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I’m sorry. They were good agents.’
    ‘They were my friends,’ Kelly whispered. She made a desperate effort to suppress the tears, but it was no use. ‘I keep thinking, there must have been something I could have done differently. I should have got out of there before they…’
    ‘No,’ Lazenby said. ‘You did your job, and you did it well.’
    He waited for some time until she recovered her composure.
    ‘Look, Kelly, I didn’t ask you to interrupt your leave and come all the way from Cancun to bring back such painful memories,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you had quite enough of that when they debriefed you. I brought you here to make you a proposition.’
    Kelly looked up.
    Lazenby walked slowly back to his seat.
    ‘I don’t know how you’re feeling about the Bureau right now. It wouldn’t surprise me if you feel bitter about it. If that’s the case, I’m sorry. But I do know you’re a good agent, and I don’t want to lose you. I’ve looked at your service record. You were one of the best recruits we ever had at Quantico.’
    He folded his hands in front of him on his desk.
    ‘Keep this under wraps for now, but I’m losing my personal assistant, Fred Keenan. He’s been seduced by the world of commerce. Better pay and regular hours. I can’t say I blame him. In fact, I’m feeling a little jealous. But the point is, Kelly, I need a replacement. It’s not an easy assignment. You’ll be on call twenty-four hours a day. There’s a lot of paperwork, and a lot of dealing with unreasonable people who don’t know what’s going on. That includes people at high levels of government, who damn well should know what’s going on. It can be exhausting and frustrating, and there will be days when it will drive you insane.’
    He paused, and his voice softened.
    ‘But you’ll be here in Washington, Kelly, you’ll be out of the worst of the mayhem for a while, and maybe it will give you time to readjust. And if that happens, and we can keep you in the Bureau, it will be worth it. What do you say?’
    Kelly was staring at Lazenby, her mouth open.
    ‘Director, I’m… I’m overwhelmed. This was the last thing I expected. I thought…’
    ‘You thought what? That we were going to let you go?’
    Kelly nodded.
    ‘I didn’t know what else to think.’
    Lazenby laughed.
    ‘Well, we’re not. Not without a fight. Your record speaks for itself. You’re smart, you’re courageous, you have initiative, and you want to make a difference. That’s an unusual combination in any organization, the Bureau included, and I want you on my side.’
    ‘I don’t know what to say.’
    ‘Well, how about ‘Yes’?’
    Kelly took a deep breath and released it sharply.
    ‘Sir, are you sure about this? I’ve been around long enough to know that being your assistant is a senior assignment in the Bureau. Won’t there be people who resent…?’
    ‘That’s my problem,’ Lazenby replied firmly. ‘All I need to hear from you is yes, or no. Look, if you want, you can go right back to Cancun. No one will hold it against you. But, if you still want to make a difference, I’m offering you the chance to do it.’
    Kelly looked at Lazenby for a few seconds, then got to her feet abruptly.
    ‘Actually, Director, I do need to go back to Cancun.’
    ‘Oh…?’
    ‘To collect the rest of my things.’

3
    K ELLY WAS LYING on her back on the sofa in the living room of her apartment, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, jeans and socks, and nursing a Coke. At five feet, nine inches, her slim figure took up almost the full length of the sofa. She had bright blue eyes, and jet black hair, cut stylishly short.
    She stopped laughing long enough to interrupt the stream of complaints coming at her over the phone.
    ‘But Linda, it’s an honor to guard the President.’
    ‘It is not an honor to hang around his hotel rooms and listen to him having orgasms,’ Linda Samuels insisted.
    She paused.
    ‘Jesus, Kelly, I shouldn’t be saying this on