Riptide

her
    beneath her arms and lifted her, then swung her in a circle. He
    kissed her once, then again, and set her back down. He rubbed his
    hands together. "Hot damn, Becca, I think I've got the answer."
    She was laughing, stroking her hands over his arms, so excited
    she couldn't hold still. "Come on, Adam. What is it? Spill the
    beans."
    "Krimakov went to England six times. His trips to England
    stopped about five years ago."
    "And?"
    "I never stopped to wonder why the hell he went to England all
    those times, until now. Becca, think about it. Why did he go? To see
    a former colleague, to see a friend from the good old days? Not a
    woman, he'd remarried, so no, I don't think so."
    She said slowly, "When he moved to Crete, he was alone. No
    relatives with him. Nobody."
    "Yeah, but his files had been purged. Remember, there wasn't
    even anything about his first wife. It was like she never existed, but
    she did. So why did the KGB purge her?"
    Becca said slowly, "Because she was important, because--" Suddenly,
    her eyes gleamed. "Oh my God. Sherlock is right. It isn't
    Krimakov, but neither is it a friend or a former colleague. It's
    someone a whole lot closer to him."

"Yep. Somebody so close he's nearly wearing his skin. We're
    nearly there, Becca. The timing of his visits--they're in the early
    fall or very late spring. Every one of them."
    "Like the beginning or the ending of school terms," Becca said
    slowly. "And then they stop like there's no more school." Then she
    remembered what had happened in the gym in Riptide, and it all
    fell together.
    When they got back to Thomas's house, only Thomas and Hatch
    were there, their conversation desultory, both of them looking so
    depressed that Adam nearly told Hatch to go smoke a cigarette.
    Becca heard Hatch cursing. It sounded like Paul Hogan and his
    sexy Aussie accent.
    "Cheer up, everyone," Adam said. "Becca and I have a surprise
    for you. One that will get you dancing on the ceiling. All we've got
    to do now is have Savich turn on MAX and send him to England.
    Now we've got a chance." He bent down and kissed Becca, right in
    front of Thomas. She raised her hand and lightly touched her fingertips
    to his cheek. "Yes, we do," she said.
    The doorbell rang, making everyone suddenly very alert and
    very focused. It was Dr. Breaker. "Hello, Savich." He nodded to
    everyone else. "We've found something none of you is going to
    believe." And he told them about the very slight abnormalities in
    Becca's blood that a tech had caught. Then he checked Becca's
    shoulder, and finally he checked her upper arm. It wasn't long before
    he looked up and said, "I feel something, right here, just beneath
    her skin. It's small, flexible."
    Adam nodded. "The visit to Riptide makes sense now. You
    know what's in your arm, don't you, Becca?"
    "Yes," she said. "Now all of us know." She raised her hand when
    her father would have begun arguments. "No, I'm not leaving. No
    more people are going to die in my place, like Agent Marlane. No

one is going to be bait in my stead. No, no arguments. I stay here
    with you. Hey, I've got my Coonan."

    For the first time in more nights than she could count, Becca
    wanted to stay awake, stay alert, keep watch. He was close. She
    wanted to see him with clear eyes and a clear mind and her Coonan
    in her hand. She wanted to shoot him between the eyes. And she
    wanted to know why he was doing this. Was he really mad? Psychotic?
    Oh damn, she didn't think she'd be able to hang on. She was
    nearly light headed she was so tired. She'd been so hyped up the
    past couple of nights, she'd just lain there and blinked at the rising
    moon outside the bedroom window.
    Adam had insisted on tucking her in. She wanted him to stay
    just a little longer, but she knew he couldn't. He kissed her, just a
    nibble on her earlobe, and said against her ear, "No, I don't want
    another cold shower. But dream of me, Becca, okay? I've got the
    first watch. It starts soon."
    "Be careful, Adam."
    "I will, everyone will. Try to sleep, sweetheart. He knows the
    house. He knows which room is Thomas's. We've got Thomas well
    guarded." He kissed her once again and rose. "Get some sleep."
    She didn't want to. After he eased out of her bedroom door,
    closing it quietly behind him, she sat up in bed, thinking, remembering,
    analyzing. She was asleep in under six minutes. She
    dreamed, but not of the terror that was very close now, not of
    Adam.
    She found herself in a hospital, walking down long,