"Son, playing odds is a kind of religion to me."
Jamie grinned, and because he wasn't being dismissed, dug in. "Okay, odds are good, given the log time Detective Halloway had in when he first showed symptoms-and factoring in how long the other bad guy dudes were on-that it takes a couple hours, maybe more to hit the danger zone. Logically, Halloway had the brain eruption faster because he had all this time on at once. Straight computime instead of on and off, tasking, surfing, whatever. And he wasin the unit, not just working on it."
"And you think I haven't factored that in?"
"If you have, you know I'm right."
"Probably right. Probably is a lot to risk dying for."
"You'd increase success rate if you used the first of the completed filters before going in." Jamie had to fight the urge to wiggle in his seat because he knew he was making progress. "Kept log time to under ten minutes. Ran a medical on the operator while he's on to catch any neurological changes. You got equipment in here that can be rigged to do that."
And Roarke had been considering doing just that after he'd gotten the boy, and the cops, out of the way.
But perhaps there was a more straightforward method to it all.
"Do you see where I'm going with this filter here?" he asked Jamie.
"Yeah, I got it."
"Finish it," Roarke ordered, then got up to make his pitch to Feeney.
McNab was all for it. Perhaps, Roarke thought, it was an easier matter for youth to gamble with mortality.
"We can do sims, analyses, probabilities for weeks and not have it wrapped," McNab insisted. "The answers are in the infected units, and the only way to get at them is to get at them."
"We haven't put a full day in yet." Feeney knew he was meant to be the voice of reason, but he was itching to tear into one of the infected units. "The more tests and sims we run, the better our chances."
"I'll have a filter-the best I think we can hope for under these conditions-ready to be interfaced within the hour." Roarke glanced back toward Jamie. "We can run sims with it first, bombard one of the units with viruses and subliminals, and see how it holds up. At that point, I'd say it'll be time for a calculated risk."
Feeney dragged out his bag of candied almonds. "The primary won't go for it."
"The primary," Roarke said, coolly dismissing the love of his life, "isn't an e-man."
"No, she sure as hell isn't. Never could get her to have any respect for technology. We finish the filter, run the sims. If it holds up, we go in."
"I'll operate," McNab said quickly.
"No, you won't."
"Captain-"
"You're already on partial medical. Results'd be skewed." It was bullshit, Feeney thought, but he'd be damned if he put McNab on the hot seat. He wasn't losing two men in two days.
"I should get to do it." Jamie swiveled around. "It was my idea."
Roarke barely spared him a glance. "Since we both have to answer to your mother, I won't even acknowledge that bit of stupidity."
"I don't see why-"
"Have you finished that programming, Jamie?" Roarke asked.
"No, but-"
"Finish it." He turned back to Feeney. "I'd say it's down to you and me."
"Just me. I'm the badge."
"An e-man's an e-man, badge or no. We can argue about that, the fact you've got a badge, the fact it's my equipment we're using here. But why don't we settle the matter like Irishmen?"
Both amusement and challenge lit Feeney's face. "You want to fight, or you want to drink?"
Roarke laughed. "I was thinking of the other manner of settling things. Gambling." Roarke dug a coin out of his pocket. "Heads or tails?" he asked. "You call."
Eve considered Chief Tibble a good cop, for a suit.
He was tough, he was honest, and he had a very strong bullshit sensor. He played the politics of his job better than most, and generally kept the mayor and other city officials off the backs of the rank and file.
But when murder came through an item everyone in the city-every voter in the city-owned, when the media was in high gear and one cop took another hostage in Central, the politicians were going to get their swings in.
Deputy Mayor Jenna Franco was known to swing hard.
Eve hadn't dealt with her personally before, but she'd seen her around City Hall or on-screen. She had the hard polish of a woman who knew it was essential to look her best while doing the job in an arena where votes were often swayed because a candidate was attractive.
She was a small woman who made up for it with snappy-looking three-inch heels. She was a curvy woman who took advantage of what nature or her body sculptor gave her with spiffily tailored suits in bold colors. Today's was power red and matched with a chunky gold necklace and earrings that looked as if they weighed five pounds each.
It made Eve's lobes throb just to look at them.
She looked more like some pampered society matron on her way to a ladies' luncheon than a hard-scrabble politician. And the opponents who'd come to that conclusion had been left in her dust.
That was something Eve could respect.
The fact Peachtree had sent her in his stead said he respected her as well.
With her was Lee Chang, the media liaison. He was short, slim, perfectly groomed in a gray pinstriped suit with his straight black hair slicked back.
He had Asian blood, an Oxford education, and an ability to juggle and spin the facts with expediency until it sounded true.
Eve had never liked him, and the feeling was completely mutual.
"Lieutenant," Tibble began, "we have a problem."
"Yes, sir."
"First, I understand Detective McNab is recuperating from his injuries at your home."
"Yes, sir. We have a medical supervising him-" Though she wasn't sure how she'd explain Summerset if pressed. "We felt he'd be more comfortable in familiar surroundings rather than the hospital."
"And his status this afternoon?"
"There's been no change at this time."
"I see." Tibble remained seated at his desk. "You'll keep this office informed in that area."
"Yes, sir."
"And the status of your investigation."
"I'm pursuing possible connections to the victims that may lead to the identity of members of the group calling themselves The Purity Seekers. Captain Feeney and his e-team are working on devising a shield so that the infected units can be examined and analyzed with reasonable safety. Medical and laboratory tests continue to be run on the victims in an attempt to ascertain the nature and cause of the brain damage that resulted in their deaths."
"'Reasonable safety.'"Jenna Franco lifted a hand-not like someone asking permission to speak, but as one accustomed to being heard. "What, precisely, does that mean?"
"I'm not an e-man, Ms. Franco. That leg of this investigation is in Captain Feeney's hands. All efforts are concentrated on devising a shield for maximum safety to the operator."
"Lieutenant, we can't have another New York City police officer implode, and potentially kill or injure fellow officers or civilians. I can't go back to the mayor or the media with the term 'reasonable safety.'"
"Ms. Franco, police officers go on shift every morning with no more than reasonable safety."
"They don't usually fire on their squad room and take their commanding officer hostage."
"No, ma'am, and Detective Halloway's commanding officer is in charge of the team who is working with all possible speed to ensure that doesn't reoccur."
"If I may." Chang's hands remained neatly folded; his face continued to hold a warm and pleasant expression. "It could be said that the police are utilizing all resources in this investigation to identify the source of the alleged electronic infection. The media will, of course, consult electronic experts to help them formulate their questions and to generate discussion and debate on-screen. We will, naturally, do the same."