Lawless wasn't home so Baskel left and drove to Jensen's apartment. He'd calmed down some on the drive, until he saw Lawless's car parked in front; his blood boiled again. He pounded on the door and shouted, "Lawless, are you in there?"

Jensen opened the door in her robe, eyebrows raised. "Did you think we were deaf, Detective?" She looked at her door as if she expected to see marks left by his fists.

"Don't give me any shit. Where's Lawless?"

"In here, Dave," came Lawless's voice from the kitchen.

Baskel pushed by Jensen, stomped through the living room to the kitchen where he was greeted by the smell of bacon and eggs. His stomach hitched and he realized he hadn't eaten all morning. Lawless was sitting at the kitchen table in his underwear, with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon and a glass of orange juice.

When he saw Baskel looking at his lack of clothes, he shrugged and said, "Sandra only has one robe. Want some eggs? She makes terrific scrambled eggs. She puts these-"

"What the hell happened last night and where the hell have you been all morning and why the hell haven't you checked in?" Baskel sat at the table and glared at Lawless, and tried to ignore the smell of the eggs.

Jensen joined them at the table, nursing a cup of coffee, and looked at Lawless with those eyes of hers.

"I only remember part of last night, most of which I understand you heard before my cell phone died. After that, I went inside the monster and can't remember a thing."

Baskel couldn't help but look at the eggs. His stomach rumbled.

Lawless looked at Jensen, down at the eggs, then at Baskel. She smiled and nodded and got up and starting fixing eggs for Baskel.

"We're out of bacon. That okay, Detective?"

Baskel ignored her and continued his interrogation. "So where have you been all night? Here?"

"Yes. Sandra said she brought me here and put me to bed after the monster left. We didn't wake up until ten. What time is it now?" He looked at the microwave.

"It's almost eleven-thirty," Baskel barked at him, trying to stay mad. The smell of garlic and onions cooking in butter was driving him crazy. When his stomach rumbled again he shifted in his chair, trying to make it stop. The rumbling turned into a growl.

"Why didn't you call in when you woke up?"

"You're right. I should have called. I'm sorry."

His apology seemed sincere, so Baskel relaxed. He heard eggs being poured into a hot pan and saw Jensen, out of the corner of his eye, stirring.

"What some coffee, Detective?" Jensen asked him.

"No, thank you. I got enough caffeine in me to keep half the city awake for a week." Orange juice sounded pretty good to him, though, but he didn't ask for any. He wasn't sure how comfortable he wanted to feel around these two, certainly not as comfortable as Lawless felt, sleeping here and eating breakfast in his underwear. And he was calling her Sandra now, not Deputy Jensen. Looking at them, he wouldn't figure them for a pair. It was easy to see why he would be interested in her, but what did she see in him?

Lawless gave Baskel a sly look, then got up and poured him a glass of orange juice.

Baskel frowned, but said, "Thank you."

His stomach launched into one continuous rumble-growl, so he looked over to check on the status of his breakfast: Jensen was grating cheese over the eggs. If she sat and started to eat those eggs in front of him, he would take them from her by gunpoint.

Lawless laughed. "The detective's eggs about done? I think he's hungry enough to kill for them."

Baskel's head snapped around and he glared at Lawless.

Lawless shrugged. "It's written all over your face."

"As a matter of fact, they're done right now. Tabasco?"

"Please."

She set the plate in front of him and his salivary glands went into overdrive. He shook the bottle of hot sauce over his eggs and said, "Thank you. I guess I was hungry."

He attacked his plate and was half done when he realized the room was quiet but for the sound of his fork hitting the plate. Embarrassed, he looked at Jensen. "Lawless was right. You make some great eggs."

"So Dave, did you work the scene last night?" Lawless asked, in a quiet voice.

Baskel nodded as he speared a forkful of eggs and cheese. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen. It'll haunt me the rest of my life."

He chewed and speared another forkful, this time finding some onion. His fork hung in the air, a string of cheese connecting the eggs to the plate, as he thought about last night's slaughter; the images ran through his mind, a seemingly endless stream of gore and blood, and suddenly he didn't feel so hungry.

Lawless regretted asking him about it while he was still eating. "We can talk about it later. What plans have you guys been making?"

"Plan's pretty simple," Baskel said. His hunger and the smell of the eggs got the better of him and he resumed eating, talking with his mouth full. "Captain's going to try and get the canals drained. We'll have a search team organized and ready to go. We'll need the Sheriff Department's help with the search." He looked at Lawless.

Lawless nodded. "I'm sure the sheriff will be happy to be in on that. Maybe not him personally, but everyone else will be out there looking."

Baskel swallowed and said, "Think you could help, in ... other ways?"

Lawless looked at Jensen, and Baskel felt something pass between them, but wasn't sure what. Of course they were sleeping together, but so what? It wasn't his departmental rules they were violating. They had something else going when they were together, some kind of chemistry. Especially when Lawless was having his visions. He pictured the scene inside Lawless's car, in the empty parking lot last night: it was as if Jensen had played a vital role, assisting and directing him where to look. Looking back on it now, it had been downright eerie.

He shook the image out of his head. The whole thing was way out of his league.

"Probably," Jensen said, answering for Lawless. "Even though he can't turn the visions on-and-off at will, the way things have been going he's bound to be involved somehow."

Baskel looked at her and wondered why she had answered for him.

"We're sort of a team in this," Lawless said, as if Baskel had asked the question out loud. Baskel shook his head again, sure he was just imagining things.

He finished his eggs and pushed his plate away.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Jensen got more coffee.

Baskel cleared his throat. "The shotgun didn't kill it. Didn't even phase it. Howard said something like, 'The shotgun pellets struck the subject and fell down into the sand.' " He waited for Lawless to say something.

Lawless nodded and finished his orange juice.

Baskel saw he needed to be more direct. "Got any ideas how we can kill it?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd have a high-powered rifle with me if I went looking for it, maybe even some explosives. See if you can get those guns they use to shoot elephants, the ones with the four-inch shells. Maybe you should call in the National Guard. I'll bet they've got some good stuff."

Baskel shook his head. "Captain doesn't want to call in the Guard yet, thinks we can flush it out and kill it ourselves."

"You don't look like you think that's the right decision," Jensen said.

"I don't think it's an ego thing with him, he's never been like that, but I'm not sure we should try and do this on our own. Maybe having some big guns to fire at it is the way to go. Something that can be fired from a safe distance."

"Who's going to flush it out once the canals are drained?" Jensen asked. "You can't send guys down the canals with long sticks, poking in puddles. They'll get ripped to shreds."

Baskel looked uncomfortable. "We're working on that. I was hoping you guys might have some suggestions. In fact, I was hoping you could come down to the station and help us refine our plan."

Lawless nodded and said, "Speaking of the station, I'd like to stay out of the limelight, concentrate on other things. Can you guys handle the media from now on?"

Baskel frowned. "Have you seen today's paper?"

"No. Is it bad?"

"It's surprisingly detailed and accurate."

"It mentions a monster?" Jensen asked, anxious.

Baskel shook his head. "No, no monster. But they have the right body count, they've got some names, and they've got pictures of the patrol cars. We've got reporters from every paper and news station in the Valley camped out on our doorstep. Bozeman thinks we can put them off another day or two." Baskel looked down at his hands and felt tired, wishing he had said yes to the coffee. The food had relaxed him and he was feeling sleepy.

Lawless got up and poured a cup for him. When Baskel gave him a funny look, he said, "You looked like you needed some. Did the paper print a warning about staying away from the canals like they said they would?"

"Are you kidding? 'In light of the number of people meeting a violent end to their lives by the canals crisscrossing Modesto, the Sheriff Department's advice to stay away from them seems like a big dose of too-little, too-late.' "

"Cheap shot, but it should keep the cautious and timid from going near the canals," Jensen said. "How else do you plan to keep people away?"

"We're calling in the community patrol volunteers and cadets for a meeting this afternoon. We'll get them organized and station them around town by the canals, to warn people off. We'll close off the access roads with crime scene tape and we'll have the three choppers in the air."

Baskel's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and left the kitchen to talk.

Back, he said, "I gotta go. You two coming down or what?"

Lawless nodded. "After we get dressed."

Baskel flushed when he realized Lawless would probably be going home to change. "Listen, when you get to your condo, you might find the front door a little busted up. I got nervous when you didn't answer, thought maybe you were injured or something," he thought to lie, "so I kicked it in. Don't worry, I asked the neighbor to keep an eye on it until you showed up."

"You kicked my door in?"

"Yeah, sorry. Send the bill to the department and I'll see that it gets paid." He hurried out to his car.

When they were alone, Jensen said, "We need to make sure the search happens during the day," and she wondered how long it would take to drain the canals.

"That's a good question," he said. "I should get a hold of Brackston, see if he knows how long it takes them to drain."

She frowned at him. "Why did you say that?"

"What?"

"Why did you bring up the question of how long it will take to drain the canals?"

"Didn't you ask?"

"No, I didn't say anything. But I was thinking about it."

"Oh, I thought you asked. I guess we're on the same wavelength."

Or maybe you're reading minds now, she thought, giving him a dirty look.

He looked at her, arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Okay, she thought, testing him. What am I thinking about now? She thought a thought.

His other eyebrow went up, and he said, "We have time."

As they made love, she began to hear his thoughts, as she now knew he could hear hers.

("What does it mean?") He moved slightly, rotating his hips; she moaned and moved her hips to meet his.

("I don't know. Something's happening to us. I'm glad it's happening to you too, that it's not just me. I thought I was going crazy.") She quickened her pace, her counterthrusts becoming more urgent. She sensed him saying, ("It feels like we were made for each other. We're a perfect fit.") ("I was made for you.") ("Will you stay and help me?") ("Of course. I'll do whatever you need me to do.") Things happened during their intimacy, between them and inside each of them: their bond became complete and the code buried deep in their psyches activated. They began the change, the metamorphosis, the becoming.

Afterwards, as they lay in each other's arms, he cast his mind out, searching for his enemy, the one he had come to assassinate. Sensing, she took him by the hand and thought, ("What do you see?") Not far away, the creature felt something probing at her, and she recognized its frequency. Had she erred again and let it slip through? She did not understand.

It was stronger now, much stronger.

She swam away from her young, not wanting to risk the entity discovering their lair. The young retreated to their crevasses and hiding places, sensing alarm in the adult.

The entity probed again and she swam faster, putting more distance between herself and her young. She changed canals and stopped, unable to swim and resist the entity's probing at the same time, so strong had it become.

After a period of time, it left. She had kept it from knowing where her young hid.

This was unexpected. She would need time to search her data banks for an appropriate response. How had her ancestors responded to such threats?

"Can you think of anything else we can do?"

Lawless, Jensen, and Baskel were sitting in the same small conference room they had shared the day before, when they had formulated their let's-find-a-picture-of-a-big-snake plan.

When Lawless and Jensen first entered the room and saw only Baskel's face, Lawless had thought to Jensen, ("Apparently no one around here thinks we have anything important to say.") ("Well, do we?") A map lay on the table, showing the canals where the cadets and community volunteers would be posted. The volunteers were old-timers who donated their time to the police department for a variety of reasons, most having to do with boredom and the need to feel useful again. Cops didn't think much of them but were nonetheless happy to have them around because they did a lot of the scut work that could eat up half a day. The rank-and-file called them "the geezers" or "the geezer squad".

The cadets were young men, typically fresh out of high school, who wanted to be cops but would never in a thousand lifetimes qualify. Each had a radio and a few who had better training had nightsticks. Not many real cops thought any cadet should be given a nightstick; they were dangerous weapons. Cadets got scut jobs, too. They patrolled the mall and trained grade school crossing guards. No one liked them much; not the real cops, not the bureaucrats, not the mall rats, and probably not even their mothers. Most cops called them "the dweebs" or "the geeks."

Baskel had a summary of the routes the patrol cars and helicopters would follow. The department's high-powered rifles, all five of them, fitted with night scopes, would be deployed in the choppers and two patrol cars and would be handled by trained sharp-shooters.

Lawless and Jensen thought for a while.

Jensen said, "The geeks and geezers will be strongly warned to stay far away from the water?"

Baskel nodded.

She looked at Lawless, who said, "The only thing I can think to add would be to give them portable battery- or generator-powered lights to set up at their canals. It should give them a layer of protection as well as call attention to the fact that the canals are off-limits."

Baskel nodded and looked excited. "That's a great idea. I've been worried we're setting up a buffet for that thing, but the lights should really help. I doubt the department has that many but I'm sure Bozeman will okay the purchase of as many as we need. Anything else?"