He and Sam shared a significant look. People were always testing their roles against their circumstances. It was an important social reflex. She was freaked out, Thomas knew, not because of what his kids had said or done, but because they were simply there, suggesting roles and possibilities far out of proportion to a single night of crazy sex.

'So that,' Sam said as they stepped into the morning cool of the porch, 'was a Thomas Bible animal in his home environment, hmm?'

She laughed as he struggled for words. 'It's okay, Tom. I had fun. I'm glad I stayed.'

Thomas could only shake his head. He hugged his shoulders as if the morning was chill, which it wasn't. He glanced down the street, struck by the way illuminated planes and complicated shadows could pinpoint an unseen sun.

'Never a dull moment,' he said lamely.

'I guess not.'

'I'm sorry about Bart,' he added, still shamefaced and bewildered. 'He must have run out of pig's ears or something.'

'Professor?'

Call me Tom!

'Yeah?'

'You should quit while you're ahead.'

Thomas sighed and laughed all at once. 'Good advice.'

Without warning, Sam kissed him full on the lips. Her tongue probed deep.

They disengaged after an anxious moment. Sam actually glanced toward the street, obviously worried that someone might be watching. They had broken rules, and after the night before last, Thomas was certain he would be the talk of the neighborhood. Celebrity was the last thing he wanted just now.

'So when can I expect you at the Field Office?' she asked, as though in passing. This is crazy! her eyes shouted.

Thomas hesitated.

'Ah. I've been wanting to talk to you about that.'

Her smile faltered. 'About what?'

'About what you said the other night. You know, how it seemed Neil was doing all this for my benefit.'

'Which is exactly why we need your help.'

Thomas scratched his brow.

'Maybe.' He looked at her intently. 'But I have more than myself to think about.'

Sam searched his eyes. 'You're afraid that—'

'Wouldn't you be?'

She paused. 'I suppose I would. But there's measures we could take. We could make it impossible for him to find you.' She hesitated, then said, 'Or your children.'

She felt it too, he realized, the superstitious paranoia that mere talk could turn horrific possibilities into horrific eventualities. Humans were hard-wired to see story-arcs where none existed. The hero had to suffer—everyone knew that.

'You don't know him,' Thomas said. 'Neil is… gifted. He has an uncanny ability to circumvent obstacles.'

'Yeah, well, he's met his match, don't you think?'

'In the FBI?'

'I was thinking of you.'

Thomas shook his head. 'Wrong answer, Agent Logan. For as long as I've known him, the guy's kicked my ass in everything from Risk to racquetball.'