“That’s right. And I’ve got something else for you, too. She’s got access to her money online. Right over a modem. If you could get her to tell you the right numbers…”
The AP wire said, “Luxury Home Firebombed!”
Beryl Summerdale’s neighbors hadn’t heard a thing until the house on Castle Crescent suddenly burst into flames at approximately three in the morning.
It took the local Fire Department only minutes to respond to their frantic calls, but the house was already incinerated.
The Arson Squad said a highly sophisticated series of incendiary devices had been used, but no more information could be released at this time.
The crime-scene investigators said “human bone fragments” had been located.
The lead detective on the case said that the house was known to have been owned and occupied by Ms. Summerdale and her infant daughter. Both were presumed to have perished in the explosion.
The Special Agent in Charge of the local FBI office said that speculation about terrorists targeting the wrong house “has, to the best of our knowledge, no basis in fact at this time,” although he acknowledged that the neighborhood was home to several prominent D.C. insiders.
Beryl Summerdale had no known enemies. Her ex-husband had been ruled out. The police had no suspects.
Loyal stood on the sidewalk outside her building. A white Cadillac sedan was at the curb. The trunk was full of luggage. The back seat was full of baby stuff.
“Her name is Charisse, after my mother,” Loyal said. “Of all the things you did for me, she was the best. I never even knew how much I wanted—”
“It’s what I wanted, too,” I said. Pure truth.
“You know where I’ll be, Lew.”
“You’ll be home.”
“Home with my little girl,” Loyal said. She stood close, her heart in her eyes. “Your home, too, if you ever want one,” she said, very softly.
“I just might,” I said, lying to her for what I knew was the last time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator of sexually transmitted diseases, a social-services caseworker, and a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for “aggressive-violent” youth. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series, two collections of short stories, and a wide variety of other material, among them song lyrics, graphic novels, essays, and a “children’s book for adults.” His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, the New York Times, and numerous other forums. A native New Yorker, he now divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.
The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is www.vachss.com.
ALSO BY ANDREW VACHSS
Flood
Strega
Blue Belle
Hard Candy
Blossom
Sacrifice
Shella
Down in the Zero
Born Bad
Footsteps of the Hawk
False Allegations
Safe House
Choice of Evil
Everybody Pays
Dead and Gone
Pain Management
Only Child
The Getaway Man
Down Here
Two Trains Running
Copyright © 2006 by Andrew Vachss
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Pantheon Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vachss, Andrew H.
Mask market / Andrew Vachss.
p. cm.
eISBN-13: 978-0-375-42441-0
eISBN-10: 0-375-42441-5
1. Burke (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. 3. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. 4. Missing persons—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3572.A33M37 2006
813'.54—dc22 2005048285
www.pantheonbooks.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
v1.0
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