"We need a medic." He holstered his weapon, and reached into the closet.

Eric Pippin lay stark and still, facing the back of the closet. Justin felt Pip's throat for a pulse. Life fluttered like butterfly wings against Justin's fingertips, and he examined the body for bullet holes. There weren't any. He stretched out the arms looking for punctures. Nothing. He ran his hands under Pips corn silk hair probing for contusions, or abrasions.

"Aw, Pip, what in God's name did she do to you?"

"Poison?" an agent asked.

"No sign of injection."

"Under his nails?"

"Not without a magnifying glass. I'm going to turn him over."

"Careful, Sir. He could be booby-trapped."

Justin nodded grimly, and eased Pip onto his back. There was a smudge on his alabaster skin. A darkened area on the ribcage just under the heart. Knight pressed it lightly, and watched it change colors.

"Hang on, Son." He sat back on his heels, and took Pip's hand. "He was cuffed. Ligature mark on the wrist."

"What happened to him, Chief?"

"There's a scorch mark on his skin," Justin said.

"Here comes the medtech."

Justin moved out of the way of a young man in starched shirt and pants. "I think its electric shock," Justin said. "There's a burn mark on his left side there."

"Uh-huh. What do you think caused it?"

Justin put his hands on his hips. "I'd bet even money it was a taser."

"We'll take it from here."

Justin turned his back. "First, see if you can bring him around."

"That might be dangerous. If his heart sustained an electric shock, pumping adrenaline into him could cause him to seize."

"Can't be helped. I have to talk to him. Right away."

"I'll give him 2 cc's, but if that doesn't do it..." The medtech paused, and let the implication speak for itself.

"Change places with me," Glenn said. "It'll take her by surprise, and in the split second it takes for her to recover, I'll jump out of the car."

"And, do what?" Geoff asked.

"Run away. When she chases me, you'll have your chance to get out."

"Unless she closes the door, in which case I'm still trapped. You see, this is the reason theman has traditionally been the one to do the thinking."

"What's your brilliant plan? You don't have one, do you?"

"Of course I have a plan, and it's better than that sorry thing you came up with."

"Enlighten me," Glenn said.

"I haven't worked out all the details yet."

"I always know when you're bluffing."

"Maybe I'm not as convinced of our peril as you are. Maybe I don't think we need rescuing."

"Because she batted her big brown eyes at you? Men. Can't see the forest for the eyelashes."

"Women. Can't put two of them together without having a cat fight. I've been thinking. When you told her to change our destination, what did she say? Did she say that she had the coordinates?"

"She said she would take us to my apartment. You're saying that she knows where I live without having to ask?"

"Even if she knew where you lived, she would haveconfirmed the coordinates. Wouldn't she?"

Glenn felt the answer in the pit of her stomach. "If she was taking me home," she said, quietly. "If she was taking us someplace else, she wouldn't need to ask for directions, would she?"

"We've got to get out of here."

"Isn't that what I've been saying?"

Glenn removed her camera from the case, and checked the film. It was exposed, just like she'd left it after taking the pictures of Lou and Dave in front of Shane's townhouse.

"What do you think happened to Dave?"

Geoff took her hand, and squeezed it. "I'll stay right here. Maybe I'll get a chance to knock her down, and we can get away."

"That doesn't sound like any better a plan when you say it, than it did when I said it," Glenn said. "Listen, if there's any lying to do, let me do it."

"Anything to do with lying, cheating, or photography, and you're up to bat."

"And, what if she comes for me first?"

"You've got that camera," Geoff said. "Use it."

"Take her picture?"

"Nail her with it, hard, right on the nose."

"You can use my camera bag. Remember how heavy it is?"

"If I get some elbow room," he said.

Glenn wound the strap around her forearm, and weighed the camera in her hand. A sharp whomp on the nose would bring tears to your eyes.

"Leverage is everything in self-defense," Geoff said. "Sit on the edge of your seat, and use your back leg. Picture yourself springing like an arrow off a bow. As soon as that door opens, hurl yourself forward."

"Show me."

She repeated his movements to varying degrees of success. It would have to do.

"What if we're wrong?" Glenn asked. "I mean, we wouldn't be in this mess now if we'd only gone along quietly with Dave and Lou in the first place."

"You mean, instead of me punching him in the nose? So, now this is all my fault?"

"I didn't say that. I didn't even imply it. Why don't you just grow up?"

"You grow up. We're in a pretty hairy situation here, and we're going to have to work together to get out of it. You can't be having second-thoughts, now."

"I don't. Not really. I don't have to think twice about wanting to give that lady agent a black eye. You can count on me. Everything is under control."

The car came to a stop. Geoff pointed toward Glenn's door. She nodded.

"Good luck." Glenn whispered.

Her palms began to sweat, and the camera felt like it might slip. She didn't dare move. It was her door that flew open, flooding the back seat with sunlight. Then, Geoff's door opened, too. Instead of scurrying out as they'd planned, they both sat puzzled by the nothingness that lay before them.

Justin Knight ran down four flights of stairs. He squeezed the microphone discs. "Get Mobile Two on the line. What? No. Have Mobile Command patch you through. That's right. MobileTwo ."

In thirty seconds he was standing beside the car. A man in a Kevlar vest looked up from the driver's seat, and handed him the receiver.

"Here you go, Chief."

He shook his head. "You call it in. Direct a broadcast to Mobile Two, and see what happens. I'm just here to listen and advise."

"What do you expect to hear?"

"If Agent Anderson keys in, toss the phone here."

The man put the receiver under his chin. "If it's anybody else?"

Knight sighed. "Put out a general distress. Ask his location."

"Check."

Glenn felt like somebody put her body in neutral, and kept revving the engine. Her brain was working overtime, and not going anywhere. She was stalled.

"We'renot in Bethesda," Geoff said. "Smell."

"Bethesda has an odor?" She inhaled. "Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. Smells green."

"We're still in the country."

"Maybe they brought us back to the Arch. I wish I could see something. Sh."

Geoff pushed the camera case on the floorboards. "I'll get out first. If I don't get my head blown off, you follow me. You ready?"

Glenn slipped the camera strap over her head, and felt its heaviness reassure her. "Ready."

"Slide over here so you can follow me out."

Glenn backed across the seat, watching Geoff out the corner of her eye. He stepped out, and unfolded himself until he was standing upright. She gripped the 33mm lens, and eased her toe out, testing the water.

It wasn't as sunny as it first appeared. Clouds tumbled across the sky making sun look like a whitewashed moon hovering over rows of evergreens and oaks. A drizzle set in, driven by an uncompromising wind. The chill was a welcome change from the confinement of the back seat. Glenn tucked the camera under the shelter of her coat, and stepped around the side of the car.

Geoff said, "Weird."

"We can't be alone." Glenn scanned the tree line on the side of the road.

Geoff looked around. "There's that sound again."

"Voices."

"Coming from inside." He reached for the door handle, and pulled.

A voice said, "General distress. Mobile Two, do you copy? Come in, Mobile Two."

"A CB. Get inside," Geoff said.

"It's a trap. Nobody's going to go to all this trouble, and just let us take the car. Do you know where we are?"

"Don't have a clue. Could be any woods anywhere. Do you want to drive out of here, or would you rather walk?"

"Steal the limo?"

"Borrow it."

Glenn squinted at the sky. Rain fell in plump drops that sounded like boots galloping across the leaves, and hit the pavement like miniature grenades filled with India ink. She looked into his shimmering face. His ponytail was growing straight under the weight of the water. Tension drew his brows together.

"Come in, Mobile Two."

Glenn inched behind the wheel, her attention focused on a phone in the center of the dashboard. A red light shone next to an oval button that said 'speaker'. She punched it.

"Ahem!"

Glenn looked up. A man was pointing a gun at her from outside the passenger door.

"Go ahead," he instructed. "Answer it."

"No, thanks." She backed out of the car, and stood beside Geoff.

The man cocked his gun, and steadied it on his forearm. Glenn brought her camera under her chin. The man sighted her down the barrel.

"I'll shoot."