SHORT HILLS, NJ

The late-night wind cut at Luca Portero as he strode across the crowded mall parking lot toward Lister's Mercedes. A perfect meeting place. The mall was staying open late for last-minute Christmas shoppers. Luca had taken advantage of that, arriving early and picking up a bracelet for Maria. He'd wait until after the holidays to dump her - no sense in spending New Year's Eve alone.

He wondered why Lister had insisted on a face to face tonight. He guessed it wouldn't be a happy meeting. When he opened the SUV's door and saw the expression on his old CO's fleshy face, he was sure of it.

"Cold out there," Luca said as he slipped into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

"Cold everywhere," Lister said. He sounded tired.

Not a good start. Better cut to the chase.

"What's the word on the plan? How many men they giving us?"

Lister shook his head. "None."

Luca felt as if he'd been slapped. "None? How are we going to - ?"

"We're not." He unbuttoned his camel hair coat. "They think using Strickland's body as bait is a waste of time. Why should anyone care about his body when his DNA fingerprint is on computer."

"But it won't be," Luca said. "Not after we hack the NYPD system."

"But it's not on just the NYPD computer. If you remember, Strickland had a rap sheet that included a couple of sexual assaults - one in Nassau County and one in Rockland - and a rape in Queens that he pleaded down to simple assault. He got around. And so did his RFLP. Seems if you're caught on a sexual assault in one area, the Special Victims Units in all the surrounding areas check your DNA for a match in the unsolved cases on their books. Craig Strickland's DNA is in dozens and dozens of police computers all over the tri-state area. Even we can't hack all those databases. It's an easy bet that a sharpie lawyer like Sullivan will figure that out, and have a good laugh at us if we try to use Strickland as bait."

Luca clenched his teeth. Damn. He should have thought of that.

"Dumb idea, Luca," Lister said. "It had people questioning your suitability for leading a field operation. Fortunately I was able to defuse that talk with your other idea. That went over big. The Old Man sent two people from his own office to help me canvass the SimGen Natal Center staff. We've been at it all day."

"We?" Luca said, glad he'd presented the Natal Center idea as his own.

Lister smiled. "I know I've become something of a REMF, but with manpower so short, I had to get personally involved."

"Did anyone mention being approached?"

Lister shook his head. "Negative."

"One of them could be lying. That sim's baby is too valuable to leave the delivery to chance. They're going to want experienced help."

"I agree. But then I thought to myself, if I was looking for that kind of expertise, would I approach a Natal Center OB and ask him or her to jeopardize career and benefits and pension plan and stock optionsand take a pass on a five-million-dollar bounty? I don't think so. No, if I were smart - and these people are reasonably smart - I'd go to aformer SimGen Natal Center OB, preferably a disgruntled one. One with a grudge or a score to settle."

Luca found himself nodding. Good thinking.

"Any hits?"

"A few of them look promising. Most have relocated but one still lives in the area. Name's Elizabeth Cannon. Her letter of resignation was a real bridge burner, calling SimGen a 'slave factory' and its board of directors 'morally bankrupt.' She lives on Long Island now and needs checking out. I emailed you the particulars. Finding this sim isn't just your number-one priority, Luca; it's theonly priority."

"I understand."

"Do you? I hope so. This couldn't be happening at a worse time. We should be devoting all our resources to making sure Guillotine comes off letter perfect; instead, I'm not reporting two dead operatives and praying that damn monkey doesn't give birth before you find her. This has got all the makings of a major clusterfuck."

Luca realized with a start that Lister was scared. Beneath the tough-guy pose, he was terrified. Not for his future in SIRG, but the future of SIRG itself. They were all frightened, all the way up to the Old Man.

Lister took a deep breath. "I'll be hunting down the other disgruntled OBs. Cannon's yours." He paused. "You look tired, but I don't advise sleep. Get on this ASAP. We don't know how much time we have."

"Roger."

The meeting over, Luca stepped out of the SUV and watched Lister drive away.

Elizabeth Cannon...he'd check her out first thing in the morning. But he also wanted to check out this genomic competition that had so rattled the Sinclairs. He needed every edge he could get.

He headed for his office computer to look up some genetics.