His own laugh, which Martinez had not expected, broke his bad-cop pose. Again, the mirror. The kid’s face was still sour with sass, barely concealing heavy worry, but there was something new in it. Relief, like the lonely show when company comes.

Forty-five minutes ago Gennady had been flying through the air, too, and not in any figurative sense.

If there was a God he was deaf in both ears, blind in both eyes and dumb.