Critical

"Did you see anyone?" Bre

"Not a soul. How'd you make out?"

"I found a perfect spot."

Back in the car, Bre

Bre

"I'M NOT SURPRISED we didn't get her this morning," Franco said. "Snatching this medical examiner lady is not going to be easy. The area around the medical examiner's office is a busy place, with Bellevue on one side and NYU Medical Center on the other side."

"The problem was the damn protest," Angelo butted in. "If it hadn't been for all those Hispanics carrying on, we would have had an opportunity. Hell, she and her boyfriend, who was on crutches, walked in front of our van."

"You're making it sound too easy," Franco said. "First of all, there was an SUV in front of us. Second of all, there were two of them and only two of us. What are you thinking? There's no way we could muscle the two of them into the van without causing a major scene. I say we should just shoot her from a distance and walk away."

"No!" Angelo blurted. "I want to snatch her. That's the only way to be sure the job gets done, and I want to make sure."

"Paul Yang and Amy Lucas were both a piece of cake," Franco said. "They were unsuspecting and easy to lure. But this Montgomery chick is in a totally different ballpark. There's no way we are going to be able to talk her into getting into the van peacefully, and that assumes we can even get her by herself. With her boyfriend on crutches, she'll be helping him. I say we shoot her and be done with it. As a medical examiner, I'm sure there's a dozen people who wouldn't mind seeing her put away."

"What's the plan?" Vi

Franco, Angelo, Freddie, and Richie were all sitting in one of the Neapolitan booths, talking with Vi

"I agree with Franco, it's a challenge," Angelo said. "Unfortunately, she moved out of her digs on Nineteenth Street, which would have otherwise made it a breeze. We may be forced to find out where she lives, but for now I think we should continue to try at the medical examiner's office. Franco's also right about needing more bodies, especially if we have to deal with the boyfriend, something I wouldn't mind doing. And we need another van."

"Why another van?" Vi

"For backup. If the snatch goes bad, we have an alternate getaway vehicle."

Vi

"I want to be sure about this, too," Vi

"We are aware," Angelo said. He was relieved Vi

"Are you okay with this?" Vi

"It has its merits," Franco said grudgingly. "But I'm worried about one thing."

"What's that?"

"In all due respect, Angelo is a bit too juiced up over this job. This morning, after we left the stakeout, we had to stop at Home Depot for a big bucket and a couple of bags of quick-set. I get nervous when there's this degree of emotion. I mean, he's thinking about this purely as payback, not a job. When emotions are involved like this, mistakes happen. People don't think right."

A wry smile appeared on Vi

"So you want Laurie Montgomery to stew for a while before you drop her in the drink?"

"Something like that," Angelo admitted.

"What about Franco's point about mistakes can be made if emotions are involved and you're too eager?"

"I'll keep it in mind, and tone myself down."

Vi

Franco nodded. "If he listens to me."

Vi

"Okay," Vi

"Right!" the men said in unison as they slipped out of the booth.

After the men had left, Vi

20

Laurie hurried out of the autopsy room after completing her final postmortem for the day. She was anxious about the time, since the final two cases had taken longer than she'd expected, and she was desperate to get back to the MRSA mystery. She was also anxious about not knowing what else to do. She'd put a lot of stock in what she thought she might learn from the CDC, and although she sensed it was important to have learned that the three cases that had been extensively subtyped were all the exact same bacterium, she didn't quite know what to make of it. She'd also hoped that Silvia, a recognized MRSA expert, would have come up with some ideas and suggestions, but she hadn't.

As Laurie removed her Tyvek coverall, she stopped for a minute and looked at her hands. They were shaking, as if she'd had twenty cups of coffee. Preoccupied as to what she should do next, Laurie ducked into the locker room to change back into her clothes.

"Are you just finishing now?" Riva asked as Laurie appeared.

"I'm afraid so," Laurie said, spi

"I thought I'd assigned you cases that would have been quick. Sorry."

"Maybe I should have been able to do them quicker, but I felt the medical condition should be carefully documented. Both can be teaching cases."

"Really! Why?"

"The first one, the death at the dentist's office, turned out to be preventable, which is why it would be a good teaching case, particularly for primary-care and emergency-care physicians. The patient was reported by a family member to have had syncopal attacks involving palpitations, flushing, and diaphoresis, but it was never investigated."

"Hyperthyroidism," Riva said.

"You are exactly right," Laurie said. "It was not an allergic reaction as was suspected. The thyroid gland and the thymus gland were both diffusely enlarged, as were the heart and the spleen. That was why her blood pressure was so high in the emergency room."