His lips tightened. "He's really got you, hasn't he? Are you sleeping with him?"

"That's none of your business," she said coolly.

"Sorry. You're right. I only wanted to help. Do you still have my card?"

"Yes."

"I'll be around." He started the car. "Don't wait until it's too late to use it."

She watched him drive out of the stable yard.

He's really got you.

He was wrong. Tanek had no hold on her. He was wrong about everything. Except, perhaps, about Nigel Simpson.

She walked slowly back into the house.

Nicholas was standing by the fire with his hands outstretched. "Come and get warm. You were out there a long time."

She shed her jacket and came forward. "It's snowing hard. I asked him to stay the night."

"But he chose not to risk it?"

"I told him you wouldn't object."

"But you're not certain I wouldn't have staked him out in the snow for the wolves?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I wouldn't." He smiled at her. "Not if you asked him to stay."

She noticed he didn't mention that he'd refrain from doing it if she had not invited Kabler. "I like him."

"I know. Why not? Family man, upstanding, protective ..."

"But you don't?"

"He's too righteous for me. Since I'm the one who's being bombarded by stones, I don't embrace a man prone to cast the first one."

"What happened to Nigel Simpson?"

"Probably what Kabler thinks happened to him." His eyes narrowed. "But if you're going to ask if it was my doing, it-"

"I wasn't going to ask you that," she interrupted.

"Because you think me too pure and incapable of such barbarity?" he asked mockingly.

"I don't know. Maybe you're capable, but I don't think-You wouldn't do it unless-" She stopped and finally said, "I just don't think you killed him."

"Well, that's clear."

"But I do want to know what you found out from him."

He was silent a moment. "He gave me his set of Gardeaux's account books and the name of the other accountant in Paris who could complete them."

"Will that be valuable?"

"Possibly."

"How?"

"Information is always useful. I dealt in it extensively while I was in Hong Kong. Some I passed on, some I kept in reserve. When I got out, I used it for an insurance policy."

"Insurance policy?" she asked, puzzled.

"I've made a lot of enemies over the years. I couldn't be sure I wouldn't be targeted after I left the Network. So I stashed a piece of high-voltage information about Ramon Sandequez in various safety deposit boxes around the world with instructions to leak the contents to the appropriate parties if I disappeared or turned up dead."

The name sounded familiar. "Who is Ramon Sandequez?"

"One of the three heads of the Medellin drug cartel."

That's right, Paloma, Juarez, and Sandequez, Nell remembered. Gardeaux's bosses, the hierarchy.

"Sandequez isn't a man to cross. He sent out word that if I was touched, he would not be pleased."

She felt a rush of intense relief. "Then you're safe."

"Until Sandequez thinks he's found all the safety deposit boxes. He's already located two. Or until Sandequez is killed himself. Or until some crazy like Maritz decides that he doesn't care about the risk."

"But if you kept a low profile and stayed here, you'd be safer?"

"Pull in my head and hope?" He shook his head. "I'm willing to take precautions. I'm not willing to stop living a full life. That's not why I came here."

He had come here to put down roots. But those new roots were so terribly fragile. "Don't be a fool," she said fiercely. "You should stay here out of sight. You love it here. There's no reason for you to go anywhere else."

"There's a reason."

"Not worth risking-"

Gardeaux. Maritz. Of course there was a reason. What had she been thinking?

She had been thinking only of keeping him safe.

Guilt rushed through her. Closeness and intimacy had crept into her life, and now they threatened to interfere with what she had to do. She quickly turned away from him. "I have to take a shower."

"Running away?" he asked quietly.

"No, I just- Yes." She wouldn't lie to him. "I think I should go away. Things are becoming too complicated."

"I thought it would come to this," he said. "Damn Kabler."

"It's not his fault. It's just-"

"Complicated," he finished sarcastically. "With Kabler as the catalyst." He reached out and grasped her shoulders. "Listen to me. Nothing has changed. You don't have to run away."

Something had changed. For an instant she had forgotten what was important because of her concern for him.

And he knew it. She could see it in his expression.

"All right. I won't touch you again," he said. "It will be like it was before."

How could it be? She had grown accustomed to him both physically and emotionally.

"You're not ready." He cupped her face with his hands. He whispered, "Stay."

He kissed her lightly, gently. He lifted his head. "See? As sexless as a brother. What's so complicated?"

She leaned against him. How she wanted to stay. She needed to stay. He was right, she wasn't ready to leave him. Maybe it would be all right now that she realized what was happening. "Okay. For a little while."

She could feel the tension leave him. "Smart."

She wasn't sure how smart it was. She wasn't sure of anything at the moment but the fact that his arms were strong and caring and she wanted to be there. "Let me go."

"In a minute. You need this now."

She did need it. He knew her so well. He had studied her and learned what she needed, what she wanted. When she needed comfort, he gave her comfort. When she wanted sex, he gave her all she could handle. He was the one who was clever. It should frighten her instead of giving her this sense of solid security. She finally pushed him away and moved toward the door. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Right."

She stopped at the door as a sudden thought occurred to her. "You didn't tell me why Jamie was in Greece."

"He was checking out a couple of leads about the raid on Medas."

"Did anything come of it?"

"Too early to tell." He spoke indifferently; his expression was equally casual.

Too casual, perhaps. She had meant to question him about Jamie immediately, but he had skipped from Simpson to Ramon Sandequez and she had somehow lost the thread. Had he purposely tried to deter her from pursuing that particular thread? "Are you telling me the truth?"

"Of course."

She said haltingly, "It's very important to me. I need to trust you, Nicholas."

"You've made that crystal clear. Have I ever done anything that might make you distrust me?"

She shook her head.

His smile lit his face. "Then gimme me a break, kid."

Beautiful smile, full of warmth. She found herself smiling back at him, as she usually did these days. "Sorry." She turned to leave and then hesitated as she glanced out the window. "It's snowing harder."

He sighed. "And you're worried about Kabler. Do you want me to trail after him and make sure he makes it back to town?"

"Would you?" she asked, startled by his offer.

"If that's what you want."

She felt a rush of glowing warmth. "No, then I'd worry about you."

"It's nice to know I rate above the virtuous Mr. Kabler."

"Maybe the snow will stop."

"I doubt it. The weather channel said that there would be snow all along the Canadian border all this week." He glanced at the white flakes pelting the window. "Even Joel and Tania should be getting it in Minneapolis in a few days."

Fourteen.

"Do you need anything from the store?" Phil stood in the doorway of the kitchen. He sniffed. "That smells good. What is it?"

"Goulash." Tania smiled at him over her shoulder. "I'll put some aside for your dinner."

"Great." He came over to the stove. "Could I have a bite now?"

He was nothing more than a big boy, Tania thought indulgently as she dipped the ladle into the pot and proffered it to him. He tasted the goulash, closed his eyes, and sighed. "Delicious."

"It's an old family recipe. My grandmother taught it to me." She turned down the heat on the stove to low. "It will be better after a few hours of simmering."

"It couldn't be." Phil glanced at the window. "The snow's coming down pretty hard. It may be impossible to get out in a few hours. I wondered if you might need some milk or bread or something."

"Milk. I used the last at breakfast." Her gaze followed his to the window. "But don't go just for groceries. The streets must be slick as glass."

"I was going out anyway. Something's wrong with my car. I have to take it into the garage."

"What's wrong?"

"Beats me. It worked fine day before yesterday, but last night it was hiccuping." He shrugged. "Could be I got hold of some bad gas." He started for the door. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Come to the front door and set the security system behind me. What's the use of having security if you don't set it? I walked right in."

"I always set it. Joel must have forgotten to do it when he went out this morning." She followed him to the foyer and pressed the armed button after he opened the door. She glanced out at the swiftly swirling snow, now so thick she could barely see two feet ahead. "This is nasty. Do you have to go?"

"Can't do without my wheels." He grinned. "I'm used to driving in weather like this." He waved as he carefully went down the ice-filmed steps. "And I'll remember the milk."