"You're too suspicious, darling. Steve is going to be good, if he chooses to take the job. We'll see how it goes with our current operation. Someone will evaluate him and if he takes the job, he will get to meet some of the other boys."

"Not...Alex?" Marlena tried to be as delicate as she could.

Tess shrugged. "Perhaps. Or Jed might show up."

"Who do you prefer to show up?"

Tess shrugged again, her newly tinted gray eyes bland. "I don't care. I won't be here."

"Don't you want to see him?"

"I..." Tess's mouth curved into an ironic smile. "I see him often enough in my head. No need to reinforce the image. M., better think hard before you walk away. Some are harder to walk away from."

"Why do we always end up talking about Stash?" Marlena demanded.

"I love it. Two lovely ladies talking, and my name comes up," Steve interrupted as he came over to the table with a tray. "I know the guy very well. Can tell you anything about him."

How did he do that? Just came within ten feet of her radar and she became a ma.s.s of confused feelings? Why couldn't she just have him and none of the emotional stuff?

"How did your talk with the admiral go?"

"Pretty enlightening. We have a lot to do before the next phase. But first I have a few questions of my own. Tess, what's this about an offsh.o.r.e account in my name?"

"You mean the one with a hundred grand in it?"

Steve choked on his food. "A hundred what?"

"It's all yours, baby, if you want it," Tess invited.

"It's not mine," Steve said fiercely. "Who set that account up and why?"

"Take a guess. If I can trace it, so can the authorities. M. thought you were a rogue operative when I informed her of the account."

Steve chewed his food and swallowed as he studied Marlena. "So you thought I was the bad guy, too," he commented. "Pot calling the kettle black."

Marlena bit her lower lip. He'd effectively turned the tables on her. He was right. She had thought he was a rogue and had slept with him. "It was different," she said with a shrug. "T. had evidence of you on the take."

"But it was false. TIARA had circ.u.mstantial evidence of Marlena Maxwell in the past, too, but it wasn't you, either. So why the anger about me? I thought I was doing my job. Why don't you tell me what it is you're so d.a.m.n mad about?"

He was probing too close. "I don't have to explain myself to you," she told him.

Steve took another bite, a look in his eyes that she was beginning to recognize as sheer stubborn male persistence. "Well, let me explain myself to you then," he said, after he swallowed his food. "I had no knowledge of that account until Admiral Madison informed me just now. Right now I'm p.i.s.sed off because someone was using me as a straw man. You might be just looking for a rat in the government, and that's fine, but this is personal now. He's declared war on me, and I intend to dig until I get his name. So if this liaison thing gets me closer to the truth, you won't get rid of me that easily. I'm in this. With you. Whether you like it or not."

Marlena stared at him mutinously. He had a right to be angry, but that didn't mean she had to like this new situation.

"May I include a suggestion, Steve?" Tess interrupted. She hadn't said a word throughout their confrontation. "Make a call and place your sister under protection for a while."

"How the h.e.l.l did you find out about my sister?"

Tess arched a brow. "It's not that difficult to trace anyone, darling. You were doing your job and I was doing mine. Like you said, someone is using you as a straw man. Either you're being set up for a fall or someone has plans to use you continuously. Usually they know everything there is to know about you, Steve, so they can either blackmail or get rid of you in a way that can't be traced back to them. You had taken responsibility for the hospital bills incurred by your sister, and a man in debt can be seen as a desperate man."

There was a short silence. Marlena watched the emotions fleeting across Steve's face. Anger. Outrage. Determination. Her heart raced a little at the deadly calm that replaced the emotions as he continued eating. She understood that he wasn't angry at his situation, but at the threat to his sister's safety. For the first time she wondered about his family, his private life. She couldn't help herself. She had to ask.

"And your girlfriend, too," she said, "if you have one back home. She might be in danger."

Steve seemed to relax at her unspoken question, his lips quirking as his dark eyes zeroed in on her small pout. "No girlfriend," he said softly.

"Wife, then," she insisted.

"No wife," he said, a smile forming slowly. "Never been married. I do have several old girlfriends, but they were more interested in the uniform than the man. Besides, they weren't happy when they found out they might be marrying a man with a huge debt. What about you? Scared of my bad credit rating?"

His mockery fl.u.s.tered her. She rose to his challenge. "Sweetie," she drawled, "I can pay off your debts, and you can be my boy toy."

Steve grinned. "I'll think about it," he promised.

"Now that we've got your misunderstanding settled," Tess interrupted again, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes, "can we discuss your new job?"

"What about the account?" Steve asked.

"Leave it for now," Tess said. "We'll keep an eye on it, see the activity. It might be of use. That's my job."

Steve shrugged. "Okay. I'll take care of my family business. Then I'll get right on the a.s.signment to find our rats."

"Let's hear your plans," Marlena said sarcastically. It was her a.s.signment after all.

Steve glanced at the leftover food in front of Marlena. He didn't need to guess her mood; tension practically emanated from her. His mermaid felt threatened from all directions and was on the defensive. "Well, you can make a list of who you think might be the leak at your end, and I will focus mine on TIARA. It's easier to divide our tasks that way. You take care of your suspects and I look into mine, and we put our heads together later."

He grinned at her because he couldn't help thinking about other things they could put together. Marlena muttered something rude about where he could put his head.

"Is that another bet?" he asked, grinning wider, feeling inexplicably lighthearted. He had a future to consider, and the woman sitting next to him played a big part in it. Or at least he planned to make her do so. His mind felt lighter knowing that he wasn't working against her anymore. He added wickedly, "I'll win again."

"Again? Did you look at your face in the mirror, loser?"

"I'm not the one waddling around in pain."

Marlena choked. "Waddling? Waddling?"

"Face it, you're a sore loser."

It was Tess's turn to choke on her drink. Marlena turned to her. "I suppose it's useless to appeal to your sense of pity after saddling this man on me."

Tess chewed on her straw and said with a straight face, "I enjoy a pithy argument myself."

Marlena groaned and Steve leaned over, patted her on the back, and said softly into her ear, "You liked saddling me. Admit it." He smiled at Tess. "Thanks for your recommendation to the admiral, by the way, although I'm curious about one thing. Eighty-five percent? What did I do to lose fifteen percent?"

Tess's brows lifted. "Percentage questions are Marlena's area, not mine," she told him, "which brings us back to more serious matters. What are the probabilities of leaks in TIARA from our end?"

"You mean du Scheum?" Marlena asked. "That's pretty obvious. The two bodyguards working for Cunningham were du Scheum's men, and the other two outside the door sure disappeared easily, don't you think? That's how Cunningham had access in and out of that house, I a.s.sume. There is a high percentage that Pierre's in more danger than he realizes."

Steve wanted to ask more about du Scheum and her, but saw no way to do so without sounding jealous. He swallowed his food and casually asked, "He didn't seem to be terribly alarmed by the attempts on his life. Nor is he afraid for yours. Is he working with you?"

"Pierre knows the risks in the business he's in," Marlena said. "I don't think I've ever seen him alarmed. Or angry. Or any other emotion, in fact. He's a very calculating man."

"That's why he gets along so famously with M.," Tess explained further. "He likes the way our M. calculates her risks in every a.s.signment."

Steve swallowed, this time more than food. "I see. I guess he and M. can calculate the probabilities of which guys working for him are actually against him." He pushed back and stood up, picking up the food tray. "I'll head off now to TIARA and take care of my list. Don't worry, I'll get a lift there. I'll see you back at the hotel, M. Talk to you later, T."

After Steve left, Marlena chewed on another fry. Tess studied her rings, taking one off and putting it on another finger. Marlena picked up another fry. Tess rested her chin on her hand.

"He called me M.," Marlena remarked, food in mouth.

"He's mad," observed Tess lazily.

"He's jealous," Marlena said. And felt ridiculously pleased.

Steve nodded absently, not really agreeing or disagreeing with the driver's comments.

M for Mulling. M for Moderation. He needed all the restraint he could muster right now. He tried not to think about Marlena on the way back to D.C. Fortunately the officer who had given him the ride was a chatty young man.

There was time enough to talk things out when the job was done. Right now he planned to go back to TIARA headquarters. He still technically worked there, so his security clearance should be without problems. He thought of all the possible suspects, playing out various scenarios in his mind on how each particular person fit into this circle of traitors.

Someone with high security clearance was part of the scheme. He or she must be able to retrieve and download information without suspicion, transferring whatever Cunningham needed. With Cunningham dead, there was no reason for this person to panic, unless Steve created one.

The main building was crowded that day, with a large group of students on a visit. He was in line going through security clearance when he spied Birman not too far ahead, following du Scheum, going into one of the limited-access elevators. Now, wasn't that something? Think of the devil and the devil appears. What was du Scheum doing there? And who was he meeting? Those elevators didn't lead to public-access floors, so it was a safe bet that du Scheum wasn't there for the usual friendly tour.

Well, at least he knew Marlena wasn't spending time with the man at this moment. Everything about Pierre du Scheum bothered Steve, although, to be honest, the main thing was his past with Marlena. Jealousy ate at him every time he thought of their friendship. What was he to her? He didn't want to think of Marlena carrying on a casual affair with anyone at the moment. She hadn't mentioned it, but he was unsure as h.e.l.l where he stood with the darn woman. He wanted so much and knew he couldn't push too hard. Not with her jumping away two steps for every one he took.

No, he just had to take his time, get her used to him, give her a reason to see that there was more to their relationship than l.u.s.t. Be moderate, he repeated. They only ended up in bed, anyhow, whenever he lost his temper with her. That cooled his ire but didn't solve a d.a.m.n thing.

By the time he reached the same elevators, du Scheum and Birman were gone. He keyed in his access codes, leaning back against the wall as he watched the elevator numbers lighting.

First he had to find Cam. Harden wouldn't see him immediately anyway, if he was around. Cam would give him a brief update of the situation. Nodding at a few colleagues, he headed down the pa.s.sage that led to the small office he shared with Cam.

Good, there was light under the door, so he didn't have to waste time looking for him. He opened the door and almost walked into Cam. The office was too small for two people, especially when one of them tended to be a packrat. With three people, it was like a standing-room only show, and Steve was in this case the spectator.

Cam lifted his head and muttered softly, "Get out of here, Stevie."

Steve saw Patty Ostler's glazed eyes opening wide in shock when she saw him. She was trapped against a tall file cabinet. "No!" she called over Cam's shoulder, in a furious, husky voice. "Let me go, Cam, or I'm going knee you in the b.a.l.l.s."

"You would do that to your future children?" mocked Cam in horror, and took a step away from her. "You just wait. I'll tell them what you did to them when they grow up."

"Oh, you...you!" Patty pushed up long tendrils of her hair that had fallen out of their knot. Her eyes were stormy with emotion as she tried to find the words to berate Cam, obviously trying not to swear.

"I know, I know," Cam said soothingly. "The speechlessness disappears after a few more kissing sessions."

"Oh!" Obviously the poor woman was having a tough time with words, and Steve tried his best not to show any emotion. He quickly opened the door wider for her when she pushed Cam out of the way and rushed out of the office.

Cam rubbed his lips and gave a sigh. "You have lousy timing, McMillan. Don't you know how to knock?"

"It's my office, too," Steve dryly pointed out. "What were you trying to do with her, file her for future reference?"

Cam adjusted his rumpled clothes. "I was trying out my rendition of Kisser of the Millennium. Wow, Patty gives some serious lip lock. My brain's still not functioning right."

Steve chuckled. "Looked to me like the lady wasn't willing."

"Pfft. There's how little you know about kissing lessons. You just stick to your games." Cam sauntered to his desk and sat on the edge. "Me, I'm a great teacher. The woman had her tongue down my throat. She was attacking me."

"Yeah, that's why she was pinned against the cabinet."

Cam smiled wickedly. "She was grabbing on to my shirt, so appearances can be deceptive."

"Man, you're going to appear so popular with her now. You're lucky she won't press s.e.xual hara.s.sment charges against you."

Cam sighed. "I know. But then I'd get the chance to tell the whole world what a great kisser she is. The case of the lip-lock woman." He licked his lips noisily.

Steve laughed, shaking his head. The man had it bad. "Your a.s.s, not mine," he said as he dropped into his office chair. He pulled open the drawer of the file cabinet next to his desk, then flicked the switch to turn on the desktop computer.

"I think I'll give her fifteen minutes. Then she'll be back up here to give me an earful."

"She'll probably avoid you for a while, Cam," guessed Steve.

Cam grinned. He picked up a brown shoulder bag from his desk. "I have her purse."

Steve wondered how Patty Ostler had found her way into their office in the first place. "Well, make sure you make up with her real good because I'm going to need both your help."

"Another favor? Let me guess, something to do with the divine Marlena?" Cam settled into his chair, his hands behind his head. "Aren't you supposed to be off that case?"

"What's happening at your end about it? Anything?"

Noisily munching on some snack, Cam stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. "Nope. Nothing I can think of that's important. Harden let the woman walk, so he's basically left with an empty file in hand. In other words, he's not too happy at the moment."

"He's got my file on her. Surely he would use that in his report."

Cam shrugged. "The intel we collected was to stop an a.s.sa.s.sination. We used valuable manpower to set up an expensive downtown apartment for the bait. We paid for an expensive automobile that the lady hasn't returned yet. The only good thing was the free lackey and the ten grand." He arched a brow at Steve. "You tell me what that kind of report is going to do to Harden! No amount of explaining would make the top guy happy with the end result."

Steve fell silent for a second. The deputy director knew about him? Of course he would, since any SEAL team member transferred here by the admiral would be made known to the department head.

"Hey, Cam, have you ever met the deputy director of the department? What's he like?"

"Are you going to eat that pack of chips on your desk?"

"It's open."

"So?"

Steve reached over to grab the snack he had left there a few days ago and sniffed it before using a paper clip to secure the opening. The stuff had probably lost its taste by now. He tossed it in Cam's direction. "You know," he told his office mate, "you're a human garbage disposal."

Cam threw a fistful of chips into his mouth. "At your service," he said in between munches. "Where were we? Oh, Mr. Gorman. I've met him during my interviews for Task Force Two but we aren't drinking buddies of course. Terribly aloof, but what would you expect if you're one of the DOD directors?"