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“Or get whacked,” Washington put in.

[FIVE]

Matt’s cell phone rang as Mickey, having quickly sent the drug bust article to be posted, was putting up his laptop computer.

When Matt saw the caller ID, he said, “Perfect,” then answered the phone with, “Hold that thought, Kerry. I need you to drop everything and punch up Philly News Now. Go to Breaking News, then ‘leak’ to every other news outlet in town the article on the drug bust that Mickey just posted there. Anyone asks why he got the scoop, blame me. Say I called them but their number was busy.”

“Matt—”

“Got it?”

“Got it, Matt. But—”

“But what, damn it?”

“We just got a couple units responding to a nine-one-one shots-fired call, on the scene at Mary’s House. Came in hours after Special Operations pulled their unmarked. Tony Harris is en route.”

“What scene? A homicide?”

Matt saw that that question caused eyes to turn to him.

“Almost. Two guys on a motorcycle shot up the place pretty good trying to take out one of the girl residents. Left a trail of nine-millimeter casings.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“Not this time,” Kerry said.

“What does that mean?”

“The shooters left a message—here, I’ll read it.”

After Kerry finished, Matt said, “What the hell? I’m guessing no word from Maggie?”

Eyes turned to him again.

“No. And there’s only thirty minutes until the hour is up. They have six girls unaccounted for. And the woman who is Maggie’s assistant, and witnessed the shooters on the motorcycle, sent an e-mail to Maggie and called her cell phone. It’s all she knows to do.”

Matt pulled the pen from his pocket, then stole Washington’s cocktail napkin. “Give me that phone number again.”

Kerry did, and added, “We are running it down. But dollars to doughnuts it comes up a go-phone dead end.”

Matt stared at the number. “Kerry, get word out right now that nobody calls or otherwise communicates with the number without my permission or Lieutenant Washington’s. Give whoever is in charge of the scene my number and instructions to call. And shoot me a copy of that note, please.”

“Done, Marshal. Last one first.”

Matt felt his phone vibrate.

The guy is good.

“And don’t forget to feed the drug bust article to the media, Kerry. Keep me posted.”

Matt broke off the call and went to pull up the image of the note left at Mary’s House. He found Rapier’s e-mail at the top of his in-box, right above an e-mail from Will McCain that was a forwarded e-mail of the one below it—Maggie’s reply to Matt.

“Shit!” he blurted. “How did I miss this?”

“What, Matthew?”

“Maggie answered my e-mail,” he said, as he opened her reply.