The Big Bad Wolf

EVERYTHING FELT LIKE it was going much too fast, like it was spinning out of control. Maybe that was right. The case was out of our control - the Wolf was running it. I got a phone call at home two nights later. It was quarter past three in the morning. "This had better be good." "It isn't. All hell's broken loose, Alex. It's a war." The caller was Tony Woods, and he sounded groggy. I massaged my forehead as I spoke. "What war? Tell me what happened." "We got word from Texas a few minutes ago. Lawrence Lipton is dead, murdered. They got to him in his cell." I was starting to wake up in a hurry. "How? He was in our custody, wasn't he?" "Two agents were killed with Lipton. He predicted it, didn't he?" I nodded, then I said, "Yeah." "Alex, they got to the Lipton family too. They're all dead. HRT is on the way to your house, also the director's, even Mahoney's. Anybody who worked on the case is considered vulnerable and at risk." That got me up out of bed. I took my Glock out of the locked cabinet beside my bed. "I'll be waiting for HRT," I told Woods, then I hurried downstairs with my gun in hand. Was the Wolf already here? I wondered. The war came to our house a few minutes later, and even though it was HRT, it couldn't have been much scarier. Nana Mama was up and she greeted the heavily armed FBI agents with angry looks but also offers of coffee. Then she and I went to wake the children as gently as we could. "This isn't right, Alex. Not in our home," Nana whispered as we went upstairs to get Jannie and Damon. "The line has to be drawn somewhere, doesn't it? This is bad." "I know it is. It's gotten out of control, everything has. The world is that way now." "So what are you going to do about it? What are you planning to do?" "Right now, wake the kids. Hug them, kiss them. Get them out of this house for a while." "Are you listening to yourself?" Nana asked as we arrived at the doorway to Damon's bedroom. He was already sitting up in bed. "Dad?" he said. Ned Mahoney came up behind me. "Alex, can I have a second?" What was he doing here? What else had happened? "I'll wake them, get them dressed," Nana said. "Talk to your friend." I stayed behind with Mahoney. "What is it, Ned? Can't it wait for a couple of minutes? Jesus." "The bastards hit Burns's house. Everybody's all right. We got there in time." I stared into Mahoney's eyes. "Your family?" "They're out of the house. They're safe for now. We've got to find him and burn him." I nodded. "Let me get my kids up." Twenty minutes later my family was escorted outside to a waiting van. They climbed inside like frightened refugees in a war zone. That's what the world was becoming, wasn't it? Every city and town was a potential battlefield. No place was safe. Just before I climbed into the van, I spotted a photographer posted across the street from our house on Fifth Street. It looked like he was photographing the evacuation of our house. Why was that? I'm not sure how I knew who he was, but somehow I did. He's not from any newspaper, I thought. I felt myself filling with rage and disgust. He works for Christine's lawyers.