AN: Sorry it's been soo long. Life tends to get in the way. The story is going to speed up real soon, I promise. Thanks to Raven my wonderful beta. She did excellent in keeping me on my toes on this one. As always, read and review. Meg

Siroc pulled his invention along the hall and corridor as his three comrades and Captain Devonshire waited holding their breath and hoping. Siroc pushed several buttons and sucked what looked to be dirt into the machine and then gingerly stepped back and waited.

"There! See mi amigo!" Ramon yelled excitedly as he pointed to the faint prints that appeared. They all exhaled and began following the footprints down the hallway that Jacqueline and Edward had searched the day before. The five ran along but skidded to a halt as the wall became a dead end.

"There must be a secret panel here somewhere." Siroc muttered more to himself than the others, as he had forgotten they were with him, as he usually did when in the middle of a problem.

"Spread out." Edward stated calmly taking charge of the situation. The five each went to separate areas and began pushing, groping and pulling at the wall and its contents causing all sorts of sounds to echo throughout the hall.

"I think I found something!" Jacqueline yelled excitedly over the noise, forgetting to add the masculine tint to her voice and not realizing it till D'Artagnan gave her a funny look. She cleared her throat as the others stopped their searching and moved toward her. "I think we all need to push here." She stated as the other four joined her and they all leaned their combined weight into the wall as it slowly slide open, revealing a tunnel. Ramon grabbed and lit a torch and handed it to Edward and obtained another for himself.

"Leponte, D'Artagnan, we'll search this way," Devonshire said waving to the left. "Siroc and Ramon can go that way." He waved them to the right. D'Artagnan rolled his eyes and mimicked the Captain behind his back, while Jacqueline shoved him forward. She shook her head and muttered something about 'men being immature' under her breath as she followed them down the passageway. A hundred feet down the tunnel, the Captain's torch illuminated a body lying on the floor. Jacqueline volunteered to retrace their steps and bring Siroc and Ramon to the body.

The five now stared down at the body frowning, each deep in thought. Siroc bent down and checked the pulse as a formality, but they knew he was dead.

"He's dead," he confirmed and paused as he checked the stab wound in the victim's neck. "He has been dead for several hours, late last night, looks like." Siroc pointed to the discoloration of the flesh. "A single stab, with a four, or maybe five inch eating dagger." Siroc nodded to himself as he measured the wound length and depth for confirmation. Devonshire cleared his throat getting everyone's attention.

"I appreciate all your help Musketeers, I will get a guard down here to remove the body and inform his Grace of the situation." He turned and walked briskly up the tunnel and out into the hallway. Siroc frowned and began to a more intense study of the body. D'Artagnan turned to Jacqueline. "We should inform the Captain of this." He did not wait for her answer but grabbed her arm and pulled her along. The last word Ramon heard was Jacqueline's voice reprimanding D'Artagnan for his 'manhandling' of her. He smiled to himself until Siroc gasped, diverting his attention.

"What is it mi amigo?"

"See this mark, here on the chest area?" Ramon bent down to study the area and then swore in Spanish before turning wide-eyed to Siroc.

"The Cardinal is somehow behind this." He whispered to Siroc, being afraid the tunnel had ears.

On their journey to the garrison, D'Artagnan turned to Jacqueline and gave her a smile to curl any women's toes.

"I guess we can fulfill the "wager" after all." Jacqueline did not respond at first, not showing any outward emotion but letting a tinge of excitement course through her body.

"If Duval lets up with the restrictions." She responded calmly as they entered the barracks. Duval was shouting commands when he noticed the two had returned.

"In my office!" He ordered and they quickly complied. Duval limped in a few minutes later eyeing the two.

"Well?" He asked them, all pretense of patience gone. D'Artagnan started the tale of the secret passage with Jacqueline interrupting every so often to insert a remark about Devonshire which made D'Artagnan experience an emotion he wanted to ignore, jealousy. Duval was silent, the only sound was his cane tapping lightly on the floor as he listened.

"Good work, I will need to speak to Siroc of course, before determining what else needs to be done, and that Captain of the Cardinal's, but you two are relieved for the rest of the day." He dismissed them and picked up his pen and began writing furiously. Jacqueline opened her mouth but did not get a chance to speak before D'Artagnan again pulled her into the hall. He looked left and right making sure no one was about.

"Meet me at the stables in one hour." He waited for her reply. Jacqueline sighed and nodded. He turned then and snapped his fingers. "Oh, bring that red dress." He commanded his eyes sparkling with amusement, as she narrowed her eyes at him, but he turned away whistling before she could respond. Jacqueline watched his retreating form a minute, still frowning, before a slight smile curved her lips and she too turned to her quarters.

Devonshire cursed under his breath and turned to the shaking guard his eyes piercing.

"Which way did they go and how long ago did they leave?" The guard still shaking, only pointed to the left before managing to stutter.

"They left a..an h..our or..so..Captain." He gulped in air and then yelped as his Captain galloped away almost knocking him over. He straightened and regained his composure, now curious as to what was so important about two of the King's Musketeers anyway, before shrugging and continuing his duty.

D'Artagnan packed up the meal and turned to his companion.

"Jacqueline, I'm honored you wore the dress." His voice low as he assisted her onto her horse, his hands lingering longer than necessary. He released the breath he didn't know he was holding when she did not glare or scold him for it.

"You did say the red one, did you not?" She asked innocently batting her lashes to see if she could make him nervous.

"Yes, well I did not expect...I mean..thanks..." He gave up trying to speak as he could not gather his thoughts anymore. Jacqueline pretended to wipe her brow, covering a smile that she could not resist at her flirting success.

"Thank you for a nice afternoon." She paused making sure he was listening. "Maybe next time, I will even let you kiss me good-bye." She turned her horse and galloped off without waiting for a reply. D'Artagnan merely stared as her words sunk in.

"Next time?" He smiled at the thought before he stopped and remembered what else she had said.

"Kiss?" He quickly mounted his horse and took off after her.

Captain Edward Devonshire came silently into the clearing as he watched them disappear.

"Leponte, a female..." He mulled over the revelation. He smiled as he thought about his next move. "Well, well...the great D'Artagnan does have a weakness... For a criminal, a Jacqueline Roget disguised as Jacques Leponte of his Majesty's Musketeers." He reined his horse around and slowly started towards the palace so he would have time to makes his plans.