three or four. If I stay longer I'll have them washed."

Gia popped back into the front room holding a lightweight cotton shirt with a tight red-and-blue check.

"You sure you want long sleeves?"

He nodded. "Need them to hide this."

He held up a plastic dagger. It was dark green, almost black, with a three-inch blade and a four-inch handle, all molded from a single piece of super-hard plastic fiber compound that Abe guaranteed would breeze past any metal detector on earth. The blade had no cutting edge to speak of, but the point was sharp enough to pierce plywood.

No one was hijacking his his flight. flight.

Gia's eyes widened. "Oh, Jack! You're not really thinking of-"

"I'll have it taped to the inside of my arm. No one will find it."

"This is insane! Do you know what will happen to you if you're caught?"

"I won't be." He held up a roll of adhesive tape. "Help me tape it on?"

"Absolutely not! I'll have no part in this craziness. It's irresponsible. You have a child on the way! Do you want to be in jail when she's born?"

"Of course not. But Gia, you should understand by now, this is the way I am, this is the way I have to do it."

"You're afraid of giving up control is what it is."

"Maybe so. Getting on a plane piloted by someone I don't know puts a crimp in my comfort zone. But I can handle that. What I can't handle is handing some out-to-lunch airline full responsibility for making sure that all the other pa.s.sengers are going to behave."

"You've got to learn to trust, Jack."

"I do. I trust me, I trust you, I trust Abe, I trust Julio. Beyond that..." He shrugged. "Sorry. It's the way I'm wired." He held up the tape again. "Please?"

She helped, but he could tell her heart wasn't in it.

He blunted the point with a small piece of tape, then held it in place against the inside of his left upper arm, the b.u.t.t of the handle almost in his armpit, while she secured it with three long strips that encircled his arm. Not the most comfortable arrangement, but he'd remove it in the restroom once they were in the air and transfer the knife to the inside of one of his socks for the rest of the flight.

When she finished taping she stepped back and looked at her work.

"That should hold. I..." She shook her head.

"What?"

"I can't help thinking that if there'd been someone like you on those 9-11 planes, the Trade Towers might still be standing."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not Superman. I can't take on five alone. But along with guys like the ones on Flight 93, who knows?"

He pulled on the shirt, rolled the cuffs halfway up his forearms, and struck a pose.

"How do I look?"

"Suspicious," she said.

"Really?"

She sighed. "No. You look like you always look: Mister Everyday People."

That was what he wanted to hear. "Great. Am I packed?"

"I put it all on the bed. Where's your suitcase?"

"Suitcase? I don't have one. I've never needed one."