"What do you think? George isn't someone who makes mistakes. Kimble's bodyguards knew we were coming."

He was right. She didn't believe George would be careless or take anything for granted, but it didn't keep her nerves from screaming. Panic had been growing since she had left Kimble's house. Dammit, she felt so helpless. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was the Kimble place."

"Do you want to go back?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. But this doesn't feel . . . right."

"What doesn't feel right?"

"I don't know." She moistened her lips. "Perhaps I'm just tired."

"Are you sensing anything?"

"No. I'm blank. Maybe that contact with Trask was a fluke. Maybe I interpreted it wrong. Maybe I'll always be blank to him from now on." She shook her head. "Just hurry up and get there. Okay?"

"Okay." He was silent a moment. "But I don't think you should doubt yourself. First impressions are usually the true ones, in my experience."

"Well, I don't have any experience to go by," she said fiercely. "I could only tell you what I felt. He wanted a kill and he was going to get it. He was hurting and furious with me and he was glad he was- Oh, my God." She sat bolt upright in the seat. "Christ in heaven."

"What?"

"It's a woman. The target is a woman." Her lips were trembling. "It has to be Joyce Fairchild."

"Why?"

"He wanted me, but it was going to be okay. Substitution. Another woman instead of me. Don't you see? That would please the child."

"You're beginning to sound like him. You never mentioned a woman target."

"Don't you think I know that? He never consciously thought of her as a woman. She was a target. I only got impressions of water and that it was going to be all right that he couldn't give me to the child to burn. The target wasn't going to be perfect, but it might be close."

"Water. Her place isn't on the water."

"Dammit. I don't care. Turn around and go to . . ." She tried to remember. ". . . Fredericksburg. Isn't that where she lives?"

He nodded as he looked for a turnoff. "Get on my cell phone and call George. He's in my directory. Tell him to check with her guards to make sure she's still okay."

The target was running down the path toward him.

She was running fast, smoothly, seemingly covering the ground with no effort. But then, Joyce had always been a runner. He could remember when the rest of them had pulled all-nighters at the lab, she'd insist on breaking for her morning run. She said it cleared her head and increased her creativity.

Stupid bitch. She didn't know the meaning of creativity. She'd ridden on his coattails for the entire project. But that wouldn't prevent her from taking credit and whatever else she could steal.

But he could prevent her from doing it.

Joyce Fairchild goes for a run in Tyler Park every morning," George said curtly when he called Kerry back. "She's there now. Agent Ledbruk is in charge of the security arrangements and he's on his way. I've told them you're coming and to tell his men to go after her and bring her back."

"Call us when they have her safe," Kerry said, and hung up. She turned to Silver. "She's in Tyler Park. She's a runner. They're trying to bring her back. How long until we can get there?"

"Ten minutes."

She was beginning to feel the burn, Joyce thought as she increased her pace. In a moment she'd be in that place where running was pure euphoria.

The burn. Her lips curved in amusement. So many everyday phrases had to do with fire, and this was one she loved. Every muscle of her body felt stretched and alive, and the wind on her cheeks was like a brisk caress. Like a mother's gentle chastisement of a beloved child.

Child. That was what that nut Trask had always called Firestorm. His child. His creation. No credit to anyone else. Bastard.

Was someone calling her name?

It was those Secret Service agents who trailed her. They were probably upset because she was leaving them in the dust. She'd slow and let them catch up soon. But not now. Not yet.

Her lungs had stopped hurting. Her head was crystal clear.

Just a few more steps and she'd reach the burn.

She was there!

She could feel it explode inside her.

No. Pain.

Something was wrong. . . .

Oh, God," Kerry whispered.

The road bordering Tyler Park was jammed with vehicles. Silver pulled in behind an EMT truck and jumped out of the car. Kerry was already out the passenger door and running toward the path, where she could see a cluster of men and women gathered.

"Wait." Silver caught up with her.

"Wait for what?" she said fiercely. "It's probably already too late. Do you want me to-"

"Stop right there." A tall young man in a navy jogging suit stepped before them. "This is as far as you go. Get back to the road."

"Brad Silver. And this is Kerry Murphy." He glanced at the ID tag on the man's jacket. "Agent Ledbruk. We had George Tarwick contact you."

"Identification."

Silver handed him his wallet.

Ledbruk scrutinized the ID carefully before handing it back.

"For Christ's sake, what happened?" Kerry asked.

Ledbruk looked beyond her. "Son of a bitch, the media are arriving already. How the hell did they find out so soon?" He called to another agent a few yards away. "Keep them out of the area until we can get that body out of here. I was hoping to have this under wraps before-"

"What happened?" Kerry said through her teeth. "What body?"

"You're with the fire department? Come on. Maybe you can tell me." He turned and started down the path. "Damnedest thing I ever saw. And I never want to see anything like it again. We were running after Fairchild trying to stop her. Stubborn woman. We told her that it would be hard to protect her on these morning runs, but she was arrogant as hell. She said if we did our job she'd be safe. We tried, dammit. We sent agents over her route every day to make sure there were no snipers. But it's seven miles of wooded terrain. Too easy to miss someone. But she wouldn't listen. The park was her favorite run and she was-"

"Water," Kerry said numbly.

"What?"

Kerry's gaze was on the narrow trickling brook that had suddenly appeared as they turned a bend. "The path runs beside a stream. Water."

"So?"

Brad's hand was beneath her arm. "Just a comment, Agent Ledbruk. She's an arson investigator, and naturally she-"

"Jesus, that smell." Kerry's eyes closed as waves of sickness washed over her. "I can't-"

"You don't have to go any farther," Silver said. "Stay here and I'll-"

"No." Her eyes opened and she drew a deep breath. She started up the path again. "What happened to Joyce Fairchild, Agent Ledbruk?"

"She . . . ignited. One minute she was running ahead of us, and the next she was . . . blazing." His lips tightened. "Spontaneous combustion? It's crazy. I don't know what-"

"Did you try to put the fire out?" Silver asked.

"Do you think we're stupid? Of course, we-" He swallowed. "See for yourself. She's right ahead."

At first, Kerry didn't see her. A policeman was already stringing the familiar yellow tape, and several forensics experts were carefully going over the scene. One white-coated man was bending over a heap of- Bones. Blackened bones.

"Dear God," Kerry whispered. She moved closer until she was standing over the woman. Or what had once been a woman. No trace of flesh or organs remained. There was only skull and skeleton. "She looks like she's been burning for over twenty-four hours."

"Five minutes," Ledbruk said. "It couldn't have taken us more than a couple minutes to reach her. It was as if she was exploding from the inside, melting, dissolving, and the flame was so hot that we couldn't get near her. One of my men tried to wrap her in his jacket, but it ignited before it touched her. A few minutes more and she was like this." He looked at Kerry. "So you're the expert. You tell me how this happened. Because my ass is on the line."

"Did you search the area for Trask?" Silver asked.

"No sign of anyone. Footprints near a drainpipe that led out of the park about a mile away."

"Kerry?" Silver asked.

"He's not here anymore," she said dully. "Why should he be? He got what he wanted. The entire sensory experience. He saw her die and he was probably close enough to smell her burning flesh. He'd like that."

"But how did it happen that fast?" Ledbruk asked. "We couldn't do anything."

"Maybe your lab will be able to tell you." She had to get out of here. "I can't." She turned and started back toward the road.

Silver caught up with her. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay." She jammed her hands in her jacket pockets. "Do you mean am I going to keel over or anything? No. I've seen more gory cadavers than that over the years."

"This is different."

"You bet it is," she said jerkily. "She's dead because I let him kill her."

"Bullshit."

"I should have thought it through. I must have shied away from thinking about the threat to me or I would have realized she was his target before it was too late."

"You can analyze. You can agonize. You can tear yourself apart. But the fact still remains that Trask is to blame, not you." He opened the car door for her. "You did your best. We tried to stop him and we didn't succeed."

"Tell that to Joyce Fairchild." She got into the car and looked straight ahead. She had to keep her muscles locked. She had to keep him from seeing that she was starting to shake. She had told the truth. She had seen more-horrible sights, but this one had struck her to the core. "Could we go home, please? I'm very tired."

He studied her for a moment and then muttered a curse beneath his breath. "For someone who's not about to keel over, you look like you're pretty close." He pulled away from the curb. "We'll be home in thirty minutes."

You look like you could use a nice cup of tea, Ms. Murphy," George said as he met them on the steps. "Or maybe a good stiff bourbon."

"No, thank you."

George glanced at Silver. "I haven't been able to contact anyone at Tyler Park since I warned them. That isn't a good sign."

"A lousy sign," Kerry said as she climbed the steps. "Yellow tapes, agents all over the place, and EMT trucks, and no one who could help."

"She's dead?"

"Burned to a crisp. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go to my room." She passed George and went inside the house. The staircase seemed to stretch on forever. Just get up the stairs and into her room. She'd curl up under that lush comforter and the shaking would stop. Then, after a little while, she'd be able to face what had happened to Joyce Fairchild.

She's not good," George murmured as he watched Kerry slowly climb the steps. "And I'd judge her to be a tough cookie. It must have been one hell of a night."

"Yes, and she's had an emotional overload for the past week," Silver said. "Today was the icing on the cake."

"No trace of Trask at the scene?"

"Footprints near a drainage pipe." He hesitated and then made a decision. "I'm going to see how she's doing."

"Don't you think you'd better let her have a little time to herself?"

"No." George might be right, but Silver didn't want to wait. That silent drive home had bugged the hell out of him. He hated feeling this helpless. "Where's her dog?"

"In the kitchen. Where else? You think you need protection? You chose the wrong animal."

"I need a buffer." He headed for the kitchen. "And Sam has got to fill the bill."

It's Silver. May I come in?"

She huddled deeper under the comforter. "Why?"

"I brought Sam." He opened the door. "I thought you could use a little canine therapy."

"It's not the-" She broke off as Sam hurled himself across the room, landed in the middle of the bed, and began licking her face. "Stop it, Sam. I'm not in the mood." But she automatically started stroking his head. She glanced warily at Silver over the dog's head. "I don't need therapy, Silver."

"You need comfort, and it comes close to the same thing." He sat down in the chair beside the bed. "I figured it couldn't hurt. I knew you wouldn't accept it from me."

"You want to comfort me?" She smiled without mirth. "Will wonders never cease."

"This kind of situation frustrates me. I'd rather go in and fix what's wrong. It's what I do, dammit. It's what I'm good at. But I made you a promise." He made a face. "So I brought you Sam."