"There really wasn’t any other choice. Maybe if I’d been a little smarter about it, I could have gotten her cuffed… but I left the house, and that gave her time to get the kid and prepare."

A shiver ran down her arms. "Prepare for what?"

"Me. She knew I was coming back, and she wanted me to watch her kill the little boy."

Laurant saw the troubled look that crossed Nick’s eyes. "How do you get rid of it?" she asked. "Do you block out the memories?"

"No, I don’t block anything out. I deal with it."

"But how?"

He shrugged. "I keep busy."

"Keeping busy isn’t dealing with it."

"Don’t you tell Noah I said this, but sometimes I wish I were more like him. He can shrug it all off when he has to."

She disagreed. "He’s paying a price, just like you. He’s just got tougher shields."

"Yeah, maybe. But as long as animals like Haskell and Stark are out there, I can’t relax. I want to get them."

"There’s always going to be another one, isn’t there? Nick, you need a normal life outside of your work."

"Now you sound like Pete, and this is damned heavy chitchat."

He picked up the phone, punched in a number, and then spoke into the mouthpiece, "We’re taking the next exit and finding something to eat. By the way, you’re following too close."

After he’d put the phone back, she turned around to look out the back window. "The blue car, right?"

"No, the gray Honda behind the blue."

"How long have they been following us?"

"Since we left the airport. This car has a tracking device with a fifty-mile radius, and once we’re in Holy Oaks, Jules Wesson, the senior agent in charge of this operation, will always have us under surveillance."

"That won’t do us much good. It’s a little town, and we’ll walk as much as we drive."

"You’re going to be wearing a cute little tracking device too. I’m not sure what it will be in, but probably a pin or a bracelet."

It was actually comforting to know that the FBI would be tracking her as she moved about town.

"I’m sure Jules Wesson is efficient, but I still wish that Pete were in Holy Oaks."

"He wouldn’t be much good there. He’s never been a field agent. Jules Wesson and Noah and I will feed him information as we get it, and hopefully Pete will be able to figure out the where and when and how. Think there’s a decent place to eat in Sweetwater? That’s the next exit."

"There’s a diner in the center of town. The food’s actually pretty good."

"What are you in the mood for?"

"A big, juicy hamburger with pickles. And fries. Lots of French fries."

"Sounds good to me."

She didn’t need to give him directions. Sweetwater boasted one main street, aptly named Main Street, and the diner was located right smack in the middle of it.

Laurant slid into a booth by the front window. Nick sat down beside her. There wasn’t much room.

"Don’t you want to sit across from me?" she asked.

"No," he replied as he reached for the sticky, plasticized menu standing on end behind the salt and pepper shakers. "We’re gonna start practicing this lovey-dovey stuff."

Nick ordered two double hamburgers, a double order of fries, and two glasses of milk. She told him he ate like a farmhand, and that reminded him of a story about her brother involving the cafeteria line at college. By the time Nick finished recounting the incident, she was laughing so hard, there were tears in her eyes. She had no idea Tommy had been such a prankster.

"He started the food fight?"

"Tommy wasn’t always a priest," Nick reminded her.

He told her another story, and then another. A couple of times the other patrons of the diner turned at the sound of their laughter. They saw a young couple completely at ease with each other.

Laurant was thoroughly relaxed by the time they got back into the car and headed out again.

"Maybe you should slow down. I don’t see the gray car," she said.

"That’s the way it’s supposed to work. You aren’t supposed to see them."

"Are they going to follow us all the way to Holy Oaks."

"Yes, they are."

"How many agents are there waiting for us?"

"Enough."

"Isn’t this costing a lot of money?"

"We want to get him, Laurant. Cost isn’t important."

"Yes, but what happens if it takes longer than everyone expects?"

"Then it takes longer."

Laurant removed the clip and let her hair fall around her shoulders, then she tilted the seat back. She had just closed her eyes when Nick said, "I don’t get it."

"What don’t you get?"

"You… living in such a little town."

"I like it."

"I don’t believe it. You’re a big-city girl at heart."

"Actually, I’m not at all. I grew up in a little village."

"Your grandfather happened to own the village," he pointed out. "You lived on an estate. You can call it a small town if you want."

"And I went to school in a tiny little town. It was almost cloistered. I really like Holy Oaks, Nick. The people there are good and decent. And it’s beautiful. And peaceful… at least it used to be Peaceful."

"Yeah, well if you like it so much, how come you rent the house you live in? Why didn’t you buy it?"

"I wanted to concentrate on the business first," she explained "And Mrs. Talbot didn’t want to sell the house just yet. She raised her family there, and even though she’s living in a nursing home now, she isn’t ready to let it go. I’m thinking about buying a cabin on the lake. It needs a lot of work though."

"How come you haven’t already purchased it?"

"Steve Brenner."

"The Holy Oaks Advancement Society guy?"

"He owns the cabin."

"I think the guy wants to own you."

"What?"

"It seems that when Agents Farley and Feinberg went into your house, the neighbor lady called the sheriff and he came running."

"L.A. doesn’t run anywhere."

"The sheriff’s name is L.A.?"

She smiled. "Lard Ass," she explained. "Everyone calls him that. He isn’t highly thought of in Holy Oaks."

"I guess not."

"I didn’t mean to interrupt. What happened when the sheriff showed up? Did he know they were FBI? They must have told him."

"No, they didn’t and wouldn’t tell him anything, but the odd thing is, he never asked. He was busy telling them all about Steve Brenner’s designs on you. Seems Brenner’s telling everyone he’s going to marry you."

"He’s such a jerk."

"Sounds like it. One of the agents told the sheriff all about our hot and heavy relationship, and he couldn’t wait to leave."

"No doubt to tell Steve."

"No doubt."

"He’s the kind of man who has trouble understanding he can’t get everything he wants."

"I’ll help him understand."

She wasn’t sure how he planned to do that, but the tone of his voice indicated he was looking forward to it.

It seemed that the time spent driving to Holy Oaks sped by faster than the actual miles. They were comfortable together. They discussed music-they both liked classical and country. They argued politics-she was a die-hard liberal, and he was a full-blown conservative. And he kept her fascinated with funny stories about growing up in a large family. Before she realized it, Nick was slowing down to take the exit to Holy Oaks.

"We’ll be home before dark," she remarked.

Nick turned serious. "Laurant, there are a couple of things I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Farley and Feinberg… the agents I mentioned a while ago."

"Yes?"

"When they searched your house, they found a video camera."

"Where did they find it?"

"In the linen closet upstairs. There was a perfectly drilled little hole about half the size of an aspirin. The camera’s eye was facing your bed. You never would have noticed it. It’s right in the center of a flower in your wallpaper."

She felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She spun around in her seat and unconsciously clutched his forearm. "And you’re just now telling me?"