"I had my hand on my phone and was ready to dial when the woman put her left hand on her hip and that pulled her jacket back a little. And there it was. A badge. Clipped to her waistband."

"And then?" Faith queried, her eyes darting between Charlie and the art pad in her lap.

"I hesitated. It was a badge. A badge! I suddenly didn't know what to do. I hesitated. But before I could even think, the woman fired-"

An animalistic scream pierced the room causing Charlie's eyes to jerk open as she wildly looked around, gasping as she realized the sound had come from her.

Luke rushed forward, dropping to the floor as his arms swept her up into his embrace. He whirled around, sitting down on the sofa with her in his lap. Her sobs filled the room as she clutched to his shirt. Sitting was not providing the comfort he wanted to offer, so he flipped them around so that she was lying on the sofa with half of his body on hers.

Surrounded by all that was Luke, his warmth, his soothing words, his gentle hands moving up and down her back, she began to relax. Her sobs slowed to hiccups before she finally pulled back to stare at his face through watery eyes.

He wiped her wet cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this, sweetheart," he whispered.

Her breath hitched a couple of times, but she finally said, "No, it's all right. It's just that, with my eyes closed and talking through the scene, it was as though I was right there under that window once more." Taking one more shuddering breath, she peered over his shoulder, seeing Bart kneeling with his arms around Faith.

"Oh, Faith, are you all right?" Charlie asked, sitting up with Luke's a.s.sistance.

Faith smiled and nodded. "I'm fine." Patting her large husband with her small hand, she a.s.sured, "Absolutely fine." She glanced down at her art pad and then back up to Charlie. "Are you ready to see what I have?"

Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded. Luke stood and offered his hand to her. Allowing him to pull her up, he wrapped his arm around her waist to a.s.sure she was steady. As they stepped over to the other side of the room, Faith lay the pad on the coffee table.

Charlie looked down at the pad filled with several smaller pictures around the edges. The man at the computers with the bookcase in the background. The man bending over as he held Eli's hands. The woman as her back was to the group. And in the center was the main description. It was the woman with the gun. The same dark, sleek bob. The dark windbreaker pushed back at her hip. And the badge.

Luke and Bart stared at the drawings also, both focused on the woman in the center of the page. There was no way to determine if the woman was Lin w.a.n.g, but the ill.u.s.tration bore a striking resemblance to her.

Charlie continued to stare wordlessly at the drawings, her eyes searching for anything that was not right. But there was nothing to correct except maybe the badge. Lifting her eyes to Faith, she said, "It's perfect. It's as though I'm looking into the window again." Her breath hitched again, and she felt Luke's arm pulling her around so that her front was plastered to his side. She looked up and added, "Except the badge. It doesn't look quite right."

Before Luke could respond, Bart explained, "Different law enforcement agencies have different badges. Jack wondered if you might be able to recognize it." He shifted his attention to Luke and said, "Can you pull some up for her to look at? If she can identify the right one, I'll contact Jack and we'll know better how to proceed."

Kissing the top of her head, Luke stepped away from Charlie, reluctantly, just long enough to grab his laptop. Efficiently pulling up various badges, she quickly dismissed any oblong or with five stars. Staring at the myriad of others, she slapped her hand down on the table in frustration. "Good grief, how many badges are there?"

Luke slid his hand around her jaw, gently pulling her face toward his, bending to get in her line of vision. "Charlie...it's okay. We're a h.e.l.luva lot further in this case than we were."

She focused on his eyes, mesmerized by the milk chocolate color. Jumping when Bart cleared his throat behind them, she blushed, ducking her head.

"Sorry, guys," Bart said. "I'm taking Faith home and then heading to Jack's."

Standing to let them out, Luke kissed Faith on the cheek, thanking her before clasping hands with Bart. "I'm staying here today and working with Charlie from home. Tell Jack I'll check in with him when you all are there."

Nodding, Bart looked over Luke's shoulder to the pale beauty standing in Luke's living room. A slow grin formed on his face as he said, "Hits you at the d.a.m.ndest times." His gaze shifted back to Luke's and he continued, "Take care of her."

Luke watched as Bart smiled down at his wife and they walked arm in arm toward their SUV. Twisting to look over his shoulder at Charlie standing nervously in his house, he vowed, I plan on doing just that.

That night, Faith woke from a dream, her body jerking. Her hands flew to her large, pregnant stomach, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt the strong movement of her baby. Slipping from bed, she padded to the bathroom. Finishing, she was about to turn off the light when an image pa.s.sed through her mind...a dragon. No other image followed as she stopped and waited to see if something else would come. Nothing. Shaking her head, she moved back to the bed, sliding underneath the covers and into Bart's waiting embrace.

"You okay, babe?" he mumbled, his hands instinctively cupping her stomach.

"Yeah, the baby is just moving a lot," she replied, snuggling into her large husband's arms. Closing her eyes, she drifted off, the image of the dragon fading away.

Penny Owens and David Ellis walked to the address listed on the card. The building was una.s.suming and upon pushing open the door and walking into the lobby, they were greeted by a waiting room filled with people sitting in plastic chairs. Some holding bandages, some with coughs, others sniffling.

Penny grimaced, hoping she and David did not catch something worse than what he already had while waiting. A pretty Asian woman sitting behind the reception desk looked at the two of them. Xia Wu was on her name tag but Penny did not know how to p.r.o.nounce the name so she nodded at the friendly woman.

"Do you need to see the doctor?" Xia asked.

"Um...my friend has a cough," Penny began but was interrupted when the receptionist shoved a clipboard filled with papers toward her.

"Fill these out, bring them back up here and we'll see you as soon as we can."

Penny took the clipboard, glancing back at the crowd, and wondered how long they would have to wait.

"Oh, I forgot," David said between coughs, reaching into his jeans pocket, pulling out the business card. "A lady gave me this card and said for me to give it to you when I came in."

The receptionist's eyes widened as a smile creased her face. "Oh, I didn't realize," she said, reaching for the card. With a quick glance at it, she reached over the desk and took the clipboard out of Penny's hands. "You won't need to fill this out."

"Hey," Penny protested. "What are you doing? Can't he be seen?"

"Oh yes, but you don't have to wait out here. You can be brought on back." Standing, she indicated for them to follow her as she walked through the door behind her desk.

Sharing a wide-eyed expression, the two fell in step behind the young woman.

She looked over her shoulder and explained, "We actually have a separate clinic area for special patients."

"Special?" Penny asked.

Hesitating, with her hand resting on a pair of double doors, she said, "We understand that there are some people who have needs that go beyond medical care and this clinic is run by a doctor who wants to help."

"Because we're homeless?" Penny pursued.

The woman nodded but said nothing else as she pushed through the doors. Curiosity leading them forward, they followed her into an elevator and then down a rather long, dark hall. Just as Penny was about to protest their direction, they went back up a staircase and into a small, but sparkling clean, waiting room that had no one else there. She pa.s.sed them off to another receptionist, who greeted them with a friendly smile. Welcoming them, she moved to sit with them as they filled out the forms together.

Penny stiffened when she saw the questions pertaining to family and addresses. "Are you turning us in?"

"No, no," the woman rushed to say. "We understand that many young people don't have any family, but want to know who to contact in case of an emergency."

"There's no one looking for us," she replied as David nodded his agreement.

"Well, then, we'll be sure to take good care of you," she a.s.sured. Turning to David, she continued, "With your cough, we'll want to get you a room so that you can be evaluated and the doctor will offer a full physical." Looking at Penny, she added, "And one for you as well."

"I'm only here with him," Penny confirmed. "I don't need anything."

"But my dear, you've been on the streets for a while, right? And the night's lodging and medical evaluation are free to you. Why would you not want to take advantage of it?"

"Free? Absolutely free?" David asked, catching Penny's eyes. "Come on, Penny. I don't want you back out on the street without me. Stay for the night."

Chewing the inside of her lip, Penny nodded. "Okay. It sounds good to me."

"Wonderful," the woman purred. "Well, I'll have someone show you to the female ward and we'll get David in to see the doctor now and then he'll be in the male ward unless the doctor feels that he needs a room."

Feeling as though their luck was surely turning, Penny and David followed the woman even further into the clinic.

Chapter 14.

The grey clouds, heavy with rain, cast the bedroom in a dark gloom, but the two inhabitants were oblivious to the outside world.

Luke's body was curled around Charlie's as he slid his thick c.o.c.k into her wet s.e.x from behind. One arm under her neck allowed his hand to tease her b.r.e.a.s.t.s while the other hand gripped her hip firmly. The position ramped the friction up several notches and if the sounds coming from her throat were any indication, she was as turned on as he.

Heat poured off of him so she kicked the covers down, allowing the ceiling fan to help cool their bodies. Keeping her top leg lifted slightly, she slid her hand down, finding her c.l.i.t slick with their combined moisture. Circling the swollen bud, her insides coiled tightly.

She barely heard the grunts coming from Luke in time with the pumping of his hips. Pushing back against his thrusts, his c.o.c.k slid in deeper and deeper until she felt stretched as far as she could go.

"Come on, babe," he panted. "You close?"

Not trusting her voice, she just nodded. The fingers gripping her hips moved forward until he was able to pinch her c.l.i.t at the same time the other hand tweaked her nipples with a hard tug.

Suddenly the tight coils sprung loose and she felt electric jolts firing from her core outward, sending tingling to her extremities. As waves of pleasure washed over her, she heard him shout out a long groaning "fuuuuuuck" as he emptied himself inside, pumping until he was still.

Luke's heartbeat pounded in an erratic pattern as sweat poured from him. His fingers eased their rough grip and gently smoothed over the skin of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and hips. Concern flew over him as he leaned around to peer into her face. "Are you okay? Was that too rough?"

Her languorous smile greeted his worried face. "Mmmm," was her response. He plopped his head back on the pillow behind her allowing his heartbeat to steady and his thoughts to wander.

After the karate practice ending so pa.s.sionately the day before, there had been no question about which bed she would sleep in. As she had come out of the bathroom in one of his t-shirts, her eyes had hesitantly sought his. His grin had met her as he reached out his hand and jerked the covers back, beckoning her to join him.

Now, in the afterglow of their morning coupling, he rubbed circles on her shoulder while planning the day. "We need to go to Jack's today to work," he said hesitantly, wondering about her response.

Charlie twisted up to look into his eyes. "How do you feel about that? Do you think Jack will start trusting me?"

Sighing, Luke admitted, "For me? It's good. It's not like you're new to this or to what we've worked on some. Jack? I don't know. But don't take his non-trust personally. He vetted each of us before we even interviewed with him." Shifting his body so that he faced her, he continued, "I'm gonna admit that he was probably vetting you yesterday."

Without blinking, she smiled slightly. "I expected as much. I know how important trust is." Glancing down at their bodies, still tangled and flushed with sweat, she said, "You hit the shower first while I make coffee."

Pulling her forward, he kissed her, first gently and then with pa.s.sion overtaking. "Um mm," he moaned. "Let me take care of this condom and we'll both take a shower and then the coffee."

Grinning under the onslaught of his mouth on hers, she agreed.

Hours later, Luke looked over as Charlie sat at a small desk next to his bank of computers in the Saints' compound. "You get anything?" he asked.

Shaking her head in frustration, she said, "No. I only know someone named Jun was the original client of Eli's and his encryption was such that I can't figure it out. How can we know who might be doing what Eli thought?" She turned to face him, her mouth turned down into a frown. "Luke, how can we even be sure that he was on the right trail?"

He lifted his hand to rub her shoulder and said, "We don't. But he was on to something that got him killed and it is too much of a coincidence that it happened after talking to someone at the FBI."

"Do you really think that his killer was someone from the FBI?"

He turned his chair so that she was directly in front of him, capturing her knees between his. Taking her cold fingers in his hands, he said, "I don't know. But this is how we investigate, Charlie. One step at a time, following a trail until we discover what we're looking for."

They looked up suddenly as Monty walked into the room, his eyes darting between them. It was not lost on Luke that Charlie was the first outsider allowed into the compound work area other than Mitch Evans, their former FBI contact.

"'Morning," Monty greeted before stepping over to his tablet as the other Saints filtered in. "Charlie, I've got several photographs of some women that I'd like you to look at to see if they are possibilities for Eli's murderer." He shifted his gaze to Luke's in question.

Luke met Monty's gaze with a tight-lipped grimace, but knew it needed to happen. With a short nod, he stood and walked Charlie over to the table to sit with the other Saints.

She clutched his hand tightly, fingers laced, steadying her breath. Once settled with Luke plastered to her side, she nodded and Monty began his presentation.

First he flashed different types of FBI badges on the screen to see if she could identify any of them. By process of elimination, she was able to dismiss some of them but was unable to discern the exact badge.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, she pursed her lips, as Monty said, "Okay, next I have several pictures of Asian women. Some in uniforms of various kinds, some in plain clothes, and some in outfits similar to what you saw."

Luke felt his fingers loose circulation as Charlie gripped his hand tighter. "Relax, sweetie," he whispered, immediately feeling her fingers loosen. "Take your time and focus on eliminating who you can instead of trying to pick out the exact person right now."

Nodding, she sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, aware of the stares from the other Saints. Monty began the slide show and she quickly realized she was going to be able to dismiss some possibilities.

"No, not her," she said, looking at a thin, pinched face woman who was much older than Eli's murderer. "No," she said again, as a round-cheeked woman appeared. She quickly got into the rhythm of giving a "yes" or "no" answer to each picture.

Pleased with her progress, Jack commented, "You're doing good, Charlie. It may not seem like it, but you are definitely identifying a body and face type and you're consistent."

"You're also consistent with the description you gave to Faith," Bart noted, with an encouraging smile.

Monty had specifically held back a photograph of Lin w.a.n.g, wanting to see if Charlie was narrowing down the search to someone similar to the FBI agent. "Ready?"

Nodding, they began the next round of pictures, this time the women were much more similar. Charlie's responses became slower and slower as she gave close attention to each one. Several more she was able to eliminate, but there were still several on her possibility list. When the photograph of Lin w.a.n.g was flashed up on the screen, Charlie hesitated, her head c.o.c.ked to the side, unaware of the others in the room holding their breaths.

She squinted, sucking in her lips, as her eyes devoured the features of the pretty Asian woman wearing a dark jacket over a white blouse. Finally turning her anguished face to Luke, she said, "It could be. I can't be sure. I can't mess up someone's life if I'm not completely sure."

Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in. Tucking her head under his chin, he caught the silent communication from Jack and, after a moment, when she pushed away, he stood. "Come on, let's get you upstairs for a while and we're going to keep working."

Looking over at Jack, she said, "Thank you for allowing me to a.s.sist...down here. I know you probably don't trust me-"

"Charlie, if I didn't trust you," Jack stated, holding her attention, "you wouldn't be down here."

She pondered his words for a moment, realizing it was a compliment. Nodding toward him, she said, "Thank you. I want to help any way I can."

"I'm not dismissing you," Jack said, noting with a smile, Luke's possessive arm around her. "I want you to keep looking at pictures upstairs while we discuss a few other cases as well as the one you're a.s.sisting with."

Nodding, she smiled before allowing Luke to lead her up the stairs to the large living room she had been ensconced in previously.