Page 20 (1/2)

"You think I’hed darkly

He ski it behind the most delicate ear he’d ever seen "Not at all You’re stubborn and you have a teo out withso very vulnerable in her voice reached out to him, made him wonder who had hurt her He tossed aside all trust issues of his own and dove straight in He wanted her He would have her

"I want to date you because when you use that stubborn teht for your students, I am enchanted" All in, he reminded himself "Honestly? When you si he thought certainly she would say no But then she sighed and leaned closer to him

"Yes, Sam, I would very much like to have dinner with you And as ret it, I sincerely hope you continue to be enchanted"

Stella angled sideways past a stack of pallets in the hangar, Jose’s footsteps even and reassuring behind her When she’d seen the wo at computer station five leave for her break, she’d almost broken out into a happy dance Of all the stations, that one was positioned the farthest from the entrances--and was blocked from the view of Mr Smith’s ear

She glanced over her shoulder at Jose "Are you sure you don’tan eye out for Mr Smith while I’m at the computer?"

"Like I would trust anyone else to keep you safe frohtened the di outside the base swept through her mind, of that moment he’d wrapped his body around hers and to hell with anything else She could still feel the i scent of him on her clothes

Of course he would protect her while she worked Why couldn’t he have the sarets sucked--and wasted valuable tied around the end of the computer consoles "Sorry Silly question Thank you"

He pulled out her chair for her "Be quick about it though" He pushed her wheeled office chair closer to theoff Mr Smith types"

Had Jose kissed her on top of the head before he walked away?

The tingling roots of her hair declared hell yes, he had

She shook off the sensation--or at least ed into the systeave her liation Her personal hacking skills would take her the rest of the way in Keying through the layers of security, she… was… in

Yes

Ia cloth filled the screen, a dozen close-ups of the script Clicking on each one, she scanned the translations, four in all on this There was a ular side Standard stuff she would expect Caution about the iainst chaos Wisdo flaws

Lastly, Dua la kuku halimpati me A loosely translated proverb about a chicken’s prayersabout the wants of the oppressed

Accessing her profile, she h different co some rhythm or pattern Lines and lines scrolled down the screen, and she knew Mr Smith and all his minions had done the sa their steps, hoping they’d e of danger Ajaya had insisted could be found here? It was like she had a puzzle with only half of the…

Ah, damn it

She sat back in the chair

Where was the rest of thethe cloth fro for rescue S in the backpack Was there so left at the co they wouldn’t find out enough to stop anything? If so, the kid couldn’t be trusted

She stared at the list of traditional sayings, generic, standard ones that could be found in a fortune cookie

Her h what little she’d learned… Could the sayings on the other piece of cloth be as standard? It was just a ht order, then pick through a sequence of letters to fore Tedious, but doable if she had all the parts

Made sense not to keep the cloths together She read the interpreted phrases again, generic, nothing to draw undue attention Most likely the other half would have h an Internet search for as The more popular, the less likely it would draw attention Then plugged thelanced at the time on the screen and--crap--she’d already been here for nearly forty-five er did she have? Jose would send up a warning if there was a problem, and quite frankly, there wasn’t any reason why she shouldn’t be here Mr Shts

It would just be easier if she didn’t have to fight for the words juh possible patterns She narrowed the search and typed in o this kind of as a her level of the logical, soe in a pattern in another language altogether…

A hum started deep in her belly, the kind that told her she was on the trail Words caer pieces… A date, but no time A name, but no place But those parts she could fill in for herself Just as the kid had said There were plans to disrupt the vice president’s wife visit, during her first day in Somalia