aIall get a special license, we can have a small ceremony before I leave for the army.a He looked about as thrilled as if he were discussing his impending execution.

Eve stared at him. The really stupid thing was that she wanted to marry him. More than anythinga"in two or three years, when she was old enougha"she would have been the happiest woman on the planet if he asked her to marry him.

Asked her. Not ordered her. Because he wanted to, not because they had to.

Shead been a burden to other people all her life, and she was not going to live that way with Ralph. No matter how tempting an idea it was.

She wanted to weep. Instead, she glared at him.

aI donat give a damn about my reputation,a she told him. aI donat care what people think. So forget it. Iam not marrying you.a aEve. Think about it.a aThis is 1939,a she shouted at him, suddenly horribly angrya"at him, at herself, at Nick for getting sick and worrying her so, at the entire world. aIam a modern woman! I donat have to get married. I donat have to do anything unless I want to, and, trust me, the dead last thing I want to do is marry someone who doesnat love me! Anyone who thinks otherwise can just go to hell. Do you hear me? You can just go to H-E-double-L!a She stormed away, but he ruined the effect by following her. aThat kind of thinking mightave worked in California, but I assure youa"a aSo Iall go back to California. I want to, anyway. I hate it here. I hate everything about stupid England.a I hate you. She didnat say the words, but he recoiled from them as if head heard them, loud and clear.

He stopped following her.

aJust leave now, Ralph,a she whispered. aGo join the army early. This waiting for you to go is killing me.a She made it into Nickas room and closed the door behind her before bursting into tears.

Twelve.

MEG BACKED OUT of the parking spot in front of the motel room, glad that shead refilled the gas tank earlier that day, before shead stopped to sleep.

The rain was still coming down like a giant faucet had been opened overhead. It was thick against the windshield, sloshing and splashing as she set the wipers onto high speed in an attempt to see just a little bit. It was noisy, roaring onto the roof of the car.

It was crazy to get onto the highway with the rain coming down this hard, but Meg had to get moving. Even crawling along at twenty miles an hour would be better than standing still.

She looked in her rearview mirror at Johnas car one last time.

She hated locking him in the trunk. But she had no choice. She was his enemy now. His job was to stop her.

Resolutely she put the car into first gear and moved forward, peering through the pouring rain, searching for the parking lot exit and the road that led to the highway.

aOh, my God!a Meg stepped on the brakes, hard, to avoid hitting a man whoad suddenly appeared, from out of the rain and mist, directly in front of her car.

He was soaking wet.

He was John Nilsson.

He moved closer, and as she stared at him through the swishing windshields, she could see his mouth move. Meg.

Somehow head gotten out of his trunk.

Somehow? Of course head gotten free. He was a Navy SEAL. What was she doing, thinking she could lock him anywhere? No wonder head gone in so willinglya"head probably been laughing at her the whole time.

Meg threw the car into reverse. Shead pull out the other waya"the motelas driveway went all the way around the building. If she couldnat lock him up, well, she was going to have to outrun him. He mightave been able to get out of the trunk in a snap, but it was going to take him some time to find his car keys in the woods, in the dark.

It should have been easy to doa"after all, she was in a car and he was on foot. But as she hit the gas, he leapt forward, right onto the front hood.

She went faster and faster in reverse, and the car started to whine, but she wasnat outrunning him. She was taking him with her.

He was clinging to the hood with the tips of his fingers.

Meg hit the brakes, turned the steering wheel hard, but he didnat slip off.

She slammed the gears back into first, but all she could think was, God, what if he did slip off, and she ran him over?

She didnat want to kill him.

The car came to a shuddering halt, and she sat there, staring at him through the windshield.

He looked back at her unblinkingly, completely motionless except for his fingers. He took the opportunity to get a better grip on the edge of the hood, right up by the windshield.

His hair was completely soaked as if head been standing under a shower, and water was streaming down his face.

aPlease get down,a she said.

He read her lips. aNo.a He shook his head.

He couldnat hear her and she couldnat hear him through the glass and over the roar of the rain, but she didnat need to hear to know theyad hit a standoff.

And Meg couldnat help it. She started to cry.

John just watched her, his face expressionless, his eyes hard. And then he said something, something about the hotel, something that was too long and complicated for her to be able to lip-read, particularly with tears blurring her vision.

She rolled down her window a half an inch.

aCut the tears,a he said. aThat may have worked to manipulate the guard back at the safe hotel, but Iam smarter than that. Iam going with you, Meg. Get used to the idea. Youare not leaving here without mea"even if I have to ride like this all the way. Of course, if you try to drive on the interstate with me up here, the police will probably pull you over.a Meg couldnat stop crying. She should have locked him in the trunk and driven immediately away. Of course, he probably wouldnat have gotten into the trunk if he hadnat known it would take her some time to drag Razeen out to her car.

Damn it. Damn him.

Okay. Okay. She could handle this. After all, she was the one in the car. All she needed was for him to get down off the hood, and shead drive away as fast as she possibly could. John was fast, but there was no way he could keep up with a car. She had the definite advantage here.

Meg wiped her eyes and got ready to hit the gas. She nodded at him through the windshield. aOkay,a she said. aYou win. You can come with me.a She hit the unlock button, but kept her finger right there, on it, ready in case he started to move. aGet down off the hood.a As soon as he got off the hood, shead floor it.

But he didnat move. Not an inch.

Rain was coming in through the open crack of the window, getting her even more wet than she already was.

John just looked at her, and she knew that he knew she had no intention of letting him get into her car.

aOpen the passenger side window,a he countered, aand Iall climb in from up here.a She wiped her eyes again. God, she couldnat stop crying.

Could she risk flooring it and try to shake him while he was climbing in? Or would the open window give him an even better handhold on the car? Even if she started raising the window the moment he began to movea"which would be hard to do since shead have to reach across and crank the window upa"head still get his hands around the frame. And with a well-placed kick, he could easily break the half-opened window.

aCome on, Meg,a he said. aIall just climb in and weall talk while you drive. Thatas all I want. Just to talk to you.a Yeah, right. Like he wouldnat go for her gun while she was driving? How was she supposed to drive and keep her gun on him at the same time?

No, this was why in the movies the criminals always made the kidnapped or carjacked person drive. That way they could sit in the passenger seat and hold the gun.

God, this was crazy. How had her life suddenly become a bad movie?

aIall shoot him,a she said. aRazeen.a Threatening that had worked before.

Johnas mouth tightened. aIf you do that, Meg, I canat help you. So please donat. Open the window and let me climb in. I need you to trust me. Right now. Please. Trust me.a aWhat?a Her voice shook. aTrust you to take my gun and haul me back to DC? Because you know whatas best for me? Gee, where have I heard that before? That worked out so well the last time, didnat it? Get off my car!a A muscle jumped in the side of his jaw. And with the rain running down his face, he almost looked as if he were crying, too.

aI did what I thought you wanted,a he said. aThat night. You had too much to drink and I didnat want it to happen that way, Meg. Not like that. You want to talk about it? Greata"itas about time. I wanted to talk about it when I got back from the Middle East, but youare the one who never returned my calls. Let me in. Weall talk about it now.a Oh, God, that long-ago night was the last thing Meg wanted to talk abouta"not now, not ever.

She could still feel the heat of his body, pressing her against the wall in the hallway just outside her bedroom door. She could taste his kisses, hot and sweet, feel his hands on the bare skin of her back as he peeled her dress from her shoulders anda"

No. This wasnat helping. Every minute they wasted here was a minute she wasnat getting closer to finding Amy.

aYou want me to drive?a John pressed. aLet me in the driveras side. That way you can hang on to your gun. Come on, Meg. I just want a chance to talk to you. You drive away from here without me, youare going to end up dead, and Iam going to end up hating myself for the rest of my life for letting you get away. Donat do that to me.a He was silent for a moment, just watching her through the windshield.

aIave let you get away too many times before,a he said quietly. She could barely hear him over the rain. aIam not letting you go this time. Not willingly. Not when you need mea"and dammit, you do need me.a Meg shook her head. aNo, Ia"a aYes,a he said. aYou called me. You asked for help, and god damn it, Iam going to help you whether you like it or not.a aYou already dida"a aWhat are you afraid of?a he bulldozed on. aYou think Iave got another of WildCardas tracking devices on me? Well, I donat. Besides, if I did, itas electronic and Iam soaked. It wouldave been ruined by the rain.a aIam supposed to believe that a Navy SEAL would develop a tracking device that couldnat be used underwater?a Meg shook her head.

aThis was a prototype,a he told her. aSure, the next step is to waterproof it, but WildCard didnat get that fara"and you donat believe me, okay, fine. Iall . . . Iall take off my clothes. That way youall see thereas nothing hidden on me.a That way shead also have a naked man on the hood of her car. All shead need was one car to pull into the parking lot and . . .

Talk about drawing unwanted attention.

aDonat,a she said sharply, understanding that that was his plan. He was trying to make it so that she had no choicea"so that she had to let him into the car. aJohn! Stop!a But he was doing it. He was taking off his clothes, one hand at a timea"careful always to have a tight grip on the hood of her car.

He threw his jacket down onto the driveway, and then his T-shirt. Kicked off his sneakers and socks.

Unfastened his jeans.

Meg hit the horn, rapped her gun against the windshield. aStop!a Somehow he looked even bigger without his shirt on. aLet me in the car.a aNo.a She started driving. Slowly. So that if he did slip off, she wouldnat run him over.

It wasnat easy for him to get out of his wet jeans, but somehow he did it while holding on to the hood. Oh, dear God, he had even more muscles now than he had three years ago.

And he still wore plain white briefs.

His right arm tightened as he let go with his left and reached for that waistband.

Meg hit the brake. aOkay! Okay! Itas kind of obvious youave got nothing hidden on you! Youave made your point!a aSo let me in.a aI canat.a The rain was starting to let up, just a little, and Meg could see car headlights approaching on the road. With luck, whoever it was would just drive past. With luck, they wouldnat pull into the parking lot. With luck . . .

The car pulled into the motel lot. It was moving slowly in the rain, but it was heading straight for them.

John saw it, too, and took off his briefs.

And there he was. Completely, gloriously naked and gleamingly soaking wet, clinging to the front of her car, like some surreal hood ornament.

The approaching car looked as if it had lights mounted up on the roof, as if it might be a police car.

Meg looked at John, looked at her gun. If she didnat let him into the car, if that was a cop and he came over to find out what the hell the naked man was doing on the hood of her car, shead have to kill Razeen. Right now. In the next few minutes. Seconds, maybe.

She couldnat breathe.

And John knew what she was thinking. aDonat do it, Meg,a he said. aDonat go past the point of no return. Let me in.a Meg opened the driveras side window, cursing the entire time. She said words she didnat even know she knew how to pronounce as she scrambled over the parking brake and into the passenger seat. As John Nilsson, dripping wet, slipped into car, as naked as the day he was born.

aDrive,a she ordered him. aSouth on 95. I swear to God, John, you pull any tricksa"like driving to the police station or heading back toward DCa"Iall kill Razeen.a He put the stick shift in gear and pulled out, past the oncoming car.

It was a roof rack, some kind of ski rack, not a cop caras lights.

John handed Meg something and it wasnat until she took it from him that she realized it was his briefs. They were soaking wet and head wadded them up in an attempt to wring them out.

aCheck them,a he said. aI want you to be sure I havenat attached one of those tracking hoo-haas to the elastic band.a She sat there, completely numb, holding tightly to his underpants and her gun as he pulled onto Route 95 heading south.

This was absurd. She was in a car with the one man whoad played a part in nearly every one of her fantasies for the past three years, he was buck nakeda"and she couldnat bring herself even to take a peek.

aThe faster you do it,a he said, squeegeeing the water from his face and hair, athe faster I can put aem back on.a He turned on the defroster, turned the fan up high. The rain plus his body heat was steaming up the windows. The cool air felt good against her flushed face.

How had this happened? How had this gotten so completely out of control?

aYouare in an awful big hurry to get these back,a Meg said. aIt would be just like WildCard to hide some kind of homing signal in a pair of underpants.a John laughed. aYeah, it would be. Iall have to suggest it to him. Heall like the idea.a aMaybe I should just throw them out the window.a aBe my guest. I brought aem in here for you. Youare the one who wonat even look at me.a aIam not looking at you because Iam mad at you,a Meg countered. aIam furious. Iam . . .a Her voice broke. aTerrified,a she whispered. And then she said the unthinkable. aIf Amyas dead . . .a She felt bile rising in her throat, felt her stomach churn, her blood turn to ice.

aLife goes on,a John said quietly. aBelieve it or not, Meg, life does go on. It takes a while. Sometimes years. Sometimes longer.a But it didnat. It wouldnat. Not for Meg.

aI wonat let her be dead.a Meg fought the urge to vomit, cursing herself for being weak. She had to stay focused. She had to believe that she could save her daughter. She had to be strong. aI wonat. I wonat think it, I wonat believe it.a aI was only seven when my mother died,a John told her.

She turned to look at him in surprise, then turned quickly away.

Oh, my God.

Shead made the mistake of looking at him. It was dark in the car, thank goodness, and he was mostly in shadow, but, oh, my God.

aI know I kind of led you to believe I was older than that when it happened,a he continued, abut I wasnat. So, see, I know what it feels like to lose someone irreplaceable, to lose someone you need as much as you need air to breathe. If you want me to be completely honest, Iad have to tell you that Iam still not over her death. Iall never be over it. But I learned to live with it. And thatas what youall do, tooa"if you have to.a aNo,a she said. He was wrong. If Amy were dead, yes, shead have a chance to go on living, but she wouldnat want to. And if Amy werenat dead . . . Please God, let Amy still be alive.

She looked down at the wet wad of fabric she held in her hand. aI canat take the chance that youare lying to me about this.a aFair enough.a He reached over and took the briefs and threw them out the window.

He could have just as easily done the same thing with her gun. She tightened her grip on it as she turned slightly to face him. She had to watch him, and oh, Lord, in the greenish light from the dashboard, all his muscles seemed to glow, like some exotic living anatomy textbook. aKeep both your hands on the steering wheel,a she ordered him.

aYouare the boss.a Was she? It didnat feel that way. Meg kept her eyes carefully on his face. Only his face. Now what?

It wouldnat be long until the sun came up, until truckers going past could look down, into her car and seea"her gaze drifteda"that.

Oh, my God.

She was going to have to find him something to wear. Some of the truck stops sold T-shirts and running shorts. But how was she going to get them? Leave John and Razeen in the car while she went inside? No way. Even if she took the keys, John would probably be able to hot-wire the car in the time she was inside the store. Shead come out, and head be gone. With Razeen.

But she certainly couldnat send John in, naked. Not that head ever willingly get out of the car.

Unless he took the car keys . . .

She was going to have to figure something out. And soon.

Meg took off her jeans jacket using the method shead seen John use to take off his jacket while out on the hood. One arm at a time, the other hand firmly holding ona"in this case to her guna"while she finally shook the jacket free.