"My office. Five o'clock tomorrow. He wants Nadine there for the exchange."

Stern frowned. Awfully confident of him. Of course, he thought he had a friend on the inside. It was almost too easy. "I'll arrange security. Once the girl is out-"

"I want to be there."

"Not smart. If the Feds are tailing her-"

"Arrange a bait and switch. I need to talk to her."

Stern bit back what he wanted to say to the asshole and gritted out, "Talk to her? About what?"

"Old times."

He'd known killing her wouldn't be enough for Harding. It never had been. It was stupid, but so was screwing over his right-hand man. Before tomorrow was over, Harding would be smarter. And then he'd be dead.

"I'll see what I can do," Stern said. It didn't really matter in what shape the girl arrived. By then it would be too late for complaints from his new "partner." The man had been moderately clever, but clever wasn't enough. You had to be invulnerable, too. Obviously he was attached to Nadine. That was his weakness and it would be his downfall.

Stern looked at his Spartan surroundings with detached amusement. He didn't care about the money. Not really. He just liked to win. Any way he could.

He lay back in the bed, his arms behind his head, reviewing the various moves planned by his opponents, planning his countermoves and looking forward to a day that promised many deaths. Maybe the death, the one that answered his question.

Do men have souls?

After that first night at Jake's mom's, Bryn had opted for a hotel room. His mama's eyes were a tad too penetrating for comfort, and this way she'd be easier for Phagan to contact. Not because she was missing his gifts, of course, she was just interested in any leads he might be inclined to share.

She hadn't gotten either since her move to the hotel. That wasn't the reason she was tossing and turning in her bed though. She had too much to think about. What had transpired during Jake's off-the-record meeting with Phoebe Mentel? All Jake had said was, "She's considering our offer," before trotting off to his mom's.

She'd been tempted to pay Phoebe a visit but was still licking her wounds over the "Holly the Horror" incident. Not her finest hour, she had to admit as she punched up her pillow and tried to quiet her mind. Phagan had taught her well.

Phagan. What was she going to do about him? Assuming she could do anything about him. Here, alone in the dark, she could admit she was worried about him. He'd never let this much time pass before without some kind of contact. He played a dangerous game, and no one was invincible. If he'd formed a partnership for his run on TelTech, he hadn't chosen well. That scene of cold-blooded murder had been playing over and over in her head, along with the question, had Phagan been part of the violence?

She knew in her gut he was in this mess somewhere, unless he was dead.

She'd studied the faces in the crime-scene photos, but none of them seemed right for the man she thought she knew. Or, she didn't want them to be right. She wanted Phagan to be the bad-boy-champion myth he'd created for himself. He'd wormed himself into her thoughts, maybe even into her heart. If the bastard was just another scummy bad guy, well, the fool was one role she really hated to play. Love and hate were two sides of the same coin, and she hadn't liked finding out she had a heart. Hadn't liked it one bit.

She rolled onto her stomach. It was hopeless. Even if they did meet, she'd have to toss his butt in jail. She punched the pillow again. At least she'd know where he was.

She sagged into the pillow, forcing her thoughts off the maze, but they shattered when her cell phone shrilled a summons. A brief fumble across the nightstand, then she had it.

"Bailey."

"Did I wake you?" The voice was muffled, husky.

"If this is an obscene phone call-"

"Much as I'd like to talk dirty with you, this is business, darlin'."

"Phagan?" It was as if her thoughts had summoned him. It was a bit creepy, and yet comforting, too.

"Afraid so."

She sank back against the pillows, clutching the phone like a lifeline. Their first, real-time contact. And she felt as uncertain as a teenager. Jeez, Louise.

Before she could check herself, she asked, "Where've you been?"

"Here and there. Don't tell me you've been worried about my sorry ass?" He sounded pleased.

To her own surprise she said, "Actually, I have. There were a lot of bodies at TelTech. You usually pick your partners better than that."

Silence. She'd surprised him. She smiled, feeling the balance of power between them shift slightly her way.

He chuckled. "You're my only outside partner, darlin'."

The cheeky devil. Why did he have to be on the wrong side of the law? She sighed. "I wish-"

"I know." He got quiet, then said, "I need your help."

Bryn sat up. "You need my help?"

"Stay online tomorrow, and be ready to move."

"Okay." She wanted to ask more but knew he wouldn't give it to her.

"You'll know what to do with it when you get it. Sleep well..."

His last words were muffled. Had he added my love at the end? Or was it only her imagination?

It was probably better not to know. Sighing, she settled back against the pillows. What was he up to now? A thousand questions without answers started trekking through her brain. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.

Chapter 19.

The day began quietly. The sun rose, spilling warm light on another August day, but as the time for Phoebe's bail hearing approached, distant thunder rumbled a storm warning. Dark clouds clung to the mountains, then were torn free, pushed by a front that seemed intent on driving them toward the city.

Jake turned his back on the window and the storm. His team, most of it on loan from Matt, who had been called away on a minor emergency, awaited the call to action. "Does everyone know what they're supposed to do?"

Riggs and a young, pony-tailed boy named, Henry, both in black jumpsuits and SWAT-type gear, gave him a thumbs up. Because of his youth, Henry's was a tad more enthusiastic than Riggs'. A huge tad.

Jake almost didn't recognize Alice without her upscale suit and heels. She looked up from checking her gun clip to give him a short nod.

Sebastian, manning Bryn's laptop with its satellite uplink, gave him an over-the-shoulder wave. He had a small-boy air of fascination as he made his screen flicker with some computer game. His guns blazing, he grabbed a swig from his Yahoo bottle.

If Matt hadn't assured him Sebastian was good at what he did...

Jake looked at Bryn. "I wish we knew what your boy was up to."

"You, me and a cast of thousands." Bryn shrugged. "If he does intend to bring us in this early, I'm guessing things aren't going exactly as planned."