Holly circled to Phoebe's left. Phoebe turned, keeping them face to face.

"And unpredictable would be...?"

Phoebe extended her hands, empty palms up, turned them over, did a small flourish and turned them back. A small harmonica was now in one hand.

Holly looked surprised. "They let you bring that in here?"

Phoebe shook her head.

"How did you get it through the search?"

Phoebe grinned. "Magic." She made the harmonica disappear, then reappear.

Holly laughed, a was rich, rolling sound that echoed around the jail, bouncing off the arid walls in diminishing volleys before dying away. "I like you. What did you say your name was?"

"My friends call me Phoebe." Phoebe played her get-out-of-ass-kicking-free card. "I'm betting you have a hell of a fine voice. What say we kick their asses instead of ours?" She lifted the harmonica to just short of her mouth and smiled hopefully at Holly.

"No wonder they wanted me to kick your ass." Holly's eyes weighed her in the balance, then she smiled. "What the hell. No reason to break a nail for those assholes."

She sat down. "What can you play on that thing?"

"Anything you can sing." Phoebe sat on the commode and played a scale, then launched into an intro for "Amazing Grace." She was right; when Holly came in on cue, she had one hell of a voice.

Chapter 17.

Jake waited until he'd cooled down before heading for the jail. He found Luke and Bryn watching a closed-circuit monitor.

"What?"

Without answering, Luke pointed at the screen. Jake stepped around him and saw Phoebe in a cell with someone who had to be Holly the Horror.

"Why haven't you moved her?"

"We were waiting until they finished Wild Thing." Luke grinned at his brother.

Jake did a double take. "Is that a harmonica?"

Bryn's expression was classically conflicted, with equal parts rage and laughter. She managed to control her twitching lips long enough to say, "Looks like the poor, little, abused girl can take care of herself." She rubbed her temples. "Sure like to know how she got that thing past us."

Jake grinned. "Magic?"

Luke gave Jake an amused, pointed look. "It's obvious she has a highly disruptive influence on everyone she comes into contact with."

Jake rubbed the back of his neck, saw Bryn and Luke watching him do it and lowered his hand. "How about you get her out of there before she gets too comfortable, Luke, while Bryn and I figure out a new approach?"

"You sure know how to take the fun out of things," Luke grumbled good-humoredly as he left. Something told Jake he'd be back, though, with more questions for his little brother. Behind the humor had been a boatload of worry.

Bryn crossed her arms and leaned against the console. "Works for me. What are you thinking?"

Jake turned his back on the console and Phoebe. He couldn't think while looking at her. "They go after their targets mainly to expose their nasty secrets, right?"

"That appears to be their priority." She sighed internally. It was hard to hate Phagan. She was reluctant to admit it, but she was worried about him. She hadn't heard from him since Phoebe got picked up and had had no flowers, chocolate, or romance novels from him, either.

Jake's stopping that disk wipe had seemed like a major coup. To her deep chagrin, she had been relieved when Matt's computer guru found nothing. Chasing Phagan was like trying to take down Robin Hood. She was getting damn tired of being on the side of legal slime like she suspected Peter Harding to be. She hadn't gone into law enforcement to protect his ilk.

"So, if we can't beat her, why not join her? We offer her a deal in exchange for what she knows about Harding, Hyatt and Phagan."

"She won't give up Phagan. If he's on the table, she won't deal." The conviction in her voice startled her. What was wrong with her? She'd been hunting Phagan for five years. Here was her chance to get him, and she was backing off? "And I'm betting she won't rat on Hyatt either. If she is Pathphinder, they've got to be tighter than these shoes I wish I wasn't wearing."

She grimaced and eased them off to give her feet a short break. It took away any height advantage she had with Jake, but he didn't seem to notice.

He was frowning into the distance. "You're probably right. Course, if they are tight, Hyatt will make some kind of move to help her. We should start with the whole package. The real question is, can you make a deal that doesn't include Phagan?"

"If she returns RABBIT, I might make it work with my people. What about you?"

Jake's smile had an edge to it that made her uneasy, though she couldn't say why.

"I've got a few ideas that should make it palatable to my side," he said. "I just need some maneuvering room, so I can make it look like I'm giving ground."

"Okay." She gave him a minute to enlighten her, but he didn't bite. She sighed. "You want me with you when you make the offer? She doesn't like me."

Jake grinned. "Phoebe doesn't like much. If you don't mind, I think I should go in alone, at least the first time." He looked at his watch. "The clock is ticking. We'll let her simmer a bit while we get approval. Let me know ASAP."

Bryn nodded. She wanted to ask him if he was going to be okay, but she knew he would. He just might not be the same. He was hiding it well, but Phoebe had changed him somehow. He'd lost his little-boy-having-an-adventure aura. Was more serious, more...sad. It wouldn't change what he'd do. She knew he'd do what he had to, but at what price?

She sighed. What price would they each pay before this was over?

Stern passed Harding's secretary, his glance flicking over her long enough to see her slight grimace warning him all was not well in the inner sanctum. He wasn't surprised to find the room dark, the curtains shut against the world slipping from Harding's control.

He heard the clink of ice in a glass and turned away from the desk. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he saw Harding stretched out on the couch, his tie loose, his mouth drooping in a petulant pout. On the bar, the brandy decanter was nearly empty. On the floor next to him his glass lay on its side, the melting ice dripping onto the carpet.

He knew Harding stood on the thin edge between madness and sanity. Had wondered what-or maybe it was who-would push him over that edge. If Harding could have mastered his lust for controlling women he could have directed it toward the accumulation of money and power over many lives. Nothing could have stopped him. Without his rather glaring Achilles' heel where women and girls were concerned, he could have had the Presidency one day. All great men were both shadow and light, but if they weren't careful, what they did in the shadows, could overcome the light.

It had been a wasted effort to erase his past. He'd brought it with him. If it hadn't been Nadine, it would have been someone else. You couldn't have the kind of tastes Harding had without something being exposed. The Feds were looking hard now. They'd find something. They usually did once they'd gotten a scent.

Maybe, just maybe, he could contain the threat Nadine and her cohorts posed. He'd come too far to throw it all away. But he wasn't going down with Harding. Not because the asshole who wanted to control the world couldn't control himself.

He punched the intercom. "Get hot coffee in here. Lots of it."

Harding stirred and opened his eyes. "Where you been?" His speech was slurred and thick, but then he seemed to shake it off. "Do you have her?"

"It takes time to setup something like this without leaving a trail. Farley's arranging for a lawyer. If the cops check, it'll look like they were all in it together." He'd made sure he didn't mention to the boys that they'd been captured on film or they'd both be long gone. He needed them alive just long enough to help solidify the frame. A pity they'd have to die. He rather liked Farley. As much as he could like anyone. "They won't arraign her until they have to."

"What if she makes a deal?"

"Then we're screwed. They've got her in isolation. No one can get at her. My man inside laughed when I asked him to try."