“That you’re arrogant, hard to work with, and one of the best field agents in the Bureau.”

“Snoopy little shit, aren’t you?” She decided to turn the tables on him. “I don’t like failure. And I don’t like scrubbed-up kids who think just going through the motions means they’ve done their job.”

“Then we’ve got something in common.”

“I doubt it. Your career’s so new it doesn’t matter whether you’re the one who finds Aurora.”

“It matters to me. Setting aside the fact that it’s hard to stomach the idea of losing the First Lady, I’m ambitious.”

“Yeah? How ambitious?”

“Ambitious enough to know that finding Aurora gets me noticed by the director, the Secretary, even the President.”

She gazed at his earnest, unlined face. “Lots of people are ambitious, hotshot. It’s doing the work that’s hard.”

His eyes skimmed from her graying hair to her slightly overweight body. “Oh, I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble keeping up with you.”

He’d thrown down the gauntlet, and she smiled. “Yeah? Well, we’ll see about that, little boy. We’ll see which one of us knows the most about how to find a missing First Lady.”

Both girls were cranky, so Nealy ordered room service for them and pretended she wasn’t annoyed with Mat for not returning. Lucy watched a movie, then fell asleep with Button curled beside her. Nealy showered, strapped the detestable padding around her middle, and slipped into her nightgown.

When she came out of the bathroom, she was startled to see Mat standing in the open doorway between their rooms. He was barefoot and his T-shirt hung out of the denim shorts he’d changed into earlier. His body seemed even larger silhouetted against the light, and despite the two girls sleeping on the bed, she felt as if they were very much alone.

She spoke softly, her tone light. “So you decided not to abandon us after all?”

“I want to talk to you.”

His low, harsh tone made her uneasy. “I’m tired. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“We’re going to talk right now.” He jerked his head toward his room. She thought about refusing, but something in his expression told her it would be a waste of breath.

He shut the door behind them, and his eyes were wintry. “I don’t like being lied to.” Although he hadn’t touched her, she realized she was backed against the wall. “What do you—”

Her words got lost as he caught the hem of her nightgown and pulled it up. She tried to jerk away, but he clasped her arm.

“Stop it!”

He stared down at her, taking in the pillow tied to her waist and the lavender lace panties just below.

She struggled, pushing against his chest, but he was too strong for her. “Let me go.”