"So if you hear anything, you'll let me know, right?" Steve said into the phone. "Thanks, dude. I appreciate it."

Steve hung up the phone and sighed. "Thanks for nothing."

"Still no luck?" Kayla said as she walked into the room, carrying Stephanie. Walking to the playpen, she put Stephanie down and turned back to Steve.

Steve shook his head. "Struck out again, Sweetness. I've called in every favor I can, but nobody will tell me anything about that Special Forces unit that worked with Shane.

"Maybe that's a good thing."

Steve looked at Kayla curiously. "What do you mean? Finding that unit is the best chance I have to prove that Shane was on an ISA mission."

"I know," Kayla said softly. "But I keep thinking about what Shane told you. If you try to find these guys, the ISA might come after you." She paused, lowering her eyes. "I know that's selfish, but I can't help being scared."

Steve walked over to Kayla and put his arms around her. "I know, baby. But I'm not going to let the ISA take me away from you and Stephanie." He pulled her closer. "And I can't let that threat keep me from helping Shane."

Kayla nodded. "Just promise you'll be careful. I know Shane needs your help, but Stephanie and I need you too."

"I will, baby." Steve softly kissed her cheek and then released her from his embrace. "Now, you better get going or you're going to be late for work."

Kayla stepped back, walked over to the table, and picked up her purse. "Jamie should be here in a couple of hours."

Steve sighed. He had insisted that they did not need to hire a babysitter just because Kayla had gone back work. He was happy to stay with Stephanie during the day. But Kayla had pointed out that having Jamie come by for a few hours, a few days a week, would allow Steve to run errands and get out of the house without having to bring a toddler along. Steve could not argue too hard with that, and it also meant he did not always have to prevail on Shawn and Caroline if he needed somebody to watch Stephanie. Things already were too tense with them.

Kayla must have noticed the look on his face, because she smiled and said, "I know you don't think it's necessary, but this way you are free to meet me for my lunch break." She gave him a sexy smile. "Those supply closets are no fun by myself."

Steve gave Kayla a crooked leer and sauntered over to her. "You shouldn't tease me like that, Sweetness. I might just call your bluff about the supply closet one of these days."

Kayla looked up at Steve and ran her hand down his face. "Who says I'm bluffing?" Her voice was low and husky and Steve felt his blood begin to warm.

"Baby, you can't do things like this to me when you have to leave for work in-" Steve stopped and checked his watch. "-three minutes."

Kayla grinned. "I guess three minutes really isn't enough time." She gave Steve a quick kiss on his cheek and headed for the door. "We'll just have to pick things up later." Not stopping, she blew him a kiss at the door and left.

Steve stood there staring at the door for a full minute. Then he smiled broadly and shook his head. She was going to be the death of him someday, but at least he would go with a smile on his face.

A giggle from his daughter caught his attention. He walked over and picked her up, saying, "You think it's funny when your mama leaves me like that, huh?" He swung Stephanie over his head and then carried her into the kitchen to prepare her breakfast.

After breakfast, he put her down to play and resumed his phone calls. Despite his nonchalant attitude with Kayla, he was sure that the ISA would know about his search for the Special Forces Unit before long - if they didn't know already.

But Steve was hoping that they would also find out that he had been shut down at every turn. That was not surprising, because Steve stuck to mostly official channels, or at least unofficially official channels. Steve had not really expected to get any information, but he had hoped to throw the ISA off the scent a little.

Now that he had played that part of the game, it was time to move on to better sources of information - his old Merchant Marine buddies. Sometimes, the time Steve had spent in the Merchant Marines felt like another lifetime. A lot of things had happened back then, many of them not very good. Steve's hand moved unconsciously to the patch over his eye.

But one of the good things was the friendships he had made. Bo was the obvious example, despite all that had happened between them, but there were others. Maybe they were not typical friendships and years might go by without speaking, but when the chips were down, those old buddies would be there.

There was a reason that the ISA had used the excuse of an old Merchant Marines buddy being in trouble to make it seem like Steve had left town when he had gone undercover. And Steve had been able to give Kayla her dream wedding on a yacht and a private plane to their honeymoon due to his old buddies. Now it was time to activate the network.

After only a few phone calls, he found a former shipmate who knew somebody who knew somebody working near Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The guy owned a bar frequented by members of the base and said it was not hard to find out which units were at the base and which were deployed.

Steve played with Stephanie while waiting for the return phone call. Within a couple of hours, his buddy called back. Nowicki's and Deakin's unit was still deployed. Steve had been disappointed at the thought of another dead end, but then his buddy said the rumor-mill had them returning within a few weeks.

Steve's buddy promised to call when he got word that the unit had returned to the base. He thanked his friend, adding a promise to send him a bottle of his favorite expensive whiskey as payment.

Steve hung up the phone and sank to the couch. Thanks to his old shipmate, he at least had a way of finding out when the Special Forces unit returned to the U.S. Unfortunately, he still had no way of knowing when that might be. For a moment, he wondered if the ISA might not just make sure the unit did not return until after Shane's trial. That would be just like the ISA. Steve felt his frustration growing again. There had to be a way to find out more information about the soldiers' whereabouts. He just had to think of it.

While Steve was wracking his brain for an answer, Jamie arrived for babysitting duties. Steve grinned as Jamie quickly settled in on the floor with a smiling Stephanie. Kayla had been right as usual. This was a good idea.

Steve kissed his daughter on the top of her head, and told Jamie he was headed out for a while. He had a bottle of whiskey to buy and a Special Forces unit to track down.