Lily Romanov walked into the office like she owned the place. Two steps behind her, Robert McCall was watchful. There were agents and support staff lining the halls, but no one spoke to her or attempted to block her way.

In an entirely inappropriate corner of his mind, McCall had to admit that her walk alone was enough to make people stare.

She didn't wear high heels often, but she wore black pumps with a stiletto heel now, and she wore them well. She wasn't tall, but between the shortness of her skirt and the height of her heels, she seemed to have legs that stretched out forever.

Madam Olga had dressed her for the occasion, with the express goal of concealment. Though she was still in her first trimester, Lily Romanov's slender frame was already giving hints of her condition. She wore a black suit, leather or something like it, with a very short skirt under a long jacket. The jacket had two buttons and was certainly intended to be worn over a blouse, but under Madam Olga's guidance there was only a wisp of incongruously innocent white lace over the pronounced curves of breasts.

Every man in the room would be looking at her legs or her cleavage. If they'd had any sense, they'd be looking at her eyes instead. But he doubted they had that wisdom. With a bit of luck, no one would notice the subtle new curve at her waistline.

The Princeton boys waited for her in the conference room. They had papers and pens and beverages, as if this was going to be a long meeting, as if there was going to be anything to write down. Though Simms was acting Control, he was not at the head of the table.

Jason Masur had taken that spot.

There was no sign of Olford.

McCall nodded to himself. It was exactly as he'd expected.

Jason did not stand up when the lady entered the room, and so none of the lieutenants did, except Simms. He came around the table and politely held Lily's chair for her at the far end of the table from Masur. There was a second empty chair for Robert, but he stepped back to stand against the wall.

"Can I get you anything?" Simms offered. "Coffee? Water?"

Lily shook her head briefly. "Where's Olford?"

"You'll talk to me," Masur snapped.

The woman glanced up at the surveillance camera allegedly hidden in the corner. "We'll see."

"Where are the files?" he demanded.

Lily sighed and sat back.

"Maybe you don't understand your position," Jason continued. "You are not walking out of here alive unless we get those files back."

She stared at him for a long moment. Then she sighed and pushed back from the table. "You're an idiot," she announced. "I'm not dealing with you. Director Olford," she said without looking toward the camera, "you have thirty seconds before I walk out."

Robert nodded to himself. So far, she was playing it perfectly.

Jason Masur stood up and pressed the button in the intercom beside him. "Take her into custody," he snapped, even before the muscle men had come through the door.

"Not wise," McCall said under his breath.

Lily stood up gracefully. "Gentlemen," she invited, holding her arms out obligingly. "This ought to be entertaining."

"How long until the files drop?" Simms asked.

"Sixty minutes from the time I walked through the front door."

Simms gestured to the men holding her. "Let her go."

"No!" Masur said. "She's bluffing."

"Okay," Lily smiled.

"We can't risk it," Simms insisted.

"We have all her records," Jason insisted. "We know all her hiding places. I've already got people watching most of them. We can hold her and wait to see who goes for what. Nothing to it."

"She's worked for Control for ten years," Simms argued. "And she knows where all his hiding places are. She's had three days to get there and back. You can't possibly have them all covered. You can't possibly even know where they all are. And we already know they're not in any of the places Control told us about."

Jason came around the far side of the table and stood very close to his captive. With great force of will, McCall stayed where he was. "We'll find them," Masur asserted. "In sixty minutes, I'm sure I can persuade her to tell us where the files are."

Lily met his eyes calmly. "Maybe. But the Sandanistas tried for seven weeks and they couldn't do it."

"They didn't have my technology."

Simms cleared his throat. "We are not going to torture one of our own agents."

"She's not our agent any more."

Lily smiled gently. "If you think you can break me, Jason, bring it on. But you better be damned sure. Because if I'm not safely out of this building in fifty-two minutes, all the contents of all those files drop onto the desks of three dozen Reuters reporters in ten different countries, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"We'll see about that," he snarled. He went back to the head of the table and grabbed the phone. "I want a sweep of the neighborhood," he said. "Every building with a sight line to the front door, I want it searched top to bottom. Romanov has a contact out there. I want him found."

McCall sighed. "The girl's right, Jason. You really are an idiot."

"You stay out of this, McCall."

"Do you actually think she has a cohort just standing on the sidewalk across the street, pretending to read a newspaper? She was Control's most trusted courier."

"She will tell us how to call them off."

"I doubt it," Lily said calmly. "But let's go. This is gonna be fun."

The conference room door opened and Michael Olford walked in. "You two, out," he said calmly. The muscle released the courier and left the room.

"I had this under control …" Masur sputtered.

"You're an idiot," Olford snapped. "Sit down and shut up. Miss Romanov." He gestured to her recently-vacated chair. "Please. Let's talk."

Lily nodded graciously and sat down.

Behind her, McCall tensed internally. They'd expected Jason Masur to pull some stunts; he'd reacted exactly as they'd anticipated. But Olford was another matter. It was difficult to predict his response. Everything now depended on whether Lily Romanov could convince him of the story he'd already been told. All their lives hung on her being able to sell it.

The woman sighed, shifted in her chair, revealing yet another half-inch of cleavage. As Olford settled into Jason's chair at the far end of the table, his eyes flickered downward for an instant, than back to her face. But it was enough. It was all the opening she needed.

"So," Olford said calmly. "You have the personal data that Control collected on all of us. How do you intend to use it?"

"I don't," Lily answered with equal ease. "The files are secured in a number of secret locations, inaccessible to anyone but me. If we agree to terms, that's how it will stay. Your secrets will remain secret."

Olford nodded. "You have no intention of giving them back."

"None whatsoever."

"And yet you think you will live to walk out of this room."

"If I don't, most of you won't live until morning."

"I can't believe this!" Jason said. "Just get some damn truth serum in here and make her tell us where the files are. We don't have to talk about this. Give me a blackjack, I'll make her tell me …"

"Masur, shut up!" Olford snapped. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to the woman, his voice level once again. "Whatever data Control thinks he has on me …"

Lily smiled again. It was a soft, cold smile. "Director Olford, you know perfectly well what Control had in your file. And you know that if it's released, your job is immediately forfeit and your life expectancy is extremely short."

The Director sat back, his hands folded on his chest. "Well, well. You're everything they said you were."

"Thank you."

"What is it you want?"

Robert nodded to himself again.

"Three things," Lily said. "None of which will cause you undue distress."

"That remains to be seen. Go on."

"One. When we're done here, I'm going to leave this room, this building, this city. I never want to see any of you again. If you come after me, if I have any reason to think you've come after me, I will burn you all."

Olford nodded, but did not answer.

"Two. I need a little traveling money. Send Lisinger to bring me half the petty cash."

"What?" Jason screeched.

"Shut up!" Olford snapped again. "That can't be much."

Lily shook her head. "Director. I thought we understood each other better than that. It is roughly half a million dollars. Enough to give me a decent start somewhere, since I doubt you'll be sending my pension checks. It'll leave you short here for a while, until you can funnel more in, but it won't cripple your operations. At least, not like I will."

"I cannot believe …"

Olford drew his gun and pointed it at Jason Masur. "One more word. One. And you'll leave this room feet-first."

Masur stared at him, wide-eyed. Then he curled his lip and retreated to a far corner. Olford put the gun on the table. "I'm sorry," he said. "I trust you'll also be keeping the money you stole from Control's safe."

"There was no money in Control's safe."

"Of course there was," Olford said. "Probably several hundred thousand dollars."

Lily looked at him steadily. "Where did that money come from?"

"What?"

"If it's Company money, where is it accounted for?"

The Director paused. Of course the money wasn't on any books anywhere. He couldn't prove it existed at all, and she knew it. He cleared his throat. "Your third condition?"

"Control."

Robert straightened. "He is no part of this arrangement," he warned. "You've done him incalculable harm already. I will not allow you to …"

"McCall," Olford warned. "Let her speak."

"Control," she said again, "I leave to him." She gestured carelessly over her shoulder toward Robert. "He will have complete charge of his care. His rehab or his warehousing or whatever. The Company will pay for his care, entirely, for as long as he lives."

Jason Masur did not speak, but he chuckled, loudly and unpleasantly.

Romanov's eyes narrowed. "If he dies of anything but entirely natural causes, Jason, I will release the data. If he comes to any harm – if he gets a bedsore, if a careless aide cuts him while shaving him – I will burn one of you at random." She paused. "Well, not entirely at random; of course I will start with you."

"You don't have anything on me," Jason sneered. "Not a damn thing."

"Really?" Lily asked. "I'm sure Director Olford would love to know why you ordered Control to divert a team in the Balkans to bring out Pavel Racz."

"He was a source …"

"He calls you Peanut when he's drunk."

Masur went white, half rage, half fear. "A nick-name. It doesn't mean anything."

"Of course. Entirely innocent. I understand. It's just a damn shame the entire upper echelon on the intelligence community is still so very homophobic."

"I am not gay! And you can't prove that I am!"

"I don't have to prove it," Lily answered, with the evil smile returning. "I just have to whisper the suggestion in the right ears and make you deny it. Proof is entirely optional."

"You unspeakable little bitch …"

He started for her. Robert half-moved to block him, but Simms was already on his feet. He grabbed Masur by the lapels and shoved him back. Jason hit the wall and launched himself at the lieutenant; Simms sidestepped his charge and caught him in the back as he passed, slammed him face-down against the table.

Jason Masur's face landed two inches from Director Olford's gun.

Olford sighed. "Get him out of here," he said wearily.

The Princeton boys sat as if they were glued to their chairs. Simms looked around, then twisted Masur's arm behind him and shoved him towards the door.

Predictably, Masur did not go quietly. McCall kept his eyes on Olford. It was very clear to him that Jason Masur had run out of time. His threats against Lily were of no consequence; he would not live long enough to make good on them.

Good. Good.

Olford again settled his attention on the woman at the end of the table. "That's it? That's all you want?"

"That's it," Lily affirmed. "I told you it wouldn't hurt too much."

"Lisinger," the Director said, "go get her money."

The lieutenant stood up. "Sir, I …"

"Just do it."

"Yes, sir." He hurried out.

"It will take a few minutes," Olford said. "Would you like some coffee while we wait?"

"No. Thank you."

"I do have one question."

Lily shifted again, redisplaying her assets. "Ask."

"Why do you care what happens to Control?"

It was unexpected. McCall stood very still, watched very closely. But Lily took a slow breath and nodded. "When I was held captive in Central America, the Company didn't lift a finger to rescue me. Control was ordered to stay away, and he obeyed those orders. But when it over, he arranged for a raid. And all of those men were killed." She leaned forward over the table. "He took care of me, when the rest of you turned your backs in the name of political expedience."

"And yet you broke into his safe, stole all his documents, left him helpless on the floor to die alone."

"There are limits to my loyalty. They end where self-preservation begins. I called for help for him, once I was safely away."

Olford nodded. "I understand you and Control have been having an affair for a number of years."

Lily smiled genuinely this time. She sat back. "Who told you that?"

Olford nodded towards Simms."

"Control always did think he was the clever one," Lily said. "Yes, we've been lovers."

"And yet now that he's crippled, you're just going to take his files and walk away."

"There's a world of difference," she pronounced clearly, "between sleeping with a man and giving up the rest of your life for him."

Olford shook his head. "You are a cold woman."

"If that's a surprise to you, Director, you really haven't been keeping up."

Lisinger returned with a canvas mail bag. "Small bills," he said nervously. "We didn't count it all, but it's about half."

Romanov stood up smoothly. "Gentlemen, Director Olford, it's been a pleasure." She took the bag from Lisinger and handed it to McCall. "Robert will drive me to the train station," she announced. "And from there I will disappear. Don't come after me. It would annoy me."

She looked around the room one last time. Most of the lieutenants, Robert noted, would not meet her gaze. Olford did, and Simms; Russo, surprisingly, and Markland, who looked fearful. McCall wondered exactly what was in their various files. And he wondered even more deeply what each feared was in his file.

Lily turned with magnificent grace and strode from the room. Robert waited a few seconds to see if any of the Princeton boys moved. They did not. With a wearily shrug, he followed her out – carrying her bag of ill-gotten funds like a porter.

At the curb, McCall opened the passenger door of the Jaguar for Lily. "Well done," he whispered as she slid past him elegantly.

"Did they buy it?"

"Every word," Robert assured her. He glanced over his shoulder as he shut her door. No one came out of the building after them. "Olford it not a fool."

He hurried to deposit the canvas bag in the trunk and get behind the wheel. They still had time to get a sniper to the roof, or to assemble a chase team. Or – no. Olford wasn't that reckless. He believed, at the moment, that the courier had all the data hidden away, and that she had the means to make it public at any moment. If he decided to come after Romanov at all, it would be after a great deal of careful consideration and planning.

By the time Olford decided to act, if he did at all, Lily Romanov would be long gone. If the director was wise, he would not pursue her.

The background and history that Simms had provided would validate that decision.

So far, McCall thought, so good.

He drove to Penn Station and parked illegally at the cab stand. He opened the trunk for Lily and waited, shielding her with his body, while she unpacked the canvas bag. She brought out a red suitcase, one with a strap on one side and wheels on the others, and a brand-new sky blue duffle bag.

Robert slammed the trunk. "I suppose this is goodbye, then," he said sadly.

Lily shook her head. "Let me go change first. Then we'll say our goodbyes."

"As you wish."

He watched as she made her way into the busy train station. As far as he could tell, she was not followed. He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the Jaguar patiently. According to the plan, she would change into casual clothes, ditch her existing luggage, and leave the city from here.

None of them knew where she would go, probably not even Lily herself. It was the safest way.

The minutes dragged. McCall stuffed his hands in his pockets for warmth; even through his gloves, the cold became biting. A ticket cop – a Parking Enforcement Agent – walked by and eyed him, decided he was an upstanding citizen, but left him with a warning gaze. "Come on, come on," Robert muttered.

How long could it take a woman to transform her entire appearance, anyhow?

Three more minutes, he decided. Then he was going in. Perhaps Olford had been more clever than he'd thought; perhaps they had a team inside, waiting for her. No. They didn't dare. Whatever had been in Control's file on Michael Olford – or whatever the Director thought had been in there – it was deep and dark. He would not risk exposure.

The minutes passed. Robert did not need to look at his watch; he could tell the time precisely in his head, with long experienced honed in the field. Three minutes.

The phone in the Jaguar rang.

McCall sighed. Of course she wasn't coming back out. To be seen with him in her new disguise would be completely foolish. He slid into the car and picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"Take care of him for me." Lily's voice cracked with tears.

"I will. I promise."

There was a long pause. "Thank you, Robert," she said.

The phone went dead, and Lily Romanov was gone.