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outside the office instead of letting himself be surprised by an off-duty cop who stepped out of it while he was holding a gun on the attendant.
    The next day he was on his way back to New York. To face trial for killing a cop.
    An older couple passed him and threw a smile in his direction. “Merry Christmas.”
    Jimmy responded with a courteous nod of the head. Then he paid close attention as he heard the woman say,“Ed, I can’t believe you didn’t put the presents for the children in the trunk. Who leaves anything in sight in a car overnight in this day and age?”
    Jimmy went around the corner and then stepped into the deep shadows on the grass as he returned to watch the couple stop in front of a dark-colored Toyota. The man opened the door. From the backseat he took a small rocking horse and handed it to the woman, then scooped up a half-dozen brightly wrapped packages. With her help he transferred everything to the trunk, relocked the car, and got back on the sidewalk.
    Jimmy listened as the woman said, “I guess the phone’s all right in the glove compartment,” and her husband answered, “Sure it is. Waste of money, as far as I’m concerned. Can’t wait to see Bobby’s face tomorrow when he opens everything.”
    He watched as they turned the corner and disappeared. Which meant from their apartment they wouldn’t be able to glance out and notice an empty parking space.
    Jimmy waited ten minutes before he walked to the car. A few snowflakes swirled around him. Two minutes later he was driving out of the complex. It was quarter after five. He was headed to Cally’s apartment on Tenth and B. He knew she’d be surprised to see him. And none too happy. She probably thought he couldn’t find her. Whydid she suppose that he didn’t have a way to keep track of her even from Riker’s Island? he wondered.
    Big sister, he thought, as he drove onto Fourteenth Street, you promised Grandma you’d take care of me! “Jimmy needs guidance,” Grandma had said. “He’s in with a bad crowd. He’s too easily led.” Well, Cally hadn’t come to see him once in Riker’s. Not once. He hadn’t even heard from her.
    He’d have to be careful. He was sure the cops would be watching for him around Cally’s building. But he had that figured out, too. He used to hang around this neighborhood and knew how to get across the roofs from the other end of the block and into the building. A couple of times he’d even pulled a job there when he was a kid.
    Knowing Cally, he was sure she still kept some of Frank’s clothes in the closet. She’d been crazy about him, probably still had pictures of him all over the place. You’d never think he’d died even before Gigi was born.
    And knowing Cally, she’d have at least a few bucks to get her little brother through the tolls, he figured. He’d find a way to convince her to keep her mouth shut until he was safely in Canada with Paige.
    Paige. An image of her floated through his mind. Luscious. Blond. Only twenty-two. Crazy about him.She’d arranged everything, gotten the gun smuggled in to him. She’d never let him down or turn her back on him.
    Jimmy’s smile was unpleasant. You never tried to help me while I was rotting in Riker’s Island, he thought—but once again, sister dear, you’re going to help me get away, like it or not.
    He parked the car a block from the rear of Cally’s building and pretended to be checking a tire as he looked around. No cops in sight. Even if they were watching Cally’s place, they probably didn’t know you could get to it through the boarded-up dump. As he straightened up he cursed. Damn bumper sticker. Too noticeable. WE’RE SPENDING OUR GRANDCHILDREN’S INHERITANCE. He managed to pull most of it off.
    *   *   *
    Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy had picked the flimsy lock