“Who is she?”

“Find the warehouse and maybe you'll find her.”

“And expose myself so that you can kill me.”

“There's always that possibility.” He sounded amused. “But how exciting it will be for you to find out if you value your own skin more than that poor innocent teenager. It will be a journey of self-discovery.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“It could be I'm bored and want to challenge myself and you. It could be that I want to draw you close to Firestorm and burn away all the lies you've been telling yourself.” He was silent a moment. “Or it could be because I'm lonely. You're the first woman I've felt this close to since Helen. It doesn't really matter which is true.”

“Helen?”

He ignored the question. “I'm hanging up now. I've enjoyed talking to—”

“Wait. When are you—how much time do I have?”

“Two days. Midnight. The infamous ticking clock. Isn't that exciting?” He hung up.

Christ.

She threw the phone down and ran toward the door. She had to get to Silver.

Two days . . .

For God's sake, stop shaking.” Silver grabbed a blanket from his bed and wrapped it around her. “It's going to be okay.”

“You didn't hear him.” She clutched the blanket closer. Lord, she was cold. “He'll kill her.”

“He may not even have a target in mind.”

“He knows who she is. He's already decided who he's going to kill. I could feel it.”

“A teenager. A warehouse.” Silver's forehead creased. “A runaway using a warehouse as base?”

“It makes sense. Unless that's what he wants me to think.” She lifted a shaking hand to her temple. “But I don't think he was lying. He was enjoying it too much. He wanted me to know how bold and clever he is. He practically drew me a picture of her.”

“Then maybe we can find her,” Silver said. “Or the warehouse.”

“He asked me if I knew how many warehouses there were in this area. There could be hundreds, thousands.”

Silver nodded. “But if this teenager is using the warehouse to live in, then she'd have to feel secure in the knowledge that she wouldn't be discovered. That means no security guards or people working in the place.”

“Which doesn't narrow it down very much.”

“We'll take what we can get.” He reached for the telephone. “And we need some help with those statistics.”

“Who are you calling?”

He was dialing quickly. “George.”

He didn't give you any other hint, Kerry?” George asked. “It's not much info to go on.”

“We've already established that fact,” Kerry said. “And I've told you everything Trask said. Judge for yourself.”

“We are a bit testy, aren't we?”

“There's a teenage kid who may die in order to draw me to that warehouse. You're damn right I'm testy.”

“Easy,” Silver said.

She whirled on him. “Stop that soothing bullshit. Nothing is easy about this. It stinks.” She turned back to George. “We're going to find that warehouse. Hell, he wants me to find it.”

“Then he should have given you more information.”

“But then it wouldn't be a challenge for me. Can't you see?”

“He may call again.”

She shook her head. “Only after he burns her to death.”

“You seem certain.”

“I'm beginning to know him. He'd call me and crow if I didn't find her. He might give me a second chance to stop another fire, but it would be too late for her.” She drew a shaky breath. “So narrow down those warehouses for us. Get on the phone and call all those computer gurus in the Secret Service and get me a list we can work with.”

“The Washington area could include Baltimore and several towns in Virginia and—”

“Then you'd better get on the ball, hadn't you?” Silver asked.

George smiled. “I just wanted to point out what a difficult task you've set me. I wouldn't get any pleasure out of success if you didn't appreciate that failure is such a strong possibility. But don't worry, I'll persevere.” He turned to the door. “You'd better get her a cup of tea, Brad. She looks like she can use it.”

“I don't want tea. I don't want any of your little civilized niceties. I'm feeling as barbaric as Attila the Hun at the moment.”

“Ah, that's when you need those niceties the most,” he said as he shut the door behind him.

“He didn't tell us how long it would take.” Kerry shook her head. “What am I thinking? How could he even know?”

“I'll check with him after he talks to Secret Service headquarters. He'll have an idea then. It shouldn't take that long.”

“It's just that there's no time. Trask's damn ticking clock.” She closed her eyes. “I can hear it. It's like a heartbeat. Her heartbeat.”

“No matter what happens, it's not your fault, Kerry.”

“That's not going to help if I have to watch her burn to death.” Her lids lifted. “Who is Helen?”

“The woman he said he'd been close to?” He shrugged. “I don't know. There's nothing about her in the dossier I received on Trask.”

“I know.” After Joyce Fairchild's death Kerry had forced herself to go over every detail of Trask's dossier. “But she meant something to him. Maybe she still does. I need to know about her.”

“I'll call Travis and see if he can tap some of his sources and dig deeper.”

“I'd think they would have already done that.”

“Me too.”

“It doesn't make sense.” She thought about it. “Unless they don't want anyone to know who she is. Maybe she's under the witness-protection program or something.”

“There's no use guessing. We'll find out. No last name?”

She shook her head. “I've told you everything.” She grimaced. “Not that you probably wouldn't have known anyway. But this is one time I don't want to keep anything to myself. I'm scared to death.”

“You have a right to be.”

“Oh, not because this is probably an elaborate trap. It's because he said we were alike.” She stopped. “It was a lie. I'm not like him.”

“Of course you're not.”

“When I dream of fire, it's a nightmare. Just because I keep having those dreams doesn't mean I have some sort of sick fascination.”

“You're preaching to the converted.” His gaze searched her face. “Why are you even dwelling on that bastard's fantasies?”

“I don't know. He was so . . . sure.” She tried to smile. “And he hit on the one insecurity that dominates my life.”

“If he's sure, it's because he's talked himself into it.” He grasped her shoulders. “Take it from someone who knows. You have all sorts of guilt feelings, but your horror of fire is real. It's not some kind of charade you're hiding behind.”

She drew a deep breath as relief rippled through her. Yes, Silver would know. Not that she'd really had any doubts. It had just been a thought triggered in that hideous conversation. “Thank you.” Another thought occurred to her. “He says he's never felt closer to anyone than he does to me. Do you suppose on some level he's aware that I'm reading what he thinks?”

“It's possible. It would be one explanation for his fascination with you. But you can be sure that it's not because you're soul mates.”

“That's good to know.” She was suddenly aware of the warmth of his hands on her shoulders. Acutely aware. And even more aware of the response of her body to that touch. Dear God, not now. “Evidently you're not the only one who was able to tamper with my mind.” She stepped back, and his hands slowly fell away from her. “I have to go get dressed. I'll see you in the library after you've talked to Travis?”

He nodded. “You're sure you don't want to try George's favorite antidote to the trials of life?”

“I don't want tea.”

“Then I could think of another antidote.”

“No.” She grasped the blanket around her as she headed for the door. “I don't want you monkeying around in my head and trying to make everything all right.”

“I had no intention of monkeying around in your . . . head.”

She faltered in midstride. Don't look back at him. She didn't want to see what she knew she'd see.