import of his words floated in the air.
“That’s where the killer will go,” she declared firmly. Her shoulder had stopped quivering.
“That’s what I think too. And this time we’ll be there waiting for him.”
“You will be?”
“We will be. Assuming you want to come.”
Amaia smiled. “Of course I do.”
Dupree offered his hand. “Johnson will accompany you. You have to fill out some security paperwork first, and then they’ll give you temporary credentials and a firearm. You don’t have much time. We leave for New Orleans in two hours.”
Johnson was all smiles as he escorted her to be sworn in as a temporary FBI agent. They gave her clothing, a bulletproof vest, a temporary badge, and a gun. She went back to the dormitory. Trying not to make noise, she opened the low chest of drawers where she kept her few belongings. She smiled at the thought of choosing appropriate attire for a hurricane. She put a bag on the bed and set out her few things next to it. When she had it ready to go, she checked her watch. Half an hour until departure.
Gertha hadn’t budged. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Amaia weighed whether to wake her friend.
There was no need.
“Either you will tell me what is going on or I will explode,” the German officer said, her eyes still closed. Smiling and drowsy, she listened to Amaia’s account, then congratulated her and gave her an affectionate hug. “How do you feel?”
“Fine,” Amaia replied, perhaps a little too quickly.
“Natürlich!” her friend said, rolling her eyes. “And now, my little Amaia of the valley, tell your friend Gertie the truth.”
Amaia shut her eyes and chewed her lower lip. “Scared, Gertha. I’m scared. This is the real thing, friend, not an exercise. If I make a mistake, people could die. I can’t get that out of my mind. It’s all very fine to discuss theories in an office, but yesterday, when I saw the horrible wound in that child’s head . . . They think I’m out of my depth, and what if they’re right?”
Gertha took Amaia’s hands in her own. “Listen to me, Amaia. We do not know one another very long, but I see things in you. What makes you strong, what makes you fragile, the questions you always ask yourself—I hope someday you will find the answers to them. You are good, Amaia Salazar, you are strong. But more than that: you are an outstanding police officer. You have the instincts of a born detective. Dupree isn’t stupid. He saw it too.”
“Yes, but if—”
“No ifs! Go to New Orleans, do a good job. Do not be afraid, and stick to your guns. That is what Dupree wants. He said this yesterday, correct? And don’t forget that yes, they are FBI agents, but you are not a cadet. You were the youngest assistant inspector ever in your force. You tracked down a collector, for God’s sake! And you did it all by yourself. You hold your head high, Amaia of the valley, and do your job!”
A knock at the door interrupted them. Amaia checked the time. She still had twenty minutes. She opened the door and found a woman in uniform standing in the hall.
“Assistant Inspector Salazar? You have a telephone call from Spain.”
She felt a chill. Only one person could be calling, and it could only mean bad news.
Amaia couldn’t hide her concern. Gertha frowned, detecting it. Amaia gave her an unconvincing smile and then followed the officer to a room with half a dozen phone booths. She went to the one the woman indicated and picked up the phone.
“Aunt Engrasi, are you all right?”
The calm, beloved voice came to her through the line. “I’m fine, dear, and I didn’t want to alarm you. How are you? And how’s everything going?”
“I’m fine, Auntie, it’s going really well. But what is it? Why are you calling?”
She heard a tense silence at the other end of the line. Amaia could almost see her aunt Engrasi in the big armchair next to the little telephone table. Her hair would be up in a Parisian bun, and the window would be open to let the breezes from the River Baztán in to cool her house.
“Amaia, it’s about your father. He’s very ill. On Sunday he had another attack, and he’s been in the hospital for the past three days. I didn’t call before this because I didn’t want to worry you, but his condition has gotten much worse in the last few