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Like this case that had brought him out to Colorado. He could see potential leads, looming problems, possible solutions where others didn’t. He had always been an “unusual” FBI agent. Hell, that was why they said they had recruited him out of NYU Law. During his interviews he’d been told that the Bureau wanted him because they were too straitlaced and traditional, and therefore too predictable. He was supposed to represent a new, evolved kind of agent. And he sure had! For a while, anyway. They had sold hard on the idea of breaking out of the envelope, working outside the box; but once he was inside the organization, he discovered that the FBI really didn’t want to change very much.

She’d been hanging on to the top of a tree for hours, hidden in thick branches. At least she hoped she was hidden. She tried to be still. Silent, too. Invisible, three. Max was shivering, and the whole thing was crashing out of control. She really, really wished Matthew was with her. They would give each other strength and hope and words of wisdom. It had always been that way with the two of them. They were inseparable at the School. Mrs. Beattie, the only truly nice one there, called them “inseparable at birth,” and the “Bobbsey Twins”—whoever the heck they were.

They hurried the infant inside. There was a high degree of excitement in the air, exultation, almost glee. The head doctor at the School was on premises for the exam and watched closely, supervising, lecturing at times. Heart rate, respiration, skin color, muscle tone, reflex responses were checked. Baby Hutton scored a perfect 10. The boy’s length and weight were checked. Tests were performed to check for cardiac murmur, heart engorgement, subconjunctival hemorrhage, jaundice, asexuality, hip dysplasia, clavicle fractures, skin mottling.