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problem for a long, long time.”
    Beth snorted. “Wasn’t he notorious on an international level about the time he was thirteen? And what’s with all those tattoos, anyway?”
    “Yes to the first…and as to the second, if this works out, perhaps we’ll get a chance to ask him. Our profilerbelieves them to be merely an expression of his anarchist’s makeup.”
    “I think he just wanted to make his mother mad,” Beth muttered, thinking of the discreet tattoo on her own ankle, acquired when her own age still hung in the teens. Lucky for her the little rattlesnake was small enough to cover with a flesh patch for those times she couldn’t afford any visible distinguishing characteristics. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave her nose a thoughtful rub. “If I’m staying, I could use a little help sorting through the Blue Crane establishments. Unless we come up with something else, it’s still the best bet. Though I sure would like to know where she stayed last night. Picking through her belongings would be a luxury right now.”
    “She was off everyone’s radar as far as I know, but if I hear anything on that, I’ll send it along. The Blue Crane information will come your way shortly.” Barbara gave a slight shake of her head, not entirely happy about the conversation. “Be careful, Flash,” she said. “I mean it. If we didn’t need this so badly…and get Chandler on your side. I mean that, too.”
    Beth sighed. She’d intended to forget that part of their conversation. “I hear you,” she said, glancing around the store to see she’d caught the attention of the boom box boys. “I’m going to stash the first package at my backup location. So if anything happens—”
    “Noted.” Barbara cut her off with a brusk tone. “I want you to stay in touch, Flash. We enjoy your unconventional ways, but this is one time I want you playing by the rules. Call in. ”
    “My unconventional, successful ways,” Beth said, but it wasn’t an argument and they both knew it. “I’ll call.”
    She closed the connection just as the boys got closeenough to look over her shoulder. One of them asked, “Is that a new game?”
    “Yes,” Beth said. “A prototype interactive spy game. It’s still in alpha testing, so don’t look for it on the market anytime soon.”
    “Then why do you have it in here?” the other boy asked, cleaning up his thick accent so she could understand. No doubt her own words had given her States origin away, although she could have affected any accent she wanted.
    Beth gave an airy wave at the electronics that surrounded her. “We’re trying out a new signal security system to assure proper function even in an environment thick with electromagnetics and radio waves,” she said, amusing herself. “Next I’ll be going to try it beneath the SABC tower.”
    “Duidelik,” the kid said in approval. His friend nodded wisely and they let Beth wander away, but not without further discussion between them. “Ag, china, you see her takkies?”
    Teens in any culture had their own language, it seemed. Beth knew they’d been looking at her dance sneakers, and she had to agree they didn’t blend in. While she was at the shopping center, she needed to pull out the old Stony Man credit card and grab up some clothes meant for something other than a deep night contact on the docks.
    On the other hand, if she could get to her backup location, she’d have everything she needed. Perhaps that was the next step…
    Her PDA beeped as she headed for the store exit; she hesitated at a spiffy little flat-screen HD television, caught by the familiar, homey look of a CNN broadcast. She flipped open the leather PDA wallet to confirm receipt of a file named bluecrane.txt, smiling to herself. BarbaraPrice, superwoman. There was no one else Beth would rather have picking up her field calls.
    “Shane Dellamer,” the display television murmured at her, and she glanced up to see a cookie-cutter announcer with