Violin under one arm, bow held down, Jannie bowed, and then she began to play again. I sat on the porch steps and listened. Just the two of us, the setting sun, and the music. The beast was soothed. After she finished practice, we ate a light dinner, then hurried over to the Kennedy Center for one of the free programs in the Grand Foyer. Tonight it was "Liszt and Virtuosity." But wait - there was more. Tomorrow night we planned to attack the new climbing wall at the Capital Y. Then, with Damon, it was a video game extravaganza featuring Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. I hoped we could keep it up like this. Even the video games. I was on the right track now and I liked it. So did Nana and the kids. Around ten-thirty, to complete the day just right, I got hold of Jamilla on the phone. She was home at a decent hour for a change. "Hey," she said at the sound of my voice. "Hey back at you. Can you talk? This a good time?" "Might be able to squeeze in a couple of minutes for you. I hope you're calling from home. Are you?" "Been here since around six. We had a family night at the Kennedy Center. Big success." "I'm jealous." We talked about what she was up to, then my big night with the kids, and finally my life and times with the Bureau. But I had the sense that Jamilla needed to get off after about fifteen minutes. I didn't ask if she had anything going for tonight. She'd tell me if she wanted to. "I miss you way out there in San Francisco," I said, and left it at that. I hoped it didn't come off as not caring. Because I did care about Jam. She was in my thoughts all the time. "I have to run, Alex. Bye," she said. "Bye." Jamilla had to run. And I was finally trying to stop.

THE NEXT MORNING I was told to attend a key-person meeting about the Connolly kidnapping and the possibility that the abduction was connected to others in the past twelve months. The case had been upgraded to "major," and it had the code name "White Girl." An FBI Rapid Start Team had already been dispatched to Atlanta.