Safely away from Brad's eyes, Christie leant against the wall and fought the rising tide of emotion. She fought to catch her breath and even out her heartbeat. What a complete catastrophe tonight had been. She'd almost bungled the assassination and almost been killed herself. Both events had come just too close for comfort. If she hadn't have heard the scuffle between Brad and one of the men she could have been sound asleep when they came for her. As she thought back, one thing struck her. Instead of grabbing her things and making a run for it, she'd grabbed a gun and gone in for a fight. Brad's fault.

It was also primarily Brad's fault that she was suffering some sort of mild panic attack right now, she presumed. She had worked so hard all her life to stay cold. It was the only way to survive as an assassin. But what with Brad deluding himself that he was in love with her, it brought her situation home to her. The absolute, unending solitude.

She tried to ask herself how she felt about Brad, to gain some insight into her feelings. Years of training coolly pointed to the weaknesses in his behaviour and fighting style. Very useful, if killing him was her aim. But her mind couldn't deal with anything beyond that. She certainly found him physically attractive. Amusing as well in his own inane way. Intriguing, yes, definitely that too. That was something she couldn't say about many men. But did that constitute love?

And did it even matter? He was deluding himself. She hadn't done anything to merit his love. There had been no special act of kindness or moment of connection. It was fantasy. She had to be very careful and treat it as such. If she let herself think she was in love she could be in for some serious heartache when he got over the idea. Not to mention the damage to her career. No, wipe it away. Freeze over again.

She forced herself back to normality. For a moment she simply stood, breathing regularly and focussing on the familiar weight of the gun in her hand. The cold metal reassured her. She stripped off her nightclothes and pulled on her blue-jeans, black sweater and black boots. Meticulously yet quickly she repacked her meagre possessions into her case. She scanned the room, checking she had collected everything of hers. Only her laptop to collect now.

As she went into the other room, Brad was depositing the last few shards of glass onto a chipped saucer. The early morning light showed up the bloody soles of his feet.

" You walked on the glass, " she commented, walking over to the shabby minibar and removing two small bottles of whisky.

" Some idiot had spread it out across the floor. It was hard to avoid. Luckily my skin is pretty tough but I'd like to thank them for their consideration, " he said through gritted teeth.

Christie ignored him. Without saying a word she took hold of one of his feet and poured one of the bottles of alcohol over it.

Brad took a sharp intake of breath and pulled his foot away.

" Woman! I have to walk on these! "

Christie reached for the other foot and began pouring alcohol over that one too. Despite his protestations, Brad held his foot as still as he could.

" It'll clean the wound. "

" I know what it does, I just can't help but feel you're enjoying this. "

She didn't answer but gently began to dry the skin with a towel.

" Will you be able to walk? " she asked finally.

Brad nodded.

" Just give me a moment. Now, is it my turn to pour alcohol over you? "

" No, my wounds are clean, " Christie asserted flatly.

" Show me the back of your head, " he asked.

" It's fine. "

" Please, " Brad insisted gently. " Kneel down so I can see. "

She hesitated for a moment. His dark eyes were fixed on her, silently insisting. Understanding how painful his feet must be, she reluctantly turned and knelt down.

His touch was surprisingly delicate. He smoothed away the strands of hair and she tried hard not to notice the warmth of his breath on her neck. After what felt like an eternity he released her. She rose to her feet instantly.

" You are right, " he agreed quietly. " It's clean. "

Ignoring the flush she felt creeping across her cheeks, she retrieved her laptop from the floor and checked it for damage. It was scuffed and the casing in one corner was cracked. The only way to see if it was damaged internally was to try and use it and she didn't have time for that now.

" Have you got everything? " she asked curtly.

Brad fished around by the sofa and pulled up a pair of scruffy trainers. He waved them at her triumphantly and slipped them on.

" Why did you walk on the glass if you have trainers? " Christie demanded icily.

He turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised. For the first time, she was able to put a name to the dark gold colour of his eyes. The stone tiger's-eye. How appropriate, she thought briefly, before banishing the thought as irrelevant.

" I sleep barefoot. I could hardly ask the nice man not to go and assassinate you until I'd put my shoes on, could I? I don't believe you'd wait until your victim felt they were dressed properly for the occasion. "

" Whatever. You've got your shoes on now so lets make a move. "

A few seconds later Christie and Brad were running down the fire escape. Even in her heavy boots Christie moved silently on the metal stairs. To his credit, Brad was just as quiet. Despite herself, she was impressed.

" I still think this is a waste of time, " he remarked.

Quiet on his feet, Christie amended.

"  Stay in the room then, " she threw back.

" I think you know I'm referring to using the back stairs. If there was a back-up crew, won't they think to cover all exits? "

" Since when are you an expert on this kind of thing? "

" Well, you would check other exits, wouldn't you? "

" Would you kindly stop using me as some kind of model assassin? Different assassins do things differently. "

" But you do it so well, " Brad offered winningly.

" Stop talking now Brad, " Christie commanded.

Brad opened his mouth to respond but noticed Christie's hand stray to the bulge at her hip he knew to be her gun. He closed his mouth again.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Brad moved towards Christie's little black car from the previous evening.

" Leave it. We'll get a new one, " Christie ordered, walking straight by it.

He shrugged but hurried to catch her up.

" A rather decadent approach. Use it once, then buy a new one. "

Christie turned to face him as she walked.

" Who said anything about buying it? " she asked with a crooked smile.

He shook his head ruefully.

" I see you are going to be a very bad influence on me. You've dragged me into brawls and car theft in the space of twelve hours. I hope you're proud of yourself young lady, corrupting a decent man like myself. "

" Huh, a decent man doesn't break into a lady's car and hijack her. What would your mother say? "

" She'd probably congratulate me on my good taste. "

She didn't answer. Her head was turned away, the wind shivering through her striking white hair. Brad thought at first that he'd offended her. He hadn't meant to bring any romantic tone to the banter. He'd only just managed to get her speaking reasonably cheerfully. The words had just slipped out. He craned forward to catch a look at her face.

She wasn't upset. In fact Brad doubted she'd even heard him. Her eyes were instead fixed on a dirty red Volvo parked across the street. One window was half open. He didn't know whether to be grateful or offended that she'd stopped listening. Grateful he supposed. But some small part of him would have liked to force the topic out into the open. Not the time now though, he cautioned himself. Later, he promised himself, following her strong, steady gait as she crossed over to the car.

A few minutes later and they were driving along in the stolen car. Christie quickly became accustomed to the new car and flexed her fingers on the steering wheel comfortably. She flicked a glance in the rear view mirror. No-one. So far so good. Her companion was uncharacteristically silent. She looked at him appraisingly. He was fiddling with the seat belt. It was jammed half way up and was therefore a little too tight for his muscular frame. He tugged at it a couple of times then tried moving his seat back a few inches. It would just about do up, if he didn't breathe too deeply. He settled for a second. Then he began adjusting his side mirror.

" What IS wrong with you? " she asked. " Just leave everything alone, will you? "

" It is just…. I feel a little uncomfortable. "

" Undo the seatbelt then, " she suggested patiently.

" No it is not the seatbelt making me uncomfortable. Well it is uncomfortable, it has me in a death grip after all. No it is the car itself. "

Christie was surprised. She threw a glance around the interior. Dirty but nothing more.

" What's wrong with it? "

Brad looked around and then moved closer to speak in a conspiratorial whisper.

" It's not ours. "

Christie looked at him for a second before bursting out laughing.

" Did the hotwiring give it away? " she joked. She made an effort to stop laughing and tried to speak in a calm voice. " Of course it's not ours. You've never been in a stolen car before? "

Brad shifted uneasily and shook his head.

" We've obviously moved in very different circles. It just seems….. wrong, " he said primly.

" Oh Brad, that's sweet. That really is. You don't mind getting into a life or death fight but you get pangs of conscience stealing a car. Well, I suppose you're right. But us hired killers just don't have the luxury of principles like that. It makes our jobs a lot trickier if we have to take our own cars everywhere. I s'pose though we could use the bus service? "

Brad brightened and opened his mouth to speak.

" I'm kidding, you fool. Of course we can't use buses. And even if we did we probably wouldn't pay. "

He pulled a discontented face and didn't push the issue. She flicked him a glance.

" So, who's trying to kill you? " she asked finally.

" I wasn't lying when I said I didn't know. I made a guess after the first three attempts on my life. My house blowing up proved I wasn't just having a spell of bad luck. "

" Now that's sloppy, " Christie commented, pointing a finger in Brad's direction as she drove. " Giving the game away like that. You don't seem to have attracted a very high class of enemy. "

" That's right, rub it in why don't you? I bet the people trying to kill you are pretty high up the social hierarchy. "

" He's the president of an international business conglomerate. Yours, on the other hand, sound like they think the height of sophistication in the world of assassins is to send the mark a box of poisoned chocolates, " Christie remarked with a grin.

" Should I not have eaten those? " Brad asked, his eyes wide.

She threw him a horrified look.

" Tell me you didn't! " she demanded.

She was answered with a loud snort of laughter.

" There was no box of chocolates. Even my enemies would surely not stoop that low. Still, I am glad you have warned me about that ploy. I might very easily have fallen for that without your words of wisdom. "

The mocking tone of his voice irritated Christie.

" Judging by the degree of intelligence you've shown so far in our acquaintance, I will take that at face value, " she stated.

There was a sudden air of tension in the car. Brad wondered if he'd pushed the banter too far.

" I did not mean to offend you, " he offered eventually.

She didn't look at him.

" I don't know you. I don't know if you're stupid enough to have fallen for that or not. So don't mock me. I don't take mockery well. "

There was silence for a few moments. Brad seemed to be looking thoughtfully out of the windows. She stifled a sigh. Damn him for making her feel stupid and uncomfortable. Damn him for making her look so gullible. Who did he think he was to tease her like this? Nobody teased her. Nobody.

She was about to vent a little more of her anger at him when, with a sudden movement, he threw himself headfirst down onto her legs.

It was only long years of learning to cope with the unexpected that kept the car on the road and under control.

" What the hell do you think you're doing? " she snarled, flicking several incredulous glances down at him. " If you don't move your face off me right now, I'll remove your tongue with a rusty pair of pliers. "

" Keep driving! Act normal! " was the hissed response.

" This isn't normal! I don't normally have some guy pressing his face onto me while I'm driving! "

Hesitantly, Brad crawled up and peered out the back window, ducking low in his seat.

" What are you playing at? " Christie growled.

" That was one of them! He's one of the ones who tried to kill me! " he said urgently.

" Did you consider calmly mentioning it to me so I could get a look at him, before drawing his attention to the car by lunging at me? Damn Brad, you're really not making this easy for me! I should just kick you out of the car now. "

Brad felt more than a little stupid after her stinging verbal assault.

" That would probably have been a better idea, " he agreed in a quiet voice.

" Uhuh? You think?! " Christie fumed and flicked a glance in the rear view mirror and fumed again. " He's following us now. Really good job Brad. "

" He's following us? " Brad repeated aghast.

Christie shook her head in disgust and put her foot down on the accelerator.

" Right, here's the plan. First chance we get, you're going in the boot of the car. Then I'll… have a little chat with our pursuer. Try and convince him to move on. You keep absolutely silent. If I think you're breathing too loudly, I'll hand you over, understand? "

" I understand, " Brad said in a small voice, as Christie swerved round a corner and out onto the country roads.

When the following car had been out of sight for a few moments, she slammed the car to a stop and rushed from the car. Due to Brad's extreme speed and agility, he was in the boot in a matter of seconds.

As she slammed it close, she fixed him with a steely gaze.

" If I have to kill him, I'm charging you. And I ought to warn you, I don't come cheap. "

He was in the darkness before he had chance to answer.

He felt the car rock slightly as she settled herself to lean against the back of the car. After a couple of minutes, he heard a car pull up. Then the sound of a car door slamming and footsteps.

" Christie, " a male voice said by way of greeting.

" Joachim, " she returned, her voice even and controlled.

She knew him! For the first time, Brad wondered if Christie was entirely the best choice for an ally when it came to assassins. He'd expected her to know the protocol of assassination, but he hadn't considered her knowing the assassins themselves.

" Thought it was you, " the man said.

" And so it was. "

Her voice gave nothing away.

" How are you? " he asked after a moment's silence.

" Excuse me? "

Brad flinched. She didn't sound happy about that question.

" I was just wondering. I didn't see you after Madrid. "

She gave a harsh laugh.

" What did you want? A postcard? "

" I thought… " the man began but Brad felt the car rock as Christie stood up suddenly.

" You thought wrong. Now, why are you following me? What do you want? "

There was a long pause.

" I'm not following you. I saw you go by and I thought I'd say hello. "

" Yeah right. You must think I'm stupid. "

" I think you're cruel and sadistic, which coming from a fellow workman is really saying something, but I don't think you're stupid, " the man answered easily.

Brad flinched for the inevitable gunshot. But it didn't come. Instead he heard Christie laugh again, a genuinely amused sound this time.

" What are you doing here Joachim? " she asked, her voice friendlier.

" I'm looking for someone. Same as you I guess. "

" `Looking`? " she echoed incredulously. " On the run, are they? "

" Unfortunately yes. I've been tracking him from the wilds of China. I don't know where he thinks he's going. He can't run forever. "

" Maybe he's got friends in this part of the world. "

The man laughed.

" Lets hope. You and I both know how trustworthy friends can be. "

" Do you need a hand? " Christie offered, almost causing Brad to bite through his lip in alarm. " Give me his details and I'll see if I can't track him down. "

" And let you steal the hit? I don't think so. I've got half a million riding on this. "

" Half a million? " Christie squeaked. " Pounds or dollars? "

" Why are you so surprised? You've worked for a lot more than that. "

" I'm just… I'm surprised they went for an in-house worker like you instead of an outsider like me, " she finished smoothly.

Silence again.

" What are you doing here Christie, " the man asked, his voice suddenly low and curious. " Something of a coincidence isn't it? "

Brad heard Christie sigh deeply. He didn't want her to have to kill this man. Not for him. Equally, he wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't hand him over.

" Not such a coincidence, " she answered after a pause.

" How so? "

Brad steeled himself for a fight even as his heart sank. It could only ever have been a dream.

" I'm following you of course Joachim. Did you honestly think I forgot Madrid? "

Brad was stunned by her. Even more stunned by the sultry note he heard in her voice. This was most definitely not what he had intended.

" Really? " Joachim asked hesitantly. " You didn't wait around. You were just gone. "

" I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't get what you did for me out of my head. I had to leave. "

Footsteps. Someone leaving? Or someone moving closer to someone else? Brad found himself scowling even as he listened intently.

" But you found me. So what does that mean? " Joachim asked, his voice holding an undeniable note of eagerness.

" It means, Joachim, " Christie purred, her voice even more seductive, " that if you play your cards right, once you finish this little assignment, you and I could… meet up. If you like, that is. "

" Why wait until this assignment is over? " the man asked, and Brad heard more footsteps, getting closer to the car.

Brad wondered at what point he would be compelled to get out of the car and batter the man senseless. He was thinking that point was sooner rather than later.

" Because, I'm working too, " she murmured. " Girl's got to do and all that. But you let me know when you've found your friend and we'll renegotiate. Hmm? "

" Okay, that's a deal. I'll be in touch Christie. "

Footsteps, this time moving away. Car door. Car engine. Then the car moving away. Brad waited for a few moments. The boot opened and light flooded in. Christie's face looked like she was ready to throttle someone with her bare hands, ( which, Brad thought, she very probably was. )

" Get. Out, " she spat through gritted teeth.

When Brad didn't move straight away she reached in and started dragging him out by his arm.

" Get out! Get out! Get out! "

When he was finally stood by the side of the road, she slapped him hard across the cheek. He held his footing but put a hand to his stinging face.

" What was that for? " he demanded.

She raised her hand to slap him again but caught herself.

" Your behaviour in the car earlier. Now, just get in and lets go, " she ordered.

Obediently, Brad returned to the car. Christie climbed in beside him and they started driving again.

" So, " Brad ventured after a moment. " One of your would-be boyfriends is trying to kill me huh? "

" That's right, " she agreed. He was struck by the curiously jubilant tone of her voice.

" I would be so disappointed if you lowered your standards to entertaining some failed killer who can't even dispose of little old me, " he commented acidly. " But if you wish to go back to your… `friend` please do not let me hold you up. "

" If for one moment I actually thought you were genuinely jealous Brad, you would be out of this car so fast your head wouldn't stop spinning 'til next Tuesday, " she responded.

She was smiling now! Brad felt unusually sour. Joachim the king of botch-job assassinations had brought a smile to her face!

He frowned and looked out of the window. The glee he had felt when he first realised someone was actually trying to kill him, thus giving him an excuse to trail after the white-haired killer, was being rapidly overridden by the frustration of being with Christie and yet being completely unable to make her look his way twice.

" Please tell me you're not sulking. "

" I am just hurt and disappointed, " he answered. " But do not let me bring you down on your good day. "

She turned to look at him briefly.

" Is this a `man thing` or a `you thing`? "

" I'm just pleased you have found a moment of joy. "

" Did it occur to you that knowing who the assassin is might tell me who the employer was? " she asked irritably.

" Yes it did but I preferred to wallow in my jealousy, thank you very much. "

" And this is one of the reasons I chose to be an assassin and not a bodyguard. If only I had been graced with the contract on your life, my day would be considerably brighter. "

Brad didn't respond and she flicked another look at him. He was slumped in his seat, his face resting on his fist, staring grimly out of the window. It was so strange. Here was a man that she could very easily have been paid to kill. The weight of the attempts on his life seemed to hang over him, despite his teasing and flirting. And why shouldn't it? She accepted people trying to kill her because it was her job. But it wasn't Brad's. He hadn't volunteered for this. Someone for some reason though had decided he had to die. Briefly, irrationally, Christie felt annoyed that this decision hadn't been cleared with her first.

" For what it's worth, " she ventured, her voice unusually hesitant, " I'll help you. "

She kept her eyes fixed on the road. She felt him turn to her. Don't look at him. Maybe he'll have the sense to just accept it and keep his mouth shut. He opened his mouth to talk but she shook her head.

" Lets just have a little quiet time Brad, while I ponder on the magnitude of the mistake I just made. "