v Hamel climbed the stairs to Sheikha's apartment above the garage. He had a bit of time and wanted to check his laptop to see if his electronics were still working. Pausing at the top of the steps, he looked out at the lake just as a cold wind caught him. He took her keys out of his pocket and opened the door, thinking about the warmth and dryness of home. He hated this cold.

He booted up his laptop and keyed over to a page, then shook his head. His relay to the FBI computer in the Booker house was not working. He smiled. Perhaps they found the second virus he had installed. It didn't make any difference. The GPS on her car would do the job. He changed pages on his computer. There it was, but why was she north of the city? He frowned. The car was close to a small private airport. Majer had assured him that she would be at the party this weekend, and he would check her position later. He needed those photos. His contact in Iraq wouldn't wait much longer. He wouldn't miss her this time.

a 110 a

ChAPTER TWELvE.

Sarah called Scott on their way home from the airport, describing what they'd seen from the air. It looked like a lot more than just one visit last week. Scott would go over their notes, talk with the rest of the team that had checked out the woods, and meet her at the house. Sarah also called Hannah Booker to see if she had some free time today.

"You just want to get even because I called your mother," Annie teased.

Sarah shook her head. "Did you ever think about kids? I mean, having your own?" she asked.

"What on earth? What made you think of that?"

"When your mother was showing me the clinic's daycare center, she talked about her experience in Vietnam and the children there. My grandmother organized something like that on the reservation, and I worked there in the summers. Your mother reminded me of that."

Annie concentrated on something on the console of her car. "With my job, it's not a good idea, and Mary would never have considered it anyway." She turned, looking out at the lake. "How about you?"

"I've always wanted kids." Sarah said, surprising herself. She'd never revealed that to anyone. They pulled up to the safe house and Sarah hit the garage door opener.

"By the way, where did that airport come from?" Annie asked.

"I've lived here all my life and never even knew it was there. Talk about lake effect."

"It was a private airport in the beginning. After nine-eleven, all of the local law enforcement got together, and I mean all, and sort of a 111 a commandeered it. Makes it easier to protect, like what we're doing here with you. Did you notice that almost everyone was in some sort of uniform?"

Annie nodded. "You know, I could write a book on awhile I've been away' and sell it without any problem."

"It's changed a lot. What's lake effect?" Sarah asked.

Annie laughed. "I'm sorry. That just popped out. That's something people on the Great Lakes say when the lakes snow on them. It often comes as a surprise."

"The lakes snow on them? How does that work?"

"The wind changes direction suddenly, and all the land around the lake gets snow, usually a sizable amount. If you drive inland, even as little as five miles, it's not snowing, and sometimes the sun's out. It's unexpected. Sort of like my life right now, right?"

v Sarah changed clothes, and they waited for Scott together at the kitchen table. "I wanted to show your mother that network film and discuss it with her," Sarah said.

Annie worried her bottom lip. "We'll talk about it when you get home tonight. I promise. I just haven't talked to anyone here, especially family. I have to correct what Mary and I said when we came home, and I'm not certain how I'll do this."

She looked unsure, just as she had in the airplane earlier, and Sarah changed the subject. "So, do I get to see the painting you're working on?"

"No, it's not ready for showing. Sarah, my studio is at my house.

How am I going to work on the painting? How am I going to do those stupid exercises? I can't do either if I'm supposed to be here." She got up and disappeared upstairs. She reappeared moments later with a baseball cap, handing it to Sarah.

"Oh no, not a Milwaukee Brewers cap. No way."

"Oh yes, no D-Back hats allowed in Milwaukee. I brought this with me last night."

Sarah gave her a look and a fake sigh, putting the hat on. "Have you been to the new stadium?"

"Nope." Annie shook her head. "Almost made it once, but a 112 a Mary and I got into one of our wars and missed the game. You like baseball?"

"Love it," Sarah said, adjusting her new hat.

"I always buy season tickets, and it's a dome. If it's raining and golf is out, we'll go to the ballgame. By the way, I liked your outfit last night. Great jacket with the faded jeans and the black turtleneck. It lent...uh, ambience."

Sarah made a face at Annie. "I got your message after my workout and hadn't even showered."

"So, you're a biker?"

She shook her head. "No, I just ride horses, but that jacket is my pride and joy. I bought it from the real deal at the motorcycle races north of Phoenix when I was twenty-five. It's been with me ever since."

"You don't have a bike?" Annie teased. "Just advertising?"

"Actually, oh hell, you're going to laugh, I wear it when I ride the horses." Annie shook her head, laughing. Sarah glanced at Annie from under her eyelashes. Two can play, she thought and raised her eyebrows at Annie, "So, you like the butch look?"

"Sometimes."

They heard Scott at the door. Sarah just grinned and said, "I'll head over to the office when I'm done at your mother's, then come back here. Thanks for this morning, Annie. I enjoyed it."

Before Sarah left, the three of them looked at the reports. The footprints the night of the break-in were consistent with the ones the team had found in the woods. As Sarah put the information in her briefcase and left, she thought about something she hadn't mentioned to Annie. They had talked to neighbors within a two-mile radius around the house, but no one had seen anything out of the ordinary. All they had were footprints of the single intruder and tire tracks. Otherwise, zippo. No, she corrected herself. Now they had the photos from Jack Keegan and the man they had both seen. It was something. Don had called her because they had a lead on two of the men in the photos and had sent copies out to every agency he could think of. However, there was nothing on the man she and Annie had seen.

After parking at the back lot of the clinic, Sarah sat in the car for a while, trying to decide how to approach Annie's mother without the film. If Annie was going to talk with her parents about a personal matter, Sarah didn't want to interfere.

a 113 a Hannah was on the phone and waved Sarah to a big chair. Sarah first updated Hannah about the Web site, showing her copies of the FFI flyer that Annie had brought home. She explained that they had verified that each reporter had been to the organization within a month of its opening.

Hannah read the flyer and then handed it back. "Annie's job is so public, but I assume you've gone over this with the network or with local officials. What I'm driving at is that it's not a stalker or one of our domestic groups."

Sarah nodded. "We have. Right now our main focus is the break- in at her house."

"She certainly is less resilient than I've seen her in a long time."

"Hannah, she's tough, but I think it's just everything happening at once."

"Is she doing any painting?"

"As a matter of fact, that came up today. I might get to see what she's working on right now."

"What? You must be kidding. She never, and I mean never, lets anyone look at her work until she's ready."

"But she did paintings here, didn't she?"

"Well, yes, but most of them were done in her studio. Except for the times at night. Sometimes she'd paint all night and I'd see her when I came to work in the morning just as she left." Suddenly she looked across the desk at Sarah and was quiet. "She was like she is now, only more so."

"What do you mean, Hannah?"

"About three years ago Annie went to Saudi Arabia on her way to Iraq, but something happened and she ended up in Switzerland. She told me that she changed assignments at the last minute."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure, actually. She wouldn't talk about it. Mary went over there and they said they just took a little vacation. Annie stayed at Rebecca's for a time, and Mary went to the house alone when they came home. I didn't even see Annie for at least a week, maybe more.

Honestly, we thought they were having some problems, just going through something. They both looked so miserable."

"Has she always used humor as a defense?"

a 114 a "Yes, since she was the most picked upon, teased, and otherwise just plain crucified by her brothers and sister. The youngest child thing."

"I'm the youngest. Believe me, I know."

"Did she always follow the rules?"

"Heavens no. She was the first to break rules, but honest about it if you caught her. Annie has never been a devious person. At least around the family."

"Did she always want to be a journalist?"

"No. She was always such an exceptional athlete I thought she'd go that way, but her mind and that incredible curiosity won."

Driving to the office, Sarah thought about the time period that Hannah had talked about. Annie had said she hadn't told her parents everything. So she had hidden something and wanted to clear the matter up, needing to talk with her parents first. Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, Hannah had said. Sarah wondered if she could track Annie's passport.

v Finally, Sheikha thought. Hamel was going to discuss his plan. The apartment was too cold, and she turned the thermostat up. She could hear the neighbors coming up the stairs, going into their apartment. She hated the cold weather here and would have preferred to work on their business back in Baghdad, but he said he couldn't trust anyone but her to take care of the American side of the business. At first it had made her feel valuable, but then she began to suspect that he had just wanted her away from him. He had been gone for over four months this time, and when she had complained, he had quoted "Inshallah," it is God's will. He never answered her.

Hamel's dark hair was short and his new beard trimmed. He looked handsome, and she felt her heart warm. She remembered when they were children, his sweet eyes and smile. All this, she thought, for the American reporter with the strange pale eyes.

"It's more than the reporter," Hamel explained to her. "Someone took photos of the group that included Amer, and somehow Ms.

Booker's associate got them. The night we killed him we would have taken her, but their soldiers were too fast. I looked through her office a 115 a when I was in her house but had to hurry because of the FBI. We need them back, Sheikha. Majer has promised she'll be at his party, and I will find them then."

They stood at the table, looking down at the floor plans of the house that he had been in and of Majer's home. Shiekha listened carefully, understanding what it was that he needed from her. She nodded and he went to the coat rack, putting on his parka. They would meet again this weekend. "Allahu Akbar," he said as he left. God is great, and Allah decides our destiny. Listening to his footsteps clatter down the steps, she sank back into the chair, staring at the papers he had left with her.

a 116 a

ChAPTER ThiRTEEN.

Annie did her rehab in her basement. Checking with the four agents, she happily escaped to her studio, grabbing a bottle of water on the way. Two of the agents sat on the stairway talking while the other two walked the house. Upstairs, she moved the easel into the light and was lost to the painting, leaning into the canvas with her brush, painting steadily. Much later, backing away, she took a deep breath and cocked her head. The canvas was only three feet tall and five feet long.

Just right. She took a few more steps away, walking slowly in an arc in front of the easel, thinking out what she had just added. The phone rang, scrambling her concentration, and she knocked several things off the table trying to reach it. "Damn," she said, finding the noisy object under several paint rags.

"You won!" were the first words she heard. She recognized her producer's voice.

"Bill, good to hear your voice too. Is there money involved?"

"Huh?" He started to laugh. "Dummy. You won the International Correspondents Award for the story last November."

Annie tried to remember which story he was referring to. "Was it a report, a doc, or what? Oh, I know, the story of the Marine, the American Indian?"

"You have to come in for this one, Annie," Bill said, and she could hear voices in the background.

"Bill, is the big cheese right behind you?"

"Yes, and the award is this Friday night. We're carrying the program anyway, but, oh man, Annie, you won, for the idea, the writing, a 117 a and the presentation. This is so great for all of us. That means I win too.

The whole crew wins on this story."

The awards would be the day before Majer's party. "Well, I'm honored, but the credit goes to you and the crew." She caught an echo.

"Wait, am I on speakerphone?"

"I just put you on," he said. "You have to be here for this one, Annie. It's the first one in over three years, since you and Jack blew everything away."

"Ms. Booker," an older, deeper voice came on, "you'll stay in the network suites. Come in today, and we'll get the promos shot and taped."

Annie unconsciously straightened a bit at the voice. More work, exactly what I don't want, she thought. "Thank you. I couldn't have done it without my producer and crew, but then, you know that." She cleared her throat. "What about the FBI?"

Silence followed and Bill kicked her off the speakerphone. She could hear them talking. "Annie, just bring them along."

"Well, someone better notify their office there. Will you do it from your end? Call that young guy, Josh something. I can't remember his name."

"Palmer," Bill finished for her. "I'll call him as soon as you and I hang up."

"Can I bring my Milwaukee agent, the one that's with me here?"

"Absolutely. By the way, how's your arm?"

"I'm healing, but the rehab is a daily grind I could do without. Did they tell you my house was broken into?"

"Yes, they did. I talked with Josh Palmer last week. Do they know any more than what they did then?"

"Not about the break-in, but I think they're making some progress on another part of what's happening here. I'll call my FBI agent when we hang up. Get back to me with the times. Oh, what do you want me to wear for the program?"