"This is a tragic, tragic situation we're facing. This kidnapping is also important for us. Whoever solves it will be important. I want you to help solve it, to be a player. I want you to establish a reputation with this case. I I

“I don't want a reputation,” I said flat out to Monroe. “Don't want to be a fucking player.”

“I know you don't. And that's one of the reasons you should be. I'll tell you something that is the truth. You're smarter than us, and you are going to be a big deal in this city. Stop being such a stubborn bastard about it. Let the walls come down now.”

“I don't agree. Not if I can help it. Not if I can get in the way of it. Your idea of being a success isn't mine. ”

“Well, I know what's right here. For both of us,” he said. This time Carl Monroe didn't smile one bit. “You keep me up to date on the progress of this case. You and I are in this one together, Alex. This is a career making case.”

I nodded at Monroe. Sure thing, I thought. “Whose career, Carl?”

I had stopped in front of the District Building with its fancy trimmings. Monroe slid out of his seat. He looked down at me from outside the car. “This case is going to be enormously important, Alex. It's yours.” “No, thanks,” I said. But Monroe was already gone.

CHAPTER 9

TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES PAST TEN, well within range he'd set during his dry runs from Washington, Gary Soneji turned his van onto an unmarked drive. The side road was badly potholed and densely overgrown with weeds. A blackberry bramble was on either shoulder.

Less than fifty yards in from the main highway, he couldn't see anything but the dirt road and a mess of overhanging bushes. No one could see his van from the highway.

The van bumped along past a ramshackle, faded white farmhouse. The building looked as if it were shrinking, collapsing right back into its foundation. No more than forty yards past the house was what remained of an equally run-down storage barn.