But again, it was Annie who answered. “That’s fine with me, Agent Savich. I want to know who did this to Danny more than you do.”

CHAPTER 22

HOOVER BUILDING
FIFTH FLOOR
LATE MONDAY MORNING

“I DON’T BELIEVE IT,” Frank Halley said, looking through the sheaf of papers in his hands. “MAX gives recommendations? You’ve got an alien inside that laptop, don’t you, Savich?” Savich, who’d just slipped quietly into the big conference room, merely nodded at Sherlock, who was at the head of the room, in charge of the meeting.

Sherlock said, “Nope, Frank, Dillon programmed it. Maybe he’s an alien. But I’ve never before met an alien that good in bed.”

Savich grinned at his wife and felt his chest expand. He knew some of the agents had already seen him and were hooting and giving him high fives. When the laughter died down, Savich realized Sherlock had already handed out all the updated assignments five minutes before he’d gotten there. There was optimism in the air now, not the stark confusion that had reigned in yesterday’s meeting. From listening to the other agents talk, Savich realized Sherlock had covered everything perfectly.

When the meeting broke up at last, Savich said, “Sherlock, you’re coming with me.”

“Where are you going, Savich?” Frank Halley still wasn’t over his snit, given the aggression in his voice.

Savich said mildly, “We have a date with Dr. Emanuel Hicks out at Quantico. He’s going to hypnotize Annie Harper for me.”

“O’Malley’s girlfriend?”

“The very same,” Sherlock said. “You want to come along? You can deal with Annie’s parents while Dr. Hicks and Dillon work with her.”

“No, now that I think about it,” Frank said quickly, “I’ve got more than enough to go over with my team.”

“You do that so well,” Savich said, kissed Sherlock’s ear, and whispered, “I’m better in bed than any alien you’ve ever met?”

“So far,” she said, and gave him a wicked smile over her shoulder as she walked out of the conference room.

JEFFERSON DORMITORY
QUANTICO

SHERLOCK SAT WITH Mr. and Mrs. Harper, having directed them to the farthest side of Savich’s office. Savich heard her soothing low-pitched voice, the same voice she used when she was trying to talk Sean into doing something he really didn’t want to do.

He turned when Dr. Hicks sauntered into the room. Dr. Emanuel Hicks always sauntered, it was one of his trademarks. His other trademark was the three very long hairs he combed from near his left ear over the top of his bald head. The three hairs didn’t go all that well with the saunter, but since he was so gifted, Savich wouldn’t have cared if he danced the salsa when he came into a room wearing a pink turban. He’d admired Dr. Hicks since he’d been in the academy. He’d realized what a valuable resource he was.

He rose and shook hands. “Thank you for coming, Dr. Hicks. Anything else you need to know about this situation?”

“No, Savich, you covered it well.” Dr. Hicks nodded toward the parents and without pause pulled a chair up to Annie’s. He smiled at her. “I’m Dr. Hicks and I promise you that none of this is going to hurt. It was part of the oath I had to take to work for the FBI. How are you feeling, Ms. Harper?”

“Okay. Well, I really feel bad, like I want to cry all the time, but there aren’t any more tears.”

“No wonder, you’ve been through a terrible experience.”

“I’m not the one dead, Dr. Hicks.”

“The dead don’t care anymore, Annie, only the living,” Dr. Hicks said. “Now, you think you’re ready?”

“I’ve never done this before. Don’t you want me to lie down or something?”

“No, that’s not necessary. Just get yourself comfortable in the chair. May I call you Annie?”

She nodded.

“Okay, now, I’d like you to look closely at this silver dollar. It originally belonged to my great-grandfather. Look at it, nothing else. That’s right, follow it with your eyes.”

While he gently swung the silver dollar on its chain about four inches from Annie’s face, he began talking about the people he knew who worked at the Department of the Interior—there were at least a dozen of them. His voice was soft, without inflection. Within four minutes, Savich thought she was under. Dr. Hicks slipped the silver dollar back in his vest pocket and said in his slow soft voice, “Annie, how do you feel?”