"So when you jumped on that guy, you just a.s.sumed -- without knowing anything else about me -- that I'd do something about the other two?"

"Yup. I figured all you needed was a distraction to provide a reasonable opening. You'd just survived a major explosion, so it didn't seem likely that bullets would slow you down much, and all the guns were pointed at me at the time anyway. I'd have been real surprised if you hadn't done what you did."

"Surprised?" asked Mandi. "You'd have been dead."

Snapping his fingers as if just realizing that fact, Cade grinningly said, "Well, then, it's a d.a.m.ned good thing I guessed right, isn't it?"

Mandi's face was stern as she stopped to face him and said, "You certainly put a h.e.l.l of a lot of faith in that guess."

"Correction; I put a h.e.l.l of a lot of faith in you."

"You know what I mean, Ed. What if I hadn't lived up to your expectations?"

"Well, I'd have been somewhat disappointed, of course..."

"I'm not joking, dammit!"

Shrugging, Cade began walking again as he said, "Okay, you weren't joking.

Next subject."

Taking two strides to catch up, Mandy snapped, "What?"

"Next subject. Next topic of discussion. The last one wasn't entertaining us, so let's talk about something else."

"No! I want to know how you could just presume that I'd..."

Interrupting her, Cade said, "I just did, and it's history, so let's drop it. As far as I'm concerned, you can probably do anything I can imagine; anything I ever saw in a comic book. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that the comics about superhumans began after someone found out about you or someone like you back in the thirties."

Mandi's gaze narrowed tightly as she asked, "You really think I'm that old?"

Looking her over, Cade said, "Could be. I think you'll probably look just as delicious another sixty years down the road. Or maybe a couple of hundred years.

How long do superpeople live, anyway?"

Pretending vast shock, Mandi rolled her eyes and softly exclaimed, "Oh, wonder of wonders!"

Giving her a narrow look of his own, Cade asked, "What wonder of wonders are you referring to, ma'am?"

Not bothering to contain her grin, Mandi said, "You finally asked me a real question. Did it hurt?"

"Well, it didn't at the time, but I think it's beginning to. Wanna know where?"

Laughing, Mandi said, "Ah... no, I can guess. I can't tell you how long I'm likely to live, Ed. I really don't know."

Nodding, Cade said, "Doesn't matter. I was just curious." Lifting her hand upward to kiss it, he added, "And I hope it's a really big number."

Chapter Eleven

Near the end of the next block was a pub and microbrewery that had a couple of pool tables. Mandi and Cade discovered the place to be almost empty, despite large numbers of convention attendees wandering the streets.

Two guys at a table near the window nodded to Mandi and Cade as they entered and approached the bar. Cade ordered a couple of beers and some quarters.

Gesturing around the pub, Mandi said, "Well, Ed, you did say you wanted to get away from the crowds."

As the bartender pulled a couple of gla.s.ses of beer for them, he said, "It's like this every year. The only convention that brings in less business is the Salvation Army thing." Nodding toward the window, he added, "Which just happens to be going on this week, too, of course. It's the worst week of the year for everybody but the hotels and restaurants."

The reddish-colored beer cost five bucks a gla.s.s and it tasted rather bitter. Cade decided that he preferred his usual Ice House beer as he set his local brew on a table and put quarters in one of the pool tables.

"Don't like it, huh?" asked Mandi, nodding at Cade's beer.

"Not particularly. Too bitter. I'll break."

"Oh, really? We aren't going to flip a coin?"

"No, ma'am, we aren't. I've got a strong feeling that if you break, you'll run the table."

Rolling a stick on the table to check it's straightness, Mandi said, "Oh, but maybe I'm not much of a pool player, sir."

Watching her chalk the tip of her stick by spinning the stick and lightly buffing the contact point, Cade said, "Uh, huh. That's what all the s.e.xy blonde hustlers say."

Cade made the four on the break and made another five b.a.l.l.s before a bad leave put the cue ball behind three of her stripes. His attempted jump shot made the seven ball, but the cue ball followed it into the pocket.

Mandi grinned as she stepped up to the table. One after another she rather elegantly pocketed all of her striped b.a.l.l.s, including one that involved a long, almost right-angle cut to reach a distant corner pocket.

When only the eight ball remained, she eyed the six-inch shot and smilingly asked, "Want to concede the game?"

Shaking his head, Cade said, "Nope. Work for it, lady."

With a chuckle, Mandi popped the eight into the pocket. The two guys who'd been watching from a nearby table had come to stand by Cade.

"Man, she flat kicked your a.s.s," said one of them.

"I think she got lucky on the fourteen," said the other guy.

"Yeah?" asked Cade. "Put your quarters up. You just volunteered to be her next victim."

The guy nodded and reached in his pocket, then fed the table as the other guy introduced himself as Mike and the other guy as Stan, then put his name on the chalkboard for the next game.

"Hey, there's three of us here, dude," confided Mike. "One of us has to beat her."

Glancing at Mandi, Cade chuckled and said, "Yeah, right."

Cade put his name on the board, as well, and sat down with his beer. He enjoyed watching women shoot pool, especially women in short skirts, and Mandi had magnificent legs.

Midway through her game against Stan, Mandi leaned over the table for a shot, lifting one leg slightly off the floor as she stretched. She seemed to take longer than usual about it.

The shot hadn't seemed that difficult, even with the need to stretch for it.

Cade glanced from her legs to the table to try to see why she was taking so long just as Mandi turned to look grinningly back at him.

His gaze shifted from the table to her face. Her expression seemed to change to one of surprise for a moment, then she turned back around and popped the ball into the pocket.

'Ha,' thought Cade. 'She thought she'd catch me eyeballing her legs.' With a grinning mental shrug as he sipped his beer he added, 'She d.a.m.ned near did, too.'

Mandi gave him an odd, studying glance as she rounded the table to take her next shot. Cade deliberately pretended to find something interesting about his beer and held it up to look at the way the light filtered through it.

Mike muttered something as Mandi sank the eight, then he sighed and said, "Oh, well. It was worth the money to watch her do that, I guess."

Stan laughed and got up to take his turn. During the game Mandi chanced to be standing directly in front of Cade as she leaned across the table to aim, shifting her hips as she moved slightly to her right.

Oh, h.e.l.l, yeah, Cade looked. As Mandi leaned forward, her skirt rode up a bit and tightened delightfully around her b.u.t.t and thighs.

In the corner of his eye, Cade caught a motion in the big front window of the pub and glanced that direction. Mandi's reflection was grinning slightly as she looked back at him.

Cade matched her small grin, shrugged as he flicked his eyebrows at her, and went back to studying Mandi's a.s.sets as she made the shot and straightened up with a muted 'gotcha' look on her face.

As Mandi methodically worked her way through her b.a.l.l.s, Mike leaned over to quietly ask Cade, "Where the h.e.l.l did she learn to shoot like that?"

"She's from Vegas," replied Cade, as if that explained everything.

When four games had pa.s.sed without Mandi missing a shot, Mike simply reached up and erased his name from the chalkboard.

"That's enough for me," he said, "I'm a believer."

Stan looked at his watch and said, "We've got time for one more game."

Mike shrugged and held up his gla.s.s.

"Go for it. I've still got some beer left."

As he racked the b.a.l.l.s, Stan said, "I can't believe she's kicking our a.s.ses with a bar cue. Why doesn't she have a stick of her own?"

"You'll have to ask her," said Cade. "I just met her today. We haven't discussed much personal stuff yet."

"I left it at home," said Mandi. "I didn't expect to need it."

"Huh," grunted Mike. "I'd say you do all right without it."

"No s.h.i.t," muttered Stan.

Two brunettes came into the pub as Mandi broke the rack. They approached and stopped at a distance as Mandi shot, then angled around the pool table.

One went to Stan; the other went to Mike, who stood up with Cade as she approached. Stan introduced them as Susan and Sara, then Cade and Mike pulled up two more chairs for them and everybody sat down to watch the game.

"Will talking disturb her?" asked Sara.

"I seriously doubt it," said Cade, with a shake of his head.

Turning to Mike, Sara said, "Sorry we couldn't get loose earlier. We got kind of busy in the ER. Do you think this game will take long? We're starving."

Mike laughed shortly and said, "No, I don't think it'll take long. She's good." Shaking his head slightly, he added, "She's real d.a.m.ned good. Five games and she hasn't missed yet."

"Not at all?" asked Susan.

"Not once."

Appropriately impressed, the newcomers watched Mandi quickly pocket her last three b.a.l.l.s and the eight.

"Make that six games," said Mike. "d.a.m.n!"

After Mike and Stan had left with their starving ladies, Mandi leaned her rump on the pool table and asked, "Well? We still have time for a game, too.

Want to try your luck again?"

Grinning wryly, Cade said, "Sure, if I break."

Una.s.sing the table to reach for her beer, Mandi said, "No problem. Go for it."

After a long sip while watching Cade rack the b.a.l.l.s, she asked, "How old are you, Ed?"

"Fifty-three. Why?"

"Just curious. If you had any health problems, you wouldn't be working with John's group, would you?"

Lining up to break the rack, Cade said, "Nope."

Sipping her beer again, Mandi said, "After the show tonight... Well, I'm thinking that I'd rather not be where anyone is likely to look for me."

Pausing to look at her, Cade asked, "Reason?"

Mandi shook her head and said, "I'd just rather not have anyone knocking on my door after the show."

With a shrug, Cade said, "We'll tell John. He'll tell the others to leave you alone."

Giving him a studious look, Mandi sipped her beer again as Cade sent the cue ball through the rack.

"I didn't say I wanted to be alone," she said. "I said I wanted to be where I wouldn't be found."