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pretty
short notice. He must have read my mind because he added, with a
bit of apologetic haste, “I am very sorry, but we weren’t aware
that your parents were out of town. We left them two messages, but
received no reply.”
    It took me a moment to decipher “awawe and
pawents,” but I understood a moment later. “My parents are in
Europe.”
    “ We discovered that this
week. I’m afraid that we were so certain that Lucy would be picked
up that she dropped through the cracks. You know, your family is
very good at visiting. Most families are not.”
    “ Thanks,” I said, but my
mind was still processing his comment about this
weekend.
    “ We really need Lucy to be
relocated,” he said again. “We have made arrangements with another
school, but the closest one that we feel comfortable with is on the
far west side of Iowa, and I don’t know if you would want your
sister that far.”
    “ No,” I said, quickly, as
though he was about to make an immediate decision and send her off
that minute. “No, she can stay with me. Do you have any idea how
long the asbestos removal will take?”
    “ We anticipate no longer
than two weeks,” he said. “What time can you be here
tomorrow?”
    I thought about William. “Can’t I pick her
up on Sunday?”
    “ I’m sorry, no. They’ll be
bringing in all the crew on Sunday, and taking over the area. We
don’t want any of our residents here at the time. We think it would
be too stressful for them. Too difficult to see so many strangers
here. Upsetting, you know.”
    “ Tomorrow?”
    “ Yes, the earlier the
better.”
    I sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I
can.”
    Maybe, I thought. Maybe if I started out
really early, I could have her back home by mid-afternoon, and
still make my date with William. Maybe we could push it back a bit,
but still . . .
    I shook my head. Lucy would expect to spend
time with me. I couldn’t leave her alone—not with some kind of mad
killer running loose in the neighborhood. I couldn’t just drop her
over at my aunt and uncle’s house when I hadn’t seen her in almost
a month, either. They’d probably generously offer to have Lucy come
visit while I was at work during the week, but to take advantage of
their good nature by imposing on their weekend wasn’t fair to them
and it wasn’t fair to her.
    Even if I started out at eight in the
morning, it was a three hour trip one-way, in good weather with no
construction. Add in packing her things up for an extended stay,
and the trip back, and the day was shot.
    I stared out the window at the sunny day.
Just as beautiful as David Dewars had described. I wished I could
feel as good as the day looked.

Chapter Six

    I pulled Jordan in and brought her up to
speed after my phone call with Lucy’s school. I then stopped by
Bass’s office to tell him about Evelyn Vicks.
    The team’s offices lined the perimeter of
the entire second floor of our building. Bass had a corner office
facing north and west. My office was just a couple of doors away,
and I overlooked the Chicago River, with a gorgeous view of the
Wrigley Building and the Tribune Towers. Hank had the corner office
that faced North and East, but William, tucked at the far end of
the line of offices, faced south—right into the side of a marble
building, so close he could touch it if the windows hadn’t been
welded shut.
    His door was open, and the lights were on.
Poor guy always had to have lamps and overhead lights on, seeing as
how no natural sunlight ever pierced the narrow opening between the
two buildings.
    “ Hi,” I said, as I walked
in.
    He looked up and smiled. A genuine “glad to
see you” smile. It both warmed my heart and made me feel immense
disappointment at the same time.
    He put his pen down and gestured for me to
sit. “What’s up?”
    I shook my head. “Remember me telling you
about my sister, Lucy?”
    His head canted, ever so slightly.
Concerned. “Yeah.”
    “ Well,” I sat across from
him, “it