Free The Tower (1999) by Gregg Hurwitz Page A

art."
    "A madness, Jade." Hawkins wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "A madness."

    Chapter 13
    " T R A C K E R " was the term that Jade used to describe the new profession he had carved out for himself after resigning from the FBI. When he broke his second case, the media began referring to him as a "TDer" or "tracker and destroyer," but the phrase was too strained for his style. His language, like his actions, was quick and efficient.
    Being a tracker set Jade apart from the bumbling military Soldiers of Fortune and the trained dogs that the bail-and-loan companies sent out. He was the only one, and he worked alone.
    Tracking didn't entail following a physical trail, it involved more subtle measures. Jade had learned that there was no straight line to a criminal's door. He began a case by going backward, studying a criminal's history--his motivations, his weaknesses. Once he got a profile, he could close in on him with the precision and determination of a shark circling its prey.
    He said that he quit the feds because he couldn't stand the bullshit of hierarchy. But there was a truer, more difficult explanation: He didn't get along with people. And in general, they didn't get along with him either.
    There were people in his life, of course, but they came and went as the weeks passed. He was always going somewhere else, always looking for something else. He was a hunter by trade, and hunters never stay in one place for very long.
    Jade didn't like covering the same ground twice. And he didn't like the feeling that settled in once he stopped chasing. He pursued his prey with such fervor that it sometimes seemed he himself was fleeing from something. And it was true that he sometimes heard voices behind him, voices from his past. The singsong, manic voices of children spinning nursery rhymes in the hot summer air.
    Eeni meenie minie moe, they sang, the notes of their song burning into his memory.
    But eventually, after blisters, calluses form. They're much easier to live with.
    When it came to himself, Jade didn't have time for complexity. Because he spent his days dredging society's murky waters, he had little energy for introspection. As a result, he viewed himself as fiercely independent, not isolated, as self-reliant, not difficult. It was easier that way.
    Jade left the FBI after his rambunctious attitude landed him in trouble. He had upbraided the Head of Operations of the Hostage Negotiation Department for allowing a terrorist to escape. The incident came after the agents had been ordered to stand down because hostages were in the line of fire. So when Jade had seen his shot open up for a split second, he had forced himself to resist. The terrorist had escaped and had been taken down by another agent in Maryland the next week. There had been other casualties along the way.
    "You always shoot," Jade had yelled at the balding Head of Operations. "You shoot and ask questions later. So he takes out a hostage, big deal. If you let him escape, who knows who he'll do next?"
    The Head of Operations had replied without looking up. "You throw temper tantrums like a child," he said calmly. "You have no grasp whatsoever of public relations. You don't follow orders and when you do, you do so grudgingly. You were the top agent in your entire graduating class, Marlow," he said, finally raising his eyes to meet Jade's. "And for the life of me, I can't figure out what you're doing here."
    Jade walked that day, and burned all his suits and ties that were part of the Bureau's uniform. He was on his own.
    He was too good to be forgotten by law-enforcement officials, though, since during his five years as an agent he had had the top arrest record in the FBI. His combat skills and his abilities in criminal analysis and tracking were extremely well respected. He was best known, however, for his instinct. Jade had instinct like a tiger on the prowl; it seemed to come from the very blood running in his veins.
    Local police units began hiring him to