But there were things she had to do. With a shake of her head she walked toward the bathroom in her own room to take a long shower.

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

Teren took a taxi to the car rental place, and rented a two door sedan under the name Chris Fleming. It was the same name she’d used at the hotel the night before. From there she stopped into a salon for a haircut. She had been trying to let it grow, but she decided the easiest way to avoid the police would be to not look like herself. If she had to, she could use a blond wig, but she didn’t see the necessity at the moment.

After the haircut, she stopped into the hospital, using the back entrance. Instead of going to the emergency room, or even to the information desk, she got on the elevator and went to the third floor. She pretended to look in several rooms, and when a nurse asked if she could help her, Teren put a relieved look on her face.

“I hope so. I asked about a friend of mine down at the desk, and they said he was in 314, but there are only two ladies in there.”

“Well, they might have made a mistake. It’s a huge hospital, and sometimes we have to change a person’s room, and the note never gets down to the information desk.” The nurse gestured that Teren should follow her. “What’s your friend’s name, hon?”

“Thomas. Ken Thomas. I really wanted to see him.”

“Well, there’s good news, and bad.”

Teren’s heart dropped. “What’s the bad news?”

“He’s been released. The good news is, it was just a few minutes ago, so if you hurry, you might be able to catch him. It’s the sixth floor, room 617.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll go right up. I can take the same elevator, right?”

“Yes, and turn left when you get off.”

“Thank you.”

She took the elevator up, but was very cautious about getting off. If Ken was leaving, that probably meant someone was here to pick him up. Teren wasn’t sure she wanted to run into anyone else from the FBI squad.

She stopped outside 617, pausing to listen. There were two voices, one low and rumbling, and one a litte higher pitch. Teren thought the first might be Ken, but didn’t have a clue who the other one was. She hoped it was his wife, and she wouldn’t mind giving Teren a moment with her husband.

Glancing around, Teren slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. The first bed was occupied by an old man, who was asleep. The voices were coming from the other side of the curtain. Teren took a few furtive steps further in, and then froze in recognition.

The other voice belonged to Miri, David’s wife.

For a moment, she thought about bolting. She wasn’t sure she would know what to say to the woman. But she needed to talk to Ken. Plus, she really wanted to know how David was.

Steeling herself, she cleared her throat, and stepped past the curtain.

Ken was sitting on the bed, in a pair of sweats from Georgetown University. His arm was around the small woman that had her head on Ken’s shoulder. At the sound of someone clearing their throat, Ken looked up, and stared at Teren.

“Where in the hell did you come from?”

“Chicago, originally. How are you feeling?”

“Better. They kept me overnight because of some bleeding, but I’m getting out of here in a few.”

Miri pulled her head away from Ken, and turned to look at the woman. She recognized Teren, and wondered why she was there.

“Miri, I want you to know how sorry I am. David’s a good man, and I hope he pulls through.”

The small woman nodded. “The doctor’s think he has a good chance. The bullet damaged his lung, and broke one of his ribs. A piece of bone lodged near his heart, but they were able to remove it without trouble. Now the only thing they’re worried about is how much blood he lost. His blood pressure is still really low.”

Teren grimaced. “I know what kind of problems that can cause.” She looked at the floor, then back up at Ken. “Um, I really don’t want to intrude here, and I know I am, but Ken, I need to talk to you.”

Ken looked at Miri who nodded, and gave him a hug.

“I’ll come down and see you and the big guy as soon as they spring me.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.” Miri smiled at Ken, and stepped towards Teren, who moved aside to let the smaller woman by.

Instead of leaving, Miri stopped. “Teren, is Alex okay?”

Teren nodded. “She’s hurting. Both inside and out. Blaming herself.”

“Damnit, it wasn’t her fault, Teren,” Ken growled, “and you can tell her I said so.”

“Ken,” Miri held up a hand to her friend, then looked Teren in the eye. “I think I’m partly to blame for the way she feels. When she called to tell me David had been hurt, I said some things I didn’t mean. I told her she was to blame, and said she should have protected him.” She dropped her head. “I think I might have even asked why it was David and not her, but I’m not sure. I said a lot of things that weren’t true.” Miri raised her head, fresh tears on her cheeks. “Tell her I’m sorry, Teren. I didn’t mean those things, and I’m so sorry.”

Teren nodded, and gave Miri an awkward hug. “She knows, Miri, she knows.”

“No. I don’t think she does. And she needs to. Will you tell her, Teren?”

“I will.”

Miri sighed, and shook her head. “That woman is such a perfectionist, and she just demands that everyone around her be the same way.” She gave a half-shrug. “When something goes wrong, she’s the first one to blame herself, so everybody else does, too.”

“I’ll let her know you don’t blame her. And I’ll tell her David’s going to make it.”

“Good. Tell her he’ll be depressed that he can’t be with her when she cracks this thing.”

That lightened the mood a touch, and even brought a chuckle from Ken. Miri smiled up at Teren, and left.

Teren watched her go, and then looked at the agent seated on the bed.

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon as Cliff gets here. You better talk fast if you don’t want him to catch you.”

“Is he looking for me too? I thought it was just the PD.”

“I don’t think he’s looking for you, exactly, but I’m not sure what he’d feel it was necessary to do. So, talk. What do you need from me?”

Teren took a deep breath. “First, I need to know how involved you’re going to stay with this case.”

“Very. It may not be from here in Philly, but I’ll be in it. Any information you need, you let me know.”

Teren nodded. “Good. Second, if Alex and I leave the city, can we count on you being our unofficial conduit to the Bureau?”

“You got it. Think you’re going to leave?”

“Not sure. I have a feeling though, that the answers we’re both looking for aren’t in Philly.”

“Where are they, do you think?”

“Not saying. Don’t want to give you too much to lie about.”

“Got it.”

“Now, the question becomes, how are we going to get information back and forth?”

Ken scratched his jaw. “Well, one time when a friend of mine went undercover, we set it up that anything we needed to get back and forth we’d put in a locker in the bus station. We’d leave the key in an envelope at the desk. It was a different box each time.”

Teren tilted her head. “That would be good for hard copies of anything while we’re still in town. But what about once we leave?”

“E-mail.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Look, I know you’ve probably got several aliases you go by, and you probably have identification for all of them, right?”

She said nothing.

“Take one of those aliases and go to hotmail. Sign up for e-mail under the alias. It won’t be secure as the CIA stuff, or even what the Bureau uses, but everybody will be looking for you to try to use those. If you go with something as everyday as hotmail, they’ll never suspect it.”

Teren’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re right. It’s not something they’ll look for. Good thinking, Ken.”

He grinned. “Hey, I’m no dummy. I graduated from college. ” He poked a thumb at his sweats. “Got me the shirt to prove it.”