Only one way to find out. Did she dare?

She headed for the bedroom to throw on some clothes.

Gin let herself into the surgicenter through the private rear entrance and coded off the alarm. She felt more than a little guilty about this.

After all, Duncan had entrusted her with a set of keys and here she was sneaking in to snoop through his desk.

It's not as if I'm going to steal anything, she thought. I'm just going to borrow a little reassurance.

She locked the door behind her, then set up her excuse for being here.

Not much chance that anyone else would be in on a Saturday, and her car was in the rear lot, hidden from the street, but you never knew. So, first thing, she trotted down to the records room and left her Senate ID badge on the floor under the dictation desk. Should anybody ask, that was why she was here, looking for her lost badge.

Back upstairs, she let herself into Duncan's officer. She noticed her hands were sweaty. What if Duncan popped in and caught her here? Not likely. He couldn't wait to get out of here weekday afternoons, so why would he show up on a Saturday? Oliver was a different story. But he'd mentioned a trip to Virginia Beach for the weekend, so it was unlikely he'd show up. Through the picture window she saw that the rock garden was half in shadow. The shrubbery shielded her from anyone outside, but also blocked her view of the rear parking lot, so she left the office door open to hear anyone unlocking the private entrance.

She moved to Duncan's desk, praying she'd find the top right drawer sitting open.

No such luck.

Okay, another prayer that he'd forgotten to lock it. She pulled on the handle. The drawer wiggled but wouldn't slide.

Damn! She slapped her palm against the drawer. She wanted this over with. She couldn't stand it.

She slumped into Duncan's chair and stared at the drawer. The putting-to-bed, or God forbid, confirmation, of all her distress lay on the far side of half an inch of wood. She stared at the brass face of the lock. She'd seen Duncan's key ring hanging from that lock, which meant the drawer key went wherever he went. But maybe there was a spare around.

She went through each of the remaining drawers carefully and did find two keys, but neither fit the lock. She tried prying it open with a letter opener but was getting nowhere, and she was afraid to exert too much leverage for fear of scratching the wood.

If only she knew how to pick a lock . . . or knew someone who did .

.

They made love first.

Gerry arrived a few minutes early and, as much as Gin wanted to learn how to pick a lock, the sight of him standing inside her door swept away thoughts of locked drawers. After about three words they were in each other's arms and leaving a trail of clothing between the front door and the bedroom. Nicer making love on a bed instead of a couch, and this time Gerry took charge, running his lips around her nipples, then between her breasts, down along her scar to her navel, circling that, and continuing downward. She whimpered with delight and thrust herself against his probing tongue.

Afterward, they lay breathless and sweaty in each other's arms. Gin fought the urge to fall into a contented doze. She got up, threw on a robe, and opened a bottle of merlot. They snuggled together on the couch, sipping their wine.

"That was wonderful."

"For both of us, " she said, nuzzling his neck.

"By the way, did I say hello? " Gin laughed. "That was a hectic scene, wasn't it? " "Where's this lock you can't open? " he said finally.

Gin was uncomfortable with the lie she'd told him about a lost key, so she was glad she didn't have to remind him. She pointed to the far corner of the room.

"That little oak filing cabinet over there. I don't even know why I locked it. And now the key is gone." She hated Lying, but she couldn't tell Gerry the real reason. He was too much of a straight arrow to let her go through with her plan.

She'd chosen the little oak filing cabinet because its lock looked to be about the same size as the one on Duncan's drawer.

"No spare key? " She looked sheepish. "I think it's inside." That, at least, was true.

Gerry laughed as he picked v oblong box from the pocket.

"A lock-picking kit?" Even better." He opened up his jacket and pulled an _ the box and showed her . , something that looked like a miniature cordless screwdriver. "A battery-operated lock pick. " "Really? I didn't even know there was such a thing."

"They've been around for a while. This one's the E.P.GElectropick.

It'll open just about any pin-and-disk tumbler qlinder lock in under a minute." -"What about picking locks the old-fashioned way? " "Let's hope that won't be necessary, " Gerry said. "I never learned how.

Lock picking isn't a skill required by the Bureau.

"Then why this electro-thing? " "For when we're in a big hurry and we can't get a locksmith right away." He tried a number of little black metal instruments in the keyhole until he found one that fit, then he fixed that into the end of the Electropick and began adjusting a thumbscrew atop the device.

"Once we find the right-sized raking tool, we adjust the up-and-down motion, a narrow range for a small lock like this, put it into the lock, and turn her on. ' Gin watched the metal tool begin moving rapidly up and down inside the lock. Gerry moved the Electropick in and out a few times, then removed it.

"Okay. All the pins are in position. Now I just insert this tension bar", he slipped a fine, L-shaped metal rod into the keyhole, "and twist.

" She heard a click. He removed the tension bar and gestured toward the drawer.

"Okay. Give her a tug." The cabinet drawer easily pulled open. She kissed him.

"My hero! A man of many talents." He held up the Electropick. "Just me and my handy E.P.G- I .

'"Wait a minute. ' She rummaged in the bottom of the cabinet drawer.

"Here's the spare."

"Great place for it>" Gerry said with a wry smile. "How about sticking it xnder the cabinet for safekeeping? " "Good idea. But first . .

.

" She stuck the key in the slot and relocked the drawer. Then she held out her hand for the Electropick.

's Let me try." Gerry was hesitant, but then showed her how to use it.

Under his guidance she unlocked and relocked the cabinet three times.

Gin knew then that she had to have an Electropick.

"Where can I get one of these things? " '"Not at Wal-Mart, that's for sure. They cost a couple of hundred bucks, but if you really want one I can give you the address of a mail-order place."

"That's okay, " she said, disappointed. No time for mail order. "I mean, how many times would I need something like that? " And then it was time for dinner. They went out to a Thai place in the neighborhood where she couldn't talk Gerry into trying fish stomachs in peanut sauce. Then they caught the new Kevin Costner flick. She could tell Gerry wasn't crazy about it, and she might not have liked it either if Kevin Costner hadn't been the star. Just watching him move and listening to his voice made up for a multitude of shortcomings in the rest of the film.

And finally it was back to the apartment for more lovemaking. Slow and deliberately languorous this time

"Strange, isn't it? " Gin said as they lay together at the end. She was thinking how she might want to be with Gerry forever. "So much has happened to each of us since we went to high school. We hardly knew each other when we spent most of the day in the same building. And now after all those years and miles we run into each other in a city of millions and wind up like this. I don't believe in fate, but you've got to admit . . . " "Fate, " he said sofddy. "That has a nice ring to it." Gerry left about I , 00 A. M. Without the Electropick.