"That's why you want to find him, isn't it. Not because he committed a crime. You want to keep other governments from getting their hands on the compound"

"Detective, Howard Snow is a national security risk. My department has every resource at its disposal dedicated to finding him."

"Why not tell us then? Why threaten my partner and me with a helicopter gunship?"

He shook his head. "That wasn't us."

"Come again?"

"At the docks?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't us. We didn't have anyone watching you before now."

"Who was it?"

"We're not sure."

"That was your car we chased, wasn't it? We tracked the license plates to the Department of Agriculture. Don't you boys use them to hide your dirty work?"

"Yes we do, and no, that wasn't us." He pulled his hand away from his face and a splash of blood dropped from his nose onto his lap. "s.h.i.t. I think you broke it."

"Get over it."

He rocked his head back against the cushion and pinched his nostrils shut. "That was our car all right, but it was stolen an hour before you gave chase to it."

"Nice. So you have no idea who else is looking for Howard Snow."

"We have some ideas."

"Care to share them with me?"

"Forget it. As far as you're concerned, I'm not even here right now."

I stepped back and looked down at my feet. Small pools of blood on the floor were already beginning to coagulate around the edges. "Really? Funny, 'cause that's not my blood down there."

"Look, Detective." He let go of his nose and sniffed back a thin trail of blood gathering on his upper lip. "We swept this house thoroughly, top to bottom. There is no sign of Snow ever being here. He covered his tracks completely."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying don't make me follow you to cold spots. We are looking for the same thing. Maybe we can help each other."

"No." I shook my head. "We are not looking for the same thing. You are looking to sequester spontaneous biogenic propagation for government rule. I'm looking for the truth." I pointed across the room. "Your gun is under the dining room table. Lock up on your way out."

TWELVE.

I arrived back at the office around noon. Spinelli saw me stepping out of the elevator and headed me off in the hall. I could tell from the look on his face he was p.i.s.sed. I just didn't know why.

"You son of a b.i.t.c.h," he spat. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I honestly did not know.

"You know d.a.m.n well what."

Carlos came out into the hall then. I still was not sure why Spinelli was so bent out of shape, but I was getting an idea. "What? Did Carlos say something to you?"

"You know he did. That's because Carlos is a friend. A concept you obviously don't understand."

"Okay, look. I know why you're upset. I should have said something. I didn't know she was home. I walked into the bathroom and there she was. In the tub. What was I supposed to do?"

He looked at me as though I had just told him I screwed his pooch. "You walked in on Ursula taking a bath?"

"Well...yeah, that's what you were talking about, isn't it?"

I looked over at Carlos. He was waving me off in a silent shout. "Ick-schnay," he said, or mouthed it.

Spinelli said, "Tony, I'm talking about you getting a hard-on for my girl. Whatthef.u.c.k? Now you tell me you walked in on her taking a bath?"

"Dominic. That was an accident. I swear." I looked over at Carlos again. "Carlos. Tell him."

"No. Carlos is not going to tell me. You are going to tell me. What else did you do? Did you f.u.c.k her? Huh? Did you f.u.c.k my fiancee?"

"f.u.c.k her? No! Carlos, what did you tell him? Dominic, you are blowing this way out of proportion."

Spinelli palmed my chest and shoved me into the wall. "Screw you," he said, and I swear that if he were not my second best friend, I would have decked him. "No. Better yet. Screw Ursula. I know you want to. You can have her. The wedding is off."

"Dominic. Wait. You know I would never...."

He tore off in a head of steam, slamming walls and kicking open doors in his wake. I turned to Carlos, who shrank at the sight of me gritting my teeth and presenting clenched fists.

"Tony." He walled his hands up to keep me at bay. "I only told him about you getting a stiffy. I didn't say anything else to him."

I unclenched my fists and dropped my hands. "Okay. You know what? You're right. I should have been straight up with Dominic."

"Sure. Why not? You were straight up with Ursula."

I deflected his joke with a stabbing glare. "The truth is I had nothing to hide. It was all perfectly innocent."

"What are you going to do now?"

"About what?"

He gestured down the hall. "Dominic. He's calling the wedding off."

I looked down the hall almost expecting to see a trail of residual steam lingering on the carpet. "I don't know." I shook my head and returned to Carlos. "He isn't going to call it off. He's just p.i.s.sed. Cannot say I blame him. Maybe I should make myself scarce for a while."

He looked at his watch. "It is almost lunch."

"Lunch? I can't eat. My stomach's tied up in knots right now."

He smiled. "Good. I mean, too bad. I'm buying." He put his arm around my shoulder and led me to the elevator. "You want to drive my Vette? That will cheer you up."

"You want me to crash it? That will really cheer me up."

He thought about it. Seriously, I think. A good friend will do that. In the end, though, he decided he should drive, what with the new lights and siren just installed.

At the restaurant, I asked Carlos why he told Spinelli about Ursula and me. He said Dominic tricked him into telling him.

"He tricked you?"

"Yes, Tony. You know how clever he is. He backed me into a corner. I had to tell him."

"How did he back you into a corner?"

"He said he would find it hard to get naked in front of Lilith and Ursula like that."

"Yeah?"

"I said you found it hard, too, and Ursula saw it."

"You know, Carlos, that is the last time I tell you anything in confidence."

"Tony, please."

"I mean it. Last time. You have a big mouth. And I'm leaving it up to you to make it right with Spinelli. If he calls off this wedding, Lilith will make my life miserable. And if I'm miserable, you know who else will be miserable?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You. So you better begin thinking about what you're going to say to him."

Carlos started to come back with a word of protest, but our server showed up to take our orders. We let the conversation go at that. After she left us, I told Carlos about my run-in with the agent from CICU.

"CICU? Sounds like military?"

"It is," I told him. "It's a shadow operation within the DoD, tasked with monitoring CID activities."

"But the CID investigates criminal activity by the U.S. Army?"

"That's right."

"So now CICU is investigating CID?"

"Yes."

"The people investigating the army are being investigating."

"That's what it looks like."

"d.a.m.n, I need a score card."

"Me, too."

"So, who were the guys with the chopper, CICU?"

I shook my head. "He said it wasn't them. I don't know if I believe him. Who else can get away with swooping in with an attack helicopter in broad daylight and then disappearing into thin air like that?"

"With enough money, anyone can. You remember those men in the lobby at Biocrynetix Laboratories?"

"I do."

"Remember what they were wearing?"

"Nice suits."

"Not just any nice suits. $4000 Caraceni's."

"Hmm, I see what you mean."

"What was your agent at Dwyer's place wearing?"

"Cheap polyester."

"And he was looking for Howard Snow?"

"That's why he followed me. Thought maybe I would find him first."

"You think he wants to kill him?'

"He says no. Says Snow blew up his own car to bury his tracks."

"Oh right, and bury his old roommate, too. I don't believe that. You know what I think?"

"Tell me."

"I think the agents have the compound. I think they want to kill everyone a.s.sociated with QE647 so that the guys in suits don't get their hands on it. We know those other deaths were not coincidence."

"I believe that, Carlos. These guys have been one step ahead of us from the beginning."

"Know what else?"

"What's that?"