lives through this. Hell.”
“There has to be some way we can find out what’s going on,” Sarah told the men.
Her husband rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, then looked across the desk at Lucas. “Wonder if Kelsey’s in this one.”
“He seems to turn up every time we do,” Lucas agreed.
Correctly reading the men’s faces, Sarah objected, “He’ll be low-profile, surely, even if not actually undercover; how will you find him?”
Lucas lifted a brow at Rafferty. “Raven?”
“She could probably find him, even now. And Josh wasn’t at all happy to find out that Zach’s ‘vacation’ is nothing of the kind. They’ll be flying in from Canada tonight.”
Lucas shook his head. “You know, I sometimes wonder if Hagen really does plan to get all of us into his little games.”
“Don’t even think about that,” Rafferty begged, horrified.
After a moment Sarah said, “I can tell you one thing about Zach’s assignment. He surprised Hagen. A coded message came from Zach last night. I didn’t decode it, but it was on Hagen’s desk this morning, and he was muttering the last word of the message as if he couldn’t believe it.”
“What was the message?” Rafferty asked.
Sarah’s retentive memory enabled her to recite the message verbatim. “It said: ‘Essentialyou replace with new ’66 Impala destroyed in unavoidable circumstances. Have replacement car waiting at Logan Airport, Boston, Friday latest. Held in the name of T. Tyler, noncombatant.’ That was it.”
Lucas, who had flown up to Boston the day before, winced slightly and said, “I’m glad I didn’t know about that when I talked to Jennifer Morton and told her that her sister was fine. Wonder how the car was destroyed? And, even granting that Hagen wouldn’t want to replace the car, why would that message surprise him so much?”
They looked at one another uneasily, and Rafferty said, “Hagen kept repeating the word
noncombatant
?”
“Over and over,” Sarah confirmed. “As if he simply couldn’t believe it.”
All of them felt it should mean something, but since they weren’t privy to Hagen’s thoughts, none of them knew just what that something was.
Zach was proof against most things. Once determined on what was, in fact, a logical and reasonable decision, few had been known to change his mind. Argument rolled off his back like water off a tiled roof, and gentle persuasion failed to penetrate his tough hide and even tougher will. Strong men had been known to pale at the mere thought of attempting to alter his will, and women had exercised their wiles in vain. Even Josh Long, whom Zach respected and loved like a brother, knew better than to try to sway his friend from some personal decision.
So Zach, though grimly aware of his own desire, had little doubt that he could keep things between him and Teddy platonic. But he braced himself for the storm of her persuasion, nonetheless, because he knew women well enough to have accurately read the determination in Teddy’s firm little chin.
He braced himself for a storm, mentally blocking the chinks in his willpower and fiercely leashing his own blustering beast. Andhe settled down to wait it out. But Zach had forgotten that sometimes a gentle rain can seep into places where a gusty downpour would merely batter and roll off in vain.
She said little that second night together, not sulking or brooding, merely thoughtful and silent. She watched him when she thought he didn’t see, her great velvety eyes as deep and soft as a doe’s. She remained pale, and sometimes she winced, as if something inside her twinged in pain, but to his questions replied only that she was fine. And she said nothing else about wanting or loving him and made no objection when he rolled out a sleeping bag and got into it late that night when the denizens of the house slept.
Nor did she try her hand at seduction. She changed for sleeping but wore a sweatshirt-type nightgown that fell to her knees and fit
“There has to be some way we can find out what’s going on,” Sarah told the men.
Her husband rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, then looked across the desk at Lucas. “Wonder if Kelsey’s in this one.”
“He seems to turn up every time we do,” Lucas agreed.
Correctly reading the men’s faces, Sarah objected, “He’ll be low-profile, surely, even if not actually undercover; how will you find him?”
Lucas lifted a brow at Rafferty. “Raven?”
“She could probably find him, even now. And Josh wasn’t at all happy to find out that Zach’s ‘vacation’ is nothing of the kind. They’ll be flying in from Canada tonight.”
Lucas shook his head. “You know, I sometimes wonder if Hagen really does plan to get all of us into his little games.”
“Don’t even think about that,” Rafferty begged, horrified.
After a moment Sarah said, “I can tell you one thing about Zach’s assignment. He surprised Hagen. A coded message came from Zach last night. I didn’t decode it, but it was on Hagen’s desk this morning, and he was muttering the last word of the message as if he couldn’t believe it.”
“What was the message?” Rafferty asked.
Sarah’s retentive memory enabled her to recite the message verbatim. “It said: ‘Essentialyou replace with new ’66 Impala destroyed in unavoidable circumstances. Have replacement car waiting at Logan Airport, Boston, Friday latest. Held in the name of T. Tyler, noncombatant.’ That was it.”
Lucas, who had flown up to Boston the day before, winced slightly and said, “I’m glad I didn’t know about that when I talked to Jennifer Morton and told her that her sister was fine. Wonder how the car was destroyed? And, even granting that Hagen wouldn’t want to replace the car, why would that message surprise him so much?”
They looked at one another uneasily, and Rafferty said, “Hagen kept repeating the word
noncombatant
?”
“Over and over,” Sarah confirmed. “As if he simply couldn’t believe it.”
All of them felt it should mean something, but since they weren’t privy to Hagen’s thoughts, none of them knew just what that something was.
Zach was proof against most things. Once determined on what was, in fact, a logical and reasonable decision, few had been known to change his mind. Argument rolled off his back like water off a tiled roof, and gentle persuasion failed to penetrate his tough hide and even tougher will. Strong men had been known to pale at the mere thought of attempting to alter his will, and women had exercised their wiles in vain. Even Josh Long, whom Zach respected and loved like a brother, knew better than to try to sway his friend from some personal decision.
So Zach, though grimly aware of his own desire, had little doubt that he could keep things between him and Teddy platonic. But he braced himself for the storm of her persuasion, nonetheless, because he knew women well enough to have accurately read the determination in Teddy’s firm little chin.
He braced himself for a storm, mentally blocking the chinks in his willpower and fiercely leashing his own blustering beast. Andhe settled down to wait it out. But Zach had forgotten that sometimes a gentle rain can seep into places where a gusty downpour would merely batter and roll off in vain.
She said little that second night together, not sulking or brooding, merely thoughtful and silent. She watched him when she thought he didn’t see, her great velvety eyes as deep and soft as a doe’s. She remained pale, and sometimes she winced, as if something inside her twinged in pain, but to his questions replied only that she was fine. And she said nothing else about wanting or loving him and made no objection when he rolled out a sleeping bag and got into it late that night when the denizens of the house slept.
Nor did she try her hand at seduction. She changed for sleeping but wore a sweatshirt-type nightgown that fell to her knees and fit
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