Seeing his words, knowing without a doubt he was alive brought just enough relief to piss her off and make her angry again.

She said, “John wants to rendezvous in San Antonio day after tomorrow, and his grand strategy is playing bait and catch with the bad guys.”

Holden squinted at the screen, as if trying to make sense of tea leaves.

She shifted the device so he had a better view of what she’d read.

Looking for someone with an archeological background or who specializes in South American history to check out an artifact my grandfather brought back from Bolivia when he was a kid. Photo is for attention. Will send pictures of the actual artifact once we have a chance to discuss. Willing to compensate for time and travel (if necessary). Need this done within the next three days. Best time to call is evenings, after 7:00.

Holden whispered each word out loud. In his distraction the accent broke through, the one from the life before, which normally stayed buried beneath the American years, the one she’d first heard when he’d taunted her from the upper floor on the day she’d gone after him to kill him.

He leaned sideways and looked at her, bewildered.

“This, you’ve got to explain,” he said.

His tone held admiration and respect.

Both flooded her senses with warning and the urgent need to fight or flee.

She focused on the screen, rested her fingers on the table, trying to reconcile the conflict between mind and body that made it difficult to stay as they were, with skin nearly touching skin. Twenty-six years of Clare’s tutelage and its aftermath had taught her how to hide, how to kill, and how to keep anguish at bay.

She knew hate and knew hunger.

Knew rejection and how to suffocate pain.

What she didn’t know was what it meant to be accepted as enough, and Holden’s words, the way he spoke, and the way he looked at her triggered every need to fend off threat, because this shouldn’t be.

He shifted to give her space. “Archeology?” he said.

Instinct took over, the cunning that let her give others what they needed to see and hear. A slow smile lifted her expression, and with the eagerness of a kid asked to explain an art project after the first day of school, she said, “It’s one of several words that let us search without getting a ton of false hits.”