Glenn listened to the chatter, and 'all hits all the time' as the miles rolled by. The journey followed a jigsaw of roads along the West Virginia border. When the river hooked east, they wove around past Sandy Hook to Weverton, a historic canal town nestled in a crook of the Potomac. As the river flexed, Weverton dropped out of sight and Harper's Ferry bulged up at the joining of the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers. They went through Keedysville, along Sharpsburg Pike to the memorial of the Civil War, Antietam Battlefield. Glenn had never taken the walking tour of Bloody Lane. Whenever possible, she preferred to avoid battlefields.

"Pull over here," she said. "Let's picnic here by this pasture. I've never been so close to cows before."

He pulled over on the shoulder of Route 67, and parked near the entrance of a farm lane. "You like cows?"

"I'm not sure. Look at them, all huddled together under that one little tree. Like they're trying to get out of the rain. Amazing."

"Excuse me if I don't turn somersaults."

"What keeps them from running away?"

"That fence there."

"That little bitty wire? Oh, they could bust through that. You can barely see it. Or, is it electric?"

"Maybe you want to go touch it, just to see? Soon as the rain slows down."

"Cows are so cool."

"If you say so." He reached into the back seat, and grabbed the sack. "Can you tear yourself away?"

"I'm sorry, but cows have always been like dinosaurs to me. I believe they exist, I've seen pictures. It's just not quite real until you see them with your own eyes."

"Dinosaurs? But, you've eaten hamburgers, and worn leather shoes, right? When was the last time you tasted a brontosaurus steak?"

"Never. However, I did hear that stegosaurus-skin miniskirts are all the rage in Paris this year."

He grinned at her. "What I have is a little less exotic. How does salami and cheese strike you?"

"It strikes me that you're going to make some woman a wonderful wife one day."

Agent Eric Pippin was in the midst of his own private war. It hadn't taken long to realize that having sex with Sadie Cozzoli was like playing Russian roulette: unending moments of blinding panic interrupted by episodes of extraordinary bliss.

"I'm going to eat you alive, and spit out the bones," she had growled.

And, then they were off and running again. When Pip finally elbowed up from the foot of the bed, he was consoled by the fact that Sadie looked every bit as exhausted as he felt. Her dark hair fanned out on the pillow where she collapsed, and beads of sweat glistened on her neck. She seemed so still, so harmless, Pip felt a protective impulse toward her. In a different time, a different place, he could see himself indulging her every erotic fantasy.

"Do you do this with all your partners?" he asked.

"Did you meet my last partner? Had a fondness for pork rinds. A night never went by without him chowing down on some kind of cholesterol sandwich. He was a coronary waiting to happen."

"So, did you sleep with him?"

"Please. It would have killed him."

"Seems I heard he died on duty, of a heart attack," Pip said.

She looked out the corner of her eye. "Why would I sleep with him?"

"Because it's there, same reason you climb a mountain."

"He was a mountain." She grinned. "All right, officer, I confess. I climbed that mountain every night, until that fateful day. He grabbed his chest, fell over, and died right there on that very spot."

"And, then what? You didn't let a little thing like that stop you."

"I draw the line at necrophilia," Sadie said.

"Never underestimate the effects of rigor mortis. A coroner told me that once."

She laughed coarsely. "That's the most perverse thing I ever heard."

"Want a cigarette?" Pip asked.

"No, thanks. I'm already smoking." She closed her eyes. "I'm going to grab some shut-eye while I wait for my phone call." She looked at the ceiling. "Pip, dear, this is above and beyond the call of duty. I can'tmake you stay, of course."

"But, you want me to?" He had that feeling again, that she was soft and sweet, and she needed him. "Of course, I'll stay."

"I won't forget this."

She pulled the sheet over her, and turned away from him. Her lithe body made a hard ripple under the covers. Pip stared at it for a while, feeling guilty. The Chief must be wrong. He'd never seen this side of Sadie Cozzoli. If he had, he would be as sure as Pip almost was. She was sly, shrewd, all the things that made top flight job performance: the thoroughness of a heart surgeon combined with the courage of a Green Beret. The Chief should be promoting her, not looking for evidence to dismiss her from the agency. He would, if he knew her better, if he knew her like Pip knew her.

At noon, Glenn clicked off the country station, and picked the phone up from the console. She put the call through, keeping her eyes on Geoff. He was more nervous than she was, and somehow that comforted her.

The voice asked, "Do you know who this is?"

"The man I spoke to before?"

"Do you know my name?" he asked.

"No," she said.

"That's SOP. I'm going to tell you my name so you know who I am, and so you know you can trust me. Affirmative?"

"Affirmative."

"Commander Justin Knight, Chief of Domestic Operations for the Central Intelligence Agency."

"CIA? No, you're with the AFIB."

"There are two agencies involved in the Duncan case. The AFIB is investigative. We're the ones who cleared you of any complicity in the death of Robert Duncan, and will now be bringing you in for debriefing."

Glenn looked into Geoff's eyes. "Affirmative."

"Without divulging too much of your location, I want you to tell me what district you're in."

"Excuse me?"

"What county are you in?"

"Right now? Washington, I think."

"How about one of our State Parks?" Justin Knight said. "They're easy to find, just follow the signs. Have you noticed any near you?"

"Which State Park is near me?" She looked at Geoff.

Geoff whispered, "Gathland."

"Gathland," she said into the phone.

"In Gapland, good. Someone will meet you at the Arch," Justin said.

"The Arch?" Glenn asked. "When?"

"You start on your way, and we'll start on ours."

"How will I know you?" Glenn asked.

"We know you. Line terminated."

18.

The steel bracelet closed around his wrist. Pip sprang up, and opened his eyes. The other side of the handcuff was tethered to the headboard through a half-moon in the bedpost. He tugged on it, angry and embarrassed for getting caught with his pants down. He pulled on the cuff until the pain made him feel chastened. Sadie breezed into the room wearing nothing but a smile.

"Ah, you're up." She sat at the foot of the bed. "I couldn't very well let you get away. You're the man I've been looking for all my life. A G-man who can find my G-spot." She laughed.

"Is this some sort of bondage thing?"

"I've never understood that. I like it when things are way out of control."

"So, explain the arm jewelry."

"Are you pretending you don't understand?" she asked.

"Idon't understand. I thought we were getting to know one another."

"I know you, Pip, all too well. Only one thing I don't know: where you put the tape recorder."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Ah, you weary me. When I pressed my body close to yours," she said.

"Which time?"

"Humor: an interesting choice. The time when I propositioned you. Did you think I was just feeling you up? Are you at all attracted to me? Truth or dare, Pippin. Was that a tape recorder in your pocket, or were you really glad to see me?"

Pip's gun was on the side table where he'd left it. He measured the distance with his eyes, and was sure he could reach it. But, was he fast enough?

"Why would I have a tape recorder?"

"That is an incorrect answer. No points, but there's always the bonus round. I gave you a chance to tell the truth." Sadie circled the bed. "Ready for the dare?"

Pip made a leap for it. His slender body dove across the sheets, his left hand grabbed the gun, and he rolled onto his side.

"Now," he said, regaining a sitting position. "It's my turn to ask the questions. He thumbed off the safety, and took aim between her moist doe eyes. "Now, where is the key to these cuffs?"

Glenn and Geoff had briefly returned to Boonsboro to return the Benz to Lois's garage. They exchanged it for Gramp's silver Pontiac, and headed up Route 67 to Gapland State Park.

The War Corespondent's Arch was a structure of conflicting architectures stuck by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. A reporter, who went by the pen name Gath, had financed it in the nineteenth century. So great was his admiration for the heroes who brought back stories from the front lines of the Civil War that he erected a monument to them. It seemed fitting to Glenn that her journey should end here. Not that she qualified as a war correspondent, but she had dabbled in it. If the men represented by the names etched in stone had gone through what she had during her foray into the field, they had earned their place on the Arch.

"I wonder why they do it. Risk their lives like that," Geoff said.

"War is the Super Bowl of journalism. Going and coming back alive qualifies you to jump ahead in the profession. Courage is its own reward."

"That's the cynical version. What's the real story?"

Glenn looked out the window of the car. "I'm not a philosopher, but to me, it isn't so much that young men go off to war and die, but that those who die are the best our country has to offer, the ones we can least afford to lose. When Americans turned away from our Vietnam vets, it diminished us all. We can never forget what's at stake when we undertake war, so we appreciate the valor of those who don't come back. They deserve to be remembered, and their stories deserve to be told."

Geoff put his arms around her. "You have to write that down for me."

"I don't even remember what I said."

"Well, try. It would be a comfort to my mom."

"I had forgot about your poor mother." Glenn pushed him away. "Hanging around with you has made me soft in the head. Here I am doing exactly what I set outnot to do, putting another of her son's in danger." She fumbled in her pocket, and pulled out Bleetz's camera. "Take this, and get out of here. Get it to Shane. I don't care how, just make sure it's in his hands before another day goes by. Got that? And, the CD. I left it at the house."

"The house?" Geoff asked.

"Lois's. It could be something to use for leverage depending on how things turn out. The guy on the phone was..." She shook her head. "I don't remember."

"You said CIA."

"Let me think. It was Knight. Commander Justin Knight. Don't let him have the CD. Take it to Shane, too. I guess that takes care of everything."

"What are you doing?" Geoff asked.

"Taking back my life," Glenn said, and jumped from the car. "I'm going to make like a sitting duck, and you're getting the hell out of here."

Pip said, "I'm not bluffing."

Sadie studied him five seconds. "Yes, you are. But, it was worth a try."

"Get the key. Now."