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casual night gambling in Monaco. There was some heavy-duty charity dinner with all the heavyweights in town at the brand-spanking-new Serenity Hotel, with proceeds supposedly going to help needy children. Maybe get his picture in the Trib ’s RedEye .
    The boys with the real power, and the true recipients of most of the money, wouldn’t show up in the paper. They wouldn’t get within ten feet of a camera.
    Politics in Chicago.
    Lee took another drag. Tommy guessed that the city ban on indoor smoking in public buildings didn’t apply to this particular office. “Shit. It’s not a bad deal, when you stop and think about it. Let’s cut through the bullshit. A piece of ass like Kimmy . . . fuck me, you didn’t think she’d stick with you forever, did you? Jesus Christ. I hope not. No friggin’ way. Hell, I can’t believe she stuck with you for this long.”
    Tommy had been shocked when a whole army of lawyers accompanied Kimmy to the divorce proceedings. He’d figured they’d sign some papers, agree to share custody of Grace, and it would be all simple and clean. He hadn’t even thought to bring a lawyer.
    It hadn’t taken long for Tommy to get a queasy feeling, like he was the only one at a party who didn’t know anybody and all the guests were starting to lick their lips and look at him like he was going to be the main course for dinner. It had been obvious that the lawyers and the judge were all good friends and golfing buddies. There had been no one else in the courtroom, so they hadn’t even tried to pretend.
    The judge had awarded Kimmy sole custody of Grace, and hit Tommy with an absurdly high child-support bill. There was no way he could afford to pay, not with his old job. Everybody knew this, and Tommy felt stupid for not figuring out the deal sooner. Not a day later, a job offer had come through, an offer to work for the City of Chicago, as an employee for the Department of Streets and Sanitation. His salary had seemed suspiciously high, until he’d realized that most of his pay would be taken out for child support and various other contributions to the union and the city.
    â€œSo.” Lee stubbed out his cigarette. “I’m going to assume we have an understanding.”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œThen I suggest you get moving. Don’t want to be late clocking in your first night.”
    Tommy stood and headed for the door.
    â€œI hope we don’t need to talk ever again.” Lee said. “Fact is, I don’t want to look at you. Makes me a little sick, thinking about you and Kimmy. Tell Ray down at the desk I said you didn’t have to sign out. Let’s keep this meeting off the books.”

C HAPTER 6
    10:01 PM
    December 27
    Â 
    The bat wheeled through the freezing night air, senses reeling. Once free of the nylon pouch, it had flitted about the terminal, keeping to the shadows. The giant Christmas trees erected throughout the terminal offered no clear openings, and the lights confused it, so the bat rose higher and eventually squeezed into a crack between one of the futuristic struts and the ceiling. It tried eating a spider, but found the taste to be bitter and alien. The brief respite allowed the bat to catch its breath, but it couldn’t remain hidden much longer. It needed warmth and water.
    The six-year-old female sheath-tailed bat was one of the most endangered animals in the world. Experts estimated the total population to be less than a hundred mature individuals. She had been caught with a fishing net strung over the fissure where the colony lived on the Seychelles Island, just north of Madagascar. She weighed close to ten grams, and wasn’t much bigger than a young mouse.
    She was sick.
    She was having trouble swallowing, and she had scraped bloody furrows in her pelt with her claws and teeth in response to the infuriating parasites that crawled through her fur. Arching her back, she tried to