"I," Bishop said, "do what I came here to do." He strolled from the room, as seemingly relaxed and unconcerned as Lucas Jordan had been wired and focused.

"I don't like that guy," Theo Woods announced unnecessarily. "Those eyes look right through you. Talk about a thousand-yard stare."

"Think he really is after Luke?" Judy asked the room at large.

Edgerton said, "Maybe. My sources tell me Bishop's putting together a special unit of investigators, but I can't find out what's special about it."

"Jesus, you don't think he's rounding up phony psychics?" Woods demanded incredulously.

"No," Edgerton replied with a last glance after the federal agent. "I don't think he's interested in anything phony."

Bishop assumed there was speculation behind him as he left the conference room, but beyond making a mental note to add Pete Edgerton to his growing list of cops likely to be receptive to his Special Crimes Unit in the future, he thought no more about it. He went in search of Lucas Jordan, finding him, as expected, in the small, windowless office that had been grudgingly allotted to him.

"I told you I wasn't interested," Lucas said as soon as Bishop appeared in the doorway.

Leaning against the jamb, Bishop watched as the other man packed up his copies of the myriad paperwork involved in a missing-persons investigation. "Do you enjoy going it solo that much?" he asked mildly. "Operating alone has its drawbacks. We can offer the sort of support and resources you're not likely to find anywhere else."

"Probably. But I hate bureaucracy and red tape," Lucas replied. "Both of which the FBI has in abundance."

"I told you, my unit is different."

"You still report to the Director, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then it's not that different."

"I intend to make sure it is."

Lucas paused, looking at Bishop with a slight frown, more curious than disbelieving. "Yeah? How do you plan to do that?"