They walked down the hallway and up the stairs, grabbing the clean clothes, a sweatshirt, and flip-flops that Judith had laid out as promised.

Mia looked at him, the most interest he’d seen all day. “I’m going to change now.”

“Anything you want.” Guess he’d have to let her go.

He directed her to the bathroom. After a while, she came out squeaky clean, freshly clothed. The woman squared up quick. Over her shoulder, he saw her clothes stuffed in the trash can. Bet slamming those in the bucket was like scoring the winning basket of a championship game.

He took her hand and led her up the stairs. “So you saw that bathroom.”

“Check.”

“Here’s the toy room.”

They walked into an ice-cold room, only illuminated by a few computer screens. No windows. No furniture. Only shelves with his workstation in the middle.

“Toy room?”

“Grown up toys. Though not the kind that you may think of.” He gave her a devilish grin. “Tools of the trade. Gadgets and gear. This is a tiny listening device. This one looks like a pack of gum, but push two pieces together, and you’ve got a slow burning smoke. Nothing explosive though. All show. I try to keep the C4 far away from the baby.”

She laughed, acting less tense. “Makes sense.”

“This one’s pretty cool. It can make anything safe to drink. And this thing appears to be an outlet cover, but it has a high res camera. Motion activated.”

“You’re a kid in the candy store.”

He shrugged, knowing he shouldn’t show her anything in the room. Covert wasn’t covert if others knew what secret weapons were available. But he wanted to distract her. Hell, he wanted to impress her. Again?

“Now this one.” He peeled a microscopic translucent piece of fabric off wax paper and pressed it to her arm. “The material is a bio-agent. Soon as it comes into contact with your skin, it’ll begin to destroy itself. It’s a tracker. If activated, it’s like a homing beacon.”

“I can’t see it anymore.”

“That’s the point. The enemy can’t remove what they don’t see.”

“Oh.” She giggled, inspecting the near invisible patch.

“That’s funny?”

“No. It’s just all I need for work is my DSM-IV, and you need spy equipment.” She shivered. “Why’s it so cold in here?”

“I like my gadgets, guns, and vehicles a precise sixty-six degrees. I work better when it’s chilly. But you both have to be cold. Resuming our tour…” He walked them into the hall and pointed toward the doors. “There’s my room, across from Clara’s nursery.”

Mia paused at the baby’s room and stared at the lilac colored walls and bright white furniture. It was unlike the hardy décor of the rest of the house. Dark furniture. Thick leather. Heavy carpets. The nursery was as bright and carefree as Clara’s smile. It suited the happy baby. He’d made sure that it was perfect for a precious girl. He would’ve made the walls out of cotton candy and hung twinkle, twinkle lights from the ceiling if he could’ve.