Sarah pointed at the papers she held. "This is hideous."

Kilie closed her eyes for a moment. "Some of us are stronger than others, but still, Sarah, it lingers in Annie. Because of that, there are some things I would like to discuss with you."

"Please. I can use all the help that you, or anyone, can give us."

"First, you'll have all the information from Switzerland, but there are some personal things I'd like to talk to you about. Would that be all right?"

Sarah nodded.

"Hannah guided Annie my way when she was almost seventeen.

She was out to her family and friends but had just become involved with her first woman. She had questions."

"The tall blonde? I saw her at Annie's house."

"Yes, and thankfully, a very careful person," Kilie said. "My partner and I got to know them well that summer."

"Partner?" Sarah smiled.

"We have a horse ranch not far from Annie's. You've driven by it every time you've gone to her house. Nicki had just had our first child and Annie became our first babysitter."

"You have kids? That's great."

"A boy and two girls." She handed Sarah a framed photo off her desk. Sarah studied the photo, smiling.

Kilie cleared her throat. "Actually, Annie's talked about you quite a bit. I don't think she's even aware of how much she's said. She's talking about you like she used to talk about Tori."

Sarah straightened in her chair, surprised. "What about Mary?"

"No. In the beginning, I think it was genuine, but then it merged a 167 a into a sort of business relationship. I work with Mary and Meg every day, and frankly, I am seeing something much more comfortable and real between them than it ever was with Annie. After the injury and Switzerland, it was agonizing to watch."

"Annie said she was gone too much and too long."

"Yes, she was gone a lot, but what I saw was that she didn't even notice, and that's not like her. Annie's a caring person."

"She's a new experience for me. In the first place, there's her appearance. Sometimes people just go speechless in front of her."

Kilie laughed. "Isn't it amazing?"

"The oddest part, to me at least, is that she doesn't seem to notice.

And you don't dare call her a celebrity. Hannah told me that she was shy, but I have a hard time believing that."

"Oh, but she is, and that causes all sorts of interesting personality characteristics. You have no idea how much courage it takes for her to speak to a crowd. When it's television, it's fine. That's just a camera and perhaps the person or people she's interviewing. However, a crowd makes her sweat bullets. Did you see the presentation award last Friday?"

Sarah nodded.

"Did you happen to notice her left foot? It was tapping about ninety miles per hour."

"My observation skills must be deteriorating. I missed it."

"Looking at the dress, huh? Or lack thereof?"

"How could you not?"

"Don't feel bad. You should have heard Nicki. Ha!" She laughed.

"All of this, the person that Annie is, kind of threw Mary."

"She was jealous?"

"No, it made her competitive and still does. But she was very helpful when they got back from Switzerland. She tried to do everything she could."

"She certainly was angry last night."

"I imagine she's just worn out with it. The same is true of Annie, now that's she's been injured again and Jack Keegan was killed. She's just sort of dazed. So it is very hopeful to hear her talk about you so enthusiastically and with humor. Actually, at this point, any humor with Annie is good."

a 168 a "At first, she felt isolated to me, and something else, like she might run at any moment."

"That's why I'm talking with you," Kilie said. "One hundred years ago I would have been her father asking this."

"Her father? You're asking me to be careful? No. You're asking about my intentions." No one had ever asked her that question.

"Kilie, agency rules are so strict that I'm not even supposed to notice she's a woman. One hundred years ago? All right, my intentions are honorable."

v Promptly at two, Sarah sat across the desk from Don. She looked up to see his eyes on her, and he suggested she call the hospital. Sarah nodded and left for her own office to make the call. She locked the door behind her, wanting some quiet, uninterrupted time.

Annie's mother picked up the phone in ICU, answering in a tired voice. "She's just about to surface. I don't want her waking up alone."

"Have you been there all night?" Sarah asked, catching the weariness in Hannah's voice.

"Yes, but Molly stayed. She just left."

"I'm going into a meeting now, but I'll be by as soon as we're done," Sarah said.

"I would appreciate it." Hannah was quiet and then repeated, "I just didn't want her to wake up alone."

Sarah heard the worry in Hannah's voice and looked out her office window. A few lazy snowflakes floated by, but the sun still shone brightly. "Hannah, as soon as I'm done, I'll be there."

"Wait, someone's coming in." Sarah could hear voices. "It's Mary, Meg, and Dr. Williams. Now we have four doctors in here." Hannah laughed a little. "A bit of an overkill, huh?"

"I'll be there before five. I have clothes for Annie. Can you think of anything else?"

"She'll be starving. How about some fried chicken with a vanilla malt? There's a great chicken and ribs place close by the hospital with real malts."

"I know the place."

a 169 a Sarah started to leave for Don's office but changed her mind, easing back into her chair. She dialed Rebecca and discussed the conversations with Mary and Dr. Williams. Rebecca told Sarah about the first weeks when Annie had gotten home three years ago. After hanging up, Sarah entered parts of Rebecca's conversation into Annie's case file on the computer.

Don looked up with a smile as Sarah came back into his office. He held papers out to her. "How is she?"

"Her mother's still there, and her roommate just came in. She's about to come around," she said, taking the papers. "What's this?"

"Some very interesting DNA results that I managed to sneak through the lab at warp speed."

"What the hell?" Sarah blurted out, looking at the results.

"That's what I said. This is the blood from the basement and the DNA we took from the group in the dining room. The preliminary lab report says the shooter is a male and at least a brother to the woman who said she was the prince's mother. By the way, nice job with her.

That woman didn't want to do this."

"Did you run it through the database?"

"Sure did, but nothing in the U.S., so it's overseas now as well as in Virginia with the photos. I bet we get something there. And here's something else you might want to see. The results from Dr. Majer's sister."

Sarah looked at the paper, shaking her head. "I just don't believe this. She's the mother to the shooter in the basement and the woman claiming to be the prince's mother? Damn. She said she had two older children, and I forgot to come back to that."

"This is just preliminary, but at first glance, it appears that's what it is. What the hell is going on here?" Don shook his head.

Adrenaline shot through Sarah. "Don, in the first place, that woman, the prince's so-called mother, is a question mark. She didn't look old enough to be the prince's mother. Secondly, she was familiar to both Annie and me. The man we saw in the store, the man in the photos, could be her twin, so perhaps they are siblings. Then look at the prince. He's not related to anyone."

"This is a long way from a Web site."

"Last night, at Majer's party, when Annie introduced the prince to me, he apologized to Ms. Booker for something. Annie's roommate is a 170 a home, and I talked with her at their house last night. She told me that Prince Abdel had been involved with Ms. Booker before, three years ago. Then, this morning, Annie's personal physician gave me the entire story. While Annie was at the prince's home in Saudi Arabia on her way into Iraq, she was beaten so badly that her doctor said she didn't think she'd make it. I know she didn't expect to see him at the Majers'

or perhaps anywhere."

"All right," Don said, "that's the prince. Maybe that's Ms.

Booker's only connection to him." He held up the sheets of papers.

"These connect Majer's sister, the shooter, and the so-called mother.

Not the prince."

Sarah nodded. "Majer's sister, Nyalia, said the prince arranged for her transportation over here from Iraq. Annie questioned that immediately. She said it seemed odd, unusual. There's nothing involving any of them in your investigation?"

"No, they're new players in our terrorism group here. I'm sure one of them has to be connected to those photos and Amer al-Sadr. So why don't we do this? We'll have Sam Coates concentrate on Dr. Majer and his sister. I'll take her two adult children and the prince."

"What about me? Where do I fit in?"

"You have Ms. Booker, but truthfully, Sarah, you've been involved in a shooting plus being injured. You'll have to go on limited duty as soon as we get this straightened out. First, you have to see the folks in Internal Affairs and then the department psychiatrist. Then I'll just have you stay with Ms. Booker, take her out of town."

Sarah waited, making sure he was finished. "What about the basement at Majer's house?"

"That's a different story. The boxes in the basement are loaded with information, visas, photographs, and more. It'll take us quite a while to get through it all, but he's nailed. I have an appointment with him this afternoon."

"When we were in the bathroom last night and found the door to the basement, I believed him, Don. I don't think he knew that was there.

I think he knew something was coming down, as did his wife. He just didn't know what."

"His sister seemed genuinely shocked."

"Yes, but I think everyone there had some knowledge of some- thing about to happen. How do we follow up with the prince?"

a 171 a "I'm talking with State. I'm going to have to bring them in on this.

We have to find him before he leaves the city or the country. Maybe Majer will know where he's staying."

"The FFI was organized less than a year ago, and Ms. Booker's injuries in Saudi Arabia were over three years ago. I just can't believe they're connected. I don't believe her injury has anything to do with the Web site threat."

"I think you're right, but the prince is our only lead."

"After I finish here, I'll talk to Annie about the prince if she's able," Sarah said, feeling tired already. She looked at the bright sunlight on Don's desk and thought of Annie in the yellow dress the night of the awards.

a 172 a

ChAPTER NiNETEEN.

After Sarah gave a formal statement to the guys from Internal Affairs regarding the shooting and then did it all over it again with the FBI psychiatrist, her mind was swirling. Rubbing her forehead, she made her way back to her office with a fresh cup of coffee and some ibuprofen. "Christ," she mumbled, shuffling through her computer notes from the meeting with Annie's personal doctor this morning, trying to concentrate and failing. Kilie Williams had added the finer details to Mary's story from last night, and as much as she needed this information, Sarah felt like ducking and hiding from some of the words.

Sarah pulled up to the hospital in Annie's SUV with a bag of chicken and two malts. The temperature on the console registered ten degrees, and she could see her breath when she stepped out, feet crunching on the snow. Sarah stood for a moment, spotting a slice of moon starting to rise over the lake, the same as it had last night before the storm had moved through.

Sarah identified herself to the agent guarding Annie's room and asked her about visitors. The last visitor, Annie's brother Noah, had left about thirty minutes ago. Sarah braced herself to enter.

There was only a dim light against the darkness in the room as Sarah walked quietly to the bed. She set the food on the bedside table and hung her parka over a chair. She had changed into jeans and boots, comfort for what she was sure was going to be a long evening. Pulling the chair close to the bed, she propped her elbows on the sheets and watched the sleeping woman.

"Where are you, Annie?" she whispered. The expressive mouth a 173 a was relaxed but still tipped up at the corners. The cut on her lip was already healing. Her eyelashes were long and thick, curling up at the ends, and Sarah idly wondered why she hadn't noticed them before.

Probably because Annie's eyes always overwhelmed you, caught your attention before you had a chance to look further, she thought.

She picked up one of her hands and thought about Kilie's unspoken question this morning. Intentions? She laid her forehead on the bed next to Annie, worn out, and feeling tears sting her eyes.

Suddenly, there were fingers in her hair, sliding down her face, and a sleepy voice said, "Do I smell chicken?"

Sarah's head jerked up and she looked right into Annie's sleepy green eyes.

"I left you a message on your phone."

"I turned my phone off." Sarah straightened and looked away, shy at being caught with tears in her eyes. "Ready for food? Listen to my stomach."