"Really?" Kyle sniffed himself. "Not in a bad way? I smell good, right?"

"Better smell good, considering what I pay for that." Like Atticus, Ru had on his leather jacket with his shoulder holster underneath. He filled his pockets with his wallet, DEA ID, keys, change, PDA, and the team's backup cell phone.

"Cell phone!" Atticus snapped his fingers. "I forgot!" Which earned him a look from his partners. No, perfect recall wasn't the same as perfect memory. "Let me borrow your phone, Kyle." Atticus glanced at the hotel room's phone to memorize the number. "After breakfast, get hold of Darcy and have her FedEx us two new phones."

"Geesh, she's going to love that." Kyle handed over his phone. "Don't play any of the games, okay? Don't mess with the settings—it took me forever to download the various rings—and don't break it."

Atticus took it. "Can I at least set it to silent ring?"

Kyle took it, changed the ring, and handed it back.

They'd been prepping the rooms so all of them could leave at once. Ru had the bag with the money. Kyle had his laptop. Atticus had a heavier bag with all their most expensive equipment. They locked up the connecting doors, scanned the hall through the spyhole, and, seeing the way was clear, undid the dead bolts and security chain, and left.

It was nearly a perfect break.

When the elevator door opened, however, Sumpter stepped out, folder in hand. He nearly brushed past them before realizing who they were. He jerked to a surprised stop. "Where are you going?"

So much for arriving at the meeting site before their adversary.

"We've got a meeting with the FBI." Atticus let the elevator doors close. They'd found that Sumpter would follow them at great lengths to merely to finish a conversation. They would have to brush him off before getting on the elevator, or they'd have him at the meeting.

"Since when?" Sumpter asked.

"The background check on us was FBI stumbling over our sting," Atticus said.

"Johnston told me." Sumpter ignored the fact that Kyle was standing beside him. "But it's still not clear to me where they popped up. You didn't mention any Chinese men earlier."

Kyle chose the wrong moment to speak up. "Indigo's a woman. A real babe."

"Hmm?" Sumpter said with interest. "Where are you meeting?"

Atticus tried to be truthful with Sumpter, to save lying for important dodges. "Downstairs."

"Okay." Sumpter punched the down button. "Shall wesee what the FBI has to say?"

Riding with Sumpter was like riding with a stranger, only worse. Sumpter stood watching the numbers count down as Atticus and his team silently communicated.

I called her first.Kyle's face plainly said.

What do we do?Ru asked subtly with a nervous glance to Sumpter and a slight twitch of his upraised palms.

Fake a call,Atticus told them, thumb and pinkie extended to form a receiver, with a slight shake as if it vibrated with a silent ring.

Kyle started to sulk, as he was the one who normally set up such a ploy.

Ru took pity on him. He used the Japanese hand signal of pointing to his nose to indicate himself, a habit he got off his mother and grandparents. I'll do it.

Atticus nodded. Ru was more devious than Kyle, by far.

How soon?Ru asked by raising his left wrist and giving Atticus a querying look.

Atticus flashed all ten fingers and then repeated the phone sign. A time delay would keep suspicion off of Ru.

They hit the lobby and got off the elevator.

Ru made a show of searching his pockets. "Shoot," he said aloud for Sumpter's sake. "I think I left my phone and PDA upstairs."

"Lax, Takahashi." Sumpter sighed.

Ru handed Atticus the money. "I'm going to run back upstairs for it. I'll be back down in a couple of minutes."

Atticus urged Kyle toward the restaurant with a look. "Go see if Zheng is here yet." Atticus handed the money to Sumpter. "Could you put this in the hotel safe?" And then, to give him a little nudge, "Sir. We won't need it until Saturday."

A sharp glance from Sumpter indicated that the "sir" might have been over the top, but he took the bag without a word.

Having delayed Sumpter, Atticus felt he should make sure that Kyle had given the heads-up to Agent Zheng that Sumpter was outside the loop. Normally Kyle could be trusted to keep his eyes on the ball, but this time his eyes would be likely elsewhere.

A prickling awareness made Atticus check his stride. He focused and found he perceived a presence beyond the wall of the hotel, pretending to be relaxed, watching and waiting.

Pack.

" Good morning, Boy." Another's thoughts brushed against Atticus's mind with the impression of grizzled fur and a curious working nose. Atticus straggled to put a face to the psyche. " I'm Murray." And a face was supplied, picked from a perfect memory, created by a glance into a mirror: an unruly head of salt-and-pepper curls, a neatly trimmed beard, and dark eyes framed a nose formed by Jewish ancestry. " They call me Mouthpiece. Onetime lawyer, public defender, now Pack member. Going from one necessary evil to another."

A Jewish space alien?

" What are we?" Atticus wondered if he could trust Murray's answer any more than that of the Iron Horses or Agent Zheng. " Werewolves, space aliens, demon, or angel?"

" Angel is new." While the idea seemed to amuse Murray, there was no indication it was correct.

" Any of them true?"

" What we did to you on the beach, we did because you can't lie mind to mind. You can't create a believable memory any more than you can have a fully textured dream."

" So?"

" If you want the unassailable truth, you can examine our memories. See how our kind came to this world."

" Yeah, right." He wasn't about to let them back into his head. This casual intimacy—a stranger's emotions raw and honest—grated like sandpaper against his sense of privacy. It had been barely tolerable with Ukiah; despite everything, he had to admit—reluctantly—he'd been excited about finding his brother.

" You're the one who has to live in ignorance." Murray gave a mental shrug. " If you change your mind, we are denning tonight at Ponkapoag Camp, outside of Randolph."

How did you shut someone out of your mind? Atticus had never learned the trick of not listening that humans seemed to easily achieve. He stalked across the hotel lobby, hoping that distance could block Murray out.

The hotel had two restaurants. Breakfast was being served at the one named—ironically enough—the Intrigue Cafй. Kyle was hovering nervously by the door.

"I thought I would be able to recognize her." Kyle motioned at the various businesswomen already seated. "She's not one of these, right?"

"Not even close." Atticus took out his—Kyle's—phone and found the time was five minutes after. He dialed Zheng's number and was dropped immediately into voice mail. Her phone was either busy or off.

"Think she blew us off?" Kyle checked his own watch, and then compared it to his PDA. "Or maybe she got into trouble?"

If she was working with the Pack, wouldn't Murray have mentioned if Zheng had gotten into trouble? But when Atticus considered this, he realized that Murray was guardingZheng. She was somewhere close by. If she was on her phone, then perhaps she had sought out someplace private to talk.