"Alison!" Clayton smiled, embracing her. "How are you doing?" He had always had a soft spot for his Joe females, feeling more fatherly towards them, even though he knew they could very well take care of themselves. Lady Jaye in particular had been a favorite of his….if he let himself admit he had favorites….because he had been close with her father at one point in his life.

He held her back, admiring her dress, giving a wolf's whistle. "Nice duds. You gals always cleaned up real nice."

She laughed. "This old thing?" she parried. "Oh, that reminds me. I had to tell your wife where I got it from, so she's going to be asking for a trip to New York soon. She forced me to give her the designer's number."

He could tell by her grin that she was teasing him. What worried him was that her smile never seemed to shine in her eyes, the way it used to. He knew the reason why was standing next to him, but it wasn't his business to get involved – even though he wanted to.

Flint was glaring at Duke, who had an innocent smile on his face, being careful not to look at his friend.

She ignored him, taking her cue from his actions, or rather non-action. If he wanted to be that stubborn, she'd continue to flirt with Duke and Hawk – a harmless thing – and pretend that inside, she wasn't feeling the hurt and anger rising to the surface.

"I see your shadows followed you here tonight," Flint ground out during a lull in the conversation. Everyone turned towards him, frowning.

Her green eyes narrowed. "My business associates? Why wouldn't they be? We're all representing the business tonight."

"Which one would that be?" he growled.

She crossed her arms, glaring at him, telling herself he was only trying to goad her into giving something away. She had put pleasure before business, and she needed to refocus, she told herself.

She turned, ignoring the question, and looked back at Duke and Hawk. "It's been great seeing you guys again, but as Flint reminded me, I'm here on business. There's someone I have to see." She gave each one a hug.

"We'll see you at Shana's wedding?" asked Hawk, and she nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it," she smiled distractedly, already searching the room for her quarry. She needed to get her head back into the game. She spotted Grunt, and nodded at him. He gestured towards the gardens.

"Well, that was rude!" Duke told Flint, rolling his eyes.

"I don't like those two guys she hangs out with. Everywhere she's been, they've been with her."

Hawk looked from one man to the other. "You've been keeping tabs on her?" he asked Flint.

Flint frowned, knowing what Hawk was really asking.

Duke spoke since Flint wasn't answering. "He thinks she's a paid assassin, and she's here tonight to scout out her next victim," he informed him in a low voice. "Not that he has any proof, mind you."

Hawk looked worried. "Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?" he asked Flint. "I can't see Alison…."

Flint looked at him. "With all due respect, sir, you didn't see what I saw."

"Which was?"

"A highly skilled individual who, without regard to anyone else in the room and ignoring the order to cease, coldly cut a man's throat and had his heart cut out."

Duke flinched. "Seriously, Dash? Did we need to know all the details?"

Hawk regarded Flint thoughtfully. "And the rest of the body?"

An expression of doubt crossed his face. "Never recovered. It's like it simply vanished."

"Or turned to ash," murmured Hawk to himself.

"What's that?" asked Duke, looking from one to the other, confused.

Hawk shook his head. "It sounds familiar, but I just can't place….."

He lapsed into silence.

Flint narrowed his eyes as he watched Lady Jaye slip out the patio door into the garden, following after the blonde-haired guy, Stealth.

"She's armed," he stated. The other two looked at him incredulously.

"I seriously doubt it. We all had to go through a metal detector…." Hawk began, but Flint interrupted.

"I can tell by the way she's moving. Trust me." He sighed, wondering why no one would believe him about her. Was she really that good? He knew what he had witnessed those many months ago, and was determined to stop her before it happened again.

"Excuse me," he told the others, determined to follow her. When she was with those guys, it usually didn't bode well. Were they already scouting their next victim?

Duke sighed, giving Hawk an exasperated look. "We should follow him," he sighed.

Hawk smiled. "You go on. I'll hold down the fort in here."

"Gee, thanks."

"Don't mention it."