“Okay,” Frye said. “What about the Redskins?”

“I’d rather not,” Theo said. More laughs.

“Nationals?”

“Sure, I like the Nationals.”

“Great. Now we’re getting somewhere. We’ll put you in that red Nationals jersey with a matching cap.”

“No cap,” Theo said.

“Well, excuse me. But we think you should wear a cap of some sort, part of a disguise.”

“Okay, sure, but not a Nationals cap. I have one of my own.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll look at it in a minute. Now, if we can proceed, here’s the plan.” One wall was covered with a huge map of central DC and above it was a row of enlarged photos, all of Mr. Duffy. Frye stepped to the wall and pointed to a spot labeled MARRIOTT. “We’re here. The Metro Center Station is just around the corner. That’s where you got on last Thursday, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Duffy was already on the train, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“By the way we’ll use a code name for him. It’s Cowboy.”

“I don’t like the Cowboys, either,” Theo said. More laughs.

“Well, who do you like? What’s your favorite football team.”

“Green Bay Packers.”

“Okay, we’ll use Packer. Does that suit everybody?” Frye looked at his team. Everyone shrugged. Who really cared what they called him? Frye continued, “Good. We’re making a lot of progress here. At four o’clock you and Mr. Boone will ride the subway up to Union Station and catch the four thirty-eight coming back this way. Theo will be in the third car, Mr. Boone in the fourth. We will have people in all the cars, and there will always be an agent within ten feet of you, Theo. At four thirty you and Mr. Boone will be hanging around the Judiciary Square Station, waiting on the train and watching the crowd.” Frye was pointing to the map as he spoke. “You’ll get back on the train at that point and ride here to the Metro Center. If you see nothing, you’ll ride to the Farragut North Station, switch cars, and ride all the way to the Tenleytown Station. At that point you’ll get off and hang around there for half an hour. That’s where Packer made his exit last week. We thoroughly covered this route on Tuesday and Wednesday, saw nothing of course, and, frankly, right now we’re just praying for a miracle.”

“How do we communicate?” Ike asked.

“Oh, we have lots of toys, Mr. Boone.”

“Can I go by Ike?”

“Sure. Makes it easier.” Frye stepped to a small table that was covered with gadgets. He picked one up. “Looks like your typical smart phone, right?” he said. “But it’s really a two-way radio. Plug in the earphones, and you and Theo will look exactly like a couple of guys listening to music while you send e-mails or play games.” He moved it a little closer to his face. “And if you need to speak, just get it to within eighteen inches of your mouth, press the green button, and speak softly. It will pick up almost anything. We’ll all be on the same frequency and listening in. Any one of us can talk to the others at any time.”

He looked at Slade and Ackerman and said, “I assume you guys want to join the fun.”

Both nodded yes.

“Okay, we’ll give you a couple of briefcases and you’ll pretend to be lawyers. There are only about half a million in this city, so you should blend in okay. I’ll be at the Metro Center Station. Salter here will be at Woodley Park and Keenum will be at Tenleytown. Questions?”

Theo asked, “And what if we spot Packer?”

“I was getting to that. First, don’t stare. Is there any chance he might recognize you?”

Theo looked at Ike and shrugged. “I really doubt it. We’ve never met, never been too close to each other. I saw him when he was sitting in court, but I’m sure he didn’t see me. The courtroom was crowded. And I saw him a couple of times out of the courthouse during the trial, but he would not remember me. I mean, I’m just a kid. What do you think, Ike?”

“I doubt it, too, but let’s not take any chances.”

Frye asked, “Did he look at you last week when you saw him on the train?”

“I don’t think so. We didn’t make eye contact.”

“Okay, if you spot him, don’t stare, and as soon as you can without being noticed, press the green button and tell us. Depending on how close he is to you, we’ll ask the questions. When it looks like he’s about to get off the train, let us know. When he does, follow him but don’t get close. By then we’ll have people ready to stop him.”

The thought of being close by when the FBI nabbed Pete Duffy made Theo’s stomach turn a flip. It would be terribly exciting, and he would be considered a hero, but he really didn’t want the attention.

Frye convinced Theo to wear a pair of black-frame glasses as part of his disguise. They spent another ten minutes haggling over the right cap. No one seemed to like the one he brought — a faded, green John Deere number with an adjustable strap. City kids probably wouldn’t wear a cap advertising farm machinery, and Theo finally gave in. He agreed on a gray one with a Georgetown Hoyas logo. They decided not to use his backpack, but instead gave him one that was much lighter, just in case he had to move fast once on the streets. He and Ike ran through the workings of their new radios and earphones, and when everything seemed ready, they left and headed for the Metro Center Station.

They boarded and Theo found a seat in the center of the fourth car. Ike, wearing a sports coat, different glasses, khakis and loafers, sat across from him. The guy with the maroon jogging suit was a few feet away, standing. When the train began to move, Theo plugged in his earphones and scanned the crowd. He pretended to be texting when he heard Frye’s voice. “How you doing, Theo?”

Theo raised the phone a few inches, pressed the green button, and softly said, “Everything’s cool. No sign of Packer.”

“We hear you loud and clear.”

Theo, Ike, and the jogger got off at the Tenleytown Station, waited a few minutes, then caught an inbound train. Minutes later, it stopped at the Judiciary Square Station and they got off. That was where the FBI assumed Pete Duffy boarded the train. Theo walked around, lost in his music and texts, the same as the other kids waiting for the train. No sign of Duffy. At the end of the platform, he saw the sailor. At the other end, he saw the skinny student. More commuters arrived and the platform got crowded. In the throng, he saw Slade, looking very much like a lawyer. The train arrived. No one got off and the commuters rushed on board. Theo got swept up with the crowd and found a spot in the middle of the third car. Ike disappeared into the fourth. The jogger was standing five feet from Theo. As the train bolted forward, Theo casually looked around.

Nothing. No one remotely resembled Pete Duffy.

More commuters packed on board at the Metro Center Station. Nothing. At Farragut North, Theo scrambled to leave the third car and climb onto the fifth car. Nothing. Their next, and final, stop was the Tenleytown Station. Several commuters got off, along with Theo, Ike, the jogger, and the sailor. When he felt comfortable, he pressed the green button and said, “Theo, here, and I just got off the train. I’ve seen no one.”

Ike replied: “This is Ike and I’ve seen nothing.”

As instructed they hung around the station until two more trains stopped. Frye instructed them to reboard the inbound train, return to Judiciary Square, and do it all again. For Theo, the excitement was fading. There were so many people using the subway it seemed almost impossible to see them all.

For two hours, Theo and Ike rode the red line, back and forth, between the Tenleytown and Judiciary Square stations.

If Pete Duffy was still in town, he was either riding in cabs or using another subway line. For the third day in a row, the search for him went nowhere.

In his hotel room, Theo changed out of the red Nationals jersey and took off the Georgetown cap. He called his mother and gave a full report. He was thoroughly bored with the subway but still enjoying the hunt. In his opinion, they were wasting their time.