"Four minutes," Preston Vale said.He said it loudly, easily, to nobody in particular, standing in the glare of his own headlights with his thumbs hooked in his belt. Four men in dark jackets fanned out behind him toward the cabin's front door."My guys are going to knock," Preston went on. "Politely. I figure four minutes, maybe five, before they decide he isn't home and go in." He smiled. "That's a long time, Captain. A man could cover a lot of ground in four minutes."Caleb crouched at the corner of the woodshed, one hand on Walt Ames's sleeve, and stared across the clearing.It made no sense. Preston Vale had four armed men and the whole dark forest on his side."Captain?" Walt breathed. "What is he doing?""I don't know.""Is that a threat?""I think," said Caleb slowly, "it's a head start."He didn't wait to be sure. He pulled the old man to his feet and ran.---They went down the slope

 The city council met on the second floor of City Hall, in a long marble room with brass chandeliers and benches polished by a century of nervous elbows.Station Six was item nine on the agenda. By eight forty, the gallery was full.Caleb recognized most of them. The Dominguez family from Pell Street had come in their church clothes, the boy holding his mother's hand. Mrs. Okafor from Alder Street sat in the third row with a purse the size of a suitcase. Half the fish-market owners from Dock Street stood against the back wall in aprons, arms folded, glaring at the dais. And in the front row, shoulder to shoulder in dress blues, sat the entire crew of Station Six.Nobody had asked them to come. Emmett had simply put a notice on the bulletin board.*Council meeting Tuesday. Wear your good uniform. Don't talk unless you're asked.*Nolan had not looked at the notice for a very long time.---Councilwoman Bright called the ite

 "It's a builder's risk policy," Priya said. "I had to learn three new vocabularies to read it. Don't ask me to explain it twice."She had commandeered the conference room at the Eleanor Whitfield Fund's new office, a rented suite above a bank on Calloway Street. A whiteboard stood against one wall, covered in her small, furious handwriting. Detective Alvarez leaned against the windowsill. Caleb sat at the table with a cup of untouched coffee."Begin at the beginning," Alvarez said."Builder's risk covers a structure while it's under construction. Fire, collapse, theft, vandalism. The owner pays a premium, and if the building is damaged before completion, the insurer pays." Priya tapped the board. "Hale Meridian carried a policy on the tower for three years. Eighty million dollars in coverage. Reasonable, for a thirty-two-story building.""And?""And six weeks ago, someone amended it." She uncapped a marker and wrote a number, circled

 Without the badge, the mornings were long.Caleb woke at five anyway, out of habit, and lay in the dark of the little house on Linden Street listening for a tone that wasn't coming. Beside him, Nadia slept with one arm flung over her head. Downstairs the kettle ticked as it cooled.He made coffee. He stood at the window. Across the street, a gray sedan sat at the curb with a man in a ball cap behind the wheel, pretending to read a newspaper."They've been there since Friday," Nadia said, coming up behind him in her robe."I know.""Are you going to say something?""Not yet." He put an arm around her. "I'd rather he got bored first."She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I fixed the egress lights at the motel yesterday. Teddy and I did it ourselves. Four of the eleven violations are cleared. Priya's electrician is coming Thursday for the rest." She hesitated. "Caleb, what's happening? Really?"He told her. All of i