"I got two," Sarah reported, "coming out the back door." Her voice was squeaky with excitement, but clear. "Now there's a third one."

"Good," Reese answered.

"I don't see Helen, though."

"They'll bring her out later. Don't worry."

The men waited close to the building.

"Mom's here," Robert reported. "They just drove in."

"Where are you, Mr. Reese?" Finch worried.

"Hang on." There was a scuffle and then a thump. "Second floor, above the back door. Anybody spot any others?"

"Not yet," Michael answered.

"Keep looking."

Kostmayer looked across the car as the three men approached. Lily was pale and silent. "Ready?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Mickey …"

"I know."

They got out of the car.

"Stop there," the tallest of the three men said. "You, come around the car. Both of you put your hands on the hood."

They did. The tall guy watched while his companions patted them down, very thoroughly.

"I usually have to pay extra for this," Mickey cracked.

"Shut up." The man pulled something out of his back pocket. "How come you got handcuffs?"

"I'm a very kinky guy."

"Cute."

"Boss says you're dangerous," the tall man said.

"Boss is right."

He pulled the car door open. "Over here." Kostmayer moved where he was told, and the tall man handcuffed him to through the steering wheel. "Sit."

"Fine."

The man punched him in the mouth.

He spit out a little blood. "That was unnecessary."

The man hit him again.

"Enough," a big man said from the back door. He looked around, then strode over to the car. A second man followed him, carrying a tablet. "You Romanov?"

"I am," Lily answered.

He held his hand out. "Where's the file?"

She handed him a thumb drive.

He passed it to the second man, who plugged it into the tablet.

A list of names appeared.

"Good," Gusev said. "Wise choice."

The man clicked on one of the names. "It, uh, it wants a key to open the files."

"Oh, yeah," Lily said, unconcerned. "I encrypted it."

"That wasn't our deal," Gusev protested.

"Our deal," she said, "is that you get the files when I get my daughter back safely. When she leaves her, with Kostmayer, I'll give you the key."

"Or," the Russian countered, drawing his weapon, "I could kill Kostmayer and you'll give me the key."

The woman's voice stayed dead even and largely unconcerned. "There might be a second key," she said, "that wipes the files. And there might not be any copies. Anywhere."

Gusev studied her for a long moment. Then he chuckled. "You're a clever one, aren't you?"

"You have no idea."

He nodded to his lieutenant. "Tell them to bring the kids out."

They started across the parking lot together. "You two," Gusev said over his shoulder, "watch him." He pointed toward Kostmayer.

"You got it, Boss."

Both of the men assigned to watch him leaned on the car, turning their backs to him to watch the proceedings nearer the school. Kostmayer leaned forward to wipe his bloody lip on his thumb. He dropped his handcuff key out of his mouth and into his hand at the same time. He wouldn't have believed they could be so dumb, to restrain him with his own cuffs. But Reese had predicted that they would and he'd been right.

It had been a long time since he'd dealt one-on-one with low-level criminals. He'd forgotten how bone stupid they could be.

By the time one of the goons looked over his shoulder at him, Mickey was sitting back, looking innocent, and his right hand was one sharp tug away from being free.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Lily asked calmly. "You just snatched up my daughter without ever finding out about me."

Gusev glanced at her. "Kinda thought you'd be more worried about her."

"Helen? I'm not worried about her. I know she'll be just fine. It's you I'm worried about."

The Russian laughed.

"Those files you're so hot for. You know where I got them?"

"You stole them from the C.I.A."

"I stole them almost twenty years ago. You think they don't want them back? They wouldn't love to come after me? You think they don't want to see me in a shallow grave? But I'm here, in New York, with my kids. In plain sight, right in their back yard. Doesn't that worry you?"

Gusev looked at her again. His pace slowed a little.

"And your guy in Russia. Doesn't it worry you that when you call Cherkashin, you get some third-tier flunky who might give him a message for you, but I call him the phone rings in his pocket?"

Gusev stopped dead.

"I tell Cherkashin to tell you to keep your hands off my daughter, and Cherkashin tells you to keep your hands off my daughter. Doesn't that make you wonder exactly what Racz got you into here?"

"Racz."

"Pavle Racz. He's a Serb ex-pat."

The Russian stared at her.

"You really didn't think this through, did you, Gusev?"

"Jesus," Michael whispered over the comm. "Mom's a badass."

Finch smiled tightly.

"She just took his lunch money," Robert whispered back.

"Don't mess with Mama," Sarah said. And then, "Something moved. Third floor, west end."

"Good," Reese answered. "I'm on it."

"Up," Racz said. He dragged Helen to her feet. "You, too."

Dylan struggled up.

"Boss wants them outside," one of the remaining guards said.

"Fine. That way. Go."

Helen moved out to the hallway, not quickly. The guards that had remained with them moved behind her. Racz shoved them aside, grabbed her arm again, and waved his gun at her. "Faster, you little bitch."

They reached the stairs, and Helen nearly fell. The little man hesitated, caught between holding her up and shoving her. He decided to hold her, but he shook her roughly. "Hurry up."

She glanced to her right at the second floor landing. She thought she saw someone move there, duck back around the corner. Someone who wasn't with Gusev's crew. She moved her feet a little wider apart, ready to catch herself if things happened on the stairs. But nothing did.

They were all bunched up. He didn't have any kind of a shot.

Wait for it, she told herself. Be ready.

She kept walking.

Reese had his weapon in his hand, but he let the group move past him in the stairwell. They were tightly bunched, and the little dark man stayed very close to Helen. He couldn't risk it. Not when he knew there would be better openings later.

The girl looked like she was in good shape. The boy'd been knocked around a little, but he didn't seem to have any serious injuries. All of that was good news.

"So here's how this is going to go," Lily said simply. "You're going to make sure my daughter gets out of here safely. I'm going to give you the encryption key. You're going to give the files to Cherkashin, and then you'll be square with him. And we're done. Clear?"

Gusev grunted.

"Or else," the mother continued, "Helen gets hurt, and in twelve hours Cherkashin shows up here in person and kills you, your men, and everyone any one of you cares about, to cover his own ass. Are we clear?"

"You're a little spitfire, aren't you?"

"You should've asked somebody."

"That's all good with me. This is just business. But Black, Racz, whatever his name is, it's personal for him. He wants you dead. Wants it bad."

"I'll deal with Peanut."

"Peanut, huh? That sounds about right."

"You want to walk away from this, Yuri, do not get between me and him."

"I don't think I want to."

He touched her arm, and they walked on toward the school.

John settled back in front of a window on the second floor. He had a good view of the woman, the Russian and his crew. He couldn't see Helen and the men with her; they were just below him.

"I saw a …" one of the boys began.

"Saw what?" Reese pressed.

"I'm not sure. I thought I saw someone on the fourth floor. West end."

"Harold?"

"We're looking," Finch replied.

"I'm not seeing … wait," Sarah said. "Yeah, I see him. Last window on the west side, top floor."

John growled softly. He didn't have time to get up there and handle him before the meet took place.

"I'll get him," Kostmayer growled quietly.

"You sure?"

"Son, I was picking off snipers when you were still picking grubs out of your grits."

Reese laughed against his will. "Okay, then."

"I see Helen," one of the boys said.

"She looks okay," his brother confirmed. "Her hands are tied behind her, though. Zip ties, I think."

"Not a problem," Mickey assured them. "Everybody hang tight."

The two groups met in the middle of the parking lot. Helen started forward to her mother, but Racz pulled her back roughly, wrapped one arm around her neck. "I don't think so."

"Let her go," Gusev ordered. "I have the files."

"Mom," the girl said, quiet and desperate.

Lily nodded, gave her daughter a reassuring smile.

Racz glared at Lily. "I was hoping you wouldn't be dead before I found you."

"Wish granted," she answered calmly. "Let my daughter go or I will kill you."

"With what?" Racz jeered. He drew a gun with his free hand and pointed it at Helen's head. "I think you forgot something. Stupid whore."

Gusev's lieutenant drew his own weapon. The others already had guns in their hands, but they got a lot more attentive once he did.

"Racz," Gusev said, "let the girl go. That was the deal."

The smaller man looked at him with open contempt. "I don't care about your deal. I have what I wanted. The girl and her mother."

"The files are encrypted," the Russian said. "She won't give up the key until her daughter leaves."

"That's clever," Racz admitted. "And unfortunate. For you. Because I'm not letting her go."

Gusev drew his own gun and pointed it directly at Racz's head. "Let her go."

Gusev's lieutenant turn his gun on his boss.

"What?" the Russian snapped.

"Been thinking," Misha answered, "maybe it was time I gave myself a promotion. Sorry, Boss."

Gusev pivoted so his weapon was pointed at his former right-hand man. "Oh, Misha. That was a terrible mistake."

Lily Romanov took a step toward her daughter and Racz.

"We have to do something," one of the boys said, his voice high with tension.

"Wait," Reese and Kostmayer ordered in unison.

"Very soon," Mickey continued. "But not yet."

"How do we know when?"

"We'll tell you when," Reese assured them.

John tapped his earpiece twice. "Finch?"

Finch cleared his throat. He glanced at the little girl beside him. She didn't know about their second channel.

"In your glove box there's a dog whistle. Get it now."

Harold leaned past the child and got the whistle out. He sat up and tapped it on the steering wheel. Though he could not see his partner, he knew Reese could see him through the scope of his rifle. There was a time when that notion would have made him uncomfortable, but it was long past.

"Is your window down?" Reese said in his ear.

He tapped the steering wheel once.

"Good. When I give you the signal, give it three short bursts."

Finch tapped the steering wheel once more. There was a brief click as Reese changed back to the channel the others were one.

"Is that a dog whistle?" Sarah asked.

"Yes."

"What are you going to use it for?"

"To call the dog, I suppose," Finch answered absently. He glanced at her. "If necessary."

"I can't see," the girl complained. "We should get closer."

Harold looked toward the school. He couldn't see much, either, except that the Russian and his men were surrounding Ms. Romanov, and that both hostages were on their feet, not seriously injured.

He could also see a lot of guns.

"We'll stay right here," he said firmly, "like we were told."

"He's not going to help you," Gusev said. "This little creep? You've got to be kidding. He's not even Russian."

"I don't need any help," Misha argued. "Once you're dead I'll just step into your job."

"And you think Cherkashin's going to go along with that."

"He will if you can't deliver the files."

"And these guys? You think they're going to go along with you?"

They both looked around. The other men, uncertain, began to lower their weapons.

"I'll kill you all," Gusev said. "Every last one of you bastards."

"Shut up," Racz snapped. "All of you. Shoot each other or don't, I don't care. Just shut up. I want to enjoy my moment with Lily. I've waited such a long time for this reunion."

"You talk too much," Lily said mildly. She took a step closer to him.

"Oh, are you in a hurry? You shouldn't be. Because you know what happens next?"

"I'm guessing you talk some more."

"First I kill your daughter. Then I kill you. Then I kill him." He waved the gun in Kostmayer's general direction. "And then I'm going to hunt down your other children and kill them, too. And anyone who tries to protect them. Because you killed Jason! He was the only one I ever cared about. So I am going to kill everyone you care about. Every single one. And all of their deaths will be your fault."

"Mom …"

"Thank you," Lily said. "I was asked not to kill anyone unnecessarily. But you just made this obviously necessary."

"Harold … now!" John said.

Finch blew three short bursts on the dog whistle.

Bear burst out of the building and ran toward the men with the guns, barking fiercely.

Misha aimed his gun at the dog, and Gusev shot his former lieutenant in the chest.

One of the other men aimed for the dog as well. Reese's bullet caught him in the upper thigh.

Kostmayer dropped his hand free of the handcuffs, reached between the seats for his own rifle, and picked off the sniper on the fourth floor in one motion. The two men who had been guarding him turned their weapons toward him, but by then he'd fired two more shots, shoulder and knee of the first, and the second simply laid down his weapon.

"Shit!" Dylan said. He dropped to the ground and curled up in a ball. A second later someone fell on him.

Racz turned involuntarily to look at the barking dog, and his gun wavered just for an instant.

Lily wrapped her arms around Helen and pulled her loose. The Serb snapped his head around and re-aimed his gun at her. It didn't matter. He was too late. The mother was inside arm's length.

She drew the blade smoothly out of the sheath strapped to her daughter's back and plunged it into Racz's belly in a single motion. Then she twisted, angling the blade upward under his sternum and toward his heart. She felt a gush of fluid over her hand as the knife sliced an artery. She gave the blade one more twist.

Racz's gun fell out of his hand.

Lily tugged Helen's arm just enough to move her out of the way. Then she shoved Racz's shoulder and watched the man drop to the ground. She kept the knife in her hand; he pulled off the blade as he fell, and the wound spurted in arterial pulses for five heartbeats. Then it only oozed.

"Mama!" Helen sobbed.

Lily wrapped her free arm around her and held her. "You're okay," she said clearly. "You're okay."

Helen cried. Lily did not. She felt her daughter sobbing, warm and alive under one hand, and the thick warm blood of her enemy in the other. Her hand tightened around the hilt and she raised her eyes to the skyline. "At last," she whispered to the city, "my arm is complete again."

Kostmayer got to them first.

He wrapped Lily's hand with his bandana, then slid it away, taking the knife and most of the blood, and stuffed the whole mess into his pocket. He was pretty sure Helen hasn't seen any of it. She knew what had happened, of course, but knowing and seeing were two different things.

Lily wrapped both arms around her daughter. Mickey slipped behind her and cut Helen's hands free with his own knife. He gave the two of them a gentle hug, kissed Helen on the top of her head, and then kissed Lily the same way.

By then the boys were running in from both sides of the parking lot, and there was an unruly pile of family hugging. Then Sarah caught up with them and there was more.

He stepped around the puddle of blood and checked the Serb, though there wasn't much need.

Reese came out of the school, helped Dylan to his feet, and cut his hands loose. "You okay?" he asked gruffly.

The teen was crying, and whatever he answered was completely incoherent.

"You're okay," Reese told him.

Harold limped up to join them. He called the Malnois to him and clipped his leash on. Then he looked around the parking lot in mild dismay.

Mickey did his own inventory, more out of habit than any real concern. Racz dead, Misha dead, the sniper on the fourth floor probably dead. Three injured on the ground. The guy who had surrendered by the car was wearing Kostmayer's handcuffs.

Gusev limped back into the school with the rest of his guys. Kostmayer didn't bother going after him.

"I … I … I … I …" Dylan stammered.

"You've had a difficult night," Harold said calmly. "Let me drive you home."

The boy looked at him wildly. "They … he … she …"

"Yes." He took the young man firmly by the arm. "I know. But you're safe now."

"I … but …"

"I know," Harold repeated patiently. He led the boy and the dog back toward his car.

"Harold," Lily called.

He turned and looked at her over the heads of her children.

"Thank you," she said clearly.

He looked at the dead man at her feet. Then he looked at her children, safe and huddled around her. He inclined his head. "Ms. Romanov." He turned to Mickey and gave the same little head-bob. "Mr. Kostmayer." Then he left.

Mickey handed his keys over Sarah's head to Lily. "Take the kids home. We'll clean up here."

"See you there?"

"I'll be along."

The kids loosened their huddle. "Do we still have to go home?" Sarah asked. "Now that the bad guy is dead?"

"We'll see," Lily said. "But I think maybe we can stay."

"Because the threat's been eliminated?" Michael asked.

She looked over the parking lot again. "Because I remember who I am now."

"What's that mean?"

Lily smiled. "Never mind. Let's go home."

"I'm hungry," Robert complained.

"I'm starving," Sarah agreed.

"Go on to the van then. I'll be right there."

They went, arguing over who got to ride shotgun. Helen, Mickey noted without surprise, stayed right at Lily's side, with her mother's arm around her shoulder. She was pale and tired and dirty. But she was fully clothed and not bleeding. All things considered, she looked great.

And Lily – for the first time since Andrew died, Lily looked like herself again.

"You get into any more trouble," Reese began, then hesitated, "I'll know how to find you."

"We'll be okay now," Lily answered. "But thank you. For everything."

He nodded. "It's been … interesting."

She turned, with Helen still beside her, and walked toward the van.

"Mama … am I grounded?" Mickey heard the girl ask over the comm.

"Oh yes, love."

"For how long?"

"For a really long time."

Helen did not protest. "I didn't even ask if Dylan was okay."

"He's fine."

"He wasn't a bad guy, Mama."

"You're not dating him. Even when you're not grounded."

"I don't want to," Helen said. "He's cute and all but – I need somebody that can get on my level."

Reese reached up and tapped his ear, shutting off his comm. "On her level. Good luck with that."

Kostmayer grinned. He picked up Misha's gun. "Shall we?"

John got behind the dead Serb and lifted him by the armpits. Mickey moved very close and lined up the gun with the angle of the stab wound. "Wait," Reese protested. He leaned to one side, out of the path of the bullet.

"What, you afraid of a little mess?" Mickey teased. "Don't want to get that fancy suit dirty?"

"You know what dry cleaning costs in this town?"

"I don't, actually." Kostmayer pulled the trigger and let the bullet obliterate all traces of the knife wound.

A perfectly-executed killing with a knife was rare enough to attract attention, maybe raise questions. But gunshot wounds were a dime a dozen.

Reese dropped the body. Mickey wiped the gun on the lieutenant's shirt, then put it back in his hand. He surveyed the parking lot. "Looks like a gang war to me."

"Close enough," Reese agreed. "We should check the school."

"Yeah."

They walked through the building together, removing any evidence that Helen or Dylan had been there. "They're gonna stay, huh?" Reese said. "You're going to have your hands full."

Mickey shrugged. "Beats the hell out of fishing."