"Sorry to inconvenience you, sir. But we neeq to question everyone at your establishment early in the morning."

"You've had these spot checks before, and you've never turned up anything at the Sea Side."

" " There's always a first time, sir. Please don't alert your guests. Just set up for breakfast as usual: '

Hoping the eavesdropping hadn't been detecteq, Jason carefully replaoed the rereiver and began to make his way quietly toward the stairs.

He was looking over his shoulder and didn't see the potted palm beside the newel post. The plant rocked as he collided with the stand, and his arms shot out, narrowly avoiding disaster.

A door opened at the end of the hall, and he pressed back into the shadows. The landlord came halfway down the hall, peering in the direction of the phone.

"Somebody there?"

Jason didn't move a muscle. Hours seemed to pass as he waited in the darkness, hardly breathing.

Then the door closed again, and he made his escape.

NOEL SMILED IN HER SLEEP.

They were walking hand in hand beside the shore of the qq "I,hen Jason whispered something in her ear and tuqqned, leading her toward the cabin hidden behind a acieen of trees.

They were going inside to make love. -q Iqey were going inside toq q q qqrately to hang back, dragging her heels q4to the gravel of the path, because she knew what was txq_ in8. q;; Tlie cabin began to grow and expand into Castle tx Castle Lockwood of her imagination. She had alqere in her dreams before. q Douglas Frye was coming toward her, a tong, cruel get;lutdqed in his fist. He wanterl the chip in her head. qq he found out it wasn't there, he was going to Then Jason was between her and Frye, shielding her with his body, shoving her through a door. And the two of them were running down an endless, twisting stone corridor trying to get away.

She reached toward Jason. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly, and she knew that this time they were going to make it. She felt the tense knot in her chest begin to break apart. They were going to get away.

Then the world shimmered around them in a fiery explosion "" Jason! " ,She couldn't find his hand.She reached frantically for him. But she had lost him in the terrible heat and the black smoke.

"Jason!"

Her eyes blinked open and stared at him as if she were looking at a ghost.

"5qveetheart. It's all right. It's only a dream.""You.. . I couldn't find you.. . in the smoke.""It's all right: He touched her hair, her face, her trembling lips. " I'm right here. "

"Jason-" Her own hands gathered in handfuls of his shirt, and she pulled herself up, sliding her arms around his waist. He rocked her gently, soothingly. "It's all right, love. You were just having a nightmare."

" I was so scared. "

He held her tightly until her heart stopped pounding. "

" Better? "

"Yes."

He shifted her so that he could see her face. "Noel. Something's happened.

We have to leave.""What.. what are you talking about?""I overheard the landlord and an inspector from the customs service. They're going to check the people registered here tomorrow."

"Oh, my God."

"It's all right. We're going to get out of here now."

He crooked his thumb and finger under her chin, turning her face toward him. "Are you okay? Can you qt up and get dressed?"

She straightened. "

" Yes. "

"I'm going to take the luggage out. Get your clothes on. Then come downstairs. I'll be at the front door with the car." q He left, and Noel picked up the skirt and sweater she'd been wearing earlier. Heart in her throat, she pulled on q the clothes and snatched up her flight bag. She half expected someone to be standing in the hall blocking her q:. ezit. But the corridor was dark and silent. Minutes later ' q:;q' stre scrambled into the car and they headed out of the cih'.

"Do you think Montgomery's men or customs tracked qdown here? " Noel asked, leaning back against the qqq xat, surprised that they had actually made good their "No. I think it's somebody's fishing expedition. But aaecan't take a chanoe on getting caught in the net." qqhe kept glancing in the side mirror until they were on Iqie M27 heading west. q"" qson cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I left you like that. _ t wqere you dreaming about?" ;"i'hecastle." She swallowed. "I keep worrying about qi11 happen when we get to the castle. And about rmation I'm supposed to be carrying: ' qheard him sigh in the darkness. " Maybe if I tell qq moreq you'll stop speculating in your sleep. "

"Yes."

"All right. Frye thinks you're bringing him the formula for a synthetic fuel that could change the structure of world economic power. While he's busy auctioning it off, I'm going to take away his power base."

"Then who is Montgomery?" She asked another question that had been deviling her.

"He's a high-class thug who's been hired by one of the big oil companies. I don't know whether they want to keep the formula off the market or put it into production But I do know Montgomery's intelligence network is better than Sir Douglas thought. He'd gone up against Frye before and struck out. This time it looks like he'll do anything to get the formula. And you and I can't put him off the scent by telling him it's false information. Sir Douglas would get wind of it."

"How are you planning to disable the Sovereign's power base?"

"It's safer if you don't know that."

Noel nodded in the darkness. "It would have tsn a lot safer for you if you'd left the chip in my head."

"I couldn't. Not when I cauld see what it was doing to you : '

She reached out and covered his large hand with her small one, feeling his muscles contract under her palm. For long moments he held on to the wheel. Then he turned the hand over and clenched her fingers in a painful grip.

"When it's over, will you answer the rest of my questions ? "

"I said I would. But what if you don't like the answers ? " "What if you let me decide."

Hopscotch lg9 "Don't think about when it's over. Think about getting through the next few days." His voice became businesslike'I've been trying to give you breathing space.

But I should tell you something about what to expect when we get to Frye's headquarters. You'd better count on microphones everywhere we go once we're inside.

Probably also cameras. We won't be able to talk. So the first thing we'd better do is set up some codes and sig "" All right: '

He drilled her on clandestine communications as they dmve on into the night, finally stopping at a small hotel outside Oxford.

Noel knew Jason was exhausted. But as she watchedq sleep in the twin bed across from her, she was sure that a knock on the door would bring him to instant ,q, holding the gun he'd hidden under his pillow.

They were on the road again by eight, heading north wqst toward Birmingham, where they found a charming ': Band B on the outskirts of a perfect picture-postcard q. qliage. But they didn't stop to enjoy the setting. As soon q-qthey'd taken their luggage to their room, Jason cleared : at: "Montgomery is looking for us up here. I'd q,q qhqk in with Sir Douglas to find out what the op nqs up to " "qCll right: ' q 'if'Il be back as soon as I can. Then we'll get to work q'S qqnqrG we have to talk about tonight," n said that evening as he stood at the sink, burning qpers they'd been using in their practice session. q1 looked from the flames to his face. "What?" iqe ambush. "

190 Hopscotch q q Hopscotch 191 Noel clenched her hands in her lap. " " I was hoping you mean we really have to go through with that? "

"Yeah. Remember, I told you there might be a spy in the Sovereign's organization?"

"Yes."

"Well, Sir Douglas fingered him. Now he's using him to feed information to Montgomery."

"So he knows where we're supposed to be going?"

Jason nodded. " " But why do we have to go there? Maybe we got wind of danger and changed our plans. "

"Sorry. Frye's had a lot of time to mull over the idea. He wants to make his chief rival think he' soutfoxed him and then teach him a lesson he'll never forget."

"And he doesn't care how dangerous it is for us-for you?"

"He's betting I can handle it."

Noel looked down at her clencheq hands. Jason didn't need any more problems-like a woman who was shaking in her shoes, for instance. "Well, if you can handle it, so can I," she said in a voice that sounded far steadier than she felt. "Where is it going to be?"

"A place called Kilmaroock."

"Kilmaroock," she repeated, with a shudder.

"Iqq ri.atqr w As ro .qutnrE at dusk, so they'd been driving steadily for the past few hours. They had passed a sign to Kilmarnock twenty minutes ago.

"How far is the house?" Noel asked.

"It's on this side of town. A few miles down the road "

Minutes later, they turned in between tall hedgerows. In one way, this was the time of greatest danger. If Montgomery's men scooped them up before they got inside , it was all over. So they'd worked out their arrival carefully.

In the gathering darkness, Noel felt her heart begin to pound. She didn't want to look to the left or right, trying to probe the shadows for ambushers. Instead she kept her gaze trained on the brick structure at the end of the driveway. It was a private residence, a bit larger than the first safe house that had almost become a death trap.

The place had a built-in garage. Jason activated the door with the automatic opener he'd picked up at a post off' me box in Sheffield. It operated so swiftly and siqtly that she was hardly aware it had opened. Before she had time to blink, they zipped inside. When the door closed, it barely missed the rear bumper.

Heside her, Jason let out a long sigh.

"Wereyouworried?" Noel asked.

"That was the tough part. We're going to have plenty of qelp now."

She hoped he was right.

Before they could enter the house itself, he checked in ;q the computersystem by placing his hand on an odd =q-lqed mirror near the connecting door.He'd briefed on what to expect, so after the green light blinked nbefollowqci suit. q'qq'Seatry defenses activated," an electronic voice an'Jason Zacharias, Noel Zacharias verificaMMqIMq y sbepped inside and ahalf-dozen lights on the first snapped on. fow did it know who I was?" theSavereign probably had somebody lift your finq from something you touched.Maybe while you q the hospital. Iie's very efficient. "

Before or after they slipped the chip into my head? The scar tissue on Noel's incision tightened, and her hand reached toward the tender skin.

He caught her fingers and gave her a warning look.

She nodded tightly, taking a moment to draw in several deep breaths. Then her gaze flicked to the windows.

"With all the lights on, don't you think we'll be easy targets?"

" " We want to make sure they know we've arrived. But you're right, itwouldn't be so good if they saw what we're doing: Jason went to the windowsand pulled the blinds. Then, from behind a secret panel in the closet, heremoved a machine gun, which be slung over his shoulder Next he pocketed arevolver.

"Don't I get one, too?"

" " Not if I can help it. The qast time you had a gun was beginner's luck.Really, you're better off with one of the remote controllers for the house.Come on. In case you thought I was exaggerating, let me show you whatthis place can do. "

She tried to match his bravado as she followed him into the living room,where he took a pair of hand-held controls out of an antique marble-toppedchest. They looked a little like the one she used to change the channel onla television set. But although these were smaller-more lihe acredit-card-size calculator with miniaturized circuitq:q ry-they had a lotmore functions. Jason had drawn her; a picture of the keypad and had herpractice some qq quences. One number combination brought steel b; down overthe windows. Another opened them. Still, it felt strange to be holding oneof the devices in her han She looked up to find him watching her.

"You'll do fine."

"Jason. Please-" Wben he'd grabbed her hand, he'd been reminding her that the cameras were recording the action. But surely needing him at this moment would be in character.

His face was expressionless, and she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. Then he reached out and pulled her close. She melted against him, squeezing her eyes shut to block out everything but him.

"It's all right. It's going to be all right," he muttered.

She clung to him, breathing in his familiar scent, rubbing her cheek against the strong wall of his chest, wishing he could hold her like that forever. No. Wishing ttxat the two of them could get back in the car and speed away and go somewhere Sir Douglas Frye would never find them. But it was doubtful that place existed. Even if it qd, defeating the Sovereign meant too much to Jason. q'hat was the real reason why she had come north with "She bad signed on for the duration, and the most impOt 'tant tliing She had to do now was make Jason believe 'g g p qtt she wasn't oin to fall a art when the rough stuff f straightened and looked at the controller. " I'd pqctice some of the key sequences. " qod idea." q i began to run through the house's bag of tricks. casual observer, the place was nothing more than %qqlqed couqtry cottage. But the automated feauilt into the ceilings, wall and floors were an enq qm-or a madman's nightmare. qes about to try deactivating the floor censors q qemote controller in Jason's hand sounded an q qq a red warning. "Intruder in rear Noel froze.

Jason's eyes scanned the living room and came back to Noel. " " Are you okay? "

"Yes."

"Then get to your station. I'm going to check the back doar."

Her station was behind the couch, a steel-reinforced barrier that would stop anything short of a mortar shell. Still, her heart kicked into overdrive as she sank to the floor.

Montgomery's men were here, and she suddenly felt like one of those paper targets on the FBI range. But the fear wasn't only for herself. She was relatively safe. Jason was the one in the most danger.

Noel's palm sweated on the controller as she listened for sounds of Jason from the kitchen. Instead she heard an ominous high-pitched hum. Then the bulletproof Plexiglas in the front windows began to vibrate.