"Or Lisa will create it."

Marcus looked at his partner and smiled. "That she will." He sighed and looked down at the stairs. "You know, it is a lot easier tracking someone outdoors."

"Give me a case that has open air, dirt, and mud any day," Quinn agreed. They spread out to see what they could find.

"Does this look recent to you?" Marcus asked several minutes later. There was a chip in the paint on the wall in the turn to the eleventh floor, about waist high. The gouge was angled, about half an inch long, and deep at one end. Loose plaster fragments were still in the crevices.

"Yes, it does. His gun clipped the wall," Quinn speculated.

"That would be my guess."

"At least we found something. Which is more than Lisa can say,"

"I heard that," she called down. "When you get tired talking about a paint chip, you want to get Walter? And tell him to bring his full kit."

Walter was the best crime technician at the scene. Marcus glanced at Quinn, and the two of them moved up the stairs. "What have you found?"

She was sitting on the thirteenth floor landing, in her stockinged feet, having sacrificed one of her tennis shoes to use as a doorstop. She had on latex gloves. She was studying the bottom edge of the door. "Does that look like shoe polish and specks of blood to you? It sure does to me." She glanced up at them, a self-satisfied smile on her face. "Your shooter was in a hurry to open the door. He pulled it open right into his highly polished and bloody shoe. At least I think so. The lab will be able to prove it." "Very nice."

She narrowed her eyes at Quinn. "You call me ma'am, I'm going to push you down the stairs."

"I wouldn't dare; ma'am."

Marcus put his hand on Lisa's shoulder to keep her seated. Quinn still hadn't learned. Lisa never made an idle threat. "Think you can track where he went once he got out on this floor?" he asked to distract her.

"We'll do a luminol test down the hallway carpet, see if we can pick up any more traces. I'll need you to get the hotel to momentarily shut off the hall lights."

"I'll get it arranged," Marcus agreed. "Okay, half his escape route has been found. Quinn, let's talk about the interviews being done. We need to talk to everyone on this floor. And I want to start a detailed look at those attending this conference or working in this hotel. Whoever did this was comfortable being here. Lisa, what about Carl's hotel room door? Carl had his room key in his hand. So what did the shooter use? Was it a master passkey? A copy? Is there any way we can find out?" "I'll take a look at the logs and the mechanism." "I'd appreciate it. Find him for us, Sherlock." "A guy did this. How hard can it be?" Marcus laughed.

Quinn held out a hand to help her to her feet. "You solve it, I'll buy you dinner."

"I solve it, I might even accept."

The ICU was silent at 4:00 A.M. Shari leaned back against the wall, watching her brother. She had been able to get an hour of sleep before the dreams came; she supposed she should be grateful. "Jennifer, Marcus mentioned when I first met him that he was planning to have a late dinner with his sister. Was that with you?"

It was nice having Marcus's sister here. Jennifer was comfortable around the ICU; the medical equipment didn't intimidate her. And Shari found it very helpful to just have someone listen.

"Kate and I," Jennifer replied. "You had met Marcus before this happened?"

"Earlier this evening. I got lost in the hotel," Shari replied, feeling like it had been a year ago. A decade ago.

"That was an interesting comment for him to have made."

"We were going to have coffee later this morning," she said quietly. "leally? I'm sorry events overtook that."

Shari looked over, hearing the interest in Jennifer's voice. "It was just coffee."

"Still, an unusual request on his part."

Beneath the fatigue, Shari felt a glimmer of curiosity. "Marcus doesn't date?"

"No. And Kate, Lisa, lachel, and I have been trying to change that."

Four sisters? Shari smiled at that, wondering if Marcus felt it was a blessing or a curse. Probably a blessing. "You've got a big family."

"There are seven of us, but it's not exactly a traditional family. We're all orphans. We sort of adopted each other, became our own family. Legally changed our last names."

Shari had heard of many families breaking up but rarely of one so intentionally forming. That must have been a powerful pact. "Seven?"

"It's a great group. We are constantly stepping in and out of each other's lives. Marcus is the oldest."

"A nice older brother to have. He's protective." "The guardian of the group," Jennifer agreed. "Which are you?"

"The youngest of the family-" Jennifer smiled-"everyone's favorite." "An older sister doesn't get the same respect," she replied lightly.

amused, thinking about her close relationship with Josh.

Shari crossed back over to a chair. I-Ier body hurt and she eased herself down. I-Ier spirit hurt worse. She could feel the dark depression creeping over her. In the middle of the night it was hard to hold on to optimistic thoughts. "From what you have said, Jennifer, I'm guessing-are you a Christian?"

"Yes. Kate and I are both recent believers."

"I think I embarrassed Marcus when I asked him to pray for my family." "Don't worry about it. I-Ie needs someone to remind him he should reconsider his position. It's hard, after losing parents, to hear Jesus say I love you and know I-Ie means it."

Shari could only imagine how hard that must have been, losing the security of loving parents. She also heard the reality-Jennifer hoped to someday change his mind. "Carl was a Christian. Joshua and Dad believe. I'm grateful for that, but it doesn't take away the pain."

"The grief must be huge right now. Carl being in heaven doesn't change the fact he was killed."

"It's "

never felt this dark, Shari admitted softly.

"Jesus can find you in the darkness."

Those sounded like words from personal experience.

Life had shattered, and none of this made sense anymore. Shari looked at Josh. She let her hand touch the bandage on her cheek. A few more inches and she would be the one in the hospital bed...or dead. Marcus, please find the shooter. I'm afraid of him.

J.

oshua, do you remember Carl meeting or calling anyone?" Marcus asked. The sky had begun to lighten outside the ICU window. He had confirmed what he feared, Joshua hadn't seen the shooter. Shari remained the only eyewitness.

"Not that I recall. We had a quiet Thursday and Friday. He was working on his speech with Shari, playing backgammon with Dad." Josh worked his good hand, pain etching his face at the simple movement. "How's Shari?"

"Hopefully still sleeping. She saw you in the recovery room about 3 A.M. You were out of it."

"Not entirely. She's right. The nurses are pretty." He gave a glimmer of a smile, then grimaced. "They told me Dad was in the recovery room. Is there any more news?"

"They'll be bringing him down to ICU soon." Marcus hesitated, but accepted it would be better if the news came from him rather than Shari. "It's not good."

Josh stilled. "What are the surgeons saying?"

"His blood pressure isn't stabilizing."

He was silent for a long time. "He'S a fighter, like mom." He looked over and held Marcus's gaze. "Where are you at in finding the shooter?" "Shari was able to give us a good sketch."

"I almost wish you hadn't said that. Security is with her?"

"Tight. She doesn't realize she's got a permanent shadow."

Josh nodded. "Thanks. teep it there, and if she raises a fuss, let me know."

Marcus recognized the worry of not only a brother but an assistant DA. "Will do."

"Has my extended family arrived yet?"

"They should be arriving shortly after 10 A.M. I suggest you get what rest you can before then."

Josh gave a reluctant laugh, then groaned. "The understatement of the year. I love them all, but there is a lot of them."

Josh's expression firmed, and Marcus recognized the burning anger in the man. "I can't protect Shari right nowl I can't help her. And she has a nasty habit of assuming she can handle a stressful situation on her own without leaning against someone. Be careful with her. She's had a hard few months and she'll shatter if she gets pushed too hard." He gave an irritated grimace. "And whatever you do, don't let her get near the press. She'll consider it her professional obligation to get out there and answer their questions."

"You can relax a bit, Josh," Marcus replied. "You haven't told me anything I haven't already suspected. And I've read the press clippings on her from the last few years. She's stubborn, but I'm more so. I'm not letting her get in the midst of this press swarml they would eat her alive. I like her too much for one thing, and second, she happens to be our only witness at the moment. If she gets annoyed with me, it won't change things. I don't plan to budge."

"Good. Let her hit a brick wall. I owe you." "And I'll collect if I need it," Marcus warned. "Fair enough."

Shari twisted her wrist, moving the cellular phone receiver away from her mouth so she could sip at the hot coffee. "No, Chris," she interrupted, pulling the phone back down. "There won't be press coverage at Carl's visitation. I want something private and by invitation only."

John's press secretary was a good friend, but she wasn't letting him sway her on this decision. She understood his point of view, but solving the press pressure wasn't her problem. "John is giving the eulo:y at the funeral, but there is not going to be press coverage there either. That's assuming we bury Carl at the church next to his parents-we're still talking about Arlington National Cemetery with the military honors he's due as a decorated veteran. It's been offered."

She drank another sip of coffee, feeling much steadier after a second catnap. She had woken up, found a pad of paper, and got to work. She didn't want to grieve yet, and the only way to handle the emotions was to ruthlessly deny them any room to emerge. There would be time to cry later, when she had some privacy She had the nasty suspicion once she started to c she would cry for a long time.

Carl had been a friend, and she was going to make certain what happened in the next days and weeks honored his memory and didn't make a spectacle of the crime.

Dad was in recove Get him into ICU, firmly back on the road to recove deal with a thousand details from family to press, and after it was all past, then she would stop and let the emotions take over.

"We're going to make the final decision after the family gets here. Call me back about I P.M. and I'll let you know details. You can release them then," she offered, giving him at least something to work with.

"In the meantime, could you send me out copies of all the area newspapers? I want to see how this is playing and correct any inaccuracies I can before they spread. And before you release John's itinera give me a heads up so I know reporters have it."

"I'll do that. How's your father?" Chris asked.

"Still in recove We're not releasing information yet. Anne volunteered to serve as our family spokesperson. I'll let her release a statement once she gets here."

Shari spotted Marcus coming from the ICU and cut Chris off. "I have to go. Call me at one."

The phone closed and tucked in her back pocket, she walked across the hospital hallway to meet Marcus, bringing with her a second cup of coffee she had poured when the nurse told her Marcus was in with Joshua. He smiled as she drew near. "You're idea of a double hit of caffeine?" "Double latte this is not," she agreed, longing for a stop at Starbucks for her normal start to the day. "But in this case, I thought you might need it," she offered, holding out the cup. "Black. And strong enough to drop an elephant."

"I'll risk it," Marcus said, accepting the Styrofoam cup.

"You haven't had any sleep yet," she observed, reaching out to touch his forearm.

"Too much to do. I'll get around to it later."

"In that case, I hesitate to ask, but do you have a minute?"

He sipped the coffee, smiled. "Absolutely. What's happening?"

"I've been thinking about who might have had motive to kill Carl." The humor disappeared from his gaze. "Go on."

"There's a document in my briefcase back at the hotel that I think you should read. It's a brief, recommending Carl for the court."

"You wrote it?"

She nodded. "There's a section that addressed his controversial cases. Some of them sound obscure, but I've read the transcripts. I'd like to sit down and go through them with someone."

"Shari."

"You said I could help."

"We are already looking at his past cases."

"Please. I know them better than his own law clerks. And it would help feeling like I'm doing something. He was a good friend, Marcus."

He rubbed the back of his neck, then finally nodded. "Later today.

after your family is here and settled?"

"Thanks."

He nodded toward the officer who had been with her all morning. "Is Craig working out okay?"

"He'S been a doll." And never more than a few feet away even on this well-secured hospital wing. Shari found that...interesting. She didn't want to hear why Marcus considered it necessary. Marcus winced. "Don't tell him that." She laughed. "I didn't plan to."

The floor nurse came to get her. "Shari, your father is being brought down from the recovery room."

She took a deep breath. The light moment had just been swallowed by reality. She knew seeing her dad was going to be a shock. The surgeon had been down twice to talk with her since Dad had been moved to the recovery room. "Let me get mom."

"Shari."

She looked back at Marcus.