"Now you behave while I'm gone." She had to get over to the Bingingtons' before it got any later. Shaking her head, she hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

It took her thirty minutes to drive to the Bingingtons', and although the house was well lighted, she still felt awkward about going into someone else's home. She slid the key into the lock and walked in.

Switching on lights as she moved through the rooms, she was immediately absorbed in checking the arrangement of tables, flowers, and decor. As a caterer she sometimes worked with florists and other accessorizers to create a complete theme. This one was her baby. She was responsible for everything, from the magnolia blossoms to the bales of cotton she was having brought in. The house was perfect, though. The dining room would easily seat fifty, and double parlors fed off the west end of the dining room. It would be easy to set up the hors d'oeuvre tables and a second wet bar. She nodded with satisfaction as she snapped off the lights and moved on to the kitchen.

Sarah was halfway across the room, searching for the light switch, when a noise outside the back door made her freeze. It was the c.h.i.n.k of something against the gla.s.s, followed by a sc.r.a.ping sound.

Her mind went blank at the possibility of what the noise could be, but her brain registered that it was a sound that should not have been there. Moving as swiftly and silently as possible, she found a doork.n.o.b in the dark and pulled it open. Stepping inside, she pulled the door closed and felt for a lock. There wasn't one.

Fumbling backward she stepped on an object and grabbed into the darkness, catching it before it could fall. A broom. Careful now, she reached into the darkness. Mops, pails, brooms, the vacuum cleaner. She'd stumbled into the cleaning supply pantry. Taking care not to make a sound, she burrowed into the pitch blackness and prayed that whoever was outside would not open the door.

"We're in."

She heard the voice and knew she was in terrible danger. Someone was robbing the Bingington house. If they found her in the pantry, they would more than likely kill her.

"Yeah, we're in. What a joint. It seems a pity to break in and break out without taking anything."

The second voice was just as unpolished as the first. Both were male and both young. Sarah could determine nothing else-her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might burst.

"Keep your paws off everything. We're here for the pepper. That's it."

Sarah swallowed. "Pepper?" Surely she'd misunderstood. Unless-! She felt a surge of adrenaline that mingled the fear. What if she'd stepped on someone's toes with her White House catering business? If someone else had been pushed aside to make room for her, they might well resort to putting something in her food. Not enough to injure anyone. But a few dinners where guests mysteriously got sick-no one wanted to risk that kind of fiasco at a political event. It would ruin a chef forever in this town.

Her churning thoughts stopped cold as the first man spoke again.

"This is what they call ironic." His laugh was short and there was the sound of cabinets opening and shutting.

"What?" The second man sounded hostile, as if he knew he was the b.u.t.t of a joke.

"This cook's old man was a sheriff in Mississippi. He wanted a piece of the gambling action from the big boys, then got cold feet. He went back on his word, though, and he had to die. Now his kid is cooking up her own trouble."

The other man laughed, also a sharp sound. "Yeah, that's ironic."

A cabinet shut and silence fell outside the pantry where Sarah hid.

Gripping the edge of a shelf, Sarah listened until she thought she'd gone blind and deaf in the blackness of the pantry, until she felt as if all of the oxygen was being rap. idly sucked from the room.

This was no professional prank or attempt to ruin her business. This was something else, something that went back to her childhood and the father she'd idolized. What gambling action? If her father had known about any gambling ring, he would have put the people in jail. Gambling was illegal in Mississippi at the time Cal Covington was sheriff of Hanc.o.c.k County. Who were those men, and what were they talking about?

A long suppressed fear rose up and nearly choked her. Was her father's death not really an accident? Dizziness made her grasp the wall behind her. That was unthinkable. It was the one nightmare that she'd had to bury just to survive.

She had to see their faces. She had to know who they were and how they knew so much about her business and her past.

Pushing away from the stabilizing shelf, she eased open the door and slipped into the kitchen. Once she found the light switch with her fingers, she hesitated. What if they had guns?

She wanted the light, but she wanted to be cautious even more. Slipping along the wall of the kitchen, she made her way to the dining room and listened.

The old house was silent, as if no one had been there in a hundred years.

They were gone.

Sarah knew it, but she didn't want to believe it. While she'd been cowering in the pantry, they'd slipped out again. Now she'd never know who they were and how they'd come to know anything about her father.

She thought of calling the police, but the reference to her father held her back. All of those dirty accusations came rushing back at her-that he was dishonest; that he had abused the power of his office; that he had consorted with criminals; that he had betrayed the public trust.

Those were the charges her father had faced, and they were responsible for his death. Nothing was ever proven against the lawman, but he'd gotten careless from worry and stress.

When he was shot trying to stop a robbery, plenty of folks said he deliberately stepped in front of the bullet.

Sarah switched on the kitchen light. In the pantry, she found canisters of pepper-ground pepper, peppercorns, green peppercorns, white pepper, red pepper, cayenne pepper. She found a used grocery sack and dumped them all into that, careful not to touch the flat surfaces of the cans and jars.

If there was any hanky-panky going on with the pepper to the Bingington house, she was going to find out about it. And then she was going to find those two men who'd been in the kitchen. She was going to find them and make them tell her what they'd meant about her father.

She grabbed the bag of pepper and hurried to the front door. There had been times when she'd suspected there was more to Cal's untimely death and her mother's sudden collapse-and some of the people responsible for all of the tragedy had been not five feet away from her this very evening.

It was a terrifying thought, but one Sarah was determined to prove, no matter what she learned about the past.

Chapter Three.

Daniel Dubonet watched the expression on the other man's face. There was no clue to his emotions.

"Check her out thoroughly. I have it from a very good source that this young woman could be serious trouble."

"What source?" Daniel knew he was pushing his luck to question his superior in such a manner, but the veil of secrecy that had suddenly surrounded a seemingly innocent young cook had piqued his curiosity. What gave with Sarah Covington? The first request from the Secret Service for FBI a.s.sistance was odd enough. Now the continued investigation was even more peculiar.

"That's an inappropriate question." Paul Gottard turned cold brown eyes on his employee. Daniel Dubonet was an agent with a lot of potential. But asking such stupid questions could end his career in a hurry.

"There are no inappropriate questions. Not in an investigation."

Gottard eyed the younger agent. Dubonet was impulsive and brash. Qualities that could be good or bad, depending on when and how they were used. He was also an agent who stood out- a fact that could make him a hero, or a scapegoat.

"Put your trainee's manual away, Dubonet. You want to know why we're so interested in Sarah Covington, I'll tell you. Miss Covington has a very interesting past."

Daniel started to make a retort, but he bit it back. He'd already pushed his luck with his boss. He could plainly see that by the lines of tension around Paul Gottard's eyes.

"Sarah is the daughter of a sheriff down in Mississippi. I should say, he was the sheriff. He's dead now. Died under suspicious circ.u.mstances. After a lengthy investigation by our agents."

Daniel was immediately alert. Corruption of local law enforcement officers was an area that particularly interested him. Lawmen, like ministers, were supposed to conduct themselves impeccably, Daniel believed. Men or women who took oaths to protect and defend citizens and then behaved illegally, were worse than other criminals.

"Tell me the background." He leaned forward in his chair.

"Cal Covington was serving his second term as sheriff of Hanc.o.c.k County. Seems he was doing a pretty good job, at least, according to his records. Looked like he could have been elected every four years for the rest of his life." Paul reached for a file on his desk. "Then there were rumors he was involved in an illegal gambling interest. Those coastal counties have always been wide open for gambling, prost.i.tution and all the other vices. Been going on for years and no one seemed to mind all that much."

"So what happened?"

"That's the strange part. Covington was a real Wyatt Earp. Young girl was killed and he sent more folks up to the state pen than any other sheriff in the history of the county. Then we got a tip that he wasn't on the up-and-up. He made some enemies-" Paul dropped the file on his desk. "And then he walked into a bullet in a penny-ante robbery." Suicide?"

Paul shrugged. "We'd been investigating him for months. We could never find anything. Not really."

"How about the money?"

"We could never prove that he accepted it."

"Never?"

"Never." Paul tapped his fingers on the desktop. "Joshua Jenkins was in charge of the case. He was positive Covington was guilty."

"Old Man Jenkins?" Daniel couldn't help the impertinence of the question. Jenkins was a legend in the FBI, an agent more tenacious than athlete's foot. He never disappeared, and he never gave up. Not until he had the evidence necessary to bring his man to justice.

"Yeah. Jenkins." Paul's frown was the first emotion he'd shown. "Jenkins stayed after him. Month after month. He came up with nada. Zip. The big zero. But he always believed he could find the evidence. Then Covington was killed, and it became a moot issue."

"Jenkins thought it was gambling money?"

"That's what he thought. Lots of those syndicate big shots used to summer down along the coast. They'd come in from Chicago and New York and run all kinds of illegal games. As I said, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was not an area where people pointed the finger at high rollers."

"And Covington made it a little easier for them?"

"Not really." Paul rubbed his chin, the second display of unease. "Nothing was ever proven, but now his daughter shows up in Washington and some very powerful people get sick. It's not just coincidence that the three men who were stricken at her last dinner all have connections to Hanc.o.c.k County."

"You think Sarah Covington is in town for revenge?"

"Revenge, or to finish the job her father started. If Jenkins was right, Covington had sold out to the syndicate and then didn't follow through on his end of the deal. In essence, he betrayed his office and the criminals who paid him. And Jenkins believed they paid him handsomely. There should be a lot of money stashed away somewhere. If Covington was involved in something illegal, his girl may be trying to pick up where he left off, or she may be trying to get even with someone."

"Money, power and revenge. Three powerful motives."

"Right. We want to keep her under very close surveillance."

"I'm afraid I may have blown my chances of any type of casual observation." Daniel remembered how he'd burst in on her at midnight. He wanted to kick himself. If he'd acted with some patience and a little maturity... But he'd thought the case was a nuisance-a punishment, actually. Would he never learn?

"We had a complaint about you." The expressionless mask had dropped back over Gottard's face.

"I know. It was too late when I knocked on her door. But I'd had her staked out, and I'd wanted to get the list of ingredients and get it over with."

"Did you find anything on the list?"

"Nothing. They all checked out, and the stores she listed all knew her as a good client, a chef who is particular about her ingredients." He shrugged.

"Don't make any more midnight calls." Gottard tried to smile but his face simply wasn't used to moving in that direction. "No point antagonizing her any more."

"Right."

"But you will watch her. Follow her wherever she goes. Find out what her a.s.signments are, and we'll see that you get there in some capacity. She already knows you're an agent. Someone has to run protection for those events."

"Yeah." Daniel repressed a sigh. Of all the a.s.signments he hated, attending government functions as a dark-suited bodyguard was the worst. He wanted to solve crimes and apprehend criminals, not stand around at c.o.c.ktail parties with a microphone in his ear.

"Then you'd better book yourself into the gym for a couple of extra hours each week."

The remark was so unexpected, Daniel looked up, unable to frame a reply.

"All of that eating and drinking. I'm sure you'll pack on a few pounds. Can't get out of training trim, you know." Gottard's smile was a little more relaxed. "I understand she's a wonderful cook."

"I'll bring you some take-out," Daniel remarked as he stood and prepared to leave. "Aren't you from the North?"

"Pennsylvania. And we had our share of delicious dishes. It's just that fried chicken and those vegetables." He sighed. "I attended a dinner several months ago that Sarah Covington catered. It was some of the best food I've eaten."

"Maybe if we convict her of something, we can get her sentenced to cook for the FBI." Daniel's face was innocent as he watched Paul Gottard. Old Stone Face had a real hankering for Sarah's cooking. He actually looked hopeful for a split second.

"You're in the wrong line of work to be a comedian," Gottard said quickly. "Now, find some way to get yourself invited to that Southern governors conference at the Bingington place. Maybe valet parking." He grinned. "I'll make the arrangements."

Daniel was about to object, but he knew it would do no good. He'd tweaked and poked at his boss too much for one session. Now he was going to have to pay the cost. Parking duties. He almost groaned as he left the warren of government offices. His big mouth was going to be his downfall yet.

So, DOLLY HAS GONE to work and left the big bad cat alone in her humble abode. I'd give anything for a prehensile tail and the strength to open that giant refrigerator door down in the kitchen. I only caught a whiff of possibilities, but I'll bet there's crabmeat, shrimp, cheeses, b.u.t.ter, milk, all the things a recuperating kitty needs.

Now where would I hide if I was something secret? Not a lot to discover up here in the living quarters. Dolly doesn't strike me as the type of girl who would have a safe in her wall. And she's not much of a housekeeper. She needs to get the dust bunnies out of the corners of her closet, and her desk is a mess. Books, papers, an address book, bills, all left out on top of the desk. This is all personal stuff. The catering bills will be downstairs. Seems to have an excellent method of keeping records. That should make her accountant happy. Not to mention the agents of the IRS. Well, it's not the tax men who are after little Dolly. It's another branch of the feds altogether. And I'd better get my sleek black b.u.t.t to work or I won't have a thing to report to the White House.

Now for the interesting part. The kitchen. Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. If there's ill deeds to be done by a chef, then it's the kitchen where the tools will be found.

And goodness gracious, there's plenty of stuff to poke around in. As I suspected, the refrigerator door will not yield to my paw. But what a lucky cat I am. There's a pedal-operated opener. What will they think of next to make the hardworking cook's life a little easier? If I jump up and down on this thing... Eureka! The door swings open, revealing a garden of kitty delights.

Lots of luscious goodies, but no time now to graze my way through them. Careful now, there are some of those tacky candid snapshots on the refrigerator door held in place by those gauche fruit magnets. What an ugly mug that guy has. Hope he's not a relative. No accounting for human tastes, that's for sure.

I want to check the spices. There's the usual a.s.sortment of fresh green stuff here. Nothing out of the ordinary. Now for the little bottles and cans. Everything is neat, orderly and scrubbed to a fare-thee-well.

And I do believe I hear the jingle of keys in the door. Best to scoot up the stairs fast and crawl back into my sickbed. Somehow, I've got to make an escape tonight and get back to Eleanor. She's going away for a few days next week, and I'll have more free time. For the moment, though, I don't want to worry one hair on her beautiful dark head.

SARAH'S HAND was shaking so badly that she dropped her keys three times before she could fit them in the door. The pepper was tucked in her coat, a lump at her hipbone that mashed into her uncomfortably as she held her groceries in one arm and tried to unlock the door.

Once inside, she eased her groceries to the floor and turned all of her attention to relocking her door. No one had followed her from the Bingington house. She'd made certain of that by taking a roundabout way and turning sharp corners unexpectedly. There had been plenty of traffic, but no single car had followed her intricate pattern.

The men who'd entered the Bingington house were gone. She was safely home, evidence in hand. And her heart was about to beat out of her chest.

"Kitty, kitty." She called up the stairs, afraid to go up for fear someone might be lurking about, waiting to get her. But she had to check on the cat. What if he'd taken a turn for the worse?

"Meow!"

His reply was much perkier. The milk and egg must have made him feel better. Sarah felt relief as she hurried upstairs and found him just as she'd left him. He was a handsome creature and seemed to understand that she only wanted to help him. And if the truth was admitted, she needed him, too. It was nice to come home to something alive.

"Hey, kitty." She went to the bed and stroked his back. He was curled into a sleepy ball, as if he'd never moved.

"I got you some food. Hungry?"

His golden green eyes seemed to brighten.