TEASER

Sighing faintly, Mel glanced at her watch and took another look around the crowded terminal. Still no sign of Cole, and their plane was already boarding. Since she had talked to him on the phone a few hours ago, she knew he was okay and had caught his fugitive without difficulties. His flight in from LA must have been late. Shaking her head, she rose and headed for the gate. They had made provisions for Cole to catch another flight and meet her on the layover in New York if he was not back in time to catch this flight, so she was not unduly worried.

Still, she was not looking forward to flying alone, either. Sighing, she fell into line, pulling a slip of paper from her pocket and scrutinizing it as she waited. It bore a name, Marguerite Braxton, and an address. Marguerite: Kate's aunt and legal guardian for the next few months. Mel had gotten the address as soon as Cole had announced that they would visit London, even before she had called Jess. Jess would be meeting them at Heathrow, and the better part of her first few days in London would no doubt be spent catching up with her friend, who had told Mel that they had a lot to discuss, but did not want to talk about it expect in person.

But Mel still fully intended to take the time to visit Mrs. Braxton or, more accurately, to visit Kate. She was past due to get acquainted with the girl. Especially now. Mel knew things about her father, their father, she silently corrected herself, that Kate was no doubt still in the dark about. Kate had a right to know everything. It would be difficult to explain, and she knew that Kate might not believe her but, either way, it still seemed past time to her to get to know her absentee sister.

Sighing and mentally steeling herself, she tucked the slip of paper back into her shirt pocket. She was not even on the plane yet and already working herself up over the meeting. Closing her eyes, she took a series of deep breaths exactly as Cole had shown her how to in order to control anxiety. Along with that breathing exercise, he was beginning to teach her breathing exercises to reduce pain and increase awareness of her surroundings.

It was slow going, but she was learning. Of course, while he never said so, his behavior while teaching her these sorts of things, and the ease with which he did it, told her that they were probably taught to very young Cirronians. She would grow frustrated with a particular exercise and Cole would sooth her with an assurance that Ashi had also been frustrated when learning them. Ashi, his little girl. Which put Mel on par with a Cirronian five year old...

Frustrating as it was, though, Mel could not complain. It was liberating to learn the things Cole taught her, from controlling her Cirronian abilities to controlling herself. She found herself less on edge, more confident, more in control... And, of course, it meant spending extra time with Cole, something she could not possibly find it in herself to complain about. Especially as she learned to properly sense life-forces, the Cirronian's presence left her feeling completely at peace with herself and the world.

Admittedly, his proximity had other side effects as well, ones that it was growing difficult to ignore. Standing behind her, his broad chest warm against her back as he held her hands in his and walked her through a meditation kata. Leaning around her or across her to retrieve something in the war-room, displaying that typically Cirronian lack of regard for human concepts like 'personal space'. Sitting next to her on the living room couch, their legs touching as he explained some piece of Cirronian philosophy or demonstrated the use of some new power. What woman in her right mind could have ignored the effects those kinds of contacts had? Oh, right, the kind who had to deal with the fact that Cole was still struggling with their relationship on a professional level and a personal one...

With a soft sigh, Mel handed over her ticket and walked onto the plane.

Unnoticed by the distracted Mel or anyone else in the terminal, a man watched her enter the tunnel that would lead to the plane. As soon as she was out of sight, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed. It was answered quickly and the voice on the other end was electronically distorted.

"Speak."

"She just got on a plane."

"Her destination?" the distorted voice demanded tersely.

"London with a layover in New York. Shall I follow?"

"Are you sure she is destined for London and not New York?"

"Yeah. She was looking over her passport earlier."

"Was that man with her? The one she lives with?"

"No, sir. She was alone."

"I see." There was a short pause and then, "You are not to follow. She might see you. Another will take up her trail in London. Keep an eye on that bar of hers. You will be contacted with further instructions upon her return."

"I understand, sir."

"You are not to contact me at this number again," the distorted voice continued. "A new number will be provided."

"I understand."

"Your money will be in your account by morning."

"Thank you, sir. Is there anything else?"

"At present, no. I will be in touch."

He started to answer only to realize that he had been hung up on. Shrugging, he tucked the phone away and left the terminal. His employer was like that, not much for pleasantries. Contact was sporadic at best and the required information on his target generally quite specific. Most of his employer's interest focused not on his stated subject but on the man she lived with: his movements, his behavior, and his interactions with her and others... Not that he cared one way or the other which he was actually observing. Money, after all, was money.

Shrugging, he turned and left the terminal, more interested in the impending addition to his bank account than in the large man rushing past him more quickly than was humanly possible. The latest payment would support him in style for some time and once the woman returned from her trip, there would be MUCH more where that came from.

END TEASER
ACT 1

"Oh, hey! There you are!" Mel greeted a breathless Cole as he slipped into the seat next to her. Spending the flight to New York talking to Cole was definitely preferable to spending it wallowing in self-pity over her lack of a relationship with him.

"Sorry, Mel. There was a thunderstorm at LAX. My flight was delayed. I almost didn't make it," Cole explained.

"Used Hyperspeed to make it from your terminal to this one?" she ventured in a low voice, smiling faintly.

Cole gave a knowing smile. "There are definite advantages to being Cirronian, Mel," he murmured. "Especially when there is a schedule to keep."

Mel grinned in answer to the comment. "Wish I could control it that well," she said. "Would make life so much more convenient."

"In time you will learn, Mel," he promised. "You really are doing very well under the circumstances."

Mel nodded and clutched her armrest slightly as the plane started moving. Flying was definitely not on her list of favorite activities. Cole gave her an understanding smile and covered her hand with his own.

"It's okay, Mel," he murmured, leaning close and breathing the reassurance for her ears alone.

"Sorry, Cole," Mel sighed, shaking her head. "Must seem so silly to you..."

"No, Mel," he assured her gently.

Cole smiled down at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as the plane took off. Mel gave him a grateful smile in return, glad of the comfort engendered in that simple gesture. He smiled faintly back, his expression thoughtful.

As the seatbelt light went off, he freed his hand long enough to raise the armrest and then slid both arms around Mel, pulling her gently against him. She would be less nervous in his arms, he knew, and more comfortable with this activity that he knew she disliked greatly. Nor could he complain about the opportunity to hold her close for any length of time.

Mel stared up at him with wide eyes, startled by the spontaneous gesture, but grateful for it all the same. Wrapping her arms around him as well as she could, Mel snuggled into his large frame, grateful for the comfort and the simple closeness. She did not even care that they must have looked absolutely ridiculous, cuddling in business-class. There were times when being with Cole made it difficult to be self-conscious, a habit he was doing his best to break her of anyway.

"Thank you," she murmured into his chest, grateful to him for sensing her discomfort and trying to ease it.

"It's okay, Mel. I understand." Looking around quickly, he lowered his voice and told her, "In Migar, every time I was on a ship and that ship jumped into subspace, I would have to spend the rest of the trip on the hospital-deck. I used to have horrible space sickness. The doctors attributed it mostly to anxiety."

"Really?" Mel smiled faintly, feeling a little better to know that she was not alone in her anxiety. Fear of flying was fear of flying, after all, in a jet or on a spaceship.

"Yes, Mel," he assured her, smiling and nodding. "There is something unsettling in knowing that the molecules of your body are slightly out of phase with those of the material universe." He gave a helpless shrug. "I think the same must be true for you with airplanes. It does seem very unnatural to be suspended in the sky in such a way."

"No kidding," Mel agreed quietly. "I'm glad you made this flight," she added, smiling up at him. "I hate flying alone, Cole." She hated flying period, actually, but one admission at a time.

He smiled warmly back at her. "Then you will be just fine now, Mel, because you are not alone..."

"No," she whispered, swallowing slightly and wondering what it was about him that could turn the most innocuous statements into the kind of words that could send shivers down her spine and start her imagining spending the rest of her life with this amazing man. "I'm not alone," she agreed.

"Do you have your sister's address, Mel?" he asked gently, giving her throat a gentle caress and hoping to distract her mind from her current anxieties.

"Right here." Mel patted her pocket.

"I'm glad, Mel," he told her. "It is important to be in touch with your family."

"Yeah," she agreed, sighing. "I guess this meeting is past due. I haven't seen her since she was a little girl. And... well, there are things I guess she should know," Mel added, shrugging.

"About your heritage?"

Mel nodded faintly. "I don't know what I'm going to say to her or how, but... she has a right to know. She was so much closer to dad, anyway... She should know..."

Cole sighed faintly. Mel seldom talked about any member of her family except for her much-loved grandmother, but Cole knew enough. She had not been close to her father after he had moved to England. Once bound by the strongest ties of affection, they had quickly fallen apart after that. It was a difficult thing for the Cirronian to comprehend, why any man would allow such a gap to form between himself and his daughter...

"What is she like, Mel?" Cole asked gently. "Your sister?"

"Who knows?" Mel shrugged. "It's been so long... I think from what my grandmother always said that she must be a lot like Dad. He was very... at peace, I guess. That whole Cirronian... THING." Mel shrugged. "I've always been pretty nervous. Dad was never like that and I guess Kate isn't, either." Shaking her head, she changed the subject. "Okay, when the Custom's guy asks, you tell him that you're from?" she prompted.

Cole smiled faintly, shaking his head. A guy slipped up once... "Chicago, Mel. Exactly as it says on my passport."

"Good boy." Mel smiled and patted his arm.

"Maybe you should rest, Mel?" Cole suggested. "It will make this flight pass more quickly for you."

She shook her head. "No, Cole. I'm too wound up too sleep."

"You did not sleep much last night, either," he noted quietly. "You should be rested when we arrive."

Mel frowned, wondering how he knew that when he had been in California for the past week. Knowing that there were times when Cole just KNEW these things about her, she shrugged and settled for, "Yeah, well, I was excited about seeing Jess again."

"And about seeing Kate as well?" he ventured.

"More nervous than excited, I guess." Mel shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I am going to see her."

Cole smiled his approval. "That's good, Mel," he told her. "It is right that a woman and her sister should know each other well."

"Yeah." Mel sighed softly. "It's been so long... I wonder what she's like?"

"You will find out," Cole assured her. "In the meantime, you should rest."

"I can't sleep on planes, Cole," Mel protested. "I hate them."

"I can help you sleep," he offered.

"Won't you get lonely?"

"Not with you nearby, Mel. You should be rested when we reach London," he repeated.

Mel considered for a split second before nodding. But as he moved his hand to her forehead, she hesitated, catching his hand in hers. "What do you think she'll be like, Cole? Kate?"

"I don't know, Mel," he answered honestly. "But if she is even a little like you, I know that I will like her very much." Smiling adoringly, he freed his hand and released a gentle burst of energy before the flustered-looking woman could answer. Still smiling, he gathered her back into his arms.

When the flight attendant came by with the drink cart, Cole ignored the almost predatory way the girl was looking at him, the way Jess once had. He was used to it and once Mel had explained that it was not threatening, there was no reason to do anything but ignore it. Smiling up at her, he politely requested a bottle of water for himself and a blanket for the still-sleeping Mel. The first was delivered immediately, the second a few minutes later.

"Mel does not like to fly very much," Cole explained to her, accepting the blanket and carefully draping it over Mel who did not stir once, even when he had to shift her completely to tuck the blanket in. "Thank you. It is generally better if she can sleep," he explained when the flight attendant stared.

"Ah, one of those."

The girl nodded knowingly as Cole gathered Mel back into his arms. She had seen more than one passenger spend entire flights drugged out of their mind rather than face the reality that they were actually flying. She smiled faintly at the poor woman's understanding, and adorable, boyfriend and reminded him to call her if he or his friend needed anything at all. Cole smiled and dutifully promised that he would before turning his complete attention to the woman in his arms, just watching her sleep with an expression that all of the flight attendants agreed by the end of the flight was not more than one step removed from outright worship.

Cole remained completely oblivious to the looks and smiles they got every time one passed their seat but, disembarking, Mel could not help but wonder why the flight attendants were staring at her like that...

***

In London, Cole followed Mel easily from the terminal and through the crowd, but hesitated as they left Customs.

"Cole?" Mel asked, frowning.

"I want to see Jess again, Mel, but..." He paused, indecisive. "Maybe I should start investigating the properties that Haag has bought immediately..."

Mel hesitated herself, frowning thoughtfully. "I don't know, Cole. I mean, I know it's important, but it's been so long since you've seen Jess..."

"And I miss her very much, Mel," he agreed. "But her safety may be almost as much at stake as yours if the fugitives are as active in London as we think. And she is known to them."

"Good point." Mel sighed. "Tell you what. Let's go meet her, you can say hi, and then go. You have the address of the bookstore where she works, so you can meet us there after you've had a quick look around."

Cole smiled and nodded. "Yes, Mel. That sounds very good. And once I have looked around, we can all still go out to dinner like we agreed to."

"Sounds like a plan." Mel nodded faintly. "Come on, Cole."

Nodding, he obediently followed her through the crowd.

Courtesy of Cole's training, Mel sensed her best friend's life force long before she spotted her in the crowd. Using that, she moved unerringly in the young Englishwoman's direction.

"Mel! Cole!" Jess called, her eyes shining with excitement as she spotted them. "Oh, bloody hell is it good to see you two again," she said, hugging Mel close.

Pulling away from Mel, she turned to Cole, expecting his reaction to her hug to be the same uneasy acceptance it had always been in the past. She was shocked when he threw his arms around her in a bear hug, instead, lifting her from the floor in his enthusiasm.

"It's good to see you again, Jess," he informed the young woman gravely as she laughed and waved her feet helplessly a few feet from the ground. "I have missed you very much."

"You, too, Cole," Jess agreed, still laughing as she hugged him back. "Still walking around in your underwear all the time?" she teased.

Cole smiled faintly, gently returning his young friend to the floor. "Not so much any more, Jess. But when you come back to Chicago, I promise to do so at least once, just for you."

Mel sniggered, shaking her head. "Just when I thought I'd broken him of that habit," she murmured to Jess in an aside.

"Of all the habits he has, why is that the one you want to break him of?" Jess giggled. "I mean, bloody hell, Mel, that bum," she whispered, shaking her head.

"Work of art, I know," Mel agreed, grinning slyly at her friend before letting her gaze return to Cole for a moment.

"I should go now, Mel," Cole told her apologetically.

Mel sighed but nodded. "Yeah. But you come by the Flames as sooon as you're done," she reminded him.

"Yes, Mel," he agreed, nodding.

"Duty calls, does it?" Jess asked, frowning slightly.

"Always, Jess," Cole told her with a sad smile. "But I promise that I won't be long. I'll bring the luggage to our hotel first, Mel," he offered.

"Ah, that'd be great," Mel told him, nodding. "And I'll see you in a few hours."

"Yes, Mel," he agreed, touching his hand to her heart. "Stay safe," he murmured.

"You, too, Cole," Mel agreed, covering his heart with her hand as well.

They both reached up at the same moment, each covering the others hand on their hearts with one of their own. Jess experienced an inexplicable impression that something was passing between them quite beyond what she was seeing, some secret communion between their minds or souls, but dismissed it as romantic fancy.

Cole bowed his head, touching his forehead to Mel's for a moment. "Keep all of your senses open," he murmured, too low for Jess to hear. "There are many of them, here, Mel."

"I know. You, too, Cole," she whispered. "Please be quick and keep yourself safe," she added quietly.

"I promise," he assured her, briefly brushing his cheek against hers before straightening. "I'll see you in a few hours as well, Jess," he promised the girl, giving her a smile and a quick hug before turning and vanishing into the crowd around the baggage carousel.

Jess just stared after him with wide eyes. "Bloody 'ell," she finally managed in a shaky voice, long after he was already gone.

As much as she had always suspected that there had been something between Mel and Cole while she had been in Chicago, she thought she had been wrong. Now, though... Watching them touching each other's hearts and talk together like that? That had been unbelievable... Romantic fancies of telepathy aside, she was sure that the room temperature had gone up ten degrees during that tender exchange, and the two had acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world to touch each other like that.

It had been without a doubt the most beautiful thing Jess had ever seen.

"You okay, Jess?" Mel asked, frowning uncertainly.

"You two are really gone on each other, aren't you?" Jess asked softly.

Mel sighed deeply, shrugging. "It's complicated, Jess."

"Wasn't a damned thing complicated about what I just saw. That was... it was absolutely amazing, Mel," Jess told her. "Are you two finally--"?

"Oh, no. No." Mel shook her head quickly, interrupting her friend. "Nothing like that, Jess. We're... very close, but it isn't physical. It's, um... it's kind of... spiritual," Mel said, shrugging. "Kind of hard to explain, really."

"Well, you'll be here for a week, so you'll have all the time in the world to tell me all about it," Jess told her, grinning and grabbing her arm. Her smile faded slightly as she added, "Of course, we have other things to discuss as well, Mel."

"You said that on the phone," Mel noted, frowning in concern. "Is something wrong? What's going on, Jess?"

"Nothing's wrong, but we still need to talk, Mel," Jess told her. The unexpectedly early timing of Mel's visit had been perfect. Kate was off on a school trip for the next several days, leaving Jess plenty of time to discuss things with Mel, and with Kate via the telephone, before she returned. "Not here, though. When we get to my place. But we DO have a lot to talk about, Mel," she added with a gentle sigh, taking Mel by the arm and steering her through the crowded airport.

Neither noticed the man silently observing them from the shadows as they hailed a taxi. When their taxi had pulled away, he emerged cautiously from the shadows, looking around for a long moment. Satisfied that no one was paying him or the two recently departed woman the slightest attention, he hailed a taxi of his own.

END ACT 1
ACT 2

"You're different, Mel," Jess observed quietly as they entered the apartment above the bookstore.

"Different?" Mel repeated, frowning and shaking her head as Jess locked the door behind them. "What do you mean?"

"Look at you, Mel. You're... hell, the whole way you carry yourself is different!"

"The way I carry myself?" Mel asked, frowning.

"Yeah. I mean... hell, it's beautiful, Mel. I mean, it's like you're a different person!"

Mel shook her head uncomfortably. "No, Jess. I'm still Mel. That hasn't changed."

"You may still be Mel, but..."

Jess hesitated, wondering how to articulate it. This was not the Mel Porter she had known. She carried herself like a different person, infinitely more confident of herself and of her place in the world. She radiated an aura of... well, it was not quite serenity -- that probably would have been too much to ask of Mel ... but it was not far off, either.

"Hey, forget it," Mel advised, smiling at Jess and patting her shoulder. She shook her head. "Times change. People, too, sometimes. It's been a long year and yeah... some stuff has changed, sure. None of the important stuff, though." She shrugged. "I'm still me, Jess," she assured her friend quietly.

"I know, Mel," Jess murmured, pulling her friend into a hug. "Damn, I've missed you."

"Same here, Jess," Mel agreed, holding her close for a long minute. "Bar hasn't been the same without you."

"And life's been a little more boring without you and Cole in it," Jess answered, steering her into the living room. "Hey, you want a drink?" she offered. "I have the makings for martinis. Gin, just like you and the old people drink it."

Mel laughed and nodded. "Sounds good, Jess."

"One large, dry gin martini coming up." Jess smiled and vanished into the kitchen. "How's Cole been?" she called into the living room.

Mel joined her in the kitchen, shrugging and leaning against the counter. "He's been about the same."

"Yeah? He seems different, too, you know," Jess noted, handing her a martini.

"Now you're just imagining things, Jess," Mel accused her.

"Mel, he was joking around with me in the airport. Cole, teasing someone? That is new and you have to admit it."

"Well, okay, so he's... getting a better handle on..." Mel hesitated.

"The English language?" Jess provided, nodding. "Seems to be. Looks like he's got a slightly better handle on you, too, Mel," she added, grinning slyly.

"Jess!" Mel protested, laughing. "I've told you. Many, many, many times..."

"Just friends. Right." Jess shook her head. "You told him that yet, Mel?" She winced at the look on Mel's face at those words. Obviously a touchy subject. "And I'll just shut up right now..."

"No, Jess... I'm sorry, it's just... It's hard right now." Mel shrugged. "There are more complications than you can possibly imagine and... Well, even if there weren't, we don't get a lot of time to ourselves that isn't spent in..."

"In?" Jess prompted when Mel faltered.

Training. Just one more thing that Jess could not be allowed to know about for their safety and her own. Like she would believe it anyway: 'Hey, Jess, sweetie! Good to see you again! I'm not human!' Yeah, Right...

"Forget it," Mel advised. "Let's just talk. We have a lot of lost time to make up for."

"Yeah." Jess nodded. "When'll Cole get here?"

"He won't be long," Mel promised. "He just wants to check a few things out really quickly."

"Work always first with him, is it?" Jess asked quietly. It at least explained why the obvious attraction between them was still only an attraction. Poor Mel.

"Yeah, and lucky for us." Mel grinned. "The world would be just a little less safe if Cole wasn't obsessed with work."

"Yeah, but where's that leave you?" Jess asked quietly.

"It leaves me... with a damned good friend and protector. A girl could do a lot worse, Jess," she pointed out, shrugging. "I'm not unhappy."

"Really?" Jess challenged softly.

"Not usually," Mel amended, shrugging. "Time's wrong now. But it won't always be."

"I hope not. You two belong together." Jess smiled faintly. "You're good for each other. You've needed a guy like him for a long time now."

Mel nodded wordlessly. Trust Jess to hit the nail on the head. She and Cole were good for each other, and she needed Cole. Now, if she could just feel confident that the same were true of Cole...

"Something tells me that he's needed a woman like you for a long time now, too," Jess added quietly, frowning at Mel's sudden grim mood. "Your grandmother was always a big believer in that sort of thing."

"Codependence?" Mel managed with a weak smile.

"Fate," Jess corrected Mel seriously. "She always said that there are people out there who just... they complete each other. I never got that at the time but, looking at you and Cole today, I think I do."

Mel smiled faintly at that description of her relationship with Cole. It was not, perhaps, all that inaccurate. "I miss her, Jess," she sighed.

"Me, too. That old woman... I don't know if she ever told you how we met or anything, but..." Jess shrugged. "She saved me from starving to death on the streets of Chicago, Mel. She was like a second mum to me and a best friend beside."

Mel looked up at Jess with wide eyes, shaking her head. "No, Jess. She never told me. Sounds like the kind of thing she'd do, though," she added softly. "She was a good woman."

"The best," Jess agreed, nodding. "And you have so much of her, Mel..."

"Me?" Mel laughed, shaking her head. "No, Jess... I always took after my mother's side of the family, I think. Nervous, overly cautious..."

"Yeah, that's why you took a stumbling, incoherent naturalist into your home just because he needed a place? Because you're overly-cautious?" Jess shook her head. "You have more of Adelaide's heart than you know, Mel. I think that's what's different about you now. It's more obvious. I'd missed it before."

"Hey, look who grew wise while she was away," Mel murmured, smiling at Jess.

"I mean it, Mel," Jess assured her, giving her a quick hug. "Come on. Let's go sit down in the living room. You can tell me all about how everyone's doing while we wait for Cole."

"It will be a short wait," a new voice contributed.

"Cole!" Jess greeted him, jumping into his arms for another hug. "That was quick."

Cole smiled and hugged Jess back for a moment before setting her gently on the floor again.

"Everything okay?" Mel asked, noticing a slight crease between his eyebrows.

"Fine, Mel," he answered distractedly, giving her throat an absent caress.

"Hey, how'd you get in?" Jess asked abruptly, missing the significance of the exchange.

"The door, Jess," Cole answered. "The outside one," he clarified, pointing towards the apartment's back door.

"I could have sworn I locked the thing," Jess murmured, shaking her head.

Mel shrugged. "Maybe you just forgot this time," she suggested, frowning at Cole. She was going to have another talk with him about knocking...

"I really need to start being more careful about that," Jess muttered, shaking her head. She was playing games with more than her own safety, leaving the doors unlocked when Kate was being stalked.

"Oh, you were probably just distracted with Cole and I being here," Mel soothed, a little startled by how upset Jess seemed about an unlocked door in the middle of the day in a good neighborhood. "Or maybe Cole sprung the lock," she teased.

Jess grinned and nodded. "Yeah. That must be it," she chuckled. "So, are we going to have a drink first or straight out to eat?"

"Well, I'm starved," Mel announced.

Jess nodded. "And I know that Cole's always hungry, so I'll just go grab my coat. Just hope his table-manners have improved!" she called over her shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mel whispered to Cole as Jess vanished down the hall.

"Much of the property that Zin's people have purchased is... very close by, Mel."

Mel's eyes widened faintly. "Close by? Close to here?" she whispered.

Cole nodded, frowning.

"How close?" she asked, recalling Jess' fixation on the locked door and wondering at the significance of it. Was there a connection?

"This is the only piece of property in the area that has not been--"

"Ready guys!" Jess called, bouncing back into the living room. She paused, looking from Cole to Mel. "Everything okay?" she asked, frowning.

"Fine, Jess," Cole assured her, nodding and forcing a grin. "Mel was just lecturing me about springing the locks on my friend's doors. Where are we going to eat?"

***

Dinner was passed comfortably enough, and the three spent several hours in a small pub afterwards, catching Jess up on the news from home. For her part, Jess found not a single opening to mention Kate and was actually rather relieved. Kate would have to be brought up eventually, but there were days before that became necessary. In the meantime, it was nice to just enjoy the company of her friends again.

Cole rose long before Jess and Mel were ready to go, reluctantly announcing that he really did have a lot of work to do, but would see them again in the morning. Mel rose and drew him a little away from Jess.

"Is she going to be safe in that apartment?" she asked quietly. "I mean, if the area is crawling with fugitives?"

Cole nodded faintly. "I think so. I sensed no fugitive life forces in the area, Mel. I will go back now and look around some more. If it is not safe, I will keep watch on her."

Mel took a deep breath, nodding. "You do that. But call me if you have to and wake me up when you get back to the hotel."

"Why, Mel?"

"Because I'll sleep better knowing that you made it back safe?" Mel suggested, shaking her head. "I have a really weird feeling about this whole thing, Cole," she confided, shrugging. "And I still feel like I'm being watched..."

He frowned. "Will you be okay alone? Maybe you should stay with Jess?"

"No." Mel shook her head. They had the hotel room. If she refused to stay there, it would just worry Jess. "I'll be fine. Just keep yourself safe and wake me up when you get back."

He nodded faintly. "You stay safe as well, Mel," he murmured, resting his forehead against hers for a moment and covering her heart. "Remember to lock your door. I'll try not to be long."

"Great. Wake me," she reminded him, giving him a quick hug and watching him go.

"Duty calls?" Jess asked as Mel returned to their table.

"Semper Fi," Mel answered, shrugging. "He's never really had a traditional 9 to 5 schedule..."

"So I gathered." Jess took a deep breath, figuring that this was as good a time as any to broach the subject of Kate Porter. She was beat to the punch by Mel.

"Speaking of weird schedules... I hate to bug out so early, but I really should call it a night. I have some... things I need to do in the morning," Mel explained quietly. "Early..."

Jess nodded faintly, disappointed. They would just have to have the discussion another time. "Sure, Mel. I understand that. See you tomorrow afternoon, right?"

"Yeah." Mel nodded and rose, hugging her close. "See you tomorrow, Jess."

"I've missed you, Mel."

"Me, too, Jess."

***

The man in the shadows frowned thoughtfully as the two women returned to the flat above the Flames together. What was she doing there? Especially when Kate was out of town? What was the connection? Kate's new roommate, obviously, but how? And why?

When the two parted, the American woman climbing into a cab, he hesitated for a long moment before following her. Jess, he knew where to find. He had to find out where Mel was staying...

END ACT 2
ACT 3

Mel tossed restlessly, her dreams troubled, but she did not stir when the door to her hotel room slid open. He hovered on the threshold, sweeping his gaze around the room and assessing the situation. Satisfied that she was alone, he silently closed the door and stepped into the room, quietly looking around.

Two beds, only one occupied and the other looking untouched. She was, then, as his man in the States had indicated, here alone. Nodding faintly, he approached her, wondering once more at the connection between her and the blonde, this Jess. A citizen of Great Britain, Jess had spent the past few years in America, where she might have come to know Mel. But, back in England, she had unerringly found her way to Kate. Could that possibly be by coincidence?

Shaking his head, he moved to the bedside, staring down at Mel. There was a sheet of paper on the nightstand, which he picked up, frowning as he read the address.

His voice was angry as he whispered the name written there. "Marguerite..."

Shaking his head, he replaced the folded sheet of paper exactly where it had been and returned his attention to the sleeping woman. Marguerite's involvement complicated matters substantially. Now there were two women in the lives of the Porter sisters of whom he could not be sure, with a web of connections between all four that he simply could not understand.

Kate and Mel, Jessica and Marguerite, Marguerite and Jessica, which side? What agenda? Were they enemies or allies? Or was it possible that one or both were complete innocents, bystanders? He sighed and shook his head, dropping to his knees next to the bed and examining the sleeping woman.

"Beautiful," he breathed, brushing her hair out of her face. "Oh, look at you, Princess. You are so beautiful," he whispered, his hand sliding from her face to her throat and gently caressing the sensitive flesh.

"Cole?" she mumbled, rolling onto her stomach and turning her head. "You back already?" She opened her eyes curiously, reaching for the hand on her neck with a faint smile tugging at her lips. "What…?"

He froze. Mel pulled away with a frightened cry, scuttling across the bed. He was grateful for the hooded sweatshirt that obscured his face. Shaking his head, he lunged across the bed as she grabbed at her purse, reaching for something within, some weapon, he supposed. Pulling the purse from her grasp, he pressed two fingers sharply against the back of her neck. Mel was unconscious before she could react.

Breathing heavily, he rolled her onto her back, spending a few more moments caressing her face and throat before returning her to the position she had been sleeping in and pulling the covers over her again. He rose quickly, then, shaking his head and hurrying from the hotel room.

***

Mel came awake with a gasp, struggling out of the arms that held her.

Cole had come back from his investigation to find Mel not asleep but unconscious. Now she was awake, but struggling against him.

"Mel... Mel!" the Cirronian soothed, releasing her only long enough for her to see that it was him holding her, then drawing her back into his arms. She went willingly this time, sobbing. "Mel, it's okay. You're safe. There's no one else but us here. What happened?"

"There was a man here," she whispered into his chest. "I think he was a fugitive, Cole!" Looking up, she explained, "I went for my Collector and he knocked me out..."

Cole's expression was one of barely-contained fury. "Are you hurt? Did he hurt you, Mel?"

She bit her lower lip, shaking her head in confusion. "No... I woke up and he was touching my throat! He called me beautiful," she whispered.

"Hush," Cole soothed, pushing her away far enough to begin a soothing caress of her throat.

She had not been hurt, he could tell. Even though she had been unconscious and at the intruder's mercy... The thought made the Cirronian shudder, half with dread at what might have come to pass and half with anger. She was thinking of Tev, he could tell by the way she was shaking. He was thinking of the Nodulian himself, and it made him want to be ill. He tightened his gentle grip on her, cradling her against his chest and burying his face in her hair, taking comfort as he gave it.

Mel clung to him, not sure what else TO do. "He could have done anything..."

"But he did not do anything," Cole pointed out, as much to reassure Mel as himself. "Maybe he was only looking for something."

"He was touching me!" Mel snapped, shaking her head in frustration. "He called me beautiful!" For some reason, that gentle caress and those adoring words had left her more rattled than the dozen-plus attempted homicides she had been on the receiving end of in the past year and a half. Why, though?

'Because you enjoyed it,' the answering thought came, harsh and accusing.

She had, too. Waking to feel a strong hand on her throat and to hear a tender voice, loving... she had been sure it was Cole. It had felt so right, as no other man's touch had before him. It had not been the turn-on Cole's touch so often was, not by any stretch. It had simply felt right that this man should be touching her and speaking to her with such tenderness, as if he had every right in the world to be doing so.

It was just so confusing...

Sobbing, she buried her face in Cole's shoulder and clung to him.

***

Kate yawned as she got ready for bed. Class trips were always fun, and this one no exception. Knowing that it would be their last before graduation, the entire class had been having a wild time, a 'last hurrah' as it were. Not that Kate had been engaging in the more wild types of diversions that her classmates were making for themselves, but she was still having fun with her friends, staying up until an ungodly hour every night, and acting silly on general principle simply because she knew it would have annoyed her Aunt Marguerite.

She reached for the phone as it rang. Not unpredictably, her friend Lydia was on the other side of the room and still managed to beat her to it.

"Kate, phone," Lydia announced after listening for a moment.

"For me?" Kate asked, frowning.

"Nah, I just wasn't sure if you noticed that this is a phone." Lydia rolled her eyes and handed Kate the receiver, shaking her head and returning to what she had been doing.

"Jess?" Kate asked as Lydia walked into the bathroom. Who else, after all, would have been calling her here?

There was a pause and the voice that answered was electronically distorted. "Not Jess, Kitten."

Kate frowned. Her stalker... She had never received a phone-call from him before as far as she knew, but he had called her Kitten twice before this, and only one other man had ever called her that before, so it had to be him. He was getting bold, calling her like that, making contact instead of simply observing from the shadows. Something was going on...

He spoke again. "I want you back in London."

"I'll be back in a few days."

"Now, Kitten," he told her firmly. "I mean it. You get yourself back to London now!"

"Why should I?" she asked, frowning at his harsh, panicked tone.

"God, you're as difficult as..." There was a long pause.

"As difficult as who?"

"Never mind, Kate. I just want you back in London. Things are... complicated at present. You'll be far safer here."

"Where you can keep an eye on me, is that it?" Kate asked, irritated. "I've missed you this trip, you know. I'm used to having you around."

"You teasing me?"

"Maybe."

"Come back to London, Kitten. Please."

"I will if you'll answer one question."

"What?"

"Who are you?"

"Kate, that's... it's not important."

"Did you know my parents? Can you at least tell me that much?" she sighed, frustrated. "I mean, honestly..." She glanced towards the bathroom to make sure Lydia was out of earshot. "I am reposing an awful lot of faith in you and your good intentions given the fact that you're STALKING me," she pointed out.

It was harder to understand WHY now that she was out of his vicinity. When he was near, she never felt anything but comfortable with him, comforted BY him. But once she was out of range of whatever spell he seemed able to cast over her, when she could step back and objectively examine HIS actions, she had trouble believing her own. He was STALKING her and she had kept quiet about it until quite recently when she had confided in Jess. Even now, though, she refused to tell anyone else about him, refused to let her obviously rattled friend call the police. Why, though?

"I wouldn't harm you for the world, Kitten. You must know that..." Even with the electronic distortion, the emotion in his voice was obvious. "I just want you to be safe."

"Did you know my parents?" she repeated more firmly.

"Yes."

"Thanks." Kate nodded faintly and gave in. He had his reasons; he wanted her to be safe. "I'll... I'll come back to London soon."

"Thank you, Kitten. Thank you. Keep your senses open, all of them. Stay safe."

He hung up before Kate could answer. Sighing, she hung up the phone and rose, leaving the hotel room to find one of the teachers who was chaperoning the trip.

"Down the bloody rabbit-hole," she muttered bitterly, shaking her head.

She was being stalked by a strange man who seemed more interested in her welfare than her own family was. He had stepped up his campaign in the past few months to include her increasingly-shaken roommate. She firmly believed that he had killed at least once, but she could not find it in herself to consider him dangerous in the slightest. Objectively, she knew that his actions were those of a dangerous man. But something else continued to assure her that he was not dangerous to her.

And then there was her sixth sense. That had her turning and walking away from people she had never met before simply because she knew, without knowing how, that they were bad news. It told her what people to avoid, and what places to steer clear of, and she listened because if had not once been wrong. And now it had started screaming every time she walked into her aunt's office to the extent where she could not stay there for more than a few minutes before flight became her only option...

Shaking her head, she knocked on the door to the hotel room where the chaperones were staying. "I'm sick. I need to go home," she announced as soon as the door opened.

END ACT 3
ACT 4

"What do you think he wanted?" Mel asked Cole the next morning, sitting on the edge of her bed and tugging a brush through her hair.

He had held her last night until she had fallen into a fitful sleep and had continued to hold her close until long after she had come awake that morning. That thoughtfulness had at least allowed her a full night's sleep, but she was still restless and on-edge.

"I don't know, Mel," Cole sighed, sitting down next to her and relieving her of the brush. "You're going to pull it out if you keep doing it like that," he murmured gently, brushing her hair himself.

Mel sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing under his care. "Why was he touching me like that, Cole?" she asked finally, shaking her head. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, Mel," he admitted, closing his eyes. Memories of Tev, of breaking into a hotel room to see Mel struggling under him on that bed, filled his mind. When he opened his eyes, the hand holding the brush was shaking.

"It was... it was so strange," Mel told him quietly, turning to face him. "He, um... It was like he really did think that I was beautiful..."

"Maybe he did," Cole suggested quietly. "Maybe he didn't mean any harm, Mel?"

"He broke into our room!" she protested.

"And left you in peace when he could have done anything." Cole shrugged helplessly. His mind had been chasing itself in circles over Mel's encounter all night. "If he had wanted to harm you, Mel, he could have." He sighed and shrugged. "I'm going to have to watch you more closely. I promise I'll do a better job of keeping you safe from now on," he murmured, gathering her into his arms again. "I should not have left you alone," he whispered.

"Hey, there's no way you could have known that anything like this was going to happen, Cole," Mel pointed out. "If we're going to worry, it should be about Jess... What's Haag want with this part of London, anyway?"

"What did Zin want with our part of Chicago?" Cole whispered, sighing. "Much remains to be seen, Mel, but it can not be good."

"I know," she sighed, nodding. "I know. If you can't count on a damned thing else, you can count on that. Nothing that fugitives hands touch can possibly be good."

Cole nodded. "Are you going to see your sister today?" he asked gently.

"I... I really don't think so," she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm just too emotional right now. I think I'll just go straight to Jess' place."

"Okay, Mel," Cole agreed quietly. "But soon, okay? It will be good for you."

"Or not," Mel muttered, rising and picking up her clothes. "Okay, so you're going to spend the morning checking out those properties again?"

"Yes, Mel. And I am going to talk to the realtor who has been handling these transactions."

"You think it's a fugitive?" Mel asked.

"I don't know, Mel. But I will find out when I go."

"Yeah. Let's find out if the lions are at home by walking into their den, why don't we?" she sighed, shaking her head. "There has to be a better way, Cole."

"It's okay, Mel," he soothed. "I will keep myself safe. I promised."

"Yeah." Mel sighed and nodded. "Back at the Flames in time for lunch, right?"

"Right, Mel," he agreed easily, nodding. "I'll see you then."

"Yeah." She nodded and picked up her clothes, walking to the bathroom as Cole left.

***

Cole hesitated for a moment before crossing the threshold into the offices of Covington Realty. Taking a deep breath and a moment to center himself, he opened his senses to anything even slightly amiss. Nodding to himself, he entered the reception area.

"Help you, sir?" a perky young secretary asked, rising as soon as he stepped inside.

Cole paused for a moment, aware that there was a faint buzz somewhere nearby. A fugitive life-force... Not from this creature, though, he decided as she approached. Her life-force was young, good-natured, and undeniably human. She felt a lot like Jess, if not quite as vibrant.

"I hope so," he answered in response to her question, smiling down at her. "My name is Christian Hayes. I'm interested in acquiring some property."

"Then you're in the right place, Mister Hayes," she said, smiling up at him. "Have you bought through us before?" she asked, reaching for a clipboard.

Covington Realty was a very exclusive firm, and walk-ins were seldom accepted unless they were, among other things, VERY well off financially. The bulk of their business came to them through referrals.

"No, but a friend who has referred me."

She nodded. "And does this friend have a name?" she asked when the information did not seem immediately forthcoming.

"She does." Not elaborating, he added quietly, "She works for a multinational conglomerate called Zin Industries."

This was, Vic said, the way Zin's corporation was referred to by Interpol as well as in many other police agencies and, for that matter, the business community at large. There were few circles where the name was NOT recognized by at least some. He doubted that Vic had thought that it would help him anywhere other than in law enforcement circles, but it seemed to have had quite an impact here. As he had heard the human Detective say recently, 'money talks'.

"Oh!" The girl's eyes widened and she nodded hastily. "You have a seat sir, and someone will be right with you. Offer you a cup of coffee?"

"Thank you, no." Cole shook his head faintly and sat down, glancing around casually as he tried to pin down the fugitive energy signature. Wherever it was coming from, it was strong, not just a residual trace. Some fugitive was spending a LOT of time in these offices.

The girl spoke quietly into her phone and returned to Cole's side quickly. "I'm afraid Miss Braxton is out of the office at present, but you can wait or make an appointment if you prefer?"

"An appointment, I think," Cole told her absently. "I have a lunch meeting."

"Okay, let's see what we have open, then."

"Later today if you have it," Cole requested politely.

"How's... three?" she asked.

"That would be just fine," Cole agreed, nodding. He tilted his head as he watched the girl erase the appointment that had been in that slot and pencil in his name. She quickly grabbed a card and wrote the time down for him. "We'll see you at three, sir."

"Yes. Thank you." Cole smiled and nodded, turning to leave.

He stopped in his tracks as he read the name on the card. Marguerite Braxton. He knew that name, had seen it just this morning above an address. Kate's guardian? Behind him, he was vaguely aware that the girl was speaking into the phone.

"Mister Andrews? I'm afraid that Mrs. Braxton is going to have to reschedule Sir Thomas' three o'clock..."

***

"Jess, are you okay?" Mel asked quietly as they sat in the living room together. "You've seemed... off since we got here. What's wrong?"

"Oh, Mel, nothing's wrong, really," Jess assured. "It's just that we really do need to talk."

"So you keep saying," Mel agreed, nodding and leaning across the couch to take Jess' hand in hers. "What's going on, Jess? Is everything okay with you?"

"Oh, yeah, Mel." Jess nodded immediately. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. Nothing's wrong. It's just... well, complicated."

"Story of my life," Mel chuckled, nodding. "Why don't you tell me what's up?"

"Yeah, I really do need to. I probably should have mentioned it before you even came, but with Cole's business trip falling so much earlier than you had thought it would..." She trailed off at the sound of someone clattering up the stairs.

"Mel!" Cole gasped, half-running into the living room. "We must talk," he said firmly. "Excuse us, Jess," he added, catching Mel's hand and pulling her into the hall without waiting for a response from the stunned Jess.

"Cole! What's wrong?" Mel whispered, concerned. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mel. It's not me. Listen carefully," he ordered.

"Okay..." Mel nodded uneasily.

"You must go to your sister right now, Mel."

"What?" Mel frowned, confused. "I can see her tomorrow!" she protested.

"No. You go to her," Cole repeated firmly. "Get her out of her aunt's house no matter what it takes and you bring her to the hotel."

"What?" Mel asked, her frown growing. "Cole, what's going on?"

He closed his eyes before answering. "I think Kate's aunt is a fugitive, Mel."

"Oh, my God," Mel whispered, covering her mouth and shaking her head. "Oh, God, Cole."

"Get Kate, bring her to the hotel. I'll be close by," he promised.

"This is not happening," Mel whispered. "Cole, we have to get her out of there."

"Get whom out of where?" Jess asked quietly, joining them in the hall.

"Kate, out of her aunt's house," Cole answered absently, not tearing his eyes from Mel. She was pale and swaying on her feet.

"You know Kate?" Jess asked, blinking. "You never mentioned..."

"You know Kate?" Mel asked, turning to look at her. She shook her head quickly. "No. We can discuss this later. Right now I need to get her somewhere safe."

"She's not in town," Jess told them, frowning. "My God, what's the matter? What's going on? Is Kate in trouble?"

"She may be," Cole told her, nodding. "We need to go find her."

"She's not in London," Jess told them again. "She's on a class trip."

"How do you know her?" Mel asked, frowning. "You never mentioned her while you were in Chicago..."

"I met her later, after I came back. She owns the bookstore."

"She owns the bookstore?" Mel repeated, blinking and trying to absorb this.

Jess nodded faintly. She was not sure WHAT she had expected in terms of a reaction from Mel, but this wasn't it. "Guess you didn't take a good look at that sign in the café. This place used to go by 'The Firewatchers'..."

Mel closed her eyes. "Cole, you have to find her," she whispered.

"Yes." He nodded, turning to Jess. "Where is the class trip? What does this Kate look like?"

"She looks an awful lot like Mel, actually. Uh, the trip's in..."

She paused at the sound of yet another pair of feet making a hasty ascent to the apartment, shaking her head. If it was Marguerite, she was going to scream blue murder on general principle. The footsteps abruptly stilled and a cautious voice called into the apartment.

"Jess, luv? Who's with you?" Kate called, refusing to enter the apartment until she knew. It felt uncannily like her stalker, but very different, too.

"It's okay, Kate," Jess assured her, emerging into the stairwell. "Just some friends of mine."

Kate frowned. Jess looked horribly nervous. "Who?" she asked more firmly.

"Uh... You're back quite a bit early, aren't you?" Jess asked.

"Answer me, Jess. Are you okay? Is something wrong."

"Several somethings are wrong," an unfamiliar male voice announced, its owner slipping past Jess and moving to stand before Kate. "You must come upstairs now, Kate."

"Who are you?" she demanded, frowning and crossing her arms.

"Cole. I am a friend of Jess'. You don't have to be afraid."

"Cole?" Kate repeated, frowning in confusion. "The guy who's forever going around in his underpants?"

From the apartment, she heard a shrill, near-hysterical bark of laughter. A familiar voice demand, "Jess, is there anyone on the planet you HAVEN'T told that story to?"

"Oh, my..." Kate muttered, pushing past Cole and into the apartment. "Mel?"

"Kate," Mel whispered, approaching her. She stopped abruptly, uncertain. "You look... really, I mean REALLY..."

"Different?" Kate suggested, frowning. "Could be because it's been a good ten years," she told Mel, stalking into the kitchen. "That bastard wasn't kidding when he said things were complicated..." she muttered.

"What bastard?" Jess asked, a little confused by the nature of the 'reunion'.

Kate shook her head in disgust. "Who ELSE? My ever-loving stalker! Told me to get right back to London. I wasn't SAFE in the country..."

"Your STALKER?" Mel repeated, staring at her incredulously. "Kate, sweetie, are you being stalked?"

"Yeah, for on a year now." Kate reached under the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of brandy.

"Hey," Mel began, taking a step forward.

"It's England; she's legal in a month now," Jess told Mel gently, shaking her head. "I wouldn't bother. You know, Kate, it's funny but... Mel and Cole and your stalker all seem on pretty much the same page on the issue of you not being safe right now for some reason. You want to tell us what's going on?"

"Nothing new on this end." Kate shook her head and abruptly glared at Mel. "Why didn't you want me?" she demanded. "I wasn't a kid. It's not like it would have been that hard..."

"What?" Mel whispered, shaking her head. "Kate... How can you... Sweetie, NO... Your room was all ready for you when your aunt called and said you'd changed your mind."

"My aunt?" Kate repeated, shaking her head and looking uncannily like Mel at her most irritated. "She told me you didn't want me. That BITCH!"

"Kate, that is not a very nice thing to say about your own aunt," Cole chastised gently.

Jess scoffed. "Trust me, Cole. If you knew Marguerite Braxton, you'd know that 'bitch' actually IS putting it politely."

END ACT 4
TAG

"Marguerite Braxton," Cole repeated, frowning and nodding faintly. "Mel..."

"Yeah, Cole, I hear you. Kate, honey, we need to get you out of here for a little while."

"What?" Kate asked, frowning. "WHY?" she demanded.

Mel hesitated. "It's your aunt, Kate. I... I really don't think you know her as well as you think you do."

"I know her as well as I care to, thanks," Kate assured her.

"Why would she do something like that, though?" Mel asked, unable to take her mind off of the woman's actions. No wonder Kate had gone silent like that. It must have been incredibly painful for her, thinking that her own sister was rejecting her like that.

Kate and Jess answered Mel's question simultaneously, "The Trust."

"Right..." Mel nodded in disgust.

"She wishes you to sell this bookstore?" Cole asked gently, staring curiously at her.

Years younger than Mel, he could still feel the similarities in the life forces of the two. Kate was not, he saw, as calm as Mel had stated on the plane. Rather, she fell back on bravado and sarcasm where Mel just got nervous and upset. But beyond that, the two life forces were remarkably similar. There were a number of small differences that made the two readily distinguishable, but not a single major thing that differentiated one from the other. Amazing...

"Old news, that," Kate told him. Folding her arms over her chest, she added, "I refused."

"Who did she want you to sell the bookstore TO, Kate?" Mel asked quietly.

"Some multinational or other." Kate shrugged.

"Zin Industries?" Cole prompted gently.

"Yeah, think so. Something like that. They're buying up the whole area. Probably want to raze it and build a sub-division."

"No." Mel shook her head. "Kate, they want so much more than that..." she whispered.

Kate frowned faintly. "Explains why she wanted to keep me in reach, at least."

"Sounds like just the kind of trick she'd pull, too," Jess added, frowning. She looked from Kate to Mel and Cole. "Do you think she'd actually hurt Kate? Just for some stupid land-grab?"

"There's more at stake, Jess," Mel sighed, shaking her head. "A LOT more. I... it's complicated. We can discuss it later. After we have Kate safe."

"This may be difficult, Mel," Cole noted gently.

"Difficult how?" Jess asked quietly.

"Kate is being followed. Mel, too, has for some time feared that SHE was being followed."

"What? You think these people work for my Aunt?"

Cole nodded faintly. "Or for the people that she works for."

"And trust me when I say that I know from experience exactly what bad news these people really are," Mel told them quietly.

"No." Kate shook her head. "This bloke's never done a thing to me. He's harmless."

"He would not have to hurt you himself in order to cause you great harm, Kate," Cole told her gently. "If you can not trust the word of a stranger, trust that your sister only wants what is best for you."

Kate hesitated for a minute, looking from Cole to Mel and back again. Every instinct she had told her that this was a man to be trusted. Of course, her instincts said the same of her stalker. She considered for a long moment, her need to trust one warring with her desire to trust the other. Mel was the deciding factor, the one thing that tipped the scales. She nodded faintly.

"How do we get her out of here without being seen by her stalker?" Jess asked, ever practical.

"I have the answer to that," Kate told them. "Years ago, my father showed me this passage in the basement... lets out on the campus."

"A secret passage?" Jess asked, staring at Kate. "You never mentioned it."

"Dad said I wasn't to." Kate shrugged. "Except in emergencies." She paused and approached Mel. Always before, she had assumed that her dad was joking about using the passage to save herself in an emergency. Now she was beginning to wonder. "Is this what he had in mind when he talked about 'emergencies'?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know for sure," Mel admitted. "But I'm beginning to think that this is exactly
what he meant. How do we get to the basement without being seen by this stalker?"

"He never comes inside. We just go into the bookstore proper, head into storeroom three, and down the stairs."

"And hope that he doesn't have anyone else watching you," Jess added, nodding and squeezing Kate's arm. "Let's get out of here..."

END TAG