The Watcher

He shifts, turning so that he is looking straight into my eyes. "This was different. More than sex. You must have felt it."

Oh, yes. I did. But how to explain it? Especially since I know it will never happen again.

He's waiting, body tense.

I take the coward's way out, counter with a question of my own. "How did you get here?"

He stares at me a second before answering, "Culebra said he got a message from you. That I was to come here and wait." He relaxes a little, smiling. "When you weren't here, the temptation to take a nap in a real bed was just too strong. I hope you don't mind."

"Why would I mind?"

Max shrugs. "I can't always tell how you'll react to things. The last time we were together like this"—he motions to the bed—"you seemed different."

I start to argue that of course I was different, I'd just found out I had a niece in big trouble. But he stops me with a curt wave of his hand.

"I know what you're going to say. You were worried about Trish. I understand. But there was—is something else going on, too. Something you won't share with me. I feel it. It started the night you were attacked. You act differently around me. You hold back." A small smile lifts the corners of his mouth. "At least you did until today."

I don't know how to respond. He's right. I hold back for a damned-good reason. Vampires aren't known for their self-control as I've just so dramatically proven. Yet, I don't dare tell Max the truth. I know he goes to Beso de la Muerte and he's admitted to me that some of the strange characters he's met there are a little different. But while "different" to Max means delusional, maybe even criminally psychotic, all the same, he believes they're human. How would he react if he found out some of those characters are not only inhuman, but immortal? And I just happen to be one of them?

Max isn't making this easy. He won't look away, won't let me off the hook. He wants an answer.

"I don't know what to say, Max. If you feel I've been holding back, I'm sorry." I decide to turn the tables. A dirty trick, but he's backed me into a corner. "And if you want to talk about holding back, how about what you've been doing? I heard that you haven't checked in with your boss in over a month. I had a chat with an FBI agent this morning who says you're in trouble. You didn't mention any of that last night, did you?"

Max turns away from me. "Is that the reason you wanted to see me?"

"Is it true?"

His voice cuts like a whip. "Who contacted you from the FBI?"

"His name is Matt Foley. He says he's a friend."

There's no expression on Max's face. None. I'm looking at a mask. I wanted to take his mind off me. It seems I succeeded. His skin is suddenly cold. "Max, he isn't a friend, is he?"

Max throws off the covers and climbs out of bed. He goes straight into the bathroom without looking back. In a minute, I hear the shower ru

I sink back onto the bed. Christ. I don't know whether I should follow Max into the shower, press for answers, or get dressed and out of here before he gets back.

I know I can't do that, though. He needs to know what I suspect about Foley following me and I need to know what's going on between them.

So, I lie there for the ten minutes it takes Max to return to the bedroom. He's dressed and heads straight for a chair where he picks up his gun and clips it to his belt. Then he reaches for his jacket. He doesn't look my way or say a word.

I barely have time to shrug into a robe before he gets to the bedroom door. I stop him with a hand on his arm. "You can't leave. Not yet. I think he's watching me."

Max turns around. "Why?"

I tell him about the call I received. "I thought it was a trick to get me to contact you. Now I'm afraid he knows you're here."

Max lets me lead him back to the bed. He sinks down on the edge. "I'm sorry he dragged you into this," he says.

"Who is he?" I ask, sitting beside him. "Why is the FBI investigating you?"

Max tosses the jacket aside. "The FBI is not investigating me. Foley is. I thought I'd covered my tracks. Especially where you're concerned. I'm sorry, A

I take his hand, squeeze it gently. "He knows a lot about us. About me. He said you told him."

Max shakes his head. "Foley works for Martinez."

I'm not sure I heard that right. "What?"

He pulls his hand out of mine. "He's a mole for Martinez."

"In the FBI?"

Max nods.

"And how many people know this?"

Max looks away. "The better question is how many people believe it?"

I've known Max for two years. He's the most stable, reliable man I know. His instincts are better than good. And my own impressions of Foley were less than favorable. Still, why wouldn't Max's own people believe him?

Doubt must be reflected on my face because Max's expression darkens. He reaches again for his jacket and starts to stand up.

I don't let him, stopping him with a hand on his arm. "Wait a minute."

"You don't believe me, either. I can see it on your face."

"Hey, don't jump to conclusions. I met Foley today. He's clever and manipulative. What I wonder is what makes you suspect he's working for Martinez?"

"I saw them. Together."

"Did you report it?"

Fury makes the muscles at his jawline tighten. "Of course I did. My boss in the DEA checked it out. Trouble is, Foley had an alibi for the time I 'claimed' he was in Mexico with Martinez. He and his partner were working a kidnapping case in Arizona. The investigation was dropped." He pauses, his eyes become cold. "And my boss looked at me the same way you are now."

He takes my hand with his own and removes it from his arm. "I'd better go."

"Not yet. What do you think Foley wants?"

"That's easy, A

"He's not being very subtle about it. He met me in the police chief's office."

"He brought Williams into this? Great. I suppose your friend issued an APB on me already."

Max knows of my co

"That's because he's been telling people that we're friends. And we have known each other a long time. We went to high school together. But we lost contact after that. A fact no one seems much interested in. Now he's got everyone convinced I've gone rogue."

"But your boss in the DEA, he can't believe that. Why don't you tell him what you just told me?"

Max's eyes narrow. "I tried. He wants me to come in. If I do that, I'm dead. I have only one choice. Get Martinez and Foley before they get me."

"How? Do you have a plan?"

Max passes a hand over his face. "I had one chance. I knew where Martinez stashed his family."

The expression on his face, the way his voice drops off sends alarm racing up my spine. "What happened?"