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

No, it was dumb to even think he’d do something like that. I pushed the idea out of my mind.


I rinsed off, rubbed a towel briskly over my body, then walked naked into the bedroom and set my alarm. I had about five hours before I’d need to call Mrs. Mann.


The alarm was set to go off at 9:30, but I came awake instantly at 9:29, grinning as I thought of Quinn, still sleeping like a baby. I’d deliberately made sure his alarm wasn’t turned on. He was going to be pissed.


I stretched and reached for the phone. Romero, the head honcho of R&D, had whipped up a little device that would make it appear this call was coming from Mann’s phone. Once it was connected, I dialed Mrs. Mann’s phone number from memory. She and Novotny would be at church, so I knew I’d get her answering machine.


“Mann residence.” It was Novotny’s voice. “Leave a message.”


Chapter 67