Hood stepped away. He resisted the urge to take Nancy's hand and pull her along. But he'd noticed Stoll's eyes dart toward them while they stepped toward the corner. For all its quality and top-level security clearances, Op-Center was no different from other offices. It talked. His people could keep state secrets, but the phrase "personal secrets" was almost an oxymoron.

Nancy came of her own accord. Hood could see the concern, love, and lingering disappointment in her eyes.

"Paul," she said softly, "I know I screwed up in the past, but this isn't my doing. Any number of people could have made these changes."

"You mean people in the inner circle of Dominique's."

Nancy nodded.

"I believe you," Hood said. "The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

Hood's cellular phone beeped and he excused himself. "Hello?"

"Paul," said the caller, "it's Darrell. Can you talk?"

Hood said that he could.

McCaskey said, "I've met with Liz and Mike, and it looks to us like this fellow you were asking about is Mr. Hate himself. And powerful enough to avoid arrest."

"Explain."

"He appears to use a network of banks to launder money and finance hate groups worldwide. The law sniffs around him but never bites. Meanwhile, it looks like he's getting set to introduce a new joystick which helps players feel as if whatever they're seeing on the screen is very real."

"I assume this joystick is compatible with the hate games."

"Sure is," said McCaskey. "But our immediate problem isn't any of that. The Pure Nation team that got picked up this morning may have been a plant. It looks like they and the hate games could be part of a larger plan to turn U.S. cities into racial war zones. Again," he said, "we have no hard evidence. Only some tenuous links and gut feelings."

"Our gut feelings are usually on the money," Hood said. "Does it look like there's any kind of timetable?"

"Tough to say. The media are all over Pure Nation, and we think they're going to milk that forum."

"Of course they will," said Hood.

"The games are also ready to launch," McCaskey said. "If this is a coordinated effort, the coordinator isn't going to let the fear grow cold. A couple of strikes against blacks and communities won't just ignite, they'll explode. I've just been talking with my associates at the Bureau. We agree that in a worst-case scenario, incidents could begin erupting within days, if not hours."