And then he was gone.

One minute he was casually throwing his sandwich wrapper into a trash can, and the next he was nowhere to be found.

It was completely her fault. Shead been lulled into thinking he was going to stroll the entire afternoon away. Shead let her thoughts stray, shead been checking her cell phone to make sure Tyra could reach her if she needed her and . . .

Poof.

Gone.

Shead searched the area for hours, expecting Starrett to turn up. Expecting him to call.

What good was losing her if he wasnat going to taunt her afterward?

But it wasnat until much, much later that her cell phone rang. She was in her car, driving the area shead walked earlier, cursing herself and hoping head just magically show up.

She answered breathlessly, her heart racing, thinking it was finally Tyra. aLocke.a There was a moment of silence, then Starrettas voice. aItas only me. Sorry.a Somehow he knew she was waiting on a phone call. aWhat do you want?a aNo luck finding Nils yet, huh? He still hasnat checked back in?a She didnat say a word. There was no way she was going to give him any information that he didnat already know. For all she knew, he was with John Nilsson and Meg Moore right this very moment.

aI guess not. You on duty?a he asked.

aNo.a She was off until late tomorrow morning.

aIam at a pool hall,a he said, abored to tears. You know how to play?a aNo.a aWant to learn?a aNo.a He laughed. aWant to know where I am?a He didnat let her answer. He just rattled off the address.

aThis is going to be really funny, right, Roger?a Locke said, flipping through her map book until shead found the street head named. aWhen I come all the way down to that shitty part of town, and walk into some biker bar, and youare not there. Thatas going to be some joke when itas just me and five three-hundred-pound white supremacists, huh? As a person of color, I donat appreciate being walked into a potentially dangerous and volatile situation.a aWhoa, waita"I would never do that.a aThen you be there,a she said. aYou be there when I show up.a She hung up the phone, feeling like a fool for rushing over at Starrettas beck and call. But she didnat have anything else to do, and she was going to feel really stupid when she called Jules and had to tell him that shead spent the entire afternoon with her thumb up her butt.

Her cell phone rang again and she tensed. aLocke.a aHey, itas me,a her partner said, as if shead conjured him just by thinking about him. aLookit, I canat help you out with Cowboy Sam tonight. Iam sorry, I know I promised to set up camp outside his hotel room from midnight to six, but Iam being sent south.a Locke ran a stale yellow light. aAnything I should know?a aNilssonas rental car just turned up at a roadside motel. Apparently someone fitting Meg Mooreas description checked in earlier. Theyare both gone now, but the caras still there. Iam going to go check it out, see if the local boys missed any vital clues.a aTheyare sending you without me?a aI actually talked Bhagat into letting you stay back here,a Jules told her. aItas a nothing assignment and you know ita"checking something thatas already been checked? The car was broken into. There was nothing inside it. And just a muddy pair of jeans and a T-shirt in the parking lot. An old pair of sneakers and socks. Nilsson mustave thrown a change of clothes into the backseat, and when some local thief broke into the car, they grabbed everything. When they realized it was just some clothes, they mustave just dropped aem where they stood. Still, Iam going to go down there, look at the car and go, hmmmm. Then fly back to DC and tell the boss everything that the local guys already told me.a aCall me when you get back.a aYou bet. Sorry about tonight.a aNo problem,a Locke said. aIall cover it. Hey, did you hear I nearly keeled over this morning? Itas getting hot out there. Iam telling everyonea"we all need to be careful. Summeras here. Push fluids.a aYou okay?a aYeah, it was nothing. Iam just . . . letting folks know.a It was a preemptive strike, to steal Starrettas thunder. If everyone already knew shead gotten a little overheated this morning, Starrett couldnat make it sound worse than it really was when he told his version of the story. Which she had no doubt he would do.

aTake care of yourself,a Jules ordered. aGet some sleep.a aYeah, maybe I will tonight.a But probably not.

Locke hung up the phone as she pulled into a parking space just past a building that bore a sign saying POOL HALL. Well, there was an original name. She checked her map again, checked the numbers on the other buildings. This was definitely the address Starrett had given her. She locked her car behind her.

Four motorcycles on the sidewalk. No swastikas painted on any of thema"always a good sign.

She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath, and went in the door.

It was dark inside, with the perpetual dank of a room that never saw sunlight. It smelled like stale beer and mildewing particle board. A long bar lined the wall right by the door, and there was a worn path in the cheap tile leading to it.

There were four pool tables in the back and . . .

Starrett.

He was there.

He was standing off to the side of a game being played by a group of young womena"college students from the look of them. As one of them set up her shot, the others hung on Starrettas every word.

From a safe distance, Locke could understand and even appreciate his appeal. He was handsome but not too pretty, with a face that was all masculine angles and edges. He wore his hair much too long for a Navy officer, tied back in a pony tail. She knew that meant he still spent much of his time in extremely hostile, dangerous places where looking like a U.S. Navy officer would have been bad for his health. On one levela"a very distant levela"she had to admire him for that.

He was taller than most men, and well built, with long legs, narrow hips, broad shoulders, and the kind of muscles that meant he used his arms for picking up more than a pen and paper. He wore a snug black T-shirt tucked into a pair of worn-out blue jeans that were stacked overa"what else? Cowboy boots.

And that, Locke realized, was a hint that he probably wasnat going to try to outrun her. Earlier today, when head lost her, head had his sneakers on.

He probably wasnat going to outrun her, she reminded herself. With Starrett, she could assume nothing.

After all, why had he called her here if his goal wasnat to humiliate her again in some way?

Keeping an eye on him, Locke sat at the bar and ordered a soda. It wasnat long before he came and sat down next to her.

aBored, huh?a she said.

aTo tears.a He smiled at her as if he were actually glad to see her.

aRight.a He smelled good. She didnat want him to smell good and she didnat want him to smile that way. She took a sip of her soda, frowning across the room at the young women who were still glancing in Starrettas direction. Anything to keep from getting swallowed up by the blue of his eyes.

He turned to gaze across the room, too. aTheyare a little too young for me.a He hooked his boots over the rungs of the stool and signaled to the bartender for another draft beer. aI prefer my women to be women, not schoolgirls.a aAnd youare telling me this because . . . ?a aBecause you seemed, I donat know . . . interested?a aIam not.a He toasted her with his beer. aMy apologies. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.a aSomeday,a Locke said as he drank a full half of the mug, aIam going to head an FBI counterterrorist team, and youare going to be assigned to assist me. Iam going to be in command, and youare going to have to do exactly what I order, and youare going to remember all those tired come-ons and innuendos that were designed to intimidate me anda"a aIam not trying to intimidate you,a he scoffed. aIf I were trying, youad be intimidated.a She rolled her eyes.

aIam just . . .a He squinted up at the TV in the corner, where a baseball game was playing in silence, the mute on. aIave always been . . . afraid of you, I guess.a Locke swiftly hid her surprise. Of all the things shead expected him to say, that was not one of them.

aI was always scared youad actually talk someone into letting you join the SEAL units,a he explained. aScared theyad meet you and realize you were good enough to make the Teams. And Iam sorry, Alyssa, but the entire dynamics would change drastically if we started letting women in. I guess I was always just afraid you were going to be the one to actually kick down the door. So I treated you like shit.a Never in a million years had she thought head admit any of that. Locke laugheda"a mix of disbelief and surprise that she couldnat contain. aYou still treat me like shit.a Starrett shrugged. aI donat treat you any differently than I treat anyone else.a aYeah, right. Youare always trying to get Jenk or Stan Wolchonok to go back to your room and get naked with you.a aI wasnat really trying toa"a He laughed. aThat was just talk.a aMeant to intimidate.a aMeant to be funny,a he countered. aWhereas your sense of humor? You know, women are always shouting about equality, but then when you get it, you donat like it. Typical. So you want me to teach you how to follow someone without ever getting made?a She blinked at the sudden change of subject.

He smiled. aThatas not a trick question.a aYes.a Starrett nodded. aGood.a aWhatas the catch?a aNo catch.a She narrowed her eyes at him.

aReally,a he said. aYouare already gooda"just not good enough. Iam bored, weare both here in wait mode with nothing better to do.a He gave her another of those whole body cowboy shrugs and an aw shucks grin.

Locke didnat trust him. She didnat like him. And she knew he didnat like her.

There had to be a catch.

Fourteen.

aI NEED YOU to talk to me,a Nils said. The coveralls head put on were comfortably loose and warm despite the slight smell of gasoline that clung to them. They also had his name on them. John. Stitched in gold thread above the pocket. Head laughed when head first seen it, but Meg hadnat even cracked a smile.

She shook her head now. aI donat want to talk about this anymore. Iam sorry, John. I donat want to hear it. Youare not going to get me to change my mind, so talking isnata"a aNo, we donat have to talk about Razeen or the Extremists. We can talk about anything. Just to keep me awake. Seen any good movies lately?a aYouare kidding.a aYeah, actually I was.a He glanced at her. The hazy sunshine brought out the lines of worry and fatigue on her face. Her eyes were distant, as if she were hundreds of miles away. With Amy.

Meg wouldnat tell him where they were headinga"or even if they were getting close to their final destination. All she would say was south. Route 95 south.

Nils cleared his throat. aActually . . .a Just say it. What was she going to do? Get angry enough to grab a gun and start taking hostages? aI was wondering about Daniel.a Meg kept her eyes glued to the road that stretched out into the distance in front of them, but he knew that head gotten her attention.

aUntil a few days ago I had no idea he was dead,a he admitted. aAnd the report I read didnat go into detaila"not beyond, well, aCar accident in Paris, dead on arrival at . . . Saint Something Hospital.a a aSt. Luc.a She turned and looked at him. aWhat do you want me to tell you, John? That he was with his new mistress when he was hit by a drunk driver who killed them both? That he was coming back from an illicit weekend in the country while I was home with Amy, who had a stomach virus?a aNo, Ia"a He broke off. Looked at her. Looked at her again. aOh, shit, youare serious.a aHe tried. He really tried to bea"a she started, then shook her head. aWhat am I doing, defending him?a aJesus, Iam sorry,a he said. aWhya"a He stopped himself, but then plowed forward. This topic was already painful for her, why not throw some of his pain onto the table, too? aWhy didnat you call me when he died?a aI couldnat.a aWhy not?a he pressed, knowing that the truth could crush him, but needing to hear it just the same.

She wouldnat look him in the eye. aI just couldnat, all right? It was . . . I was . . . God, John, everyone knew about Ashleya"that was her namea"and it was like some freak show. It was so public. I had to deal with all this grief and anger and . . . and . . . shame while everyone watched. And then there was Amy. The worst was having to explain to Amy what that woman was doing in the car with Daniel.a She laughed, but there was no humor in it. aThe son of a bitch.a aIf youad called me, I couldave helped. Meg, I wouldave come. My COas great, he wouldave let me take the time.a Tears hung in her eyes. aIf Iad called you, you wouldave been someone else for them all to stare at.a She slowly shook her head. Looked back out the window at the road. aBesides . . .a aWhat?a he asked, wanting to know. Besides, what?

She just shook her head again.

aSo. Why didnat you call me later?a he asked, trying not to sound as if he were in the process of committing emotional hara-kiri, as if his casual question werenat the equivalent of taking a big knife and cutting himself open, exposing himself, raw and bleeding, for her to kick aside. aAfter you moved back to DC?a aI didnat know where you were.a That was bullshit and they both knew it. aYou could have found me easily enougha"at least got a message to me.a She sighed. aIt had been years,a she said, and he knew she was venturing closer to the truth. aFor all I knew . . .a She looked out the window again.

Nils waited fifteen seconds. Thirty. Forty-five. aWhat?a he asked, unable to keep his mouth shut a second longer.

She shook her head.

aWhat? Come on, Meg, for all you knew what?a Hurt rasped in his voice, but he couldnat stop. aDonat leave something like that dangling, god damn it!a It came out in a burst. aFor all I knew, you didnat even remember me!a Silence.

Meg stared out the window again as Nils hung onto the steering wheel.

He was stunned. He didnat know whether to be aghast at her lack of self-confidence, or insulted by her lack of faith in him.

What had she thought head meant that night?

I want you so much. Head kissed her mouth, her necka"her head thrown back, desire etched on her beautiful face. Shead opened her eyes and tugged him down the hall toward her bedroom, unbuttoning his jacket, sliding her hands up underneath his shirt. He could hardly breathe, hardly think, and he kissed her again, just kissed her and kissed her, pinning her against the wall, there in the hall outside her bedroom door.

He knew they needed to talk more before they made love. If they made love. Jesus, she was married. And back then, that had mattered to him. Or maybe just she had mattered to him. He knew they should slow down. But what he knew hadnat quite caught up with what he wanted.

Nor with what she wanted. He felt her fingers on his belt and . . .

aIam offended,a he said, yanking himself back to the present, shifting slightly in his seat, wishing that none of this mattered anymore, that time had done what time was supposed to do and had taken the edge off of everything head felt for her, everything head wanted so desperately.

Instead that edge had been honed to a razor sharpness that could slice him to pieces if he let it.

It had been the last time head seen her in years. Shead unzipped his pants and . . .

And head been all over her, too, pulling off that ridiculous jacket, slipping her dress down past her shoulders, filling his hands with her breasts as he kissed her again and again. Iave never felt anything like this before. God, Meg, Iave never wanted anyone as much as I want you. . . .

aHow could you think I wouldnat remember you?a he asked her now. Head lifted his head, looked into her eyes. Iave been waiting my whole life for you. aDidnat you think I meant anything that I said?a She didnat. She hadnat. She shook her head now, unwilling to admit it. aI didnat know what to think.a a aI want you so much,a a he quoted himself. aI think I mustave said it five thousand times. Gee. What could I have meant?a aI thought it was just . . . you know . . .a aA line?a he supplied the word for her. aYeah, Iave found that always works really well. Tell a woman that you want her so much that you canat even breathe, and then donat sleep with her when she tells you in plain English that she wants you, too. If I hadnat cared about you enough to remember you, I wouldnat have walked out of there that night.a Jesus, talk about regrets. He should have taken what shead offered, gone for the single night, to hell with what shead feel in the morning.

Head done plenty of one-nighters since thena"usually all with married women. Head pretended that it was the excitement of breaking the rules, of taking something that didnat belong to him that had attracted him to Meg in the first place.

But head proven himself wrong again and again, waking up in some strangeras bed, unsatisfied and disgusted with himself.

And aching for Meg.

aI thoughta"a She closed her eyes. aI didnat know what to think. You were so young and everything about that entire situation was so emotional. I thought you were swept up in the moment. I thought . . .a She took a deep breath. aJohn, I never really felt as if I knew you. I mean, it always seemed to me as if youa"the real youa"were hiding behind this fiction youad created, this make-believe life. And this, I donat know, this earnest sincerity that you could do so well was just part of the charade. It was real for that moment, but I never really believed it was more than a game.a Nils didnat know what to say. It was the biggest sacrifice head ever made in his entire lifea"walking away from Meg that night, knowing that he could have her, make love to her, spend the next few hours in paradise.

And she thought head been playing some game.

aI didnat forget you,a he told her quietly. aNot for one minute.a He could see in her eyes that she still didnat quite believe him.

And he knew that that was his own damn fault.

Alyssa Lockeas cell phone rang.

If Sam hadnat known shead been waiting for some vital phone call, he wouldnat have guessed there was anything going on.

The expression on her face didnat change one bit, yet without moving a single muscle, her tension level elevated from tightly wound to near breaking. Still, if he hadnat been watching for it, if he wasnat hyperaware of her every move and her every breath, he wouldnat have noticed.

She turned away from him to take the call, as if by presenting him with her back, shead created some kind of cone of silence that would keep him from overhearing her conversation. aLocke.a Sam drained his beer and pretended not to listen.

aOh, my God, oh, my God!a Alyssa turned back, gripping the bar as if shead fall out of her chair if she werenat holding on.

Sam stopped pretending not to listen.

aOkay,a she said into the phone. aAll right. Iall . . .a She looked directly at Sam as if shead just remembered he was there. aShit! I canat get over to the hospital right now. Tell her . . .a She had tears in her eyes. For the briefest split second, Sam was positive head actually seen tears in Alyssa Lockeas usually arctic eyes. But then she blinked and they were gone.

aYeah,a she said to whoever was on the other end of the connection. aAnd tell her Iall be there as soon as I can.a aWhatas up?a Sam asked as she slipped the phone back into her fanny pack. She was still clinging to the bar with one hand. aAre you all right?a She looked into his eyes. Normally she looked around him, above him or through him, but right now, she actually met and held his gaze.

aThat was the phone call youave been waiting for,a he said. aAnything I can do to help?a Head surprised her, and as he watched, he could almost see her brain work, processing the fact that head known shead been waiting on a call, processing . . .

aWhy do you want to help me?a she asked.

aWhich hospital is it?a he countered. aI was originally thinking you were waiting on a boyfriend to call, but that wasnat . . .a Tell her . . . shead said. Her . . . aIs it your mother? Is she sick?a aMy mother died when I was a teenager.a Oh, hell. aIam sorry.a His own mother hadnat ever been much of a prize, but she loved him. Despite marrying his asshole of a father, shead never done anything truly awful, like go and die on him.

aItas my sister,a Alyssa told him. aTyra. She just went into labor. Sheas having a baby. Her first baby. Itas been kind of a . . . rocky pregnancy.a Rocky must be putting it lightly. Alyssa was still hanging on to the bar as if shead fall on her head if she let go. She was terrified.

aIs she local?a Sam asked. aOr is this happening out in California? Donat I remember you telling me something about growing up in California?a Shead never said anything like that to hima"never volunteered anything about herself. Yet this was a way to get her talking. Shead correct him without realizing she was revealing personal information.

aNo,a she said. aI grew up right here, in Washington.a Jackpot.

aTyraas over at the Howard University Hospital,a she continued.

aYou want to go over there?a he asked. aYou should. Iall wait here.a aYeah, where have I heard that before?a aWell, good,a he said, aat least youare learning.a Alyssa didnat respond to his smile. She looked at her watch. aIam going to call the hospital for an update in five minutes.a aLook, why donat you just go over there? We werenat really going to do anything tonight anyway. I can do my Yoda imitation for you tomorrow.a She shook her head. aI shouldnat let you out of my sight.a aOh, hell. What happened? They found Johnnyas cara"no Johnny, no Meg,a he guessed.

She narrowed her eyes. aDid he call you?a Crap, he was right. aWheread they find it?a aSo what youare telling me is that he did go after Meg.a Oops. aI didnat say that.a aAnd I didnat say anyone found anything,a she countered.

Sam had to smile. aWell, there we go. Neither of us knows shit.a For a half a second, he thought that she was maybe going to smile back. But instead she looked at her watch again.

aCome on,a he said, sliding down from the bar stool. aYouare going to the hospital. Do you have a car, or did you take a cab over here?a She dug in her heels. aIf Nilssonas going to contact you, itas going to be soon. Iam not going anywhere without you. Not until he turns up.a aWell, guess what?a Sam said. aIam going to visit your sister in the hospital. You can either follow me over there, or drive me in your car, save me cab fare. Your choice.a She still didnat move. aWhy would you do this?a she asked. aYouare actually willing to spend the evening in a hospital . . . ?a aI have a sister, too,a he reminded her quietly.

For a moment, she just stared at him, as if he were a talking dog or an alien from another planet. Her eyes were luminous and the expression on her face was one head never seen before. He knew that for some reason she was walking an emotional tightrope, and his kindness wasnat helping. It was confusing her, making her teeter on the edge of some kind of meltdown.

aBesides,a he told her, with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows, aitas part of my devious plan to get you into bed.a Now, a comment like that she could handle. It made sense in her world, gave her a point of reference. She snorted and headed for the door. aIn your dreams.a Sam followed her out the door. Absolutely, in his dreams. Every single night, probably for the rest of his cursed life.

aYouare finally glad that Iam here,a John said as he loaded Razeen back into the car. aAdmit it.a aI am,a Meg said. She shut her eyes. aBut Iam not.a Theyad pulled off the highway and onto a deserted country road in Somewhere, Georgia, to make a pit stop.

Osman Razeen had been only semiconscious and drooling as John had helped him out of the car. A locked gate fenced off what looked like a deserted factory way back from the road. The wildly growing underbrush near the chainlink made a perfect makeshift rest room. They were mostly hidden from view, but John couldnat grab Razeen in a firemanas carry and escape into the woods.

Razeen couldnat stand up by himself, let alone unzip his pants to relieve himself. If John hadnat been there . . .

Meg had sat in the grass several dozen yards away from the car and kept an eye on the two men, trying not to watch too closely. While John had Razeen, she had custody of the car keys. No way was she going to risk John loading Razeen into the car, jumping in, and driving away without her.

Still, there was no doubt about it. She was not ready for a full-time career in hostage taking. She was worried about Razeena"about that blow to the head head received back in the motel room, about the amount of sleeping pills shead already given him. It was probably time to give him more, yet head seemed so out of it.

John sprawled beside her, reclaiming the car keys and putting them into the front pocket of his coveralls. aMind if I take a quick combat nap? I just need twenty minutes. . . .a His eyes were shut and his breathing steady almost before he hit the ground.

He was out. Sound asleep. Just like that.