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have been spotted out in the middle of nowhere? Why was Cross there?
    The Wolf finally laughed. “Oh, don’t worry your pretty head, Colonel. You were supposed to be spotted. The photographer works for us.
    “Now proceed to your next contact point in the morning. And have some fun tonight in Fallon. Paint the town, Colonel. I want you to go and kill somebody out in the desert. You choose a victim. Do your stuff.
That’s an order.
”

Chapter 16
    THE LEVEL OF frustration and tension I was feeling was increasing by the hour, and so was the general confusion about the case. I’d never seen so much chaos, so fast, in my entire life.
    Almost a full day after the bombing, there was nothing but a hole in the ground in the Nevada desert, and a couple of questionable leads. We had talked to the three hundred or so residents of Sunrise Valley, but none of the survivors had a clue, either. Nothing unusual had happened in the days before the bombing; no stranger had visited. We hadn’t found the army vehicles or discovered where they had come from. What had happened in Sunrise Valley still didn’t make sense. Neither did Colonel Geoffrey Shafer’s being there. But it sure shook us up.
    No one had even taken credit for the bombing yet.
    After two days, there wasn’t too much more I could do out in the desert, so I caught a ride home to Washington. I found Nana, the kids, even Rosie the cat out on the front porch, waiting for me.
    Home, sweet home again. Why didn’t I just learn a lesson and stay there?
    “This is real nice,” I said, beaming as I bounded up the steps. “A welcoming committee. I guess everybody missed me, right? How long you been out here waiting for your pops?”
    Nana and the kids shook their heads pretty much in unison, and I smelled conspiracy.
    Nana said, “Of course we’re glad to see you, Alex,” and finally cracked a smile. They all did.
Conspiracy, for sure.
    “Gotcha!” said Jannie, who was ten. She had on a crocheted sun hat with her braids hanging out. “Of course we’re your welcoming committee. Of course we missed you, Daddy. Who wouldn’t?”
    “Got you bad!” Damon taunted from his perch on the rail. He was twelve and looked the part. Sean John T-shirt, straight-leg jeans, Hiptowns.
    I pointed a finger at him. “I’ll get
you,
you break my porch rail.” Then I smiled. “Gotcha!” I said to Damon.
    After that, I had to answer all sorts of questions about little Alex and show around my digital camera with dozens of pictures of our beloved little man.
    Everybody was pretty much laughing now, which was better, and it was definitely good to be home again, even if I was still waiting for more news about the bombing in Nevada and about Shafer’s involvement.
    Nana had held dinner for me, and after a delicious meal of roast chicken with garlic and lemon, squash, mushrooms, and onions, the family congregated in the kitchen over cleanup and bowls of ice cream. Jannie showed off a pen-and-ink of her heroes Venus and Serena Williams, which was sensational; eventually, we watched the Washington Wizards on TV. Finally, everybody started to wander off to bed, but there were hugs and kisses first. Nice, very nice. Much, much better than yesterday and, I was willing to bet, not as good as tomorrow.

Chapter 17
    ABOUT ELEVEN, I finally climbed the steep stairs to my office in the attic. I reviewed my case file on Sunrise Valley for twenty minutes or so in preparation for the next day, then I called Jamilla in San Francisco. I’d talked to her a couple of times over the past two days, but I’d mostly been too busy. I figured she might be home from work by now.
    All I got was a voice message, though.
    I don’t like to leave messages myself, especially since I’d already left a couple from Nevada, but I finally said, “Hi, it’s Alex. I’m still trying to sell you on the idea of forgiving me for what happened at the airport in San Francisco. If you want to come East sometime soon, I’m