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“What last nao by, then?”

She laughed a little “Would you believe Jones?”

“You’re kidding”

“No, I’m not” She darted a look at his face “I wanted an American name so common no one would be able to trace itor me The only names I could think of like that were Smith and Jones”

“‘Alias Smith and Jones,’” he murmured under his breath

“Pardon?”

“Nothing Just an old TV western Alec and I used to watch on cable” He looked as if he were going to explain ed his mind

She waited, but he didn’t say anything, so she continued “Cate Ser—I didn’t want anyone to remember me for any reason” Her sround advised not changing your first name too much, especially the first letter Too easy to slip up and say your real name—or at least start to say your real na your name So I became Cate Jones”

“Cate Jones” He tilted his head to one side as he considered it “Not bad Andit even less likely they’d recognize your na underground in the first place?”

She wanted to look away fro stare, but she couldn’t “Alec knows,” she said finally Painfully

“But you don’t want me to know, is that it?”

Cate shook her head “You don’t have a ‘need to know,’” she reminded him

“Touché,” Liahter “Touché”

“Escaped?” roared Aleksandrov Vishenko in Russian to the two s to their boss “What do you mean, she escaped?”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” said one man as he tried to placate his boss “But there was interference froents who happened to be in the courthousearmed Both of our men are dead At least they cannot talk”

“They would not have talked anyway,” insisted the other man