"Bester," Kaylee said, removing the boy's hand for the twentieth time, "I told you. Just cause we're talking doesn't mean we're gonna do anything else."

"We've been talking since supper. Maybe it's time to do something else." They were in the equipment shed. Bester had originally wanted to 'talk' in Serenity's engine room, but Kaylee had avoided that little trap and brought him here. "Don't tell me you don't want it." Bester backed her up until her rump bumped up against a table, then he put his hands on its edge on either side of her. He leaned over her, bringing his face close.

Kaylee pressed her palms against his chest, forcing them apart. "I won't. But I'm an engaged woman now."

"Yeah? Where's your ring then?"

On their last trip to Persephone, Badger had presented Simon with a tiny jewel box, delivered to him by roundabout means he wouldn't divulge. Suspiciously, Kaylee's beau had opened the box, stared at the contents, and immediately presented it to her on one knee. My great-grandmother's engagement ring, he had said as he'd opened the box for her to see, and taken her left hand to slip it on. My mother must have sent it. It was a beautiful thing, a delicate open braid of platinum strands, and it fit as if it had been made just for her. The idea of sticking her hands into an access panel or a sump with it on her finger made her cringe. "I keep it in my room, safe. Just cause I don't wear it doesn't mean I don't know what it means." She sidestepped away from the bench, giving herself some maneuvering room. You're a nice fella, Bester-" Even if you're not much of a mechanic. "We had fun together. I like you. I'm glad to hear you're doin okay. But it's plain we're about talked out. It's time to part ways."

The smile disappeared from his face. "You really mean it."

"Yeh."

"You're not just being coy."

"No."

"Well, zao gao," he said. "Blew that call. If I'd a gone to Edger's tonight instead of staying here, I could have been in bed with the barmaid by now." He turned for the door. "Maybe it's not too late."

"Sorry to break your heart like this," she called after him, feeling a little miffed despite her relief. "Try to get over me."

He waved without looking back and passed through the half-open rolling door into the night. "Hey, tell your sister-in-law I'll see her around, okay? I think we kind of hit it off."

Kaylee picked a wrench up off the bench and followed the boy through the door with thoughts of mayhem - or minor injury, at least. But as she stepped through the doorway, she heard a faint banging noise from across the field, and the temptation to chuck her tool at the back of Bester's head disappeared. The strange man at Serenity's closed loading ramp stopped beating on the personnel hatch and dropped his pipe as it swung open and two handguns pushed out through the opening.

-0-

Mal holstered his pistol and swung the personnel door over and down to thump into its jamb, sealing the ship up again.

"What do you make of that?" Wash asked. Mal, Zoë, Wash, Inara, and River were clustered around the hatch: all of Serenity's crew who were sleeping aboard, with one exception. Inara, wearing a long silky robe, cocked a sculpted eyebrow at Mal's shirtless state, bringing a touch of heat to his ears. River wore a thin shift with one of Simon's vests over it, and Jayne's ridiculous orange hat. The Washburns wore sleeveless shirts and underpants, likely the first garments come to hand when they had heard someone pounding on the cargo door. The Shepherd was the only one who hadn't come to the hold, despite his sleeping quarters being closer to the door than anyone but River.

Zoë had brought her gunbelt as well, held loose in her hand; she slipped her mare's leg back into it. "Seems Mister Singh had a bout of insomnia."

"The result of a troubled conscience, no doubt," Mal said.

"The messenger doesn't know," River said. "Just following orders. All he's thinking about is home and bed." She added, "He doesn't like his boss much."

"Can't imagine why," Wash said. "Who doesn't love an employer who throws out arbitrary orders all the time and only explains himself when he feels like it?"

"Was that directed at me?" Mal asked.

"I'm pretty sure I was facing away from you. I feel safer rolling my eyes that way."

Inara said, "They might have told us before I came back. I'll have to go back to Capital City for my shuttle, but I should be able to join the search by midday."

"We'll find them before that," River said. "We only need one shuttle, if I'm on it."

"You will be." He looked at Wash. "But you'll fly. Some of those clearings look plenty tight. Zoë too. We might need the firepower."

Inara said, "Then I, no doubt, being surplus to the mission's needs and a frail, will stay and make tea, awaiting your return."

Mal looked down on her. "I don't like putting you in this. But with Simon gone, you're the closest thing to a doctor we got. Gather up whatever you got of a first aid nature and be ready to come with."

"Jie jie still has her wrench," said River, just before something rapped sharply against the hatch and the wheel began to turn. "Hey!" Came Kaylee's voice through the panel. "What's goin on?"

"Yeah, she's comin too," Mal said wearily.

"What about the Shepherd?" Inara glanced down the length of the hold to the hatch leading to passenger quarters. "I don't suppose you're worried about the spiritual needs of our party, but he's proven himself useful in other ways."

Mal glanced that way as well. "Maybe. But I'm guessing he's already been more than a little useful."

-0-

"It was Burdon's," Jayne said to the others. "When we first come on them, and he shoved her behind him, he passed it to her, and she kept it in her pocket. He knew we'd search him."

Garrod glanced from the comlink in Jayne's hand to Amadine, who sat against a tree on the other side of the clearing watching them. "She told you that?"

"Nah. She still ain't talkin really. She's still makin up her mind about us. I think she gave us this ta see what we'll do with it."

Simon stared at the device in Jayne's hand as well. "We knew he was getting information from outside, but I never suspected he had partners."

Ames was behind it all. Jayne hadn't passed along Burdon's last words yet, and didn't intend to, at least until he was surer of their meaning. "You can bet this don't connect to no comsat. That means short range. Whoever the umhuo is, he's close by."

"The mining camp," Royce said. "He was headed there after all."

Jayne shook his head. "Then why didn't he take the shortest way there? Why detour up this hill?"

Simon said, "It's a low-power unit, short range. But it's line of sight into the camp from the top of the hill. He wanted to talk with someone there, but at a safe distance, possibly without the other party knowing his location."

"Ayuh. Sounds a little like ransom negotiations, dunnit?"

Simon nodded to the comlink. "Then how did he get that?"

Dell said, "Maybe it was hers, and he took it off her. Maybe her daddy has the other one."

Maybe he does, Jayne thought grimly. "Then why put it in her hands, less he was sure she wouldn't use it?"

Royce said, "What do we do now? Seems like taking her to that camp's a bad idea. Can we call our people with that?"

Jayne examined the comlink, for the tenth time: smaller than the units aboard Serenity, and sleeker, contoured to fit the palm – Core World manufacture. The battery was smaller too, though it clearly held a charge far longer. A quick examination had showed it wouldn't fit in their unit. "I used coms like this before. The wave's locked and coded. It only talks to whoever's got a matchin one."

"Back to the logging camp, then."

"Not just yet." He looked at Amadine, who stared back. "I want some answers before we bring this girl outta the woods. May be she's still in danger." He tossed the comlink up a few inches and caught it.

Simon said, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Bet our answers is on the other end a this link. But we can't ask em direct before we know who we're talkin to."

"Your voice is enough like his, at least over com I think," Simon said. "Just try not to talk too much."

"Not the first time I ever heard that. Come with me." He turned toward the uphill trail. "Rest a ya, stay here."

"Why?" Dell said. "And why him?"

"Cause the two of us is the only ones got practice dealin with the criminal element," Jayne said. "And I need her kept safe." He looked into the boy's eyes. "Can you do that?"

The youngest Henson hesitated, then nodded.

On the way to the end of the clearing, the big merc squatted in front of the girl, who sat with knees drawn up against her tree. "Still got that little pretty?"

She nodded.

"You ain't wearin it." When no answer came he said, "That's aright, just so's you keep hold of it." He nodded toward Simon. "We're gonna go try to learn the truth of all this. We won't be far off, and I don't think we'll be gone long. These three will keep you safe while we're gone. They're rough characters, but they got good hearts." Daring greatly, he placed a palm atop her head for a moment. "Everything's gonna be okay."

When their feet were on the trail and the clearing was lost to sight he said, "Hope your head's cleared some. Need that brain in workin order. I'm so tired I can't hardly think straight, but this has to be done now. Burdon wasn't in no hurry, but he was arready camped a short walk from the top a the hill in the middle of the afternoon. If he was s'posed ta call in sometime before sunset, we arready lost our chance."

"If not," Simon said, "the delay may work in our favor. The person on the other end may be sleepy and upset." He stumbled and recovered. "I'm all right," he said before Jayne could ask. "There just seem to be more tree roots in the trail than last time we walked it."

At the top, a soft breeze passed over them, chilling the sweat on Jayne's skin under the body armor. Dim lights were a-twinkle in the camp across the valley floor, and a faint glow on the horizon showed that the sats were illuminating a patch just over the curve of the little world. He took a deep breath, looked at Simon, clicked the 'send' button and said, "You there?"

No answer. They waited a few minutes. Jayne took off his shirt, removed the body armor, and dressed again.

Several tries and pauses later, the air flooded with light, weak at first but growing swiftly to full daylight as the sats directed their attention to this part of the world. From across the valley, faint sounds indicated the mining camp was waking up.

"What if we don't get an answer?" Simon asked.

"Still not takin her inta that camp, just cause it's where he was headed. Not goin back to the charcoal camp either. We'll break out the maps and find a way to the nearest town." He clicked the 'send' button again. "You there?"

"Of course I'm here," came a tiny voice from the speaker. "You're late."

Jayne looked at Simon. Simon said, "He was in no hurry. Whatever plan these two had, he wasn't sticking to it."

Jayne nodded and clicked on the unit. "Change of plan."

"Where are you?"

"Not far."

"I know that," the voice said."Where is she? Where did you leave her?"

Simon said, "We don't know what he wants with her. He doesn't know where you are, tell her you have her."

Jayne nodded and said to the com, "She's with me."

"What? You haven't even killed her yet?"

Jayne unclenched his jaw. "Plans change," he repeated. He waited. If the ga ni niang on the other end was going to spill anything, now was the time.

"We had a deal," the voice on com said. "A very generous one, especially considering I could have just turned you in when I discovered who you were two years ago. Instead I kept you on, and kept your secret, because I thought you might be of use to me someday. You're offering me a poor show on investment, Burdon. I really hope you're not trying to hold me up for more money."

The merc and doctor traded glances. "There's a posse out here combing the Wood for her," Jayne said into the com, hoping he wasn't saying too much.

"Of course there is," the voice said with exaggerated patience. "I sent them. They're the ones who were supposed to find the body. I told you. Has living like Saska for thirty years rotted your brain or something?" The man let out a long exhale. "The whole thing was so simple. You didn't even have to steal the brat, I handed her to you. Keep her till I send someone to look for her, I said, then do her and leave the body where they're sure to find it. I even gave you a week to play with her. Instead, I've been losing money every day for three weeks while you play hide and seek with those shaguas." A pause, and another long exhale. "All right. Why are you calling then? What do you want?"

Jayne looked at Simon. "Now what?"

"I think you've gotten all you're going to get by impersonating Burdon," the doctor said. "Break contact now, leave him wondering. Maybe he'll make a mistake."

He shook his head. "That don't get us where we want ta go."

The air suddenly filled with the breathy whine of lift engines. "Gor-ram it!" Jayne shouted.

-0-.

"Break off," River said urgently. "Go back."

"We just found them," Wash protested. Just ahead on a bare hilltop, two figures were frantically waving their arms.

"He wants us out of sight."

Mal said, "Do it. Back toward that stream."

"I can't land. The nearest clearing big enough is miles from here."

"It's the camp," the crazy girl said. "Don't let it see us. Don't."

"What camp?" But Wash was already dropping the little craft low between the hills. He sent it in a wide loop back toward the stream, and followed it for a few minutes until he found a bare patch of sand beside a small waterfall and set it down. "Now what?"

"We wait," said River, staring through the windshield at the trees. "But not for long. Do we have any string?"

-0-

"Burdon. Are you listening to me?"

Holding Simon's eye, Jayne clicked on the transmitter. "Burdon ain't listenin to much of anybody these days."

A long pause. "Who is this?"

"The man you sent out ta find that girl. I got her. But I don't have ta bring her out, if we can come to an understandin."

The voice dropped low. "What about the others?"

"I ain't gonna talk about this any more on wave, crypted com or not. We need ta meet."

"No."

"Fine then. We'll take her straight to the law, and she can tell what she knows. And she knows everything Burdon did. Seems he wasn't worried about her tellin anybody."

Nothing on the com. Jayne's thumb itched with the urge to send another message, but he had seen many a man lose at cards or other showdowns through lack of patience.

"All right." Another long exhale. "Come alone."

"Course I'm comin alone," Jayne said. "I ain't cutting nobody else in on this."

"Go to the mining office, the big sheetmetal building near the edge of the pit. Use the back door and go down the hall to the second door on the right. I'll be waiting."

"I bet ya will," he said without touching the button, then sent: "Fine. I won't be there till noon, I ain't that close. Make sure you're there." He powered off the unit and stuck it in a pocket.

"Pretty risky," Simon said. "Are you really going in there alone?"

"Ayuh. Should be safe enough, as long as he wants the girl dead and can't lay hands on her."

"Why take the chance? Don't we already know all we need?"

He shook his head, remembering his long conversation with Amadine's father the night before they had set out. "I wanna know who I been talkin to. Cause that sure as hell wasn't Simon Ames."

By the time they walked back to the camp, the sound of the shuttle's engines was back and growing louder. It hovered about thirty feet above the little clearing, and its hatch opened. A thick knotted rope fell out, one end reaching the ground. Jayne grabbed it and held tight while the others gathered around. Mal clambered out of the hatch and worked his way down. When he reached the ground he said, "You found her, I see. But it seems like you got other business here. What's it about?"

"This wasn't no random snatch. There's other people involved, and money."

"We know. We couldn't look for you any sooner, because some xi niu Alliance bureaucrat grounded our shuttles on one thin excuse after another." Mal lifted his eyebrows. "At least, till this morning. I think somebody must have appealed to his better nature."

"In the middle of the night."

"Always a good time for bad things to come visit you – bad memories, bad decisions, bad people. Where's your comlink?"

"Here," Jayne said, taking the unit out of a pocket. "Think the battery's dead. We got any spares?"

"Not batteries, but we got another set of comlinks. What do you need them for?"

"If Wash or Kaylee's up there -"

"They both are."

"Then I need one, but I need it tinkered with some. I -"

A small black object seemed to float down to them from the shuttle, jittering in the engine's grav field; when it was just above their heads, Jayne could see it was a comlink, hanging from a length of string. He looked up at the hatch to see Kaylee leaning over looking down at them. Jayne said, "She's up there too, ain't she?"

"It's how we found you."

Jayne grabbed the com and examined it as he clicked the on-off button, nodding in approval. "She needs to get her pigu down here. There's somebody she needs ta talk to." He raised his eyes to the shuttle again, and saw River leaning over the door edge as well, her dark hair hanging down and hiding all her face but her eyes. The pendant had fallen out of her shirt, and dangled by its chain. "You said she wouldn't be too broke ta fix," he said in a voice so low she couldn't possibly catch the words with her ears. "Get on down here and get ta work."

"Is she all right?" Simon asked, waving up at his fiancée. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Well, let's see," the captain said. "She's got one of Kaylee's brothers wonderin whether she wants to court him or kill him, but I 'spect you knew that."

"No. Is it -"

"She stole a shuttle and took it into orbit, setting off traffic-control alarms all over New Home and bringing the Feds to my door. And she dug up an old boyfriend of Kaylee's, the mechanic I fired when I took her on, and brought him to dinner last night, where she started bringin up old times she's got no business knowing whenever the table conversation lagged, which was about once a minute. So, nothing special." To Jayne he said, "You got a plan."

"Ayuh. Nothin fancy, but fancy gets ya caught." Jayne locked eyes with his captain. "I'm givin orders again, I know. And I ain't told ya what it's about. But we ain't got much time."

"Wait," Dell said. "You're not the captain?"

Royce said to him, "This is why I never let you go to town alone."

"Good officer knows when not to jiggle his noncom's elbow." Mal nodded as River swung a leg out to begin her descent. "What else do you need?"

-0-

Jayne arrived at the mining camp just before noon. He went carefully down the busy, muddy street, watching for signs of interest in him, but nobody seemed to pay him any mind as he made his way to the pit at the edge of the camp.

The office was a big sheetmetal structure, as the voice on the com had described. It was more substantial than Jayne had expected from a temporary structure, but Simon Ames was a man who planned for the future. The big merc paused at the door and took a good look around for witnesses before pulling it open and stepping inside.

For a moment he wondered if he was in the wrong building. The corridor that the man had described wasn't there. Instead Jayne stood in a big, mostly-empty space that made him think of Serenity's hold. A perfect ambush spot, he thought.

"I've got a gun on you." The voice from the comlink conversation, coming from a stack of crates a few steps from the door. "Keep your hands where I can see them." A man stepped out of cover, a laser pistol in his hand: Roderick Ames, who had come with his father the night of the party, but stood silent while his old man did the talking.

"Don't move." Ames came up behind Jayne and started patting him down with one hand. Unseen, the big merc curled his lip. Amateur. Jayne could have taken the gun away from the shagua half a dozen times during the search.

The search revealed nothing on Jayne's person but two comlinks. "The fancy one's yours," Jayne said. "The other one's ours. Battery went dead just after we found the redhead in the pit."

Ames pocketed his comlink, then examined the other. He clicked the power button a couple of times, looking at the ready light, which stayed dark and dead, then tossed the unit back to him. Jayne stuck it back in his shirt pocket. The businessman said, "What sort of deal do you have in mind?"

"One that ends with you getting what you wanted from Burdon," Jayne said. "But we need ta talk about what I'm sposed to do to make that happen, and what I'm gonna get in return."

"You already know what I want," the young businessman said. "That brat conspicuously dead, in a way that leaves me and my father blameless."

"And without the old man findin out the truth," Jayne added. "He dun know, does he?"

Roderick scoffed. "He'd rather see his life's work and mine scattered to the crows before he'd harm a hair on her empty little head." He stepped back. "Who else knows?" His weapon was no longer pointed directly at Jayne, but the speculation behind the man's neutral stare was clear enough to a man used to winning at cards.

"Just me and the girl," Jayne said. "She ain't talked to nobody else, but that'll change if I don't come back."

The man lowered his pistol. "What about the others? Don't tell me you're thinking of cutting them in. I don't think it would work."

"Me neither. I'll hafta keep em in the dark."

"They don't know about this meeting then."

"They do. But nobody knows who I'm goin ta meet. When I get back to the camp, I'll say nobody showed. They'll figure the ga ni naing got suspicious and decided to cut his losses instead a doublin down."

"How are you going to do the girl without raising suspicion? The story has to be tight."

"Shouldn't be too hard. Can ya afford to lose an aircar?" At Roderick's raised eyebrows he went on, "I'm thinkin tragic accident as I'm flyin her back to her daddy, with me the only survivor."

The junior Ames smiled. Jayne was glad of his flannel shirt, with its high collar and long sleeves: Roderick didn't seem the sharpest of men, but he might be observant enough to see the hair rise on the big merc's neck and forearms. "Her family will be devastated. Imagine, after that miraculous rescue, to be killed by bad luck almost at our front door."

"Aright, we got that settled. Now, money."

"A hundred thousand platinum once the insurance company pays off. That's ten times what I offered Burdon."

"Burdon was interested in other things sides money. I work for cash." He nodded. "Aright. There's a little burg named Brown's Landing on the edge of the Wood not too far from here. We'll wave from there. You send a car, a two-seater. I'll tell the driver I'm takin her personal, to make sure I get paid. Make sure you send somebody who ain't likely ta argue."

Roderick holstered his pistol and produced a small silver case. He snapped it open to reveal a row of short, neatly rolled cigarettes. He stuck one in his mouth, and the tip glowed red at the first pull. He put the case away without offering one to Jayne. He took another drag and exhaled. The sweetish, burning-leaves smell was one Jayne recognized: it seemed that young Ames had a stronger habit than nicotine. "You're quite the scoundrel, Cobb. It is Cobb, isn't it? I checked you all out before I talked my father into hiring you. I was reassured to see how sketchy and incomplete the files were. That's the mark of people who spend a lot of time on the wrong side of the law. The sort of people a man can deal with." Another pull. "I was surprised by the size of the bounties on your heads, though. The sibs must be white-collar criminals of the highest order. If your first mate's maiden name really was 'Alleyne,' then her bounty is a blanket one for any former Independent suspected of joining the Underground after the War. But whatever did you do to get a price of twenty thousand on your head?"

The big merc swallowed his surprise. Twenty thousand? He hadn't even known there was a reward out on him. "Somethin it's best not ta talk about."

"How much trouble did you get in for impersonating your captain?"

"Handlin trouble is what I do. It's what you're payin me for too. How long will it take for the insurance company ta pay off?"

"No more than ten days, once they identify the body and determine cause of death. So keep it neat. Your ship will still be in that boneyard by then anyway. I suggest you ship out with them before you part ways. Less suspicious." That speculative look was back. "How about I send a six-place car, and you take the rest of the rescue party with you? It would be worth another twenty to me."

Jayne locked gazes with the young man. "Snappin the neck of a ten-year-old is one thing. Takin down five armed men in a movin aircar's another." The memory of pitching Stitch over the side of the aircar above Higgin's Moon appeared briefly in his mind; he pushed it away. "You ain't got enough money for that."

"Too bad. It would tie up a lot of loose ends, and clean up the mess my father made when he wrote them a check they won't be able to cash. 'First pick' of the sat info is worth nothing. If he was keeping a closer eye on his businesses instead of leaving them for me to run the last four years, he would have known that. But, between chasing all over Jove system for capital and chasing my stepmother around the bedroom, he's got no time for the day-to-day concerns anymore." The drug the cigarettes were laced with made a man chatty; the kid must be feeling it already.

"Aright then. Best get back." Jayne stepped a little closer; it was easier to disarm a man already in arm's reach. In a low voice he said, "Just one thing. You can take two thousand of that money back, you answer me a question. Why do you want your little sister dead so bad? It ain't just about money."

Ames's lip lifted in a snarl. "'Little sister.' The same man rutted with both our mothers, that's supposed to mean something to me? Pretending to care about that little tumor is the hardest job of acting I've ever done." His mouth settled into a sneer. "Paid off though. She followed me into the trees like a baby duck. The look on her face when I pushed her into Burdon's hands was priceless." He leaned forward. "What did he do with her? Did he tell you? Did she?"

Jayne swallowed, kept his hands close to his sides. "She don't talk hardly at all. She gets all panicky when a man comes near. All Burdon said about it was, she did a lot a screamin."

The look of satisfaction on the younger man's face made Jayne glad he hadn't brought a gun to the meet; he wasn't the best of men at resisting temptation. "Well, then, putting her down might be an act of mercy, eh? I offered him mother and daughter both – it would have been easy to bring her along, and would have been even more money in the bank – but he had no interest in whores, even one as ornamental as my father's second wife."

Jayne remembered standing two steps from this man while Ames had put his job offer to them. The capture Ames had shown him had been put into his hand by his son. This umhuo had taken that capture of her, happy and at play, just before he led her off into the woods. "You still ain't answered the question."

"Didn't I?" Roderick selected another cigarette and lit it with a drag. "I have a number of reasons. At least some of them should be obvious. Like being demoted from first place in my father's regard to a distant third when he remarried to a little climber half his age and got the biao tze pregnant. Dumping the day-to-day running of his businesses on me – he called it an act of trust, but really he just had concerns that were more important. Letting me struggle to keep the family solvent while he bought the moon and stars catering to their whims." He shook his head. "It seems the only lesson he learned about women from his first wife was, if you tell them 'no' too often, they'll leave you."

He took a hard drag on the cigarette, stubbed it, and put it back in the case. "By now, he should have had enough liquid capital to float this new venture all by himself, instead of selling half of it off to speculators and liquidating all his assets. But he let my bitch mother cut him off at the knees on the divorce. I'm sure she didn't do anything to deserve half of his net worth up to that time, but that's what she walked away with. He was worth more than ever by the time I turned sixteen, but then he got a sudden itch to prove he wasn't an old man, it seems. The money he spent on her before we discovered that asteroid might have been enough. For certain, we wouldn't be desperate for cash like we are now. When we collect the insurance money, I'll be able to set the operation in motion." He eyed the big merc. "Why do you care about any of this?"

Jayne locked gazes with the younger man. "Cuz this ain't no small thing we're talkin about doin. I needed to know you wasn't gonna have a change a heart and get all remorseful and confession-y."

"Hardly. I've been planning this for two years. And I've wanted to kill the little monster since before she was born."

Jayne nodded. "Aright. But I want somethin up front ta seal the deal."

Roderick said, amused, "Now, how did I guess that would be the case.?" He produced a small sack. "It's not much, just five hundred from the mining office's cash box. I didn't bring anything for Burdon, because I already paid him."

"Ain't you the trustin type." Jayne hung the sack off his belt under his shirt.

"I never dreamed he'd double-cross me."

"That's how it is with psychopaths," Jayne said. "Bein reliable is part a their camouflage. Bet he showed up for work on time every day at your loggin camps." And I bet your old man was sure he could count on you for anything.

"He did," Roderick said. "That qing wa cao de liu mang. Why did he turn on me?"

Jayne shrugged. "My guess is, he just liked her too much ta give her up."

Roderick shook his head. "Idiot."

-0-

The next morning, still at the mining camp, Roderick was awakened by one of his clerks, the man's face flushed with excitement. "Mr, Ames, they've found her!"

"Wo de tien, ah," he said, sitting up. "Is she all right? Where is she?"

"A hunting party brought her out of the Wood at Brown's Landing, not a day's march from here. I don't know much, sir, but the news is she's alive and well."

"Call the estate, send a car for her. Ma shong. Have Chan take it there. Tell him to take the red runabout, she loves that car." He rubbed at his eyes. "Praise God. I'd almost given up hope."

"It's a glad day for all of us, sir."

After the man left, Roderick let the grin out on his face. In no more than an hour or two, Amadine Ames would be out of his life forever, and the family's financial success would be assured. No more gritting his teeth behind false smiles at the sight of her. No more letting her follow him around, pretending to enjoy her company. No more inane chatter, no stupid games. No more need to build her trust, and to assure her mother and father that he loved her.

He would have liked to be home when Lewellyn Ames got the bad news – her hysteria when her brat had gone missing had been so satisfying, doubtless watching her learn Amadine had been killed just minutes from her mother's arms would have been positively orgasmic – but he was sure he wouldn't make it in time; Brown's Landing was between the mining camp and the estate, and he had no personal transport, having come to the mine with one of the supply trucks. Not calling for a car for himself was an oversight that might be expected of a loving brother giddy with good news. By the time he made it home, the second Mrs. Ames would likely be smoothed to her eyebrows and in bed, and he and Father could be alone to discuss funeral preparations.

He would put in the insurance claim tomorrow, he decided as he dressed for the day. It wouldn't be unseemly for it to come to mind while they were making all the other arrangements. He'd do it without burdening his grieving father, dutiful son that he was, and as soon as he had cash in hand, before he placed his first equipment order, he'd go around to the more nervous of those tan lan moneylenders and buy back a good portion of the shares his father had sold, before they learned of the windfall. He expected to reclaim a two-thirds interest at least, possibly three-quarters. That would assure them of being able to run the operation as they pleased without further interference.

Roderick stepped into the office. The same clerk sat behind a desk beside the one reserved for his use. "Any more news?"

"The car is on its way. I'm sorry, sir, I'm sure you wanted to be the one to give them the news, but I had to explain about the car."

He nodded. "It's all right. Who did you talk to?"

"Your father."

Roderick put a smile on his face. "I suppose he danced a jig when he heard."

"No." The man's face, thoughtful and sympathetic, stared at the blank screen. "He sort of broke down, sir. I thought he might be crying. It must have been an awful strain on him, this past month."

He nodded. "In all the excitement, I forgot. Have someone send another car out for me, will you?"

The morning passed. Roderick went about his business, talking with foremen and engineers, accepting congratulations. He kept the appropriate looks on his face while he talked with them about his beloved little sister's kidnapping and rescue, playing his role so well that he even managed a tear or two.

Around noon, a four-place aircar, his father's usual vehicle, appeared in the sky, and Roderick hustled to meet it at the camp's landing pad, intending to jump in and take off immediately. As soon as it touched down, though, he saw that the driver was his father. Surprised but pleased, Roderick watched his father climb out, and approached him, arms wide. "Wonderful news. Have you…"

From two meter's distance, Simon Ames put up a hand in a halting gesture. His face was so cold that Roddy's step faltered, and he stopped. He realized his arms were still raised and lowered them to his sides. "What's wrong?"

"Your mother and I had a prenuptial agreement," his father said.

Confused, Roderick said, "What? What are you talking about? Dad, what's…"

"We had a prenuptial agreement," Simon Ames said again, looking over Roderick's shoulder at nothing. "Just a small percentage of my income, no assets, for ten years. The contract had no provision for custody of children, because I never dreamed she'd be willing to give up her kids at any price." His gaze turned to his son. "Half of everything I owned was her price for letting me keep you."

From his pocket he produced a small capture and turned it on: just a static picture of an antique comlink sitting on a log. But the sound was turned all the way up, and from it came a tinny voice: "Little sister. The same man rutted with both our mothers, that's supposed to mean something to me? Pretending to care about that little tumor is the hardest job of acting I've ever done. Paid off though. She followed me into the trees like a baby duck. The look on her face when I pushed her into Burdon's hands was priceless."

Ames put the capture away. "There are a lot of things I want to say to you right now. But I'm afraid if I got started, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off your neck. Take whatever you can find around here that's of any worth to you, and be in that aircar and gone in five minutes. Otherwise I'll call the law on you. It's more than you deserve, but I suppose I have to take some responsibility for what you've become."

"I only…" He stopped. The world turned into a dark tunnel whose end was his father's face. That face wore a look Roderick was familiar with from witnessing many a hard negotiation: his father had just tendered his final offer on a deal he was more than ready to walk away from.

Roddy turned numbly toward the office. There was still a little cash in the office safe, and the clerk would likely have some money in a drawer somewhere for incidentals. He could sell the car in Capital City for passage offworld.

How could things go so wrong so quickly?

In the office, the clerk looked up as he appeared at the door. "I've been trying to get a hold of you, Mr. Ames. Chang says she was already hours gone when he got there. Picked up by a small ground-to-orbit shuttle. He thinks they headed for Capital City Hospital."

Three minutes later, he was back at the landing pad. His father stood in the same spot, waiting. Roderick passed by, half circling around to stay out of Simon Ames's reach, and climbed into the car and took off.