Again Jesse felt it across his shoulders. He was aware, against his hip, of the mild weight of his holstered gun.

“Is he here?” Jesse said.

Jenn seemed to jump a little.

“Here?”

“Did he follow you here?” Jesse said.

“No. I saw him outside my apartment this morning, so went out through the back cellar door and down the alley. I took a cab here.”

“How long has he stalked you.”

“I saw him near the station when I went in, the day after it happened. Yesterday, he was hanging around a shoot I was on in Natick…. What would you have done if he were here.”

Jesse was quiet.

“I want to know,” Jenn said.

“I would have seen to it,” Jesse said, “that he never hurt you again.”

Jenn nodded and folded her arms and leaned her back against the door.

“Would you kill him?”

“If I had to,” Jesse said.

“I’d kill him,” Jenn said. “I will kill him if I get a chance.”

Jesse nodded.

“I need you to get me a gun.”

Jesse nodded.

“And show me how to use it.”

“I can do that,” Jesse said.

“You know what the bastard was like?” Jenn said.

Jesse shook his head.

“He came into my apartment right behind me,” Jenn said. “He had a gun. He stood there in my living room and pointed the gun at me and made me undress.”

Jesse was very still.

“For crissake, stand there and undress,” Jenn said. “Take off all my clothes, squirm out of my pantyhose, in front of a total fucking stranger.”

Jesse waited. Jenn was barely talking to him.

“And then I’m standing there completely undressed, nothing on, and the fucking sonovabitch couldn’t get it up.”

Jesse nodded.

“I had to stand there naked and watch him fondle himself until he was hard enough.”

Jenn’s breathing was heavy now, and short. Jesse listened to the interior sound his own breath made going in and out. He was breathing harshly, too.

“Then he made me lie on the floor and he did it. On the floor. He jammed it in and pushed hard and called me names and told me I liked it rough.”

Jesse nodded.

“It hurt,” Jenn said.

“Did you see a doctor?”

“No.”

“I can take you,” Jesse said.

“No.”

“How can I make it better?”

“Find him and kill him.”

Jesse nodded. Jenn stood and tried to control her breathing.

“I’ll find him,” Jesse said.

“And kill him?”

“Can you work with a sketch artist?” Jesse said.

Jenn shrugged.

“Could you pick him out of a mug book?” Jesse said.

Jenn shrugged again.

“I have to stay with you,” Jenn said. “You have to protect me.”

Jesse nodded.

“I’ll protect you,” he said.

“All the time.”

“There’ll be someone with you,” Jesse said, “all the time.”

“You?”

“Me or somebody good.”

“I want you,” Jenn said.

“We’ll figure something out,” Jesse said. “We’ll make it work.”

13

Jenn’s lying down in the bedroom,” Jesse said on the phone.

“Can you talk with Lutz?”

“Sure,” Molly said.

“See if he can ID the woman,” Jesse said. “Find out what Weeks was doing in town. Why Weeks needed a bodyguard, that kind of thing.”

“I can do that,” Molly said.

“Thank you.”

“And run the daily briefing, and the front desk.”

“I know you can.”

“And take care of my husband and four kids.”

“Of course,” Jesse said.

“I am woman, hear me roar.”

“It won’t be forever,” Jesse said.

“What are you going to do about Jenn?” Molly said.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Maybe it will be forever.”

“No. I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m a woman, Jesse. I sympathize maybe more than you can imagine with Jenn. I want her safe, and I want the rapist where he should be.”

“Which might be in the ground,” Jesse said.

“I would have no problem with that,” Molly said. “As long as you came out of it okay.”

“Thank you.”

“I care about you, Jesse, and I can imagine how you feel,” Molly said. “Yes, we can get by in the short run, probably. But this department won’t function without you.”

“Yes.”

“Especially now.”

“Yes.”

“Plus, you can’t find the rapist for her if you are home watching her all day.”

“Sometimes I’ll be at the studio watching her,” Jesse said.

“You know what I mean,” Molly said.

“I do.”

“And we can’t spare anybody, Jesse. Not now, not with the two murders and the goddamned press. Plus, the governor’s office calls every day. And some congressman.”

“I know.”

“And what are you going to do about Sunny Randall?” Molly said.

“I don’t know.”

“Jesse,” Molly said. “This is a fucking mess.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Jesse said.

“I want to ask you a bad question,” Molly said.

“Why should today be different,” Jesse said.

The line was silent for a moment.

“Do you completely believe her?” Molly said.

“That is a bad question,” Jesse said.

“I know.”

Again the line was silent.

Then Jesse said, “Maybe not completely.”

After a time, Molly said, “Will you be there if I need you?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll talk with Lutz,” Molly said. “And call you back.”

“Talk about phoning it in,” Jesse said.

He hung up and stood and walked past his picture of Ozzie to the French doors and opened them and went out and stood on the balcony and looked at the harbor and thought.

14

This is absolutely insane,” Sunny Randall said.

“I know,” Jesse said.

“She and I can’t be together,” Jenn said.

“Of course not,” Jesse said.

He was sitting on a stool at the bar in his living room in front of his picture of Ozzie Smith. Jenn sat in a chair to his left, near the bedroom corridor. Sunny sat in a chair to his right. We’re even sitting in a triangle, Jesse thought. The phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the display. It was Molly. He answered.

“Jesse, there’s a guy here from the governor’s office,” Molly said. “Looking for you.”

“Tell him I’m not available now.”

“He won’t like that,” Molly said.

“I can’t worry, right now,” Jesse said, “about what people like.”

“I’ll try to handle it,” Molly said.

“Thanks, Moll.”

“But I’m not the chief of police,” Molly said.

“Do what you can,” Jesse said. “I’ll be there when I can be there.”

He hung up and looked at the two women. Neither of them said anything. It was late morning, and the sun coming through the French doors made a long, bright parallelogram on the living-room floor. Jesse picked up an empty highball glass from the bar. It was made of thick glass and had a nice heft to it.

“I need a drink,” Jesse said.

Neither woman spoke.

“Probably needed too many drinks in my life,” Jesse said.

The women stayed quiet. Jesse smiled without happiness. He turned the empty glass slowly in both hands.

“Booze aside,” he said, “there are, as far as I can tell, three things in life that matter to me. Jenn, Sunny, and being a cop. Things have not gone well with us, Jenn. But because I can’t quite let you go, things aren’t going as well as they should with you, Sunny.”

“In fairness,” Sunny said, “there is, of course, Richie.”

Jesse nodded.

“In fairness,” Jenn said. “There are a lot of things.”

“Both of you,” Jesse said, “matter more to me than anything, except my job, and I seem unable to do my job if I don’t ask you to do something that is probably unfair to both of you.”

“Which would make you, in some sense, oh-for-three,” Sunny said.

“Yes, I cannot allow Jenn to be unprotected. I cannot allow her rapist to walk around free and easy. And I cannot protect her or find her rapist and remain a good chief of police.”

“Which was what saved you when you came east from L.A.,” Jenn said. “Alone.”