David stared at her for a moment, then dropped his eyes to the floor. When he glanced back up, she was grinning at him. He had to grin back.

“We love you, Alex.”

“And I love you guys, Dave. But if you don’t stop, I’m going to have to kill you.”

David took a seat beside her. “Tell you what. Promise to come to dinner next Sunday, and I’ll even tell Miri not to invite anybody else. No tricks, no hype, no introductions. Just you, and us.”

“Sounds like a plan, partner.”

The obnoxious loudspeaker voice announced their flight, and Alex closed the folder she’d been working on. As she reached for her briefcase, David asked quietly, “You think this has something to do with white supremacy, Alex?”

Alex placed the file inside her case, closed it, and then stood. “I hope not, Dave. Word from higher up was that they think it’s a radical group, but not necessarily anything affiliated to Nazi’s or Klan. I hope they’re right.”

“And if they’re not?”

Alex was silent for a moment. “Then I don’t think Dabir will be the last one to die. And that scares the hell out of me.”

The two looked at each other, then grabbed their coats and headed for their flight.

*******************************************************

They were halfway to Washington, and even Alex was starting to doze, when David suddenly realized what had been missing from Ken’s report on the car. He sat straight up.

“Alex, you still awake?”

“Barely, what’s up?”

“I got it. I know what’s missing. Let me see Ken’s report, the one on the car.”

It took Alex a moment to get her bearings, and another minute to pull the file from her briefcase. “Here. What’s the missing link?”

David skimmed through the pages, intent on what he was reading. When he finished the last page, he dropped the papers to his lap and grinned at her in triumph. “I was right, it’s not there.”

“What’s not where?”

“In the car. Remember the baby seat? Brogan was supposedly going to take his son to lunch with his wife and daughter, but he had to stop at the bank. The baby seat was in the back of the car. He didn’t leave the kid in the car because that’s not a good idea. Right?”

“Right. So?”

David’s grin got wider. “He’s lying.”

“What? David, you didn’t even meet the man, you just have Ken’s assessment. What could —”

“He’s lying, Alex, and every parent will tell you so.”

“What are you blathering about?”

“Look, Alex, when was the last time you saw Miri and Arlea?”

Alex threw her hands up. “I don’t know, a couple of weeks ago?”

“Well, do you remember what Miri had with her?”

“God, David, I don’t know. She had Arlea, her purse, the diaper bag, —”

David held his hand up. “Right. The diaper bag. Now, think about this. A father with a young son is going to lunch. He has to stop at the bank, so of course he takes his son out of the car. But he’s only going to be out of there for a minute, so he leaves everything else in the car. Right?”

Alex began to see what David was saying. “So, he would leave the diaper bag.”

“Which Ken didn’t find in the car.

Alex was silent for a moment. “The thief could have thrown it away. I mean, why would he keep it?”

“He left the baby seat in the back. Why toss one, and not the other?”

Both agents were very quiet. “I don’t know, David. That’s not much to go on.”

“No. But it confirms Ken’s feeling. The guy is lying.”

Alex shook her head. “I just don’t know. But call Ken tomorrow. Let him know. Maybe he’ll have found something to agree with you.”

“He’s part of it, Alex. I know he is.”

“Great. The caper of the missing diaper bag. Cliff’s gonna love this.”

Chapter Three

Alex’s apartment was on a side street off of DuPont Circle. The rent was outrageous for the size, but the location was perfect; Alex loved being in the middle of the ‘gay ghetto’ of Washington, D.C. Besides that, it was a few minutes walk to the Metro station, which took her anywhere in the city she wanted to go. A ten minute ride most mornings, and she was at work.

But the Metro was difficult to ride with suitcases, so Alex allowed her partner to drive her home. David had moved to D.C. from New York. He and Miri had both been mugged on the subway there, so both were still leery of the Metro. Miri especially had been adamant that David not use it, so David drove everywhere.

They pulled up in front of the building just as David’s watch beeped one a.m. The street was fairly dark, but the lights on the building easily lit the path from the car to the door.

“You sure you don’t want any help getting inside?”

“No, I’m fine. Besides, if you come inside you’ll sit down and we’ll start talking, and it’ll be another hour before you get home. If that happened, Miri would kick my butt.”

David laughed and leaned over to give her a hug.

“Get some sleep, and I’ll see you at the office.”

“Drive safe, David. Remember, there’s a comfortable bed, and a warm companion waiting. Don’t fall asleep in the car.”

“And you just remember to set your alarm. If you’re late, Cliff’ll eat me for breakfast.”

Alex pulled her suitcase from the backseat and trudged up the sidewalk. David waited until she was inside before pulling away.

She took the stairs to her second floor apartment, glancing first at the mailbox to see that it was empty. That meant Sarah had been by to pick it up, and feed the cat. She wondered if Appleby would be happy she was home, or if he would decide she’d been gone too long, and ignore her. One of the things she’d always loved about her cat was that she never knew what he would do next.

Alex unlocked the door, and was immediately set upon by a small, hairy beast that leaped off the top of the bookcase and onto her shoulders.

“Damn, Appleby, why can’t you just rub my legs like a normal cat?” Reaching up, she snagged the orange and white feline off her shoulders while reaching for the lights. She hugged the cat, then dropped him to the floor. She tried not to step on him while moving her suitcase into the bedroom. After changing into a faded pair of sweats, she began to unpack. Appleby sat himself inside the case, batting at everything she picked up. When Alex finished, he was still sitting there swatting at a strap inside the suitcase.

“I guess that means you missed me, hm?”

She picked up the cat, who immediately transferred his playful attentions to her blond hair. Scratching his head, she headed out to the kitchen, intent to get him a treat. She’d been gone for so long, and yet he acknowledged her. That meant something; just what, she wasn’t sure.

Alex’s apartment was small. The largest room was the living room, which she had painted sky blue. The one and only lamp in the room had its shade upside down, with the light from the very bright bulb directed up and out toward the ceiling. The effect was almost, but not quite, similar to a sunny day in Chicago. Alex had paid the landlord extra for her blue walls, but this little bit of home had been well worth the money.

On the blue walls, right next to the window, was a framed poster of Frank Thomas. Alex had gotten it years ago, when the Big Hurt was just starting his professional career. He’d signed it for her on her birthday, when she and a few friends had waited outside the locker room just to congratulate the players. Later, when someone had offered her three hundred dollars for it, she’d gotten it framed and placed behind glass. This, too, represented a little bit of home, and it had gone up in every single place she’d lived, whether apartment or college dorm.

Her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University hung on one side of the door to the kitchen, and her Master’s degree from Duke hung on the other. Outside of the poster, her diplomas, and a calendar, the rest of the wall space was either bare, or filled with bookshelves.