She was an outlaw, he was a lawman, and even Pathphinder couldn't find a way between them.

Jake sighed, but not so she could hear him. Not good for a suspect to know her pursuer was in coyote position, howling for the damn, impossible moon. Her breathing was soft but even, almost contented. Maybe she was just glad to be alive. Maybe it was his ego telling him she was glad to be with him. Maybe.

He didn't know how long he'd have stayed there, staring at the stars and listening to her breathe, if his cell phone hadn't rung. Her sigh matched his almost perfectly. He turned his head to look at her and found she'd done the same. Her smile was wry now, her eyes sad.

"Guess you should call the cops when You're done."

Jake nodded, then sat up and pushed the button to take the call.

Bryn felt oddly cheerful as she came out of the dingy motel bathroom trying to dry her hair with a towel that was too small and too wet. She finally gave it up as a bad job and tossed the towel back into the bathroom. She could let her hair air-dry while she watched a little TV or did some work on her laptop. She was too restless to sleep.

She was trying to decide between television and work when she saw two roses wrapped in green paper and ribbon lying on her bed next to a box.

The thought of Phagan's being in the room while she was naked in shower sent her adrenalin soaring. She wanted to scream and kick things, since he was no longer here to kick. Because she was a grownup and a professional, she opened the box instead. Inside she found a virtual reality headset and gloves, as well as a note with an internet address on it.

She examined the gear, which though obviously homemade, was better even than the last set Phagan had given her.

"Damn," she said, sinking down on the bed, "the guy is good."

Though her trust surprised and dismayed her, she tried on the gear. It was a perfect fit. She went to her laptop. It was easy to connect. She logged on to the internet and then typed in the address Phagan had given her. She opened and prepped her online search program so she could run it when Phagan appeared, then put on the head set.

After a moment in the dark, she found herself in a pleasant little park around a gently gushing fountain with a statue of Venus, the goddess of love in the center. She almost turned around and left then, but curiosity and her desire to get Phagan kept her there. She walked around the fountain and found a bench with a single rose lying on it. When she picked up the flower, a mariachi band appeared out of the park's greenery, playing and singing a Spanish love song.

Bryn chuckled. At least this time he'd let her keep her shoes on and stay out of the kitchen. She sat down to enjoy the music until Phagan showed his virtual face. When he did, she'd track his ass back to his hiding place, kick it up over his ears and throw it into jail.

She brushed the rose across her mouth, inhaling deeply. Almost smelled real, but he couldn't be that good. She had to be picking up the smell of the roses he'd left in her room.

Unnoticed, Dewey approached from the other side of the fountain. Bryn was smiling, so he figured she must be plotting his demise. He knew he'd tried her patience, when what he wanted was to win her heart.

Nothing like falling for the impossible dream. After Kerry Anne died, he?d really thought he would never feel anything again. He sure as hell hadn?t expected to feel something for a women he could never, ever have. Talk about unlucky in love.

He didn't feel guilty about his feelings for Bryn. Kerry Anne wouldn't have expected a permanent state of mourning from him. Mostly he felt stupid. Only emotion he seemed to arouse in Bryn was rage. Of course, she was magnificent in a rage.

He grinned, remembering the first time he'd been caught by the FBI. Maybe he shouldn't have made a pass at her, but hell, he'd been handcuffed. Not like he?d grabbed her ass or something. He'd simply told her he'd like to kiss her. He hadn't actually done it.

She still hadn't noticed him, so he took a minute more to enjoy her rare-to him-smile. It was a great smile. No matter how hard she tried to look all business and tough as nails, she stayed all woman.

He was taking a big risk meeting her like this, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. As soon as she saw him, she'd start trying to track him, and she was good enough to do it if he Wasn't careful. Too bad he stopped being careful as soon as he got around her. As Phoebe liked to put it, he was thinking with his southern brain.

Bryn's smile narrowed to a scowl, and he knew he'd been spotted. He deleted the band and walked around the fountain toward her as she rose to meet him. She'd be starting her search program. He started his clock, too.

"Phagan." He'd come as Mr. Green Jeans this time and she wanted to chuckle, but she refused to let him see any sign of softening. If he was this bold when he thought she hated him, what would he do if realized he was making headway? Because the sad fact was, he was making headway. Not that anything could come of it, but how could she resist a man who was her intellectual equal? Who seemed to like her tough side as much as her soft side? Who Wasn't afraid of her?

He ambled closer, carrying a rake, of all things. He realized it and looked around for a place to put it, then settled for making it disappear.

"Evening-" He looked around and realized that in their VR it was day and changed day to night. "Hi."

She should be patient and let him engage in small talk. The longer she could keep him with her, the better chance she had of tracking his location, but she'd never been a patient person. "What?"

Mr. Green Jeans grinned. "You don't like games, do you?"

"No, I don't." She turned away from him and made herself take a couple of deep breaths. On her VR screen a little timer showed her that she needed to keep him talking for three minutes to have him. She turned around. It was more than she could do to smile at him, but she did sit down. Let him think he was in control. "Nice little park, though. Does it have a real counterpart anywhere?"

He joined her on the bench but didn't crowd her. "It's sort of like one I saw in New Orleans a few years ago. I liked New Orleans."

Liked. Past tense. But maybe she could backtrack and-

"You're going to miss the here and now, Bryn," he said, breaking into her thoughts.

"It's Agent Bailey-"

"You called me by my first name," he pointed out, giving her a smile that seemed less Mr. Green Jeans and more something-or someone-else. Had his real smile broken through VR?

"You only have one name that you've shared with me," Bryn said. The time was down to sixty seconds and falling. She rose and stepped away from him. "I don't know why I came. I always end up talking in circles with you."

"You came to catch me," he said, standing up behind her. He gently turned her to face him. He'd changed, but she didn't think he was showing his true face.

"And why did you come?" she asked.

"To tell you I'm not your enemy. But-"

He stopped. The clock was almost run.

"But," she prompted. Thirty seconds...

"Believe me when I say, my enemy is your enemy. Be careful."

"You're not the good guy, you know. If you'd just-"

"Turn myself in? You'd cut me a deal?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "In exchange for information I'd-"

"Could I be your partner?" He gave her such a hopeful look, she dang near nodded.

Her frustration surge. A red mist obscured the timer. "When hell freezes over!"

His grin was a warning, but his hand was quicker than her eye. He vanished and the landscape turned into his version of hell. Frozen over.

She ripped off the head set and threw it against the wall to keep from moaning long and loud. The clock on her search had stopped at one second.

Phoebe's cop friend, Honk, did a good job of securing the crime scene, but it still took an hour before she was seated beside Jake in his truck driving to town. Phoebe left her SUV there in front of the bar. She wouldn't need it again. At first light, which was about an hour from now, Dewey would be picking her up. They were hitting TelTech tonight, and once the game was played, Phoebe Mentel would vanish, never to be reborn. Somewhere Phagan was probably already working on her new identity.

She didn't talk and Jake didn't seem inclined to chat either, until he reached the turn to her house. He braked and looked at her.

"Is it possible they went to your house..."

The same thought had occurred to her. Even if there was no threat at home, she didn't want to see the place again. It was something else she had to give up. If the weight of things and wants got too heavy, she might not be able to break free.