told. “So how did you end up in this line of work?” Monique asked Rick, taking his arm with her hand. They were moving down a row of exhibits from Japan. Few of the tourists were in this part of the museums, preferring to look at the Titan paintings and other masters from Italy. “The usual,” he told her. “Got out of the army, couldn’t find a job which allowed me to jump out of a helicopter and shoot things. The agency had some openings and needed someone with my background. Did the round of interviews and got the job. It helps I speak a lot of languages, so I can be dropped into just about any place.” He felt her chin on his back, rubbing him. Monique wrapped her arms around from behind. “You were something else back there,” she whispered into his ear. “Did you mean what you said when we were in the shower?” “Every bit of it,” he told her. Rick turned around and embraced Monique. He glanced around and planted his mouth to hers. They held the kiss for a minute, and then he released her to make sure no one was watching. “And it wasn’t for an alibi, either. I’m taking you back with me, Monique.” “But why me of all people?” she asked, tossing her hair back. “I think you could have a lot of women.” Rick brushed her hair back and took her hand when he saw someone walk into their part of the exhibit. He began to move with her down the hall, idly looking at the exhibits around them again. He stopped at a suit of samurai armor from the twelfth century and continued moving. “I need to settle down,” he told her, while walking slowly. “I’m sick and tired of going into places like here to clean up someone else’s mess. I’ve just about got enough money saved to buy a little farm in Florida I’ve been looking at for the past three months. What’s the point in buying a farm if you don’t have someone to come home to after a day of working the cattle?” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I had just enough time on those thugs’ computer to check you out.” She stopped and dropped his hand. “I thought you were trying to find us a way out of here?” “I did that too,” he informed her. “If you know what you’re doing on the Internet, it doesn’t take you very long to find things and contact people. I had two objectives when I saw their connection: check you out and get us the hell out of here. It’s why we just spent some quality time in the hidden amber room and why I need to find my contact here at the museum.” “What did you find out about me?” Monique demanded. Her fists were clenched at her side. One minute she was making love with this man, the other she was finding out he’d checked her background. “You have an unpaid parking ticket in Philadelphia,” he told her. “Your mother works at a hospital and you haven’t seen your father since you were fifteen. Grades pretty decent in college and they landed you this job. You’ve been stashing your money in a stateside annuity account, which is pretty smart given the state of the economy. And you push your lovers away when you climax because you don’t think you’re supposed to enjoy it too much.” Her eyes narrowed when he said the final statement. “The last one I didn’t need the Internet to find out, you showed it to me less than an hour ago.” Monique turned her back on him and started walking the other direction. Is this what she could expect from him? One tumble beneath the sheets and he thought she was his own sex toy? She would take her chances elsewhere if he thought he could talk to her that way. And then she felt Rick’s stiff fingers on her shoulder. She stopped. “I want you to enjoy it all the way next time, do you understand?” he whispered in her ear. “I want to hear you call my name and beg for my love.” Monique began to feel weak in the knees. Rick’s hands slipped around her body from behind and she was pulled tightly to him. Monique felt his hot breath on her neck and his