Quinton Mann is CIA through and through. Mark Vincent is WBIS for life. There is no way they could end up as anything other than adversaries -- and yet, Quinn takes Mark out to dinner on his birthday -- the one no one is supposed to know about -- and gives him one hell of a present in the restaurant's restroom. Mark, not to be outdone, has decided to escalate this game, because it has to be a game, right? There's no way it can be anything else.<br><br>But as the game continues, as Quinn shows up to a WBIS funeral, as a friend of Mark’s penetrates the CIA computer network to get information on Quinn, as Mark breaks into Quinn's house and gives Quinn a very interesting encounter, both Quinn and Mark realize that this is becoming the most real thing in their lives.<br><br>Can they find a way to do their jobs and keep this surprising, intriguing connection?

Houseboat on the Nile

“I’m aware of that. I’ve been trying to find him for the past two hours.” Knowing he liked to make an appearance, I hadn’t worried that I’d missed him. “A couple of officers said something about being surprised he hadn’t shown up.”


“He won’t be showing up, either.”


“My date let slip that Holmes was at another affair being hosted by a certain senator who is known and unloved by all of us.”


“Yes. Apparently it was a last minute thing too. Holmes had been angling for an invitation for months and had been routinely snubbed.”


“And then all of a sudden he was invited?” That was even more interesting.


“And let me tell you Richard Custiss wasn’t happy about it. He had plans for me to impress Holmes.”


“Why would someone in Financial Management want to get involved with Counterterrorism?”


Chapter 4