Sarah watched her; she looked tired and worn. Trying to figure this out, Rae took all of it on her shoulders.

"There's got to be another way. Why do you have to put yourself in harm's way? Why?" Sarah asked anxiously. Rae took a deep breath.

"Sarah-"

"This will not bring that young SEAL back," she said evenly, immediately wanting the words back.

Rae shot her a dark angry look. She started to say something, then stopped and took another deep breath and stood. "Stay here with Delia. McGrath will call in later," she said angrily and walked out.

Delia was giving Sarah the eye, and Sarah knew it. She glanced her way and sat.

"Not your best moment," she said firmly.

Sarah put her head back and closed her eyes. She agreed. It was not. She should never have said that to Rae. She then stared out the window to see Rae making her way down the walk all alone. She promptly buried her face in her hands and wept.

Mr. Billings was sitting behind his desk staring out the window. He saw Rae Jefferson jogging to the door and let out a long, forlorn sigh. Within a moment, his phone rang, and Rae was on her way up.

"Come in, Miss Jefferson," he said tiredly.

"Good afternoon," Rae said as he offered the chair in front of his desk.

"How is the security system going? I see all your men. They seem to be doing a good job." He tried to smile. Rae noticed the beads of perspiration break out on his brow, and she felt sorry for him.

"Everything is going fine. Our men had a surveillance tape in for the past three days. No one but me has seen it. I thought I would let you know." She walked over to his television. "May I?"

"Certainly," he said with a trace of dejection. Actually, he felt relieved as she started the recorder. "This is the only part I'm concerned with, sir," she said, and he watched the video. Rae then turned it off and took the tape out.

"I'm just wondering what was wrong there, Mr. Billings. You looked very frightened," Rae said as she sat.

Mr. Billings took a deep, sad breath. "Nothing, just a disagreement with..."

"Your nephew Mike Porter?"

"How...?" He shot her a look of disbelief. "The employee files," he said as he remembered.

"Yes, sir, the files you were hesitant to give me. I can tell by looking at you, something is wrong. There's a world of s.h.i.t going on with your nephew and some of his a.s.sociates. A young woman was killed. I'm afraid your nephew is involved. If you know anything..."

He looked at her. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. I don't know anything."

Rae knew he was lying. Mr. Billings knew she knew he was lying. However, there was too much at stake.

"Mr. Billings, please. If you cooperate, it's not too late."

He was staring at his desk and breathing heavily. "Oh, I'm afraid it's much later than you think."

"Are you being blackmailed?" she asked, and he shot her a look of horror as he looked around.

"You have no idea what you're getting into. Leave it alone, please."

Rae watched him as he took out a handkerchief and mopped his face. He stood and paced by the big window as Rae sat there, silent.

"This is all about that young woman, isn't it?" he asked as he stared out the window.

"Yes. Somebody killed that poor girl. She was thrown into the Chicago River while she was still alive. She died a horrible, lonely death. I mean to find out why."

"Why aren't the police here?"

"Because it was determined an accident."

"But you don't believe it. When I first met you, I liked you. You had s.p.u.n.k. I liked that. Now you've gotten yourself in the middle of a nightmare."

"Tell me...please."

He turned to her, and Rae could see tears glistening in his eyes. "You realize that this tape means nothing."

Rae nodded sadly in agreement. He smiled, as well, and sat. "Our mistakes always haunt us. Always."

Rae chuckled sadly. "I know what you mean. Trust me. But if you let me help, it just might be easier to sleep at night." She immediately thought of Sarah.

"I've been married for twenty-seven years. Never strayed. Went to work, went home. However, I made a fateful mistake. I helped a young woman, and now I'm paying for it. But you're right, enough is enough. I can't do this anymore. That poor girl was killed." He took a deep breath. "About seven months ago, I went to dinner with my nephew after work. Toward the end, a young woman came up to the table. She knew Mike. He invited her to stay, and I will tell you, she was attractive. You may know her. Molly Eastman. She flirted shamelessly, and I acted like an old fool, feeling young and wanting." He ran a tired hand across his face, then he stood and shook his head.

"I still don't remember going back to her apartment. I don't remember drinking that much, and I don't remember sleeping with her. G.o.d help me, I don't remember," he said frantically and paced back and forth. Rae listened, beginning to understand the situation. She knew how he felt. She did the same with Amy...

"Amy," she said out loud. Her mind now raced, trying to remember their night together. Rae didn't recall much, either. When Amy was leaving the next morning. What did she say?

"I've got to change plans. I was supposed to do something, but now... I just can't." Her words now rang in Rae's ears. She then shook herself and concentrated on Mr. Billings.

"I just don't remember," he said sadly. "In any event, when I awoke the next morning, I was in bed, and this woman was lying next to me. I was shocked to say the least. Then all h.e.l.l broke loose. The front door burst open, and Mike walked in, ranting and raving, calling Molly every name in the book, threatening her and me. It was horrible. He threatened to tell my wife and the entire family. He threatened to tell the board of directors. This Molly creature said I was divulging company secrets about the research being done." He looked at Rae.

"I swear to you, I have no recollection of doing any of that. I was helpless. I pleaded with him, but it was no use. The only way to keep it quiet was to do as he wished."

"So they blackmailed you. How?"

"I gave him clearance to be in the research department. He took the drugs, and I turned my back. I didn't know what he was taking, and I suppose I didn't want to know. Not until I found he was taking the research drugs."

Rae shot him a curious look. "Research?"

He nodded. "We've received funding from the government to do research on a drug for the Armed Forces. They wanted to examine the possibility of finding something that will aid fighter pilots during long missions. It's experimental; there's been no testing at all. I personally thought it was a waste of money, but you know how the government is."

Rae chuckled sadly. "Yes, I do. So now we come to the video. What did you do? Tell him you were through?"

"Yes, I had called him and told him just that. He threatened to tell the family and the board. I told him I was going to do that myself. That was the other day. What you saw in that video was my wonderful b.a.s.t.a.r.d of a nephew and some redheaded idiot dragging me off the elevator. I was on my way to the other members of the board. The redhead threatened my family. I must admit, even Mike disagreed with him on that, but it was too late. I've been trying to figure out what to do for the past twenty-four hours."

He gave Rae a shamed look. "I know you think I'm a coward and a philanderer. Perhaps I am."

"No, sir, I don't. You were just trying to protect your family as best you could. However, you're in a good deal of danger right now." She took out her cell phone and dialed McGrath.

He would have a patrol car come and get Mr. Billings and take him home and stay with his family. "Good work, Rae. You should have been a cop. We're still looking for these guys. I'm trying to get a search warrant for The Snake Pit. With this, maybe I can. We've had no luck finding Ms. Whiting. h.e.l.l, we can't find anybody. You get back to the hospital. You've done enough."

"No, I haven't. Not until we find Jane. Look, I'm going over to The Snake Pit as planned." She hung up just as she heard McGrath bark his order.

The cold wind whipped around her as she pulled her collar up around her neck. It was only seven thirty, and The Snake Pit was virtually empty, except for a couple at the bar, as Rae walked in and sat. The bartender saw her, and his eyes widened.

"Surprised?" Rae asked boldly. He swallowed with difficulty, but he said nothing. "Gin and tonic."

He brought the drink back, and Rae looked at it. With all the drug talk going on, she pushed it aside. Color her paranoid, she didn't care right now. She sighed and smiled at the bartender. "How's business?" she asked affably.

He frowned cautiously. "Fine."

"Wonderful, make it last. Tell the powers that be I know what's going on. Tell them they should have smiled for the camera."

She stood and tossed a few dollars on the bar and walked out.

As Rae walked back to her car, she felt someone behind her. Someone then grabbed her, pushed her into the alley, and slammed her face first into the wall. She let out a grunt as her attacker had her pinned. She couldn't see who it was as she frantically tried to free herself. "Well, this was quick. I thought I'd at least get home."

"So smart, so f.u.c.king smart," a man's voice whispered in her ear. "This is so not your day."

Chapter 31.

Delia watched Sarah pace back and forth. "Sit. You're making me dizzy."

Sarah smiled and sat, staring out the window. "Where are they?" she asked absently. Then she glanced at Delia, who was shifting in the bed, trying to get up.

Sarah watched her struggling and gave her an exasperated look. "What are you doing?" she asked dryly.

"Trying to get out of this f.u.c.king bed," she cursed loudly, then grunted and lay back. "f.u.c.k me." She sighed unhappily.

"And how far do you think you'll get with your leg in a cast?" Sarah asked with a trace of sarcasm.

Delia glared at her. "I don't like you right now," she said frankly, and Sarah chuckled, looking out the window.

With that, McGrath walked in. "Detective Grainger, how are you feeling?" He tried to keep things light. "Professor, how are you?"

"Cut the small talk," Sarah said with uncharacteristic rudeness. Delia raised her eyebrows and hid her grin. McGrath smiled and chomped on his cigar. "Please," she corrected herself.

"Okay," he said affably. He then told them the new developments. Both were amazed as they listened.

"My guess and Rae's is that someone has Jane as a safeguard. We think she's unharmed, but we don't have any way of knowing that."

"One girl has been murdered," Sarah reminded him.

"I know, but I don't think they want to do the same to Jane," Delia interrupted her.

McGrath concurred. "I'm waiting on the search warrant for The Snake Pit. Rae seems to think it's 'where the rats live.'"

Sarah gave him a curious look. "Where is Rae now?"

He cleared his throat. "I was hoping she'd be here by now. She..." He didn't finish. Sarah knew. So did Delia.

"She went to that place. Alone," Sarah said evenly.

"I think she may have, which is why I'm going over there as soon-" He was interrupted by his cell phone. After a brief exchange, he hung up. "We got a search warrant. You two stay put. I've got a man outside the door."

"I'm going with you," Sarah said firmly. He gave her a fatherly look.

"You have to stay here. I can't allow you to go. She'll be fine. That woman has nine lives." He walked out.

"If anything happens to her, I'll kill her," Sarah said, trying to keep her tears from flowing down her face.

Chapter 32.

"Let's go." Truman held the gun to Rae's back.

"Don't get nervous, Truman," she said as he pushed her into the alley and in the same back entrance of the bar.

Truman flipped on the light and shoved her to the table. "Sit and shut the f.u.c.k up."

"Which one first?" Rae asked.

Truman's face turned as red as his hair as he raised the gun. Then he laughed. "I say sit first."

Rae cautiously sat and took in her surroundings. They seemed to be alone, though Rae couldn't see past the light, which hung over the table.

"Okay, enough playing..."

"Were we playing?"

"I hear you have something, probably a video. I told Porter to keep an eye out, but he's been a bit preoccupied." He walked over to the hidden door, pushing it open.

Out came Mike, dragging Jane. Her blouse was ripped slightly, and Rae looked at her face. She nodded as if telling Rae she was fine.

"Don't worry. Nothing's happened to her yet. Now where's the tape?"