"What if I told you that you're not our...primary interest?"

She arched her brows. "I don't know whether to be pleased or offended." She'd been expecting this and knew her next line. "What-or is it a who'do you want?"

"What and who." Jake relaxed in his chair, giving her plenty of space. "You'll have to give RABBIT back, of course."

"Rabbit?"

He ignored this. "And you'll have to be debriefed on Phagan and Hyatt, tell us what you know about their organization. Tell us if you know where they are."

This she also expected. Her freedom for theirs-some choice.

"And we want Harding-or whoever it is you're after at TelTech."

She hadn't been expecting that.

"We're not stupid, Phoebe." She noticed he didn't call her Nadine. "We know what you've been doing. Believe it or not, we are the good guys. If it is Harding, if he's done something to you or someone you know, it needs to come out. Not only has he been working on a sensitive military contract, he's making a run for governor." He gave her a crooked grin. "Call it the public's right to know."

"I can't see that the public cares or wants to know what their leaders are up to in private." Phoebe felt bitterness slip her leash for a moment. She reined it in. "Is that it?"

"You will, of course, cease and desist all illegal activities. If you work with us, I think we can arrange a sentence that doesn't include jail time. You'd probably have to do some community service." He hesitated, as if he wanted to say more, but didn't.

She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that what he hadn't said was the one thing she wanted to hear.

"I don't know, cowboy. Your deal seems pretty lopsided. Lot of maybes there. And, frankly, I think I could get a suspended on what you've got, with a good lawyer and a bit of remorse." She fluttered her eyelashes.

"But you might not get Harding. The game will be over for you." He hesitated again, then said, "People with your skills are in demand in law enforcement. It's not uncommon for, say, really good hackers to be...recruited after being caught. I can't promise anything, but Internet criminals are tough to catch. Why not try justice on the right side for a while? Come out of the shadows?"

This she hadn't expected either. Before she could stop it, hope tried to get a foothold in her heart. He was good, dangling a bright and shining new world in front of her and the offer to help her take out Harding. All she had to do to get it was betray the two men who'd saved her life all those years ago.

He must have a real high opinion of her integrity.

If only he understood the irony. She didn't know where Dewey was. Didn't know Phagan's real name or location. And once he got word she'd been taken, no information she had would lead to him. He'd already have moved to make sure of that. As for Montgomery Justice a.k.a. Peter Harding, she knew what he'd done to her sister, but any physical evidence-as well as Justice's face-were lost in the past.

That left RABBIT. Yeah, that piece of crap would buy her a bright, new future.

She was cool, but Jake could see her inward struggle playing out in her eyes.

Do your job and let love find the way. He'd given her a chance, now she had to have the courage to take it.

"If I were this...Pathphinder,"-she smiled slightly as if the notion amused her- "do you seriously think I could, or would, betray my friends? For...any reason?"

It was the opening he'd been waiting for. Her hand, the one not gripping the chair back, trembled slightly before she could pull it out of sight. Poor baby. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her it was going to be all right. That she wasn't alone anymore. He was there and he'd always be there for her, but she had to help him.

"I have to have something..."

"I can't give you what I don't have."

Her voice resonated with certainty. He frowned. What was she trying to tell him? She didn't have RABBIT? Had the other thieves beaten them to it? Damn, he was tired of move and countermove. Why couldn't she just tell him?

"Then why are you here?"

A pause. "Because you arrested me?"

"You let yourself get caught, Phoebe. What is it you want from me?"

Harding wanted a drink more than he wanted a girl. He couldn't have either. Not tonight. He needed to keep his wits about him. Couldn't afford to let his guard down now, or Stern would take him out. Damn the man. He wasn't going to win this one. No one screwed his pooch and got away with it.

He rubbed his aching head, realized his hand was shaking. He was used to telling others what to do and having them do it. He was a leader, a director of events, not some stupid peon. Stern was already suspicious. He'd seen it in his eyes when they ran into each other outside the building.

"Any action?" Stern had asked.

Harding had shrugged, all the while wanting to leap on the man and pound his face to a bloody pulp. Only no one pounded Stern, not without immobilizing him first. He'd have to take him out quick. Shoot him in the back, or drug him?

Harding liked that idea. A quick kill was no fun. Gloating was half the pleasure of a kill. Kerry Anne had taught him that. He really needed to show Stern who had the power. He'd gone too long without a fix.

Stern had taken away everything: his women, his videos, even tried to keep Nadine for himself. He'd pay for it. Oh, yes. First Stern. Then Nadine.

Nadine. He stretched out on the bed and thought about Nadine.

It was almost as good as a video. Almost.

He wasn't sure he could give her up, even for the chip.

Dewey hunched over the computer screen in the tiny room he'd rented on the dark side of town. It was small and austere as a sort of penance for Phoebe's current incarceration. Until she was free, no five-star hotels for him.

He'd been typing for so many hours the tips of his fingers were numb. He gave them a shake, then rubbed his eyes. It didn't help the blurring, but he didn't stop. He didn't have time to stop. The illusion had to be perfect or they were dead. Might be dead anyway, but he didn't want it to be because of faulty work on his part.

Harding was balanced on the knife-edge of sanity. It showed in the trembling of his hands, in the twitch in one cheek and in the expression in his eyes. Dewey wasn't sure any illusion would be enough to get them clear. There were too many variables without solutions in this last play of their rapidly unraveling game.

Harding was obsessed with Nadine. Who knew if she'd survive until Dewey could get her clear? Would Harding would be able to choose his chip and his political career over his obsession with her? Dewey wasn't sure the bastard was thinking clearly enough to choose anything. If it were his call to make, Phoebe would be long gone from this place. But it wasn't. As she'd pointed out, it was her game, her risk. He just hoped to hell that Harding what he should, not what he wanted. Though it was nice to know their gas lighting had worked so well. But what a time to be effective.

Then there was Bryn, who could throw a spanner into the works by getting Phoebe's bail denied. It was a long shot, but Bryn was good at delivering long shots. If the authorities managed to hang on to her, he'd have to deal himself in to get her out. He was not letting Kerry's little sister rot in jail protecting his sorry ass.

And then there was Phoebe. If Harding was balanced on the knife's edge, well, she was balancing on top of him. Worse, she was on the hop, acting on instinct instead of brain waves. In a way he understood why. She wanted to get Harding, but she also wanted it to be over. So did he. Kerry's death had weighed heavily a long time. Retreat wasn't an option. They'd given too much of their lives to this moment to stop now. The cat was in the pigeons; fur and feathers were flying.

Some things you didn't walk away from. Sometimes you could only do or die. Be nice if the odds were a little more even, but, what the hell? If they failed, their lives wouldn't be worth living anyway.

He looked at his watch. Time to give Harding's chain another jerk. He dialed his number, waited for Harding to answer, then said, "Tick, tock, tick, tock. What do you think Nadine's saying to the Feds about you right now? Maybe they're digging around in your past even as we speak? Ooh, I wonder what they'll...dig up?"

Stern didn't sleep well, so he wasn't happy when his phone rang after three AM. Even less happy to hear Harding's voice in his ear.

"I got the call."

Stern sat up and rubbed his face.

"You there?"

"I'm here," Stern said. "Where?"