Chapter 1

Jack sat in the corner booth of the fancy restaurant, feeling almost smothered in the sheer elegance of the place. He had wanted to take Sue out to dinner tonight, and then he had remembered that he was going to be going out on assignment and she had a date with David. He wondered if Sue would like this place or if she would be as uncomfortable as him. The expensive atmosphere was perfect for Myles, but not for him and the others. The place was decorated in rich reds, elegant purples, and classy golds, all velvets and silks. The only reason he knew about that was because when the Bureau had done an evaluation of the restaurant, they had sent a woman, and everyone knew that women notice things like that, not men. Richly embroidered tapestries hung on the walls, beautifully patterned rugs adorned the floor, and fancy flower bouquets sat on the tables. Exotic plants stood around the room, in large black vases etched with gold and silver traceries. The overall effect was of a rich mansion or palace. The plates were china or porcelain, an exotic design in pale blue decorating the edges, and the utensils, as Myles insisted he call them, were real silver. Each fork, knife, and spoon had a crest emblazoned on the handle, a winged lion, standing majestically with a paw raised, inside a decorated shield pattern. He figured that if anyone wanted a real haul they would just have to rip off this place and they'd be set for life. It even smelled of expensive wood polish and rare perfume. There were several executive groups dining here tonight but still more couples. It was the hope that they would look like one of those executive groups, chatting about tomorrow's deals over a fine dinner, and Myles had to keep reminding Bobby not to stare at the menu as if it had grown two heads.

"If you continue to gape at the menu," Myles said in a low voice, blue eyes flashing, as, yet again, the tall Australian paused to look at something, his mouth hanging open. "People could get suspicious."

"Yeah Crash, executives are supposed to have this kind of money to spend." Jack said, looking at the menu once more. "Unfortunately we don't, so it's a good thing that the Bureau is paying for all of this, because I'd have to skip meals for a week to afford this place." The brown haired agent grimaced at the thought of skipping meals for a week.

"I'd have to skip meals for a month to pay for any of this." Tara commented, looking up from the menu, her carefully styled hair catching in the soft light of the restaurant. Once again Jack noticed how different she looked in a secretaries suit jacket and matching skirt. She looked almost too professional to him, like some CEO's no nonsense secretary that was almost like a personal bodyguard. He knew she had her business side, but this was just too weird. It was as if she was a completely different person, which, of course, was what they wanted. At this, Myles shook his head with an exasperated sigh, his blonde hair shifting with the motion.

Soon the maitre'd came and took their orders, offering his advice with proper wines and good decisions in the food category. It was very welcome, but after he had left, they started discussing the case that had brought them here.

"So what do we know about Gary Leynnier?' Tara asked quietly. "Other than the fact that he owns this place and is a known drug smuggler."

"And besides the fact that we can't pin any of it on him." Bobby added dryly.

"We know that he's expecting a large shipment of cocaine to come through here before the end of next week." Jack said, "We just don't know when it'll arrive."

"And according to our information," Myles said, "Neither does he."

"And what about Christopher Storn?" Bobby asked.

"So far he's been the main one on the scene." Tara said. "He's managed to stay out of being directly involved, but he has a more definite link to the dealers."

"So far he's kept us out of his sights and himself out of our sights." Jack commented. He swept his gaze around the room, his eyes coming to rest on the beautiful grand piano in the corner of the room. There was live music here from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. He glanced at his watch. It was 6:00 now. He looked back up to see the pianist enter the room. She was a beautiful woman wearing a strapless, floor length red dress that clung to her body like a second skin, but was still modest and absolutely elegant. She walked gracefully over to the piano and sat down; seemingly unaware of the stares she was getting from most of the males in the room, and quite a few of the jealous females. Her music was obviously already on the stand, waiting, since she didn't have it with her. Laying her hands on the keys she started to play. She played mostly love songs, but also ballads that were the type that told a story. He was rather surprised when he heard someone, in the booth behind him, comment that the song she was playing was Killyburn Brae, the third movement of Longford Legend, which happened to be about a woman that h-e-l-l spat back out. Jack listened with rapt attention until his food came, entranced by the sheer beauty of the sound. The way that she played was almost like magic. The notes just seemed to flow from her hands like water waiting to be released. He realized that the music seemed to be a part of this woman, like the FBI was a part of him.

They finished their dinner and were soon on their way out. As they stood up, the music washed over them like a beautiful, clean, pure waterfall. Just as he was exiting the door, Jack turned back and took one last look at the pianist, shining in the spotlight, and was glad that she had been seen to as having no involvement with the smuggling.