"I don't care about solving cases. They're after the fact. I want to help before it's too late, like with the little boy."
"Think this through, Howie," I cautioned, "before you make any commitment. You're treading on dangerous ground. You've insisted on privacy in the past; if you went forward, the necessity for anonymity would be a hundred fold greater. If they found you out, the assault on you from every quarter would be unimaginable."
He nodded. "I understand but I want to do it, in spite of the nightmares and the risks. I don't care how frightening it will be, I want to go ahead. I felt so euphoric over what we did yesterday, it was the first time I did something gratifying. I can't ignore what else we might accomplish. I have this gift I never asked for but it's like I have an obligation to utilize it." He began to pace. "I know I can't do it alone."
Martha looked at each of us. "I can't believe we're getting involved in something so bizarre and so treacherous."
"Howie," Quinn implored, "You have to realize you can't cure all the ills of the world. Think of the risks we'd all be exposed to."
"Maybe I can remedy some of them of the ills. Don't I have to try?"
I jumped in to the discussion. "What Betsy noticed on the television yesterday was blind luck. It happened to fit what you're able to do . . . the timing and the specific location. Granted, what we accomplished was monumental, but coming across a similar situation and duplicating what we were able to do might not occur very often. Look at the other Rhode Island abduction? Howie couldn't do anything about it; it happened two weeks ago."
Betsy looked up, undeterred. "You didn't just save little Timothy, Howie. You stopped Otto's next victim from being abducted. Stopping these bastards who snatch children is almost as important as saving them."
"What is it exactly you want to do, Howie?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Like yesterday, I guess; with all of you. I mean, if you were willing." Quinn said nothing. I sensed he'd been chastised to silence by his wife.
"Betsy and I live in New York. We're two hundred miles away."
"I know, I know. I'm being unfair."
"We have to get on the road after lunch. Let's all agree to sit on this for a week and do some soul searching. Howie, you, Quinn and Martha worked together without us. Maybe you could . . ."
Both Quinn and Howie protested as one with a negative shout. Given the chance, Martha would have yelled as well, obviously agreeing that suggestion wasn't feasible.