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“No, Adam, I swear I won’t smoke.” Then Hatch sighed and sat down again.

Adam, satisfied, turned to Becca. “As for you, Becca, eat. Here’s my last piece of pizza. I even left three olives on it. I didn’t want to, but I looked at your skinny little neck and restrained myself. Eat.”

She took the pizza slice and sat there holding it, even as the cheese cooled and hardened. She picked off an olive.

Savich said, smiling at everyone, perhaps preening a bit, “Oh, yeah, I’ve got something that’s not supposition. MAX found Krimakov’s apartment. It’s just a small place in Iráklion. Mr. Woodhouse knows about it. He’s sent agents in.”

Everyone stared at him a moment, gape-mouthed.

Savich laughed. He was still laughing when the phone rang minutes later. “That’s on my public line,” Thomas said as he rose. “The tape recorder will automatically kick on and it will tell me who’s calling.” He saw Becca blink and smiled. “Just habit,” he said as he picked up the phone.

He didn’t say a word, just stood there, listening. He was pale as death when he nodded and said to the person on the other end of the line, “Thank you for calling.” Becca jumped to her feet to go to him. He held up a hand and said in a very low, contained voice, “The two agents guarding Becca’s room are dead. Agent Marlane is dead. The agent posing as me is dead, shot through the head, three times. I shot Krimakov’s wife through the head,” he added unemotionally. “The security cameras are smashed. There’s pandemonium at the hospital. He got away.”

23

Adam came into Becca’s bedroom at just after midnight to see her sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, staring blankly at the wall. A single lamp was turned on and in the dim light he could see that she was pale, her face strained. She looked over at him and said, guilt weighing her down, heavy in her voice, “I still can’t believe it, Adam. Four people dead and it’s because of me.”

He quietly closed the bedroom door and leaned back against it, his arms crossed over his chest. Her feelings weren’t unexpected but it still made him angry. “Don’t be a damned fool, Becca. I’m the one who carries most of the blame because it was my fucking plan in the first place. What no one can figure out is how the bastard managed to walk right up to the guards outside the room, close enough to see the color of their eyes, and shoot them. Of course he used a silencer. Then he waltzed into the hospital room and kills the other two agents before they can react. To top it all off, he shot out the security camera. And poof—he’s gone, escaped, and no one can figure it out.

“Everyone knew he was coming, it was a trap, contingencies all covered, and sure enough he walked right into it, only it didn’t stop him. We lost. Whatever his disguise, it must have been something. My God, four people are dead.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that, they’re gone. Damn him, how did he do it? What did he look like to make them lower their guard?”

She shook her head numbly. “Tellie Hawley still doesn’t know anything?”

Adam shook his head. “They’ve been studying all the security cameras all over the hospital, and they’ve spotted some men who might be possibles. I told him that didn’t make sense. Track down the little old ladies, track the folk on the cameras who no one in his right mind would take for Krimakov.” He moved away from the door and walked to the side of her bed. He leaned over and lightly touched his fingers to her cheek. “I came to check on you. I imagined you would be blaming yourself, and I was right. Stop it, Becca, just stop it. It was a good plan, a solid plan. Any fault for its failure comes right to my door, not yours.”

She turned her face into the palm of his hand. She whispered against his skin, “He doesn’t seem human, does he?”

“Oh, he’s human enough. I want him very badly, Becca. I want to kill him with my bare hands.”

“So does my father. I’ve never seen anyone so enraged, and yet his voice remained calm and controlled. But it was so cold, so deadly. I wanted to shriek and yell and