Roses Are Red

saw it was almost six already. It didn’t matter what time it was. Not even what day. I called home, checked in on everybody. They were happy I was out — and having F-U-N for a change.
    I was. I watched Betsey sleep naked, and I would have been content to do that for a long time. I thought about drawing a warm bath for the two of us. Should I?
Yes, I should. Why not?
    In the bathroom, I spotted a jar of bright blue bubble-bath beads near her things. She was way ahead of me, wasn’t she? I wondered if I liked that, and decided that I did.
    The tub was filling up slowly when I heard her speak behind me. “Oh, good, I’ve wanted to have a bubble bath with you.”
    I looked around at her — she was still naked.
    “You thought about this before, huh?”
    “Oh, yes. And often. What do you think I’m doing during those endless briefing sessions?”
    A few moments later, we were stepping into the tub together. It felt incredibly good: the antidote to the hard work, the tension, the frustration we’d been experiencing over the past month.
    “I like being with you so much,” Betsey whispered as she stared into my eyes. “I don’t want to leave this tub, or you. This is heaven.”
    “They have excellent room service. The best in D.C.,” I reminded her. “They’ll probably come right to
tubside,
if we ask nicely.”
    “Let’s find out,” Betsey said.

Chapter 108
    IT WENT LIKE THAT, dreamily, wonderfully, perfectly, through the rest of Saturday and into Sunday morning. The only problem — the time went too fast.
    The more I was around Betsey and the more we talked, the more I liked her; and I had liked her before we went to the Four Seasons. What wasn’t there to like? Only once on Saturday did we talk briefly about the Mastermind case. Betsey asked if I thought we were in any danger. She wondered if he might be stalking us. Neither of us had an answer for that one, but we had both brought our guns.
    Around ten Sunday morning, we had breakfast served to us at the pool. We sat on chaise lounges cushioned with fluffy blue and white towels. We read the
Washington Post
and the
New York Times.
We got an occasional curious look, but the Four Seasons is a sophisticated hotel chain and the people who stay here, especially at the hotel in Washington, have seen it all — and much, much more. Besides, I’m sure Betsey and I looked content and happy together.
    I should have seen it coming. I don’t know why, but suddenly I was thinking about the person behind the robberies, murders, and kidnappings: the Mastermind. I tried to will the thought away. It wouldn’t go. The Dragonslayer was back; the job was back.
    I looked at Betsey. Her eyes were shut, and she seemed perfectly relaxed. That morning she’d done her nails a bright shade of red. She’d done her lips the same color. She didn’t look like an FBI agent anymore. She was sexy and beautiful, and I was loving our time together.
    I hated to bother her. She had earned some time off, and she was lying so peacefully on her chaise lounge.
    “Betsey?”
    Her lips formed a smile. She kept her eyes shut tight. She wriggled her body slightly to get a better position on the chaise lounge.
    “Yes. I’d love to go back to the room with you. I’d even give up this toasty feeling on my neck and back for it. We can leave our towels on the chairs. Maybe they’ll still be here when we get back.”
    I smiled, then I lightly massaged her back. “I hate to do this, Betsey. Can we talk about the case? About
him?
”
    She opened her eyes. They had become narrowed and focused. Just like that, Betsey was all business. I was amazed at the transformation. If anything, she was worse than I was. “What about
him?
” she asked. “What are you thinking?”
    I moved over to the edge of her chair. “We’ve spent the last two weeks digging around MetroHartford. Then questioning Macdougall. During all that time, we’ve ignored the banks he hit earlier. Betsey, I want to look through all the old files again. Even the personnel files.”
    She was a little puzzled. “Okay. I guess. Sure. You’ve lost me, though. What are you thinking, Alex? What would we be looking for?”
    “Four employees were killed at the First Union Bank. There was no rhyme or reason for it. We always assumed he was making an example of them. Why four? It doesn’t track for me.”
    She shut her eyes again. I could see the wheels turning — fast; I could almost hear the gears shift. “He wanted revenge