Theo Dunnell strode quickly toward Warren Bush's office, ready to give his report. Danny Caulfield would be in the office as well.

He sighed and brushed a piece of blond hair from his jacket's sleeve. 

Levon had been right ... insightful and rapier to the point. Had to give him that. Levon was not easily cowed, even by the mighty Theo Dunnell. He smiled to himself; some day ... some day, he would have to neutralize Levon. There had been a time when Theo thought Levon would come into his fold. But the last few weeks had caused Theo to reevaluate this. Levon was one of the most dangerous men in this entire episode ... for he was skilled, deadly, situationally amoral yet involved in this mission for a pure and noble reason that he would not be moved away from no matter what the inducement might be.

And the thing was, Theo could admire him for it. He could even see himself feeling the same way, doing the same things, keeping the same goal always no matter what happened or who got in the way.

Levon had one reason only to be involved: to get revenge for whatever had happened to his brother William.

He would have his revenge, Theo thought to himself as he turned a corner. At the end of the hallway, the closed doors to Warren's office faced him. He held an admiration for Levon ... for all he'd done on his own in the beginning to track his brother's final movements ... to investigate the people on that farm ... to determine despite no obvious motives that it was the people there who'd done whatever had been done to William.

The problem was that Levon wanted the answer to his brother's fate ... and could be controlled to some extent by the fact that Mephisto would help him find that out and without Mephisto, he didn't really stand a chance. Just killing the people on that farm was not good enough for Levon. Though that was his ultimate goal, first he wanted them to feel some of the pain of his retribution for whatever Cooper had done to his brother.

So while it had served both their purposes for Levon to be the one on the ground, trailing the Coopers and their friends there, there was going to come a time when Levon's goal was not Mephisto's goal when it came to Max Cooper and his wife. Mephisto did not want Max Cooper killed. They desperately wanted him alive. They wanted his wife alive because she was a tool to gain his cooperation. They wanted the other time travelers, too, but Max Cooper had value beyond compare to them precisely because he was the one person that Luke Ferris went and got to help him escape this time.

And the value was that Cooper really had done what Luke couldn't do ... he had the ability to manipulate time, is what the Mephisto people figured. Theo had no doubt that Luke and his men from the past had found the way home. He'd been able to piece together information from Levon, this creep Sid and assorted other operatives. Max Cooper could send people back to his time. That made him a commodity. Once they knew a bit more about how these men ticked ... and they'd know once their tests of Biebe were complete ... then they'd have the tools they would need to control Max Cooper and gain his cooperation, even if it was unwillingly given.

But Levon wanted something that was at cross purposes with this ... he wanted to kill Max Cooper. Eventually. After he suffered the loss of his wife. Levon felt this was the appropriate revenge for his brother.

But until the moment came when he had to stop Levon, then Theo could still use him. He could still count on Levon as long as their goals were walking along the same path.

He curled his hand into a fist. He looked at it, as if it belonged to someone else. He put it up to knock on Warren's office door.

She cleared her throat. He turned his head. He looked at her, sitting primly behind her desk, looking demurely down at her keyboard, pretending to ignore him, as if blowing him off. And then their eyes met. His fist tightened. She licked her lips. He knocked on the office door and entered when the curt, "Get in here!" was hurled toward him from inside the office.

Twenty minutes later, Theo had barely slid into the chair behind his desk when his cell phone rang. It was Rogers, calling with an update. He listened with a mind that was already a few steps ahead.

"When you can do it, it is a go but I warn you ... you fuck this up too and you better have a plan for how you'll run from me because I will make you pay for any more mistakes," he told Rogers. "Wipe every iota of evidence of the presence of any of our people from the area. Create the mystery that will come when this plays itself out."

"I will take care of it myself. Mr. Dunnell, I will make up for what happened."

"Don't tell me ... show me. You have eight hours to get it all done. Start with containment measures."

Levon had driven this road so often in the past few months that he could do it blindfolded. People think it's more difficult to track someone at night but the truth is just the opposite. Night does not conceal when you are the one doing the following ... night concentrates the attention on specific movements and you notice more of the details.

As he drove over the Causeway heading into New Orleans, Levon glanced out toward the west where he saw black sky meeting black water. The moon was out, a quarter moon, with its weak light that skittered behind low clouds. Tomorrow, there would be rain, Levon thought and then turned to scan his eyes ahead three cars to where the charcoal gray car rolled placidly along over the bridge.

By the time he hit Metairie, Levon was two cars back. It would not be long ... and he would have an indication of how Max Cooper might play this. His bet was even ... he'd probably go to the big commercial airport to the west but it was possible he'd go to the smaller corporate airport out on the lakefront to the east. Depending on which way he went when they hit the interstate, he'd be able to get with Dunnell to track whatever flight Cooper took.

There was a suspicion, barely formed, in Levon that perhaps Cooper and the others in the car with him were going to surprise him.

They had already caught him flat-footed once today.

Needing to do more intensive surveillance of Cooper's place to be sure he didn't drive away without him knowing about it, Levon had parked in the driveway of one of their neighbors who, conveniently, was not at home during the day. The neighbor and his wife worked in the city so Levon knew they would not be home for a few more hours. He'd stay there until they were due and then he'd move to a more open spot along the highway. Levon didn't want to be out on the highway because he knew Cooper could spot him. But he would have no choice today.

He'd been in the neighbor's driveway only a short while, tucked behind their second car that was always parked in the same place, when something actually happened. Levon was safer from detection since he was partially hidden. And that's where he was, in fact, when Cooper drove out in his charcoal grey Lexus with the bald clone riding shotgun. They had turned right at the highway. Levon was on their tail swiftly. He'd followed them until Cooper had turned into the parking area behind Rosie's Tavern.

Levon parked his car across from Rosie's and watched for Cooper to leave the lot behind the building. As he waited, he mused over why the two of them were at the tavern. To get a drink to dull the worry over the lady in France? Nah. To get some take out food? Unlikely. It had to have a logical reason but Levon didn't figure it out until almost two hours later when Cooper drove around the corner, with the bald one still tucked in the seat next to him.

But what surprised him was what happened just as he was easing away from his parking spot to follow Cooper as he headed south, in the direction of the farm. And what happened was that another car turned the corner, following Cooper's car. And then another car and another. And in each of those cars, other clones were riding along with a few men who were not clones ... three of whom he'd never seen before.

He was on with Dunnell a few moments later. They are all turning into the lane that leads to the farm, he reported to Dunnell, as they turned one by one from the highway. Levon pulled over to the shoulder of the road. It was turning darker; he parked in a spot where the light from streetlamps was blocked by a tall tree.

"Three strangers?" Dunnell asked again.

"I recognize the clones and their friend Palmer, the guy who goes to polo games with them ... but the other three? I've never seen them."

"A war council?"

"They have help from outside forces. Did you know about any other group that was helping them? Maybe these are with whoever created them?" Levon asked.

Theo almost told him the truth ... that Cooper and those who looked like him were not clones but time travelers. But he believed this was not the time to distract Levon with such information. "Stay on them. If they remain at the farm, they are no threat to us. I cannot believe this is anything short of the preparation to action. I'll alert our forces in France ... Shit."

"What?"

"There's this freak ... one of the ... uh ... clones ... he's got some delusions ..." Theo was looking at the IM window that had just taken over his screen with a message from Sid. How was it that Sid was now contacting him? He'd always contacted the Geeks, not Dunnell. The message had taken him so by surprise he'd forgotten that Levon did not know Mephisto had one of the time travelers helping them. He turned from his screen so he could concentrate. "Levon, we both know this is coming down soon. Do not let me down now."

"Hold to the agreement, Dunnell. It goes both ways. Do not ever think about crossing me."

"Knowing what I know of you? I'd be insane to cross you, Levon."

"Damned straight."

And here Levon was, about an hour later, following the one car that held Cooper. Three other clones rode with him. The bald one and two others ... one he recognized as the big blonde he'd seen walk in the restaurant in France. The other was clean cut, dark haired ... when he'd described him to Dunnell, he'd cursed lightly and said these were the clones he'd expected to come after them if it came to it.

See, they'd surprised him once again, Levon thought as they neared the interstate entrance ramps ... one ramp headed east, one west ... would they surprise him a third time tonight?

The first surprise was the three cars following Cooper to the farm. The second surprise was about 35 minutes later when he saw three sets of headlights coming down the lane from the farm and stopping at the highway until they could turn into traffic, which was moderately heavy as usual that time of night. The first car, Levon saw clearly, was Cooper's and he watched as Cooper waited patiently for a break in traffic and then eased out, heading south. Levon waited for the other two cars to follow Cooper. But as each one approached the highway, they turned north instead, passing him without a glance. So surprised by this was Levon that he had to admit he could not clearly say who was in each car that headed north. Because he swiftly realized that whatever he had imagined they were up to, he had guessed wrong. Rather than a big force of men acting together on something, obviously Cooper and the three with him were the ones who'd act ... the others must have simply been there to be advisors or they were planning something that would take multiple fronts.

In any event, Levon swiftly pulled onto the highway and raced to catch up to where he could see Cooper's car ahead. And from there the trailing had been routine.

Now they approached the interstate ... Cooper's car passed the entrance ramp that would have taken them west to the commercial airport. Levon smiled to himself ... and got to the far right to follow them to the ramp that led east ... except that once on the interstate, instead of merging over into the two left lanes that led them to the bypass toward the corporate airport they should have been heading for, Cooper stayed in the far right lane ... which was the section of the interstate that led directly downtown ... and maybe that is when Levon first got a notion where Cooper was going.

Cooper is going to do the one thing we never thought he had the balls to do, Levon thought as he followed behind, now three cars between them. Levon waited another fifteen minutes, until they'd exited and headed down the industrial road that led along the big ship channel. Until Cooper turned on his left turn signal and pulled up to the guard gate at the port ... until the car was let into the secure port area and disappeared from Levon's view. Only then did he call Dunnell.

As he waited for the call to go through, Levon drove down a short way until the road curved away from the port facility. There he parked just as Dunnell answered. He told Dunnell the news.

They mulled this over. Levon said it could mean only one thing ... Cooper, unbelievably, was willing to sacrifice his future and was going to get official help to go after Biebe.

"There is no way he will do that," Dunnell said softly. "Something else is going on."

"It's not like he's going to board a ship and sail to France, Dunnell. What the fuck else could he be doing at the port?"

"Where did the other cars go?"

"The opposite direction. Back where they came from. Who the fuck cares?"

"That doesn't strike you as a little convenient?"

Levon didn't say anything. He was staring out his windshield and playing those moments in his memory over. They had split up. They had forced him to make a choice. They knew he'd follow Cooper. Somehow, they had known Levon was out there ... watching ... waiting on them to make a move. And they had acted accordingly.

"Fuck all," Levon swore softly. "Cooper's playing the decoy. The others ... they're the ones who will move on this."

"And we do not know where they are nor do we know the other men helping them."

"What are you trying to say? You would have played this different than me? That what you mean? You know you would have done the same thing I did."

"Probably."

"Okay, let's go over this again ... the others ... what do we know about them?"

"Let me see what I can track down from here," Theo said, thinking he'd get in touch with Sid and ask for help on identifying the others now involved. "Here's what you do ... you go get the one person we do know who can tell you what they are up to."

"Who? Oh ... not ..."

"The wife. She's at the farm. They will not expect a direct assault. Go there. Find out what she knows. Then take her with you when you leave ... we need our insurance policy within our control now that Cooper's decided to be cute. Call me when you have what I need to know. I'll have arrangements made for you to get her here to us at HQ by the time you call back."

Levon probably knew Ann Cooper was gone the moment he drove up to the house. He did not hear the dog barking. Lights were on. No cars were there. And that was when his mind flashed on something he had not seen when the cars were all leaving behind Cooper's car ... he had never seen the distinctive black Cadillac that Palmer drove. The one he'd been steering when he had driven into the farm hours earlier.

So while he went on and checked out the inside of the house, just in case she was in there, Levon already had a good idea of where Ann Cooper was at that moment. In their bedroom, he found evidence of hasty packing and called Dunnell.

"She's with Chili Palmer," Levon said, his voice firm and tightly packed with fury. "I don't know where they are, but he's driving her somewhere. They know we're on to them. Cooper knows we were coming for her."

"Leave finding Palmer to me ... you just stay ready to move when I call you. They will not get far."

"What about the other clones?"

"We are tracing each of them ... so far, no flags ... it's the ones helping them that worry me at this point." Theo rubbed a hand over his eyes. Sid had not proven cooperative in helping to identify the strangers.

"You need to get things in hand in France. Fuck! I cannot believe this."

"Don't worry about France. That is about to be a non-issue."

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Warren Bush asked Dunnell, his face already red after hearing the report on Cooper's movements and that they did not know where the other cars had been headed.

"She will not be a problem to find. I have that well in hand, sir."

"You are fucking up big time," Danny Caulfield said, his finger jabbing in the air toward Dunnell, standing across the room from where Danny paced in front of the window.

Theo said nothing in response. He simply looked at Danny. He simply conveyed in that look exactly what he'd like to be doing to Danny's life at that moment.

Danny gulped. "So what do we do next?"

Another long moment of silence pressed down on the office. Both Geeks watched Dunnell now, reading in the man a danger they knew they could not control should he ever turn it against them. And they were just on the edge of wondering if that time had come, when Theo took a deep breath and seemed to shake off the roiling fury.

"I had an IM session with Sid earlier tonight," he said. "He is not happy with what has happened to the man in France."

"Sid messaged you?" Warren asked, a strange mixture of curiosity and jealousy. "I wonder why he didn't contact one of us?"

"He seems to have lost faith in you. Feels you betrayed him, sir. I'm sure he's trying the old divide and conquer so I don't take his posturing seriously."

"What did he want?"

"He wants to take over the testing on Biebe."

"He ... what? How does he know about ..." Danny sputtered.

"What'd you tell him?" Warren asked curtly.

"That we have everything under control. Sir, I swear I could hear him laughing down the lines. He knows ... I would bet on it ... but as long as we're not communicating with Adam in any way he can trace, then there's nothing he can do to interfere."

"That's all he said?" Warren asked, watching Dunnell close, knowing there had to be something else.

"He said if we hurt her, we will all pay."

"How does he know?"

"I think we have to begin presuming he simply knows, no matter what we do to keep him in the dark."

"Damn."

"Exactly. Gentlemen, now is not the time to cave. If you look at it, we hold all the cards. We know their secrets ... we are about to find out more of them ... they are running scared ... this Sid is one of them and it is likely he is also running scared. No matter what threats he hurls our way, if he could have stopped us by now, he would have done it. The others? Once we finish with Biebe, we will have the tools we need to control them."

By now, you'd think they'd stop thinking they know what I'll do, Sid thought to himself.

This was the third of the security men he'd evaded ... they were on high alert, he could tell, but they kept thinking ordinary men were heading their way. They just never counted on Sid ... and his perfection.

He slid perfectly quietly into the building that housed the lab. He was in the above ground section of the chateau ... where to all appearances it was long deserted. With perfect steps, he ascended the stairs until he was on the uppermost floor. In perfect sync with the shadows, he moved toward the window and gazed out.

There they were ... the moronic security force. Laughable, really. Even the Come On Inn Boy Scouts were going to have an easy time getting past them.

Speaking of the Scouts ... Sid looked at his watch. Yes, this was a good time to deal with them ... his kith and kin, in some absurd other world.

But before he could place the phone call he was planning to make just then ... he saw headlights coming down the road. Curious, he leaned toward the glass and followed the progress of the car.

It stopped. Someone got out. Someone came onto the grounds. Sid had not expected this. Not ever considered it. And then he saw that someone was following the new arrival.

Sid walked swiftly to another room where he could see where they went.

And so it was that Sid saw the one sight that would cause a deep wave of cold blue rage to envelope him.

They dared?

They dared this?

After she had hung up with Maximus, Clarity had tried to gather her thoughts and evaluate the situation. There was nothing else she could do while waiting for their friends to arrive. It would be so much time until they could get to her ... too much time to think.

Maximus, as she hoped he would, hadn't asked her for any explanation, didn't even seem to be surprised, as if he already knew that it was going to happen, that something was going to happen. His calm helped her. Very much. If she'd had to explain everything again and convince someone that she was not totally crazy, she was almost sure that she would never have been able to do it without breaking down.

In fact, she had not broken down. 

Yet. 

Now as the hours stretched before her, she found herself thinking over again about what had happened and realized she was thinking about something that had been nagging at her: would have it made a difference if they had taken the earlier flight like she first intended to?

She willed herself not to go on thinking about this that way... what good would it do for her? To John?

John! Tears started to come to her eyes. Stop it, she ordered herself, and tried to go back to her thoughts without letting her deep emotion and anguish get in the way of her ability to reason and think.  There was nothing she could change about what had happened, her fault or not, so better put it aside for the time being, and focus on what could be done, on anything useful she could do to occupy her mind before she got crazy. But, even if she tried hard to block her distress, the guilt still weighed on her conscience. She may have lost the most important person of her life... just because...

She smacked herself mentally. STOP IT, stupid girl! Think positive now!

Difficult to think positive when all that counted to you had been taken away from you in a few seconds.

Wrong thought! Try again. 

They were going to save him, their friends were going to save him ... Maximus was going to save him...

Better now. 

If it was not too late already...

Oh no, wrong again! 

Well, if reality had something to do with her dream, they... those who tore him away from her, whoever they were, were not going to kill him.

Not yet. 

What had Maximus said again, she wondered? That he was going to gather other men and come to France as soon as they could. 

Other men? Probably professionals such as Terry, Dino, Cullen...

Terry... were things all right again between Gaia and him? She wished it so much! They were good for each other.

And Dino, he was in New York with Heather and may not be able to come this time either. Sadly, they couldn't attend their wedding. They had been missed, and she hoped too that everything was fine for Heather and for him in their new life...

The wedding... Oh God, she was doing good until now, she thought, why had the wedding to come into that? What is it with our brain that it always picks in an innocent sentence only the words that hurt? Don't think about the wedding, idiot, she told herself. That was yesterday. It's gone. Only today counts now... the present. As for the future...

"Stop! Don't go there again! Dangerous ground. The present, only the present." Now she was talking aloud. Aloud and alone. Was she already losing her mind?

She didn't care and started to try and think again about the present... But the present was painful too... Maybe not so much if she tried to get onto it another way: the present was also those generous men, their friends, gathering and leaving everyone and everything to come and help them.

"Yes, that's fine, think again about our friends, this is safe." She was doing it again, talking aloud to herself.  

She felt a wave of selfish warmth overwhelm her. She knew it was selfish and she had a grateful thought too for the women who were going to let their men leave them to face probable unknown dangers in a far away country. She knew that, no matter which of them were going to come, none of them or their women would hesitate. What great friends they had! More than friends... a family. And she mentally thanked them all for being them. 

They couldn't fail. 

Her sleep-deprived mind started to drift away. Her thoughts wandered back to the last time when they had charged together. It was at Taos, the Body Temple. The first smile since 'it' happened came to her lips. They wouldn't be drunk this time! No, they wouldn't. And they were going to save John and bring him back to her. As simple as that.

With a leader such as Maximus, they couldn't fail. Another smile came to her lips when she thought about how she had felt embarrassed several times in front of him during the wedding! The misplaced sex phone call... then John and her, naked, running into him when they were hurrying back to their nuptial room where ...

She concentrated her thoughts again on Maximus. What a man! And what a wonderful couple he was making with Ann! A terrible thought came to her mind: Ann was pregnant! And she had dared to call him while he was enjoying that priceless time with his wife? A new chance for him to have another family, and keep her safe. And she had asked him to leave them to come help her? Another wave of guilt invaded her all of a sudden. How selfish of her! But he would certainly not leave his wife and unborn child unprotected. Maybe he would not come himself, and send Terry and other valuable, reliable, and competent men? She would understand if he had chosen to do that.

Or maybe he would come even so... Ann was not in danger after all. They were very safe in their farm deep in beautiful Louisiana, far from the other pub regulars. No one would find them there. To their neighbors, if they had any, they were probably just a regular couple, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, expecting a happy event. 

And, even if Max decided to come anyway, his family would be safe with Ralph. She hasn't seen him much, only a little at the paintball game, but he seemed to be a solid guy, one you can rely on. She didn't know why, she liked him instantly, without even knowing him.

This made her thoughts slip again to another solid and reliable man... Terry. Terry would take over if Maximus couldn't come, and it would be fine too. It was his job to retrieve cargos. Just, this time, the cargo would be... John. Her John. She thought that she would never watch his movie again with the same look. Maybe she could understand a little better that woman... what was her name again? Alice. But, if she had known how to pray, right now Clarity would have asked to never have to say "let me grieeeeeve!"

And her thought about Terry drove her to Uma. Would Maximus have told Uma? He certainly had. But what could she do from there? She felt suddenly ashamed again to bother everyone in the course of their already busy lives.

But what else could have she done? 

So what now? What was she going to do? Maximus had told her to go back immediately inside the house, close it carefully and not to move from there until they would arrive.

Even if the improvised rescue team had already begun their trip to France, it would take them at least a dozen hours to reach this little place. If only there had been an access to the pub from here, like for Ann and Maximus from Louisiana, it would have gained them a precious time. Cesar's Bar de la Marine? Not funny! She pushed away that thought. There was probably not any.

Anyway, she had to find something concrete to keep her and her wandering mind busy or she was going to break down for good. Staying locked up inside that empty house without John felt horrible to Clarity.

He had chosen and bought that house with all his generous heart, for her. It had no sense without him. Everything reminded her of him... which was fine... but also reminded her of his absence... which was not fine at all.

She had weird and conflicting feelings about this house. She loved it because it was John's idea. But she also hated it because it was probably the reason for his disappearance. It wouldn't have happened if they had stayed home quietly, or even at the pub. Or would it? Did that make sense? Did all this make sense? Was there even a sense to all this? She was going to become completely nuts, that was sure.

The sight of this house was starting to blur through the tears that were coming again. This time, she didn't try to stop them, and let them run down her cheeks, silently. If she had to break down, better do it now, when she was alone, had nothing else to do, and had no one to witness it. Later, she needed to be strong, and, if they needed her, she had to be efficient, too. Efficient for what? Could she help them with something? Well, maybe she could help them to find that property that was in their dream before? If it really existed.

She was so scared at the beginning, and then, they had been so busy since they were back to France that she hadn't dared to check if it really existed. Maybe she was simply afraid to find out the truth then? She may have thought unconsciously that, as long as she had no proof that it existed or not, it didn't, and she could go on believing John who was convinced that it was only a dream.

She knew that men were more down-to-earth than women when certain things were concerned, and generally didn't leave much room to their imagination, at least, less than women. But how could he have denied this so firmly? He knew as much as her that, in their odd world, everything was possible. But maybe he didn't. Maybe he just let her believe he did?

John. Where was he now? What were they doing to him right now, she couldn't help wondering? It was going to be night-time in a few hours. Maybe were they going to leave him alone? These people surely needed sleep too? Maybe he was restrained somewhere, not so far from here? From her? How was he? Hurt? Scared? Angry? Drugged? Maybe he was also thinking of her?

She thought about all these romance novels she had read when she was a teenager and was waiting for the Big Love, like most girls of her age. It was only later that she stopped believing in it, convinced that it was not for her... before she met... HIM.

In many of these novels, lovers were sending mental messages to each others when dramatically separated. She had never believed in that, even then.

But, tonight, she desperately tried to send him a message. 

A message of support.

A message of hope. 

A message of love.

She concentrated hard while doing it and could only wish with all she had that he would receive it. The rational part of her mind was telling her that it just couldn't work, while its irrational one was saying that everything was possible.

But, if she was honest with herself, she would admit that she had not much hope. 

For maybe the 10th time, Clarity tried to focus her anguished mind on more practical and positive things again. When the men would arrive in France, how would they start searching for John? By looking for the property, she was sure of that, it made sense. But what if it didn't exist? It would be a loss of time, precious time.

Suddenly, that's what her mind was set on, without any hesitation. That's what she was going to do now. Right now. Just to go and see by herself if this place existed anywhere else but in her nightmare. She remembered rather well the way to go there, and she still had time before nightfall.

Of course, it meant disobeying Maximus. But it would be so useful, and what danger could there be in this for her? If 'they' were the same people as in her dream, 'they' were not interested at all in her, and 'they' had not taken her this time either. Besides, she was not scared anymore. What she had dreaded the most had happened already. So now, what else had she left to lose?

Besides, if she ever found the property, she had no intention of playing hero, she thought to herself. Doing something stupid like, for example, trying to rescue John all by herself? She rolled her eyes. Not only it would be stupid, nothing about her was the least warrior-like ... they had laughed often enough about this with Bou. Besides, it could put their friends' plans, and even their friends themselves, in danger. No, she would just have a look at it, so they would know for sure. Then, only then, would she do as she had been told and come back to that loved/hated house. At least, that would kill part of that endless time left before the pub team would arrive. It wouldn't take her long. Bonnieux was not so far from their little place. And she still had the car.

The car! She had forgotten that it was still full... full of their things... John's ones. John's bag, John's books, John's flight ticket, John's clothes, the shadow of John was still in there... Tears came to her eyes again. She had to take action right now or she was going to fall and cry herself to death. She had to empty that car because the men would need it tomorrow.

Yes, that's what she was going to do. Then she would go to Bonnieux.  

A while and litres of tears later, the car was empty and her heart too. She almost felt numb now, but was more than ever determined to do what she could do to help their friends, while pushing aside any emotion as much as she was able to. She would have time later to think about all this... whatever would come next.

Good. 

Or bad. 

She drove the few kilometers separating their house to Bonnieux, not even noticing  the beautiful sight on the valley playing hide and seek with her at each bend of the little country road, or the various trees edging it, olive and  pine trees. In fact, she was seeing all this, but didn't want to. What good would a romantic landscape do for her now? And she remembered that these old trees were those that looked almost frightening the last time they drove through there. With John. But she didn't want to remember them.

She didn't want to remember anything. 

She chose not to drive through the village of Bonnieux, didn't want to take the chance to find out if Cesar's "bar de la Marine," where everything started, was real.  She was not sure she would have the strength to face the truth, whichever it could be. This village was full of memories. Very happy ones. But also unpleasant ones. And there was no room in her heart for self-pity. She had no choice. She had to keep focused on her aim. She needed the little energy she had left to go check what was really important: the property with the ice rink.

After the village, other trees were edging the sinuous little road, cherry trees this time. They looked almost sad now that they were starting to lose their leaves. The colors of the vegetation surrounding the road were beautiful and, in a way, their beauty managed to reach her mind, and sooth her a little. Then the memories rushed back again... the cherry trees blooming on springtime, the cherries they fed each other when....

"Stop! Dangerous ground again." 

Almost at the same time when she said that aloud, her heart missed a beat. It was there, just in front of her, at the other extremity of this alley. She recognized the gate, the cicada and its Provencal quote on the wall: "Lou soulèu me fai canta" (The sun makes me sing). It was still there! It had not been a dream, the evidence was there, right in front of her.

She didn't know if she should be happy about it, or distraught. But, at least, she had increased their chances to find John. He was probably kept prisoner in this place. She felt kind of useful for the first time since he had disappeared.  Their friends could take action as soon as they arrived.

She immediately felt selfish once more. They may be tired and hungry then. Okay, the next useful thing she had to do was go back home, pick some food on her way back, and prepare something for them. One of the many things they all had in common was that huge appetite, they seemed to be always hungry.

Would 'they' feed John correctly, at least? 

She was going to turn the car and leave, when she felt an irresistible pull. An immense and incongruous curiosity. Incongruous because she usually was not much the curious kind.  But, this time, she couldn't resist the need to see that place again, just a quick look over the wall surrounding the property, as she had done the first time when she went here alone during the honeymoon, wanting to find a place for John to skate, and... um... ended in jail.

She had an odd feeling, the feeling that this time was different than the two other times she'd be there. Something was different. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

In spite of her travel clothes, which she hadn't even thought of changing, she managed to climb up the wall. When she sat on the top of it, the sight at her feet was a total surprise to her. She then understood why she had been having that odd feeling.

Instead of having the spruced up look it had the last two times she went there, the property looked... abandoned. Vegetation was growing wild where there had been well-trimmed gardens ... invading bushes and overgrown grass replaced the perfect lawn, ... fallen trees were everywhere, with intertwined and broken branches, which couldn't have been caused only by the last storm.

Now that she was thinking about it, even the gate needed a good paint job, and the walls looked... how to put that... tired? That's what was different and that she should have noticed when she had arrived... but maybe was she too happy to have found it, that her brain hadn't noted immediately the overall worn-out state of the property.

This, this was not the result of a few months without care, but years, maybe even dozens of years. 

And now, she simply couldn't leave anymore. She had to know... what about the ice rink? Was it still there? Had it ever been? Was it in the same state as the rest of the property that had obviously not seen anyone for a long, long time?

She jumped down from the wall, welcomed by the thorns that tore not only her clothes, but also her skin. But she didn't feel anything. She was driven by the need to know.

Clarity made herself a stick from one of the numerous broken branches, to help her to push through bushes and any other aggressive vegetation.

She was looking for the trail to the ice rink but couldn't find it. However, she found the pool. Its walls were cracked in several places and the only water it contained was some rain water dirtied by rotten leaves, a drowned squirrel and several other unidentifiable animal and/or vegetal remains. 

And then she reached the house. It was in a poor shape, too. Their modest 'bastidon' looked almost like a castle to her, compared to this real ruin. What a pity! Such a beautiful property! The park could still be trimmed, but it was probably too late for the house and the pool.

But she was not here to feel sorry for a house and a few bushes. She was here to find her husband, the man she loved, her man, her reason of living. Well, not exactly, she corrected herself ... she was here to look for the ice rink. Then leave. As hard as it would certainly be, she already knew that.

It took her a long while to find it, not being able to find the right trail under the vegetation. Well, in fact, she didn't find it. She recognized the place, or, at least, its surroundings, even buried under this wild vegetation. But there was no ice rink anymore. If there ever had been.

She fought the urge to run away before she started to howl her frustration, her despair, her fear in front of these unexplained things. It was too much for her to take.

She was starting to lose her battle when she heard a noise in the bushes, something that sounded very much like an engine, like those machines they were using when electricity went down sometimes... what was their name again... generators?

She pushed the bushes with her wooden stick, and took a few steps carefully... but almost slipped on an ice sheet.

Ice? In that part of France? At that time of the year? She wondered if her mind was not playing her tricks. It could be cool already here, but not frozen! Not yet.

Though, there were several of these sheets. She followed that icy track, still pushing the bushes, just out of curiosity again, just to see where they would lead.

They led to a small entrance carved in a big rock hidden by the overgrown vegetation. Entry was blocked by an old wooden door. The ice was coming from beyond the door.

Surely that door was locked. 

Yet, she tried to push it. 

It was not. It squealed open slowly. She was strangely not even scared. 

It was dark inside. Dark and cold. Dark, cold and humid.  A cave. 

Drops were falling from a stalactite. 

And it was the last thing she saw, as the darkness also invaded her mind, and she felt herself slip on the wet rocky floor. 

She had the vague sensation later of being thrown into a car. She muttered John's name... at least she tried to but was not sure that she had made any sound.

Maybe all this was just another nightmare?

She willed herself to wake up. And lost consciousness again. 

"We should have asked Angel to give us a few of whatever earplugs she uses," Dino said.

"You think anything could cut that noise out?" Terry said, his eyes bloodshot and his voice hoarse.

"He'll wake when we land ... you watch ... he'll pop up all fresh and rested ..." Cort said, stretching and looking out the window as they approached the airport.

All along their travels from Louisiana to France in the jet, Jack Aubrey had fallen asleep within minutes of each takeoff and had only woken when they landed. Then he'd make a trip to the john and then grab food and a beer on his way out.

Few of the other men had slept much on the trip. They did not have Jack's years of service in the Royal Navy, where a man learned to sleep when the opportunity came, and to do it swiftly for his rest would not always be long nor would it be under optimal conditions.

Hando stretched out over two seats in the rear of the cabin. His eyes were shut but he was not asleep. Ralph hunkered in a seat not far away, a pillow propped between his forehead and the chilled window at his side. He was engaging in the self-hypnosis he'd learned in another life ... a way to drop away and into a restful state when sleep was not an option.

Stephen had offered them all homeopathic medications to aid their ability to rest. The only person who'd taken him up on it was Nash. Uma had turned up her nose at the suggestion, drowned a tumbler of G&T and retreated into the rear where a private bedroom offered her respite for the long hours over the ocean. Now she had emerged wearing jeans, a slim silk sweater and leather jacket. She was not, however, as well-rested as she wanted them to believe.

Terry watched her walk toward where those at the front of the cabin were grousing over the noise Aubrey continued to make. Terry had noticed during the trip that she was less finely and sharply polished ... but there was no mistaking the air that surrounded her ... she was more at ease in her own skin. Not that she was at peace ... none of them were, not with what they were involved in.

But he could tell something materially had changed in her style, her presence. Perhaps after all, it had been right that she and Andy leave the pub as they did.

Suddenly, the sound of one of the in-flight phones echoed in the cabin. Heads shot up, eyes scanned around, trying to make sense of this.

The phone that rang was next to the seat where Stephen Maturin had been dozing fitfully. He jumped, looked about like a half-blind mole ... and then grabbed up the receiver.

They watched in silence as he spoke to whoever was on the other end ... and then he simply listened for a moment, a puzzled look on his face. He slowly rose from his chair and glanced about the cabin.

"Maximus?" he said when he located the man he sought. "The call is for you ... it is Sid. He says it is most urgent that he speak with you."

Maximus had not been dreaming. He had been drifting. He had had too much time with his own thoughts those long hours of traveling. He had reviewed tactics ... probabilities ... the preparations they'd taken ... their first actions they would take upon landing ... and he had thought ahead to the question he'd once explored with Uma.

What could he possibly have thought: that the gods would leave him in this place? Had not his life since the moment he'd seen the robin not been one long, inexorable march toward the death that would reunite him with his wife and son?

If he'd been sent here to learn anything ... was it that death back then would have been too easy? Did he not deserve death until his leaving would not be his desire? Was he destined to leave now that he desired to stay?

If he left now, if he went, he would go all the way this time and he knew that. In his heart, he could not cry ... he would take his promises, his pain ... he would not look back ... she would carry him in her heart forever and that would be the way it would be. She would have his son. He would care for her. His son would be the future of their line and the guarantee of the place Maximus and his ancestors had in their past. And Maximus would wait for them forever until they joined him in the afterlife.

He had purposely examined this probably bad outcome ... for as long as he faced the worst, he could be ready should it happen.

Once he had done so, he could place it out of his mind, out of his active mind anyway. He could devote himself to the coming engagement with an enemy he was not sure they could defeat.

Now as he drifted, the phone in the cabin rang ... and Dr. Maturin called his name ... Maximus moved stiffly across the space between them until he could pick up the receiver and listen to Sid's voice.

Sid gave him directions ... to where, Maximus guessed, Biebe was.

"So, you are helping us in this quest, are you, Sid?" Maximus asked him, suspicious.

"You should have asked me to help a long time ago, General. I was the only one who could have really done the job. Maybe from now on, you'll keep that in mind. I can be a good friend."

"What is in this for you, Sid? This is what I must wonder."

"I'm helping the family. What else?"

"Clarity has always been a friend to you, Sid."

"Yeah, and she's been taken now, too, thanks to your bumbling around instead of calling on me. Why do you think I'm helping you? Because I care what happens to any of the rest of you? Get real. I don't need any of you. And before you ask, I don't feel any kind of affection for Clarity ... but I figure I should repay her for something she did for me once. And then that's it ... I'm clear of the lot of you."

"Just keep in mind, Sid, you are as vulnerable as the rest of us. More so."

"How you figure that, oh General mine?"

"Your son ... he would hold tremendous value to them. Have you considered this?"

"Leave my son out of this, Maximus. Just follow my directions. I'll be in touch. You do your part. Come with everything you've got on that plane, if you know what's best for you."

When the plane landed, they swiftly arranged for three cars. They unloaded their supplies into the cars, climbed in and took off. They were following Sid's directions but only because Cullen had put the coordinates in a mapping program he had on his laptop ... and they knew exactly where they were going. They did not want to rely on an untrustworthy informant alone in something so fraught with danger.

Once there, their initial recon revealed security forces stood between them and the chateau. Sid had promised a diversion. They hunkered down and waited. Uma and Nash waited inside one of the cars, parked down the road. Twenty minutes passed. Suddenly, all the security forces began running in the direction of the chateau's rear area.

"Go, go, go ..." Terry's voice echoed in each of their ear pieces. And then they went in as teams, as planned. They moved as quickly as they could, considering they had to be concerned with what kind of trap they were likely walking into. But they made it safely to the building. Two teams took up perimeter positions. One team edged their way inside the house where they discovered a security team in the one area where Sid had said there'd be some force ... they dispatched the three men with minimum difficulty.

The other teams joined them then and they proceeded down the stairs that Sid had told them about. At the bottom, they used the code he'd given them to enter a steel door. Inside, Sid had said, would be the medical laboratory where they were holding Biebe ... and now Clarity as well.

And then they were inside ... but it was obvious they were expected. Security operatives were ready to face them ... but as the pub teams would push forward, the opposing forces would fall back.

"They're trying to tie us down ... it's a delaying game," Ralph said, his voice carried to each of them on their ear pieces.

"Where are all the white coats?" Cullen said. "Where's Biebe and Clarity?"

"Thorne ... take a team with you. Retreat back the way we came ... see what activities might be taking place outside, behind the building ... if this is a trap ..."

"Cullen, Cort ... with me," Thorne snapped out.

The others kept progressing, now meeting even more token resistance but slowing in order to give Terry's team time to determine what they might really be walking into ... but when he reported back, it was not that they were walking into a trap. No, it was that the security forces they were engaging were there to cover a retreat by those who worked in the lab.

"Let us make them pay for this," Maximus growled over their ear pieces. "Remember ... they have our friends ... nothing else matters but to get them back."

Dino led the assault on the left flank. Maximus led the assault on the right. And within minutes they had pushed their way through the warren of rooms that made up the length of the lab facilities. On the other side, they faced a large bay door and they pushed through to meet Terry's team rounding the corner as vans began moving down the drive away from them. They could not shoot at the vans, even at the tires, for what if their shots went astray and hurt their friends? Four men wearing lab coats ran after the vans. Hando and Ralph soon had them corralled. Stephen, Cort and Jack had already lined up six security men who'd been similarly stranded and clever enough to not try to flee the steady guns aimed at them by their captors.

Terry, Dino and Cullen had raced for the cars that the group had left parked down from the way they'd snuck onto the grounds. As they ran, they could only watch in frustration as the vans sped away in the opposite direction ... there was no way they'd reach the cars in time to go after them. Still, they had to make the effort. They burst through the opening in the fence and scared Uma and Nash, sitting in one of the cars, idly chatting and trying not to give in to the nervous mood that hung around them both.

As Dino and Terry piled into one of the other cars, Cullen yelled out to Uma that she and Nash should drive the remaining cars down to the chateau and meet the others there. And then Cullen leapt into the car as Dino drove ... and they were racing into the French countryside, cloaked in darkness that was beginning to turn just a bit lighter.

An hour later, they returned to the chateau to report their failure to find the vans.

Those who had remained at the lab had been busy. They had interrogated each of their captives. They did not know where the group that got away was headed. But they did know who had been in charge.

"Sid?" Dino asked. "Sid's been running this thing from the beginning? Then why'd he tell us where he was? What's he up to?"

"He's only been in charge since he showed up to rescue them from us," Cort said. "He played us. And he did it in order to help them experiment on Biebe and Clarity."

"You do not want to know about what they were up to here," Stephen said, gazing sharply into the cabinet that held vials of various colors and shapes. "However, they were not able to accomplish most of what they had planned."

"Oh my god," Uma whispered, as if just waking into the nightmare. She bumped into a stainless steel table and pieces of medical equipment bounced. "Clarity ..."

"And Biebe," Terry said softly, laying a steadying hand on her elbow, guiding her to one of the stools near them.

"What are we going to do?" she asked to no one in particular.

There was a deep silence in response.

"That was too close," said a shaken Adam Link to the man sitting next to him. "If you hadn't come when you did ..."

"I am the one person who can really help you. I told you ... you doubted me. I expect a bit more deference in the future," Sid replied, adjusting this mustard yellow tie. "Starting with this, my dear Geek Adam ... I am now in charge of research."

Adam cleared his throat and glanced behind him in the van toward two of the open-mouthed scientists riding with them. "Uh ... well ... I don't think we ever knew you were a research scientist, Mr. Sid."

"I have skills and knowledge you would be shocked to learn of. Just pray you do not tempt me to show you my sadistic side," Sid said, his voice low and lethal. "I don't think the games I could teach you then would be of the sort you'd enjoy, Adam."

Adam could feel sweat collecting under his arms and down his spine. Why did he have to be the one who went to France? Why hadn't it been Warren?

"What I require is attention to my orders and fidelity to my needs. We will have a grand time together if you keep that uppermost on your to do list," Sid said. "And if you do, I will protect you from them. They will cut you into shreds if they ever catch you. The things you do not know of them ... they could fill many DVDs, Geek Adam. Trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"

"Er ... yes. Absolutely. I trust you."

"Good answer."

"What now?"

"I'm taking you to a safe place. A lab of my own particular design. I will explain to your frighteningly inadequate underlings what I will require of them ... we will continue to experiment ... but you will be so surprised when you learn the new parameters. I can just about guarantee that I am about to prove something to you about these people you are so interested in that will blow your minds."

"Anything you want, Sid," Adam said.

But inside his own mind, Adam was examining what Sid was saying ... and two things struck him. One was that these people, these time travelers, were about to be revealed for something they had not anticipated and this would be another incredibly good stroke of luck that Sid was here to show them, for who but one of them would know what kind of beings they really were? And the second thing was this: Sid spoke as if he had forgotten that Sid himself was one of the very people they were trying to figure out. Did he think that by helping Mephisto he would escape their fate?

Well, they could afford to give Sid free rein ... until he'd revealed all the secrets ... until he showed them what it was that made these beings so extraordinary ... until they learned how to tap into these beings to solve time travel ... or at least until the beings took them with them ... and they were in control of this incredible discovery.

And once they reached that point ... then Sid would be in their control just like the rest of the time travelers.

Adam settled back into his seat, smiling softly to himself.

Somewhere in the distance, he thought smugly, was the answer they all sought.

"I have begun to wonder if there is something out there that refuses to let this child be born," Ann said to Chili as they drove. It was now the dead of night; few other cars were traveling along the state highway that they were on.

"Stop worrying. Not good for your health, sweetheart," Chili said, his hand reaching across the Cadillac's front seat to pat her arm fondly. "Whatever is going on, it's nothing that personal. It's not like someone has it in for your child."

"No, I don't suppose so. It's just ..."

"Just what?"

"Just that when Lucius ... what he was trying to do, it would have erased the time I had with Max and thereby erased this child's creation. And now ... it's just a feeling I have."

"You're thinking this whole thing was set up ... John's disappearance for instance ... was done with only one thing in mind? To keep your baby from arriving?"

"It sounds silly when you say it like that. I guess not."

"Then stop worrying."

"Maximus ... you know?"

"He can take care of himself. I were you, I'd worry for the fate of those other guys ... the ones from Mephisto ... and Sid if he's behind this ..."

"Sid. Yeah. We all think he's so likely to be involved."

"We won't be able to let him exist after this, not if he's exposed everyone," Chili said, his voice devoid of any warmth.

Ann shivered lightly. "What if ... what if it's not Sid but some force from Max's past? What if the gods are trying to get him back? What if ..."

"Hey, is this the highway cutoff Terry said to look for?" Chili said suddenly. Although he plainly saw the sign illuminated in the headlights and remembered Terry's directions clearly, he was looking for anything to get Ann off her track of worrying when worrying never solved anything in his experience.

They turned east and easily found the next turn off onto another state highway about an hour later.

When they crossed the state line into Arkansas, it was daylight.

They stopped at a small roadside diner for breakfast. Chili insisted Ann eat something; she finally choked down some toast. But as soon as she began eating, her hunger grabbed hold and before long, she'd devoured two eggs, sausage, grits, two biscuits and three glasses of milk. Chili gave her a look as she finally wiped her mouth and leaned back in the booth.

"Whew. Baby was hungry," she said, blushing.

"Time to call in to Paul ... Try not to eat that peach pie I see you eyeing, Ann. Leave something for the lunch crowd," Chili said with a little smirk, rising from the table. Outside, he lit a cigarette. He had stopped smoking around Ann ever since she'd gotten pregnant. He was going to be a godfather, he mused to himself, and not Sid or anyone else was going to stop that. He called the pub and let Paul know they were a few hours from their destination. He promised to check in once they got good and settled in at the cabin near El Dorado, Arkansas.

Leaving the diner, they turned west on another state highway as Ann slipped Buck some of the extra sausage she'd snuck out of the diner as a treat for him. As he chewed on the first piece, she eyed the other two in her hand. Then she covertly shoved one of them into her own mouth, figuring since she'd fed Buck his regular dog food earlier, he probably wasn't hungry anyway. He gave her a good long look as she held out her hand and he realized he had been deprived of one of the remaining sausages.

As they traveled, they were always avoiding the major roads out of caution. Even so, Chili watched for any signs they were followed, checking his rear view mirror frequently and mentally cataloging any car that seemed to tail them too long. But nothing had bothered their journey and so close to their destination, he was feeling a greater sense of ease that this was going to all turn out to be a lot of hassle over nothing. Better safe than sorry, he thought, and that's what being cool is all about.

About twenty five minutes later, they passed through a small town called Crossett. And then just beyond that, Ann noticed a sign for a place called Moro Bay and, looking up from the map, she said it looked like there was a huge lake just north of them, on the other side of the small mountain they were traveling around.

Just as she said that, they crested a foothill. Chili glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed a blue light flashing on the crest of the hill behind him. He checked his speedometer ... he was going about five miles over the speed limit.

Most places you'd drive, five miles over the speed limit wouldn't earn you so much as a second look from law enforcement. But in the hinterlands of Arkansas? Apparently it earned you a bit of attention.

Before the next hill, the flashing blue lights had raced hard to overtake their car. As he pulled over to the side of the road, Chili made some comment about small town cops and how he could handle this with ease and charm. Ann chuckled at his confidence, watching him with affection as he coolly eased himself out of the car. Of all the things to worry about, the one thing they had no fear of was law enforcement ... and if they got a ticket for speeding? Eh, so what!

So it was with genuine shock that she heard a heavy thud on the back of the Cadillac a few minutes later. She turned in her seat and watched in horror as Chili was sprawled out over the car's trunk and was even then having his arms wrestled behind his back and being handcuffed. Buck, riding in the backseat, barked and lunged at the back window as if he was trying to break through it to defend Chili. She struggled out of the car but before she could get a word out, the cop pointed a gun at her and told her to get her ass back in the car.

Chili saw her face go white. "Just get in the car, Ann. There's been a mistake. Don't get upset. Do as the officer tells you."

Her hands fumbled with the car door but she moved as quickly as she could. She watched, her open mouth covered by her hand and Buck barking in a fury, as the cop hauled Chili upright and shoved him toward the cruiser, parked behind them, the blue lights still flashing.

After the officer got a compliant Chili inside his back seat, he grabbed his microphone and called it in to his headquarters.

Cool as ever, Chili listened to the call ... he was being arrested on an APB ... a federal warrant ... attempted murder ... loan sharking ... fleeing the jurisdiction of New York. He studied the officer, his gaze non-threatening, as he filled out some paperwork.

In another moment, a voice over the radio reported that a supervisor was on the way; expected arrival ten more minutes. Great, Chili thought, we'll get this straightened out right away now.

But when the supervisor arrived, it was not to straighten anything out except to take Ann and Buck from the Cadillac and escort them to the front seat of the supervisor's cruiser.

The supervisor told Ann that the car she was in was being impounded since it had been used in the commission of a crime. She tried to argue; he gave her a look that worried her more than either Max or Chili's looks ever did.

So when he told her to gather what she could in terms of personal affects and come with him, all she thought to take was her purse and a jacket. And Buck, secured at the end of a leash. Everything else in the car, the officer told her as he drove behind the cruiser that held Chili, would be held as possible evidence. He would tell her nothing of the charges or what crime he thought Chili had committed.

They arrived in the town of Moro Bay just before lunch, having taken a two lane highway through a pass that was shaded with heavy pines and magnolias. Ann's stomach grumbled at her as they passed a cafe and she felt herself blush. She could think of eating at a time like this? She glared down at her belly, feeling betrayed by the child within. Stop it, she mentally transmitted to him, just behave. She looked up to find Buck watching her stoically and felt that distinctive pang of separation from Max. He was already in France by many hours ago, she thought, and willed him to have found John already.

The car Ann was in pulled up to a small police station on the side of the courthouse just in time so she could see Chili being led up the stone steps. He was looking right at her. She knew he was, even then, trying to watch over her.

Inside the station, she and Buck were led past Chili, who was already being fingerprinted.

"What is going on?" Ann asked Chili as the supervisor, a Lt. Nelson, tugged her along.

"It's a mistake. Don't worry. I promise, Annie, we'll be fine. Just stay around here until it's straightened out and they let me go. You'll be safe here with all these cops," Chili said quickly.

Lt. Nelson led her to an office and told her to rest there until they were ready to talk with her. As she waited, she scrambled for her phone, inside her purse. Max had told her not to call him, even in an emergency, while they were in France until he gave the all clear ... his version of radio silence, she'd figured. Her instructions were to only call the pub if anything at all happened. She tried calling the pub, to talk with Paul. But the signal here in the mountain area was weak and the only sound she heard when the phone was answered was heavy static.

She was just reaching for the desk phone to try that instead when the door opened again. Lt. Nelson was back and she was introduced to the other man, Sheriff Tompkins.

Without much in the way of manners, the Sheriff began asking about her relationship to Chili, how long she'd known him, and whether or not she made it a practice to drive through the "great state of Arkansas" with a felon from New York City.

"Excuse me?"

"Chili S. Palmer, late of New York City. Fled federal jurisdiction there after a conviction on loan sharking ... money laundering ... before sentencing, he liquidated some assets he didn't know the Feds knew about. You see where I'm going, Miss?"

"No. And it's Mrs. As in Mrs. Cooper."

"No need to get so uppity, ma'am. You don't mind my asking, but it seems an obvious question in your condition ... where's Mr. Cooper?"

"My husband is out of the country on business."

"And the nature of your trip with the felon?"

"He's not a felon. I'm sure there's just been a huge mistake."

"No mistake, ma'am. It's all right here in black and white. The felon, Palmer, he tried escaping with his ill-gotten gains, wanting to go on the lam you see, but the Feds were expecting that. They were trying to bring him in but he hit one of the officers after they pulled his car over. Nearly killed him. Hence, the attempted murder of a federal officer charge."

Ann dropped hard into the chair. She saw spots before her eyes. Was it really possible, she thought, that Chili had been on the lam this whole time? No ... it couldn't be, could it?

"Well, I can see this comes as quite a shock to you, ma'am."

"I think maybe I need to get him a lawyer."

"It'll take a few days, getting one from New York City."

"I have a friend who's a lawyer. I'll call him, if I could use your phone?"

But Jack Corbett never answered Ann's call. The line just rang and rang. Frustrated, she hung up and looked at the two men in the room with her. Then she looked down at Buck.

"Look, I know you won't believe this, but it's just absolutely impossible that Chili is really wanted for anything. I've known him for almost two years and he ..."

"Well, then you met him after. After he went on the lam. He did this almost three years ago. Tell you what, ma'am, you gotta admit he has quite a set if he's out there, on the run, using his real name. That's just asking to be hauled in at some point."

"Can I see him?"

About an hour later, they'd finished booking Chili and they led her into a room with a small wooden table and a chair on either side. Chili was manacled and already seated at one of the chairs. Two officers lounged along the back wall.

"Where's Buck?" Chili asked.

"Buck? He's in the Sheriff's office ... he's not important right now ... you are. I've called a local lawyer. He's coming over soon to talk with you. Chili ... my god, Chili! They say you tried to kill a cop ... in New York ... before I met you."

"Ann, look at me."

"I'm looking."

"I did not do this. Any of it. I was never arrested. So I never had to take off. I never hit a cop. Whatever is going on here, I need you to believe me."

"I believe you, Chili." She went to reach across the table and touch him, to reassure him, but one of the cops barked out to her to keep her hands on her side of the table. "Chili, what else should I be doing?"

"Did you call Paul?"

"I've tried. Several times. I just can't get through, even on a land line."

"Keep trying. Have him get Corbett ..."

"I tried Jack. No answer."

Chili took a long moment to consider their options. "Okay. We wait on the attorney you got coming over. See what he says. Maybe he'll clear it right up. Then we'll know."

But the hours stretched on and the lawyer from Moro Bay was a particular disappointment. Chili grew increasingly frustrated. Ann grew irritated and took to muttering under her breath about "stupid lawyers in stupid Arkansas."

It became obvious to them both that Chili was going to be stuck in jail, at least overnight. They had still not heard back from Jack Corbett, whom they hoped might be counted upon to clear up the bogus warrant from New York.

Lt. Nelson brought Ann a burger from the local diner for dinner. He agreed to get Buck's bag of dog food from Chili's impounded car and Ann watched her dog attack his chow with a lot more enthusiasm than she did the hamburger.

Chili was served a rather savory stew in his cell, which he learned had been prepared by the jail's trustee. With the trustee's pleasure over Chili's compliment on the food, they struck up a convenient friendship. It was the trustee who helped Chili come to grips with the hard fact that he'd be staying overnight in the jail. To Chili, that meant one immediate pressing concern ... he had to figure out how he was going to keep Ann safe when he was locked up. The trustee suggested that the safest place around was a little guesthouse in town, much more peaceful than the rundown, local no-tell motel, the trustee said with a wink.

When they let Ann visit Chili again, he gave her instructions: keep trying to call the pub, even though there was no answer on the land line and her phone wasn't getting a signal in the valley. Take Buck and get a taxi ride to the guesthouse. Lock herself in her room when they got there and then only come out in the morning to return to the station.

Lt. Nelson called the local taxi driver for her. He was to pick her up in front of the station. She and Buck stood on the sidewalk waiting for about twenty minutes. Thanks to Lt. Nelson, now in addition to Buck's leash and food plus her purse, she had her overnight case so at least she had a toothbrush, medicine and such. But that was all they would let her have from the car.

Ann tried not to fret but it was impossible. How was she going to get Chili out of jail? Was it possible he'd really done this? When she'd asked him a second time, this time when the only guard was not paying attention, Chili had given her one of his looks. How could I have committed a crime in this world three years ago when before I met you, I was in my movie, he whispered to her slowly. She had blinked and then realized ... of course.

Now she turned this over in her mind as she waited.

Someone had either made a mistake or ... or ... or someone had done this on purpose in order to mess with Chili, she thought. But who would dislike Chili that much and have the power to do it? Had it been Bud or John, messing with Chili when he first arrived ... they had disliked him on sight then, saying they knew he was a mafia guy and didn't want him around the pub.

No, that wasn't their style, she thought. But ... could it have to do with what was going on now, even though Chili wasn't really involved until yesterday? Would that mean ... no, she shook the thought from her mind before it had firmly formed.

A car drove toward her and she looked at it intently, expecting it to be the taxi, but it was not. It drove by slowly, the man behind the wheel looking at her, nodding at her like they do in small towns.

She reached in her bag and pulled out her cell. Still no service. When I get to the guesthouse, she thought, I'm using their phone to call Max and I don't give a flying fuck if he said I could not call him even in an emergency.

The car did a u-turn and then circled back to pull into the parking space in front of her. The driver got out and walked up to her. Buck gave a protective growl.

"Thought they'd called you a taxi?" the man said in a distinctive Arkansas drawl, his head nodding behind her to the lights of the sheriff's station.

"Yes. Lt. Nelson did. About a half hour ago."

"Well, dang. You know, old Wilbur, he has his dinner about this time. It's gonna be another thirty, forty minutes before he drags his sorry old carcass over here."

"Oh, God," Ann sighed. "Maybe I could just walk to the guesthouse? Can you give me directions?"

"Oh, no, ma'am. I wouldn't want to see a little lady in your condition walking that far. How about I give ya a ride there? It's not right you standing out here waiting."

Instantly suspicious, Ann took a step back. "I'm sorry but ... I'm not being paranoid, but I'm not going to get in a car with a stranger in a strange town."

The man smiled at her and whipped off his ball cap. "I understand and I think that's a good idea ... except ... I'm not really a stranger. You saw me inside, remember?"

"Inside the station?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm one of the deputies who did the booking for Mr. Palmer."

Ann studied him, unsure. But then he pulled out his wallet and let her see his badge and identification card. Sgt. Andrew Candals, Moro Bay Sheriff's Department, it read. He told her he'd just gotten off duty, saw her standing there, figured if it was his pregnant wife, he'd want a cop to stop and help her out.

Gratitude flowed through Ann. He helped her inside his car and let Buck hop in the back seat. The guesthouse doesn't allow animals, he told her when he slid behind the wheel, and asked if wanted to drop Buck off at the vet's, to board him there for the night. His wife worked there and he could call her, have her meet them there since it was after hours. They'd keep her dog safe for the night and Ann could get him out in the morning, he said casually.

They began driving down the road and Ann felt like all she wanted was to crawl into a bed so that she could soon wake up in the morning and find out this had all been a big joke. She agreed to his suggestion, thanking her lucky stars he'd stopped to help her. Imagine if she'd got to the guesthouse and been turned away because she had a dog ... and she wouldn't have known what to do with Buck if not for Andy, as her rescuer told her to call him.

They pulled up in front of the vet's office. Another car was parked there. His wife, he said, indicating the woman dressed in nurse's scrubs waiting for them in front of the office door. She got here fast, Ann said. We only live around the block, Andy said, by way of explanation.

"I cannot thank you enough," Ann told him as she reached in the back door to put the leash on Buck's collar. "It's been such a rotten day, with all this stuff happening to my friend and even though it's all a huge mistake, it is still difficult to be so far from home and find yourself in trouble. It restores my faith in this town ... the way you and your wife are helping me out."

"It's not your fault your friend's in jail," Andy said, waving to his wife. "Sometimes, it's just one of those things that happen in life."

Uma was standing in the middle of a lavender field long after the sun rose. Her eyes were closed. She was listening.

Bees droned in both the near and far distance. Wind swept over her and brushed into the branches of trees on the edge of the field. Someone was crying, soft and spent. Footsteps on gravel. An owl called, gentle and slow. New wind crept along low to the ground, rustling the clutches of lavender surrounding her. Andy was calling Jeff, it was something to do with Paul.

Inside, her heart throbbed and swooshed. Maximus was talking with Dino, something to do with the children. Terry paced.

What did she hear inside her own memory?

Her eyes opened. She turned and looked at the chateau. Max and Dino sat at a table outside, under a tree. Inside her memory, she had heard an owl. An owl in the daytime ... just like the owl she'd just heard a few minutes ago. But the first time she'd heard that had been years ago. She had heard it the day she met Maximus. She had been with Heather. They had both heard the owl ... Heather had said that owls don't usually call out in the daytime ... that many cultures consider it a sign ... an omen.

Had it been a good or bad omen? Uma could not remember.

But about four hours later, she had found Maximus and her life changed forever.

She walked back toward the building.

The disappointment from the night before hung around them all. They were all tired from the trip ... they needed rest ... and in the meantime, Terry and Dino's people were racing over land records and medical equipment purchases, among other research activities, all in the hope they would get a lead on where Sid might have relocated the scientists to ... where John and Clarity Biebe had been brought.

All they needed was a break, Uma thought to herself, a little good news. Something to chase away this pervading sense of impending doom. 

In the morning, Chili waited on Ann's arrival at the Moro Bay Jail. When she hadn't shown up by 9 a.m., he had the trustee call the guesthouse for him to wake her up.

But when the trustee returned, he told Chili that the lady running the guesthouse said that Ann had never shown up the night before.

Chili felt fear run a long, cold finger down his spine.

At the pub about the same time, Paul had come down early, restless and deciding to get a bit of time alone in the quiet of the pub before anyone else came in. He was concerned that he'd not heard from Chili but then told himself they'd probably needed to shop for supplies and then had probably crashed after the long hours on the road and the sleepless night they'd spent driving.

The phone rang suddenly, as if it knew he'd just come into the bar area. He picked it up, expecting to hear Chili's voice on the other end. But it was not Chili.

"What?" he asked, unsure how to make sense of what he was hearing. "What do you mean, check in with the Moro Bay jail? Chili Palmer has been arrested? What's happened? Where is Ann?"

After he hung up, Paul stood there with his hand on the receiver. He did not want to believe the news he'd just received. But then it hit him ... the reality was that it was up to him to do something. And then he acted ... he called information ... took a guess that Moro Bay was in Arkansas since he knew that's where Chili and Ann were going.

First things first, he told himself. He needed to talk with Chili first, find out what was happening up there ... he'd panic later. He looked at his watch. Maximus and the others would already be in France ... they'd be deep into it with tracking down John Biebe. The last thing he wanted to do was call them with this ... after all, what did he know at this point? And what, really, could they do from over there in Europe? It is up to me, he told himself, and that's the truth.

He'd call them later ... only if ... only if this turned out to be something beyond him. Only if it turned out to be true that Ann was missing.

Instead, he called the men like Jack Corbett, Bud White and Zack Grant ... people who could race into action to get Chili released and to locate Ann, whose absence surely had a logical explanation.

It wasn't until late that night that Paul realized he had to break the one rule he'd been given ... to not call any member of the crew over in France. Should he call Maximus? Yes, he should, he said to himself. But then he thought ... no, I can't call him.

He dialed another number. The brusque voice answered, "Thorne."

"Terry? Look, I'm sorry to disturb you at a time like this as I know you're already up to your necks in it but..."