Matt paced the hallway outside Dr. Kirby's office. The morning had been tedious just like the afternoon before, except for the brief meeting with Lee and Amanda. He agreed that running from the cartel would not solve the problem, but fear for Sarah's safety was making it difficult to think clearly. That's part of the terrorist's game. Scare you so bad you can't use sound judgment. Matt wondered if his emotions would further cloud the issue once they told Sarah after dance class the next evening.

He stopped pacing to check his watch. This would be a good time to get that worrying under control, Granger. Sarah may need your support—may need to get her mind off things, and you're wound up tight. Matt leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes briefly.

After a few minutes, he saw Sarah walking through the waiting area of Kirby's office. As she came out into the hallway, she offered him a flirtatious smile. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Hi there, yourself." Matt smiled and winked in return and moved to place his hand on the small of her back as he guided Sarah to the elevator. He was anxious to get them out of the building before too many eyes saw them together.

After ordering sandwiches at a nearby sandwich shop, they strolled to a park to eat their lunch. Matt scanned the area before choosing a bench. Somewhat blocked by shrubbery, it offered them a degree of privacy from other Agency personnel who might also venture there to enjoy the warm, late summer day.

They chatted about Sarah's new project and about the increased hours Sarah would need to put in that week proofing the placards once they arrived.

"They're supposed to come in tomorrow, but I'll make sure I'm home in time for dance class. I may not be able to do anything on Thursday, but I have to be done by the end of the day on Friday, so I'll be free that night. I should just tell you now that it will be like this for the next few weeks, while we finish prepping the exhibit."

Matt frowned. "Sarah, I'll drive you home if you're working late."

"Matt, I don't need a babysitter."

"It's not like that. I get to see you that way—and I don't mind." Matt knew he was not being completely truthful, but something about Sarah's mood had him treading carefully.

Sarah looked at Matt a long moment. "Well, okay." She took a bite of her sandwich.

"Why the hesitation?" Matt could not help feeling a little hurt at Sarah's cool response.

Sarah finished chewing before she answered. "It's something Dr. Kirby and I talked about. He thinks I'm repressing anger."

"At me?"

"Oh, no! Not at you." Sarah put a hand on Matt's arm. "He thinks it's a reaction to all of the turmoil my family has been through, and the protectiveness. He's wondering if deep down, I'm resenting it."

"So you don't want me to drive you home, that sort of thing?" Matt was beginning to regret suggesting Sarah see Dr. Kirby.

"I love having you drive me or whatever—you were so supportive this weekend. I guess I'm just feeling out how to deal with this." Sarah stared out across the park. "What I really want is to be normal. I love that you care about me, but do you realize that from the day we met you have been protecting me just like my family does?" Sarah sighed and looked down. "I just want to live my life like other girls—be normal and carefree like my friends. Only I can't."

Matt waited. He was definitely dreading telling her about the cartel the next evening.

"The whole thing with having the agents watch my every move a couple of weeks ago," Sarah continued, "has given me as many nightmares as the car chase itself has."

Matt ran his hand through his hair and rested his elbows on his knees. He looked down at the ground. "Sarah, those agents probably saved your life."

"I know."

"I hope you don't see me as some overprotective jerk who's out to make your life miserable."

"Oh, Matt. You're neither of those things." Sarah put her sandwich down and knelt in front of Matt. She took his face in her hands. "I just need to work through this. Maybe I'm going too far by not wanting a ride home from D.C. at night."

"Yes."

"And you've helped me with my self-defense moves."

Matt smiled ruefully. "I've taught my girlfriend how to take me out. And you know, we still have fun. I'm really not playing bodyguard all the time. I hope we're still going riding on Saturday."

"I'm planning on it. And you're right. We still do have fun. I guess having the weekend consumed by the whole car thing—talking about the chase, car shopping, whatever-hasn't helped my mood. Although I am glad you found the Charger you wanted." Sarah leaned in and kissed Matt. "Can you be patient with me while I work all this out? Because most of what I have to work out isn't about us. It's about my family—and about me. I kind of need to find myself, I guess. I'm sorry that I made it seem like you and me were the issue. That really isn't the case."

Matt pulled Sarah back to the bench beside him. He put his arms around her. "I care about you Sarah. I want you to be happy. Loving someone is being there for them no matter what. Whether it's working something out between us or supporting you with your family, I'm there."

Sarah searched his face. "I love you, Matt." Sarah kissed him again. "Thank you for supporting me." She pulled away a little and picked up her sandwich.

"What did you mean about finding yourself?"

"Oh, we talked a little about my career." Sarah looked out across the park again, and then looked back at Matt. "Do you remember me telling you that I kind of felt left out of all the intelligence stuff?"

"I remember you saying something like that."

"To be honest, I was pretty excited after Mr. Barclay talked with me—once I got to thinking about it. He was pretty enthusiastic about my driving. He even complimented me on getting away from the agents. He said Francine told him I reminded her of my parents. He thought that was a good recommendation of my talents."

Matt sat there, digesting this piece of news. Was the director trying to recruit Sarah? For that matter, was Francine? There already was plenty of debate about the number of Stetson/King family members at the Agency—but then Lee and Amanda were only working as consultants now. "Does he want to hire you?"

"It seemed like it. Please don't say anything to my family about this. I'm not sure how I feel about it. But I am finding I might not like being an assistant curator as much as I first thought I did. Or at least I would like working for the Agency more."

"What about your Master's degree?"

"Apparently they want to recruit people like me for Analysis—beef up that end of things. To be truthful, I did pick a discipline that lends itself to intelligence work."

Matt felt a measure of relief that Sarah might end up in Analysis, rather than the field. He admitted that she had all the makings of an agent, but he dreaded the idea of having her in danger on a regular basis. I'm being selfish—a hypocrite—but I don't care. It's enough to worry about the cartel right now. He decided to change the subject to one that had been on his mind.

"Sarah, how bad are the nightmares?"

Sarah looked down at her sandwich and did not answer immediately. "Pretty bad. I wake up almost every night."

Matt scooted closer and put his arm around Sarah. "Did Dr. Kirby help you with them at all?"

"He talked about how to relax after I've had one, so I can go back to sleep faster. He also talked about what to do before I go to bed—read a book, find something pleasant to think about."

"Like talk on the phone with your boyfriend?" Matt's eyes twinkled.

"That is always a nice thing, but I'm afraid even that didn't help last night."

His face fell. "Oh. I'm sorry."

Sarah smiled over at Matt. "But let's keep trying that remedy. Maybe it will help over time."

Sitting there together, they ate the rest of their sandwiches before Matt walked Sarah to the Metro station. He searched the area carefully for tails and headed back to the Agency.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

"You know, Matt, I thought we did pretty well with our swing dancing tonight."

"I'd like to practice some more." He looked at Sarah out of the corner of his eye as they turned onto the street near her house. It was early. They had skipped coffee with their friends so they would have time to talk with her parents.

"Hah. I think Matt Granger is trying to find a way to come up for a nightcap."

"Well, actually, your parents wanted to talk with us right now. But I would like to spend some time practicing our dancing at some point."

"Oh, you mean later this week. We're having dinner with Rene and Patti on Friday and we're going to Elvan to see the horses on Saturday—might be a bit tired for dancing after that. Hmmm. Maybe if I can get through enough proofing tomorrow, we could get some take out and bring it to my place or yours, then practice our dancing."

"Let's see how it goes." Matt parked the car and got out quickly so he could help Sarah. They went to the back door and knocked before letting themselves in.

"Mom, Daddy? We're here," Sarah called out.

Lee got up from the couch in the den. "Hi, Sarah. Hi, Matt."

Amanda came down the stairs. "Thanks for stopping by. Have a seat with us. Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks, Mom. Maybe some water, please? I'll help you." They left Lee and Matt to their small talk.

Sarah brought one glass of water for herself and one for Matt, who drank his quickly. Amanda sat down on the couch next to Sarah, who was sitting close beside Matt. "How was dance class?"

"It was fun. We're feeling pretty confident about all the dances now." Sarah glanced over at Matt.

He offered, "We did pretty well, considering we'd been gone for a couple of weeks."

"I think it's great that you can do that together." Amanda's smile faded as she looked down and took Sarah's hand. "I'm sure you know that we didn't ask you to come over here to talk about your dance class, though."

"No, Mom." Sarah's face grew tense as she looked intently at her mother.

From his vantage point, Lee could see an expression that he was not used to seeing on his daughter, but it looked vaguely familiar.

"You know, when you said you wanted to talk this evening, it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. What's wrong?"

Amanda shot a knowing glance at Lee before looking back at Sarah. "There is no easy way to say this, so I'm not going to beat around the bush." She cupped her hand under Sarah's chin and looked in her eyes. "Those men who chased you in Chantilly are planning to come back for you."

Sarah wanted to pull her head away, to leap over the back of the couch, to run somewhere—anywhere. But she remained there, unmoving.

Sensing her daughter's inner turmoil, Amanda gave Sarah's cheek a brief caress.

Sarah looked down at her hands and saw they were trembling. Matt's tentative hand on her shoulder brought her voice back. She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "You knew, didn't you?"

Before Matt could answer, Lee interrupted. "Be easy on him, Sarah. We wanted to wait, but Matt said we should tell you now." He leaned forward. "There's more."

Amanda spoke quietly. "They have threatened to do anything to get to you—and Matt is at the center of those threats."

"You mean they'll hurt him to get to me." Sarah's voice was no more than a whisper. She looked first at her mother, then at her father, then at Matt. "You knew this, and didn't say anything? Oh, God. We had lunch in a public park. You're putting your life at risk every time you're with me. And all I could talk about was me yesterday." The tears flowed freely down her face.

Matt reached out and took Sarah in his arms, holding her tightly to him. "We're relatively safe for the moment, Sarah. They've gone back to Mexico for a time. We can still go see the horses, have dinner with our friends, go to the opening…"

"This is what I was talking about. This is only for the moment. I can never be normal." She put her hands on Matt's chest and pushed away from him. "You thought you were putting me in danger—I'm putting you in danger, now."

Amanda put a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "No one is putting anyone in danger except these terrorists." Amanda emphasized her point. "And they are terrorists. And we are going to do whatever we can to stop them, Sarah."

Lee chimed in. "Sarah, you need to know that only a few people at the Agency know about this. There's been a security leak."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone is giving information about us to the cartel. For that reason, you must never mention this to Dr. Kirby or anyone else you see from the Agency—except for the short list of people looking for the mole."

"Jamie and Phillip, Matt, you two. Who else?"

"Right so far. Also Francine, Efraim, and Rene." Lee deliberately left Wong off the list.

Sarah grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table. She sat up between her mother and Matt. When she spoke, her voice was matter-of-fact. "What do we do once we know they want to come after me—and Matt?"

Lee hid a smile. Sarah had inherited her mother's fighting spirit. "You two go to a safe house."

"But won't that hinder your investigation? How will you catch them if we're hiding?"

"That's an excellent question. But they would still be looking. Your mother and I have been working on a sort of cat and mouse ruse." Lee ran a hand through his hair, then got up to pace. "To be honest, we still have to figure out all the details. For now, we only need to be watching carefully for that 'Jorge' character Jeff talked to. And you and Matt will go to a safe house the minute we smell trouble from the other cartel members. In fact, I recommend you both pack up some personal items you'd want with you and give the bags to me. I'll find a way to get them to you."

"What about you and Mom?" Sarah's voice was strained once again.

"Don't worry about us, Pumpkin." Lee's tone turned sardonic. "They plan to send us a ransom note, so they won't hurt us."

Amanda broke in. "What your father means to say is that we will be running the investigation. We won't stop until all of the men involved are no longer a danger to you."

"Wait a minute. I just thought of something. Do you remember how Jeff suspected that you two worked in intelligence? We tried to brush off his concerns—tell him he was imagining things, but he wasn't convinced. Do you suppose he's really the mole? How much information leaked out?"

Amanda glanced at Lee, who was putting on his best agent face, then back at Sarah. "Meaning, he was fishing for information by talking to you? That is something to consider. Good thinking, sweetheart."

Sarah turned to Matt, who had been quiet. "I'm sorry for becoming angry."

"Sarah, please believe me when I say that I had no intention of lying to you or deceiving you about this. Your parents and I wanted to tell you together, in person. I didn't even know about anything until Monday morning. I've been working late the past two nights hoping we would have better news when we did tell you tonight."

Sarah looked at Matt and put a hand on his face briefly. "I understand."

"It just about killed me not to say anything when we talked at lunch yesterday."

"I'm sure. My timing was terrible."

"No. It was perfect. I think I understand how you might be feeling right now." Matt looked at Sarah, then at her parents, willing her to say something.

Sarah read his thoughts and turned to Lee and Amanda, who were casting their own glances at one another. "Matt and I had lunch after my appointment with Dr. Kirby. I don't feel like getting into details right now, but let's just say I'm working on how I handle this stuff."

"Well, if you do feel like going into details sometime, I'm willing to listen, Sweetheart." Amanda put an arm around Sarah's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

Matt got up and reached out a hand to help Sarah to her feet. "How about I walk you up to the apartment?"

"That would be nice." Sarah started to pick up the glasses.

"Just leave them, sweetheart."

After they walked out the door, Lee turned to Amanda. "What do you suppose that 'handling stuff' was about?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I wonder if it had something to do with the 'I can never be normal' remark she made."

"I noticed that. And there was her anger towards Phillip the other day."

"Dr. Kirby can help her work it out. I just wish…"

"Don't get started on the 'what ifs,' Amanda. Just having worked at the Agency back in the eighties brought lasting security issues to our family. This is what we do. I remember you saying years ago that you hoped to make the world a safer place for your children. We didn't have Sarah then, but your goal hasn't changed. Sometimes there is a price to pay. I hate having to force that burden on Sarah, but it can't be helped."

Amanda was thoughtful. "And our backgrounds can help her to become a stronger person. Did you see the way Sarah collected herself during our conversation—and thought of the possible solution to our 'mole' issue? I was proud of her attitude—I just hope it's not a brave front."

"I don't think so. It was as if she'd made up her mind to face this head on. Reminded me of you, when you were still learning the ropes. Just when I'd think you might be ready to throw in the towel after a particularly bad case, you'd rally. It was one of the things that endeared you to me—before I was even willing to admit I loved you." Lee stood up and reached out a hand to Amanda to help her up, and then went to lock the door and set the alarm while she took the glasses to the kitchen.

"When she said the suspense was making the hair on the back of her neck stand up, I felt like I was talking to you. And that expression. I felt like I was looking at a very young Lee Stetson."

"To be honest, I saw that, too. She's like both of us." Lee went to the kitchen and watched as Amanda started the dishwasher. "And I always knew there was a reason to not like Jeff."

"Oh, Lee." Amanda cast an exasperated look at her husband before she went to the stairs. He switched off the lights and followed her.

In Sarah's apartment, Matt was embracing her. "When I found out about the cartel on Monday, I just wanted to hold you—make sure you were real. And safe." He kissed her hair and caressed her back.

Sarah returned the close embrace. "Does it scare you that they want to hurt you, Matt?" She kissed his chest and rested her head against him.

Matt smiled at the gesture. She had done that once before, when he had given her the cell phone before the Kazakhstan trip. She had been uncertain and upset then, too. He stroked her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. Roses. Somehow it was comforting to him.

He knew that he had not yet answered her. "I'm more frightened about what might happen to you, Sarah. I'm not sure you realize what they intend…"

"I can't think that far. I just have to keep them from getting that close."

Matt kissed her hair again. "That's the spirit." He pulled back and cupped her chin so he could look in her eyes. "Let's concentrate on having fun while we can. We won't be careless, but we won't live in fear. Okay?"

Sarah met his gaze. "Okay. You know, you can get me to agree to anything when you look at me like that. You have the most gorgeous eyes."

Matt cleared his throat, forcing unbidden thoughts from his mind. Perhaps someday, Granger. Self-control, man. He decided to distract them both with a little teasing. "So, where's that dress?"

Sarah tried to pull away. "Oh no. I take it back. I should have said I could agree to just about anything. I'm not telling."

Matt held her fast and grinned. "You know, we've been in this position before. You don't stand a chance."

"You were holding my hands at my sides and I was facing away from you. And I'm not telling." Sarah playfully turned her face away.

Matt laughed lightly and kissed Sarah's cheek, relaxing his hold on her. He moved his lips towards her mouth and she kissed him back. Finally he released her.

"Time to follow through on that self-control thing."

"Yes." Sarah reached up to touch Matt's face.

"I love you, Sarah."

"I love you, too, Matt."

They kissed again briefly before Matt slipped out the door.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Lee and Amanda watched from the monitor next door as Francine talked with Jeff in the interrogation room. Amanda stood poised at the door, waiting for the opportunity to join in the conversation. They had worked out a plan of sorts.

"Was it really necessary to bring him down here? What if he starts singing like a bird about the Agency, too?"

"Lee, he has no idea where he is. We could be any law enforcement bureau—or the State Department, for that matter. That's why we used the guest elevator."

The "guest" elevator stopped at two levels, the Georgetown entrance and the unmarked hallways of the interrogation section. Unknowing visitors could be fooled into thinking that they were at an International Federal Film—IFF—facility, while still being kept securely away from sensitive areas.

Lee knew better than to think Jeff would guess where he was, but he was chafing at the long wait, and growing irritable.

Inside the room, Jeff was watching Francine with interest. He had seen her at a few of the rare Stetson family occasions Sarah had managed to talk him into attending. He was not one to enjoy group gatherings, and Sarah's mixed family made him feel somewhat ill at ease. Francine was one of the reasons. He found it hard to believe she was a filmmaker—and today he was certain his suspicions had been correct. I'm glad Sarah broke it off with me. She's from a family of spooks.

"So Jeff, you haven't answered me. Was that all you said to this Jorge?"

"I think I need a lawyer."

"Listen, Jeff." Francine got up and walked around the table. Jeff guessed that she had to be in her late fifties, but she was still attractive and glamorous. Her tailored skirt accentuated her curves and he could not help noticing as she leaned forward that her blouse fell open just enough to tease him. She's old enough to be my mother. But my mother doesn't look like this.

"I think you know that I'm not a filmmaker." Francine sat down next to Jeff and crossed her legs. "But I think you should know that I don't have to get a lawyer for you. And if you start asking questions when you leave here, you won't get anywhere. So let's just concentrate on giving me the information I'm asking for, okay?"

Amanda smirked as she watched her husband. "She even has your attention, Scarecrow."

Lee, who had stood transfixed at Francine's latest maneuver, quickly looked over at his wife. "I was just watching to see how Jeff reacted."

"It looks like she's unnerved more than one male around here."

"Don't exaggerate. You know I only have eyes for you."

Amanda raised her eyebrows, but did not say anything. She reached over and patted Lee's arm. "I'm only teasing, Lee." Amanda focused her attention back on Jeff, who was getting more tongue-tied by the minute. She waited until he started to fidget before she walked to the door.

Lee watched his wife with something akin to amusement as Amanda smoothed her skirt and her hair, then picked up the water bottle from the table nearby. This is the fun part, he thought to himself.

Jeff felt like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. Francine was a beautiful woman—despite her age—but he had never encountered anyone like her. He scooted his chair back a few inches as she leaned towards him.

"So, what gave you the idea the Stetsons were "spooks," as you call it, Jeff?" she purred.

Just then the door opened, and Amanda walked in. Jeff heaved a sigh of relief at the familiar face. He knew Lee didn't like him, but he was fairly certain Amanda was a friend.

"Hello, Jeff." Amanda smiled sweetly at Jeff and looked over at Francine. "Mrs. Beaman, I think we've harassed Jeff enough for one day. Let's give this poor young man a break."

Francine stood up and went to Amanda. Jeff watched as her persona changed from cougar to house cat. "I was just getting him to talk," she hissed. "Why did you have to come in now?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes briefly at Francine before smiling over at Jeff. "Why don't you get some coffee?" she asked Francine, her voice almost saccharine sweet.

"Fine," Francine huffed out loud, but gave Amanda a quick wink before flouncing out the door, letting it slam behind her.

Amanda sat down across from Jeff and handed him the water bottle. "I'm sorry about Francine. I'm sure this is all overwhelming for you."

"Yeah. Listen, I have my classes to teach this evening. How long will I be here?"

"I'm not sure." Amanda smiled at Jeff uncertainly. "I tried to talk with a few people. I don't know why you were brought here in the first place."

Jeff looked at Amanda for a moment. He started to speak, but hesitated. Suddenly, he blurted out, "I still love your daughter, you know."

In the next room, Lee and Francine watched together. "Here we go," she said.

Grimacing, Lee ran his hand through his hair.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Matt walked into the bullpen and set the grocery bag down on his desk. Glancing around the room, he saw he was the first one there once again. After he organized the protein bars, nuts, and other food in his drawer, he looked up just in time to see Lee and Amanda walk through the doors.

After they exchanged greetings, Lee pointed at the conference room and mouthed, "You and me, twenty minutes."

Matt nodded, and then turned to his computer. He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling growing in his stomach. Although he and Lee's relationship had gone from strained "chief and freshman agent" interactions to an easy friendship in the last few months, he still felt intimidated by the veteran operative at times.

You're just tired, Granger. You haven't been sleeping well, and you woke up too early again this morning.

Jamie had found nothing in the phone records to link any of the agents to the cartel. Frustrated at the lack of success examining surveillance footage of the Agency, Phillip had sent Matt and Rene back to the bullpen, saying he would run a program using facial recognition software on surveillance footage from the regional airports, train stations, bus depots, and hotels. Otherwise, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Left with nothing to do at the Agency the previous afternoon, Rene and Matt had gone to run surveillance in the warehouse district and enlist the services of George, Rene's retired police detective friend.

Matt scanned the intelligence community chatter and checked his emails. Once done, he sighed and stared at his desk. He had nothing to do, and it irked him. He considered going to Francine to beg for some kind of assignment, but when he glanced through her windows, he could see that she was engaged in some kind of discussion with the Stetsons and decided to wait.

He had just finished sending a text to Sarah when Lee came striding out of Francine's office, a memory stick in his hand. Lee motioned to Matt, who followed him into the conference room. Lee shut the door after him.

"What's up?"

"You probably know we interviewed Jeff yesterday."

"Yes."

Lee busied himself turning on the computer and inserting the memory stick. "I thought you might like to listen to the recording before our meeting. I have to hand it to Amanda and Francine. They still make quite a team when it comes to interrogation."

Lee watched Matt's face cloud over. "Why do I want to watch this interview ahead of time?"

"Well, he was Sarah's old boyfriend—just listen to the interview."

Lee played the portion with Francine's manipulations at double speed, then slowed the recording when Amanda walked in the room, sat down, and handed Jeff the bottle of water. The audio came back on just as Jeff began to speak.

"I still love your daughter, you know."

Matt frowned. "Is this really necessary?"

"Keep listening."

At Amanda's understanding expression, Jeff had felt compelled to continue. "I'm worried about her, Amanda. I've seen her with her new boyfriend a couple of times, and I can tell I have no chance with her anymore. But, do you think it's wise for her to get so involved with someone she's barely known for a few months?"

Before Matt could say anything, Lee put a hand on his shoulder. "Just listen."

Amanda sat back in her chair. "I wasn't aware she was seeing anyone."

"And here I thought you two were really close. I'm sorry to be breaking this to you."

"I guess there's another good reason I came to check on you just now." Amanda's expression was sympathetic. "I guess this must have been hard for you—are you really sure she's seeing someone?"

"Well, I had seen her with the guy a couple of times, like I said. Then I met someone at the cafeteria. We ate lunch a few times, and he asked questions about my department and what I do there. I mentioned that I work with some of the graduate students, and Jorge was really interested. He asked if I knew Sarah."

Matt leaned forward as Jeff continued on the recording. "The guy seemed pretty nice—harmless, really. I went ahead and told him that we had been friends. I wasn't about to tell him that we had nearly gotten married. A little too personal, you know?"

Although Matt knew Sarah's side of the story—she had never truly loved Jeff and could not have married him—he still felt a surge of jealousy at Jeff's words. He so distracted that he almost missed Lee's comment.

"You didn't want to admit you'd been dumped, loser," Lee muttered under his breath as he pulled out a chair and sat down noisily.

Matt shot a surprised look Lee's way. When Lee just raised his eyebrows and looked back at the screen, Matt grinned to himself.

"Jorge said that his friend had been seeing Sarah—that they had become lovers." Matt squirmed in his seat at this, but he was relieved to see no reaction from Lee. "He seemed so concerned about his friend—I think he said his name was Matt—that I felt like I should help him out."

"How do you mean, Jeff?"

"Well, we both know what a sweet girl Sarah is. But I'm going to be honest. Your connections, whatever they are, are a little unnerving."

"Oh." Amanda sighed and looked down in apology. "I can see that, especially after how you've been treated today."

"Yeah. I know that you've always been kind to me, Amanda, but sometimes your husband is a little intimidating."

Matt hid a smile with his hand when Lee growled, "Damn right."

"So you told Jorge that we worked for IFF?"

"Actually, I told him that you said you worked for IFF, but that I suspected IFF was a cover for something else. Let's be honest. You guys just don't talk like film people."

"Jeff, did you say this man that Sarah is seeing is named Matt?"

"Yes. Matt Granger."

"How does Jorge know him?"

"They became friends at the gym. I've seen Matt. He looks like one of those body builder types. Jorge isn't like that, but I guess they've hung out."

"And Jorge told you about Matt? Is that how you found out his name?"

"Yes. Like I told you—Jorge was hoping to help Matt."

Lee reached over and pressed the stop button.

Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Lee, I think you should know that Sarah and I…"

Lee put up a hand. "Matt, if you're talking about the 'lover' reference, forget it. I know my daughter pretty well. I'm guessing the guy was talking out of turn, from what Sarah's told Amanda and from what I've seen. The question I have is: are you willing to sit in a room full of people and have them hear this?"

"I guess I can handle it. I just hate seeing our personal lives becoming a topic of discussion in a case."

"Well, son, if it's any consolation, the majority of the people in the room have felt the same way at one time or another."

"I guess it helps to know that. So, what did you do with Jeff after the interview, anyway?"

"We let him go. Efraim is already on campus, keeping an eye on Jeff. If need be, he'll befriend Jeff and try to get a visual ID of Jorge. As much as I'd love to pin Jeff to the wall and tell him to keep his trap shut about my daughter and our family, it might backfire. For now, we can use Jeff to find Jorge."

Matt looked off into space for a moment, then back at Lee. "How did Jorge know my name?"

"That's a good question. And that's why we are going to step up our investigation. There has to be someone here at the Agency. We think this whole thing with Jeff was meant to divert our attention from the real mole."

"Just when I was starting to think I was going to go nuts out of boredom and frustration. What do we do?"

"Come to the meeting later and we'll figure it out."