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since not everyone here wants...” He stopped talking and turned away.
    She jumped up and moved in front of him. “I knew it! You don't want me here, do you? I've been listening to Shayla tell me how wonderful everything is around here. Then you come along and tell me there are guards everywhere and paint this picture of doom."
    "I never said as much,” he denied.
    "Yes, you did, if not in words, then certainly by your expression and body language. You didn't even want to be in my room."
    He simply stared at her, wondering if Shayla's researchers had an inkling of how intelligent this woman was or that she was as crafty as a vixen. She'd been sizing them up since her arrival and had correctly perceived his unwilling participation in this whole ordeal. And he'd expected a weeping, tormented victim. “All right, I don't want you here and never did. The idea of having you in my presence is ... is..."
    "Revolting, isn't it?” she finished and smiled slyly.
    He took a deep breath and looked in another direction. He'd have not been so ungallant as to use that particular word in her presence but, since she'd said it, it was fine with him.
    She stepped in front of him, trying to force him to look at her. “Why would I be so distasteful to you? Vanity aside, not many men have used that word to describe me. But this is a very special circumstance, isn't it? There's something about you that just isn't quite ordinary. I can't put my finger on it, but I'll figure it out.
    "And what about that Shayla person?” Kathy walked around him thinking out loud. “Shayla does want me here. Very badly. Everyone who came into my room seemed a little in awe of her. Unless I've missed my guess, she isn't just some kindly older woman helping me acclimate to my terrifying ordeal.” She punctuated the terrifying part with sarcasm. “I think ... I think she's in charge of the whole operation. She wanted me here, and she's forced you into helping her."
    Tearach watched her walk and listened to her analyze. She'd have made a magnificent general. She had a tactical mind that rivaled any Order leader he'd ever read about. “So what do you intend to do with this knowledge?"
    "We could strike a bargain."
    "What kind of bargain?"
    "You don't want me here. I don't want to be here. Regardless of the fine accommodations, I've still been kidnapped and I want to get back to London.” She paused and looked him straight in the eyes. “It's simple. Help me get away. Your problem is solved and so is mine."
    He slowly shook his head. “I can't, Miss Parker. The situation isn't as simple as you think."
    She stared at him for a long time. “Why? What could she possibly have on a man like you to force you into committing a major felony?"
    The woman started pacing again. He could almost hear her mind compiling details, critically reviewing the information to which she'd been exposed. It was a little frightening. Were all outsiders this astute? He quickly discarded that ridiculous idea. This one was an exception.
    She stopped and faced him. “Why hasn't the other man who helped kidnap me been to see me? He had as much a role in all this as you."
    Tearach kept silent. For some odd reason, warning bells went off in his mind. She remembered Lore, and he wouldn't go to see her because his contribution to the scheme was complete.
    She began to tick off a list on her fingers. “You don't want me here. I'm revolting to you, but you came to see me anyway. Shayla wants me here, but she doesn't seem to care about the other man's role in this. When she talks, she speaks of you, not him. I know you and she are angry with each other for some reason. When you're in a room together, the looks you exchange could kill."
    Kathleen chewed on her lower lip and tapped the fingers of one hand against her face. Suddenly, she stopped and glared at Tearach. “She wants you and me together for some reason, doesn't she? And you don't like the idea at all."
    He swallowed hard and gave up.