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there was anything about Ace that Conrad loved more than his ability to land Knicks tickets on a moment’s notice, it was his unquestioning loyalty. “The Queen of Sheba is being guarded closely. He should not, I repeat not , pay her a visit tonight.”
    A long pause. “Nothing else?”
    She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Oh yes, there was so much else. Tell him I hate him for his lie. That I’ll never forgive him. That I…that I missed him. That, God help me, I’m so glad he’s still alive…
    “No. Nothing else.” She surveyed the room again. A different man had slipped into the room and bellied up to the bar, his silver hair and crisp blue jeans looking oddly out of place with the rest of the patrons. Julia felt a twitch of fear in her gut. “Take care, Ace,” she said into the phone.
    “Ditto, Queen.”
    She hung up and stood for a moment watching the silver-haired man. He didn’t look her way, but she could sense his hyperawareness. Was he a tail? Only one way to find out.
    Several men at the bar leered at her as she walked past, offering a beer or a pinch on her ass. The silver-haired man continued to ignore her. Pushing through the bar’s door, Julia fought the urge to run. Even if he was a tail from the Office of Security, he presented no real danger to her. She hadn’t done anything wrong. All she had to do was act normal.
    She slid behind the wheel of the Audi, locked her doors and started the engine. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly to calm her nerves and tried to recall the way the parking lot had looked before she went into the bar. Which car or truck was new? The red Honda? The Chevy Bronco? She scanned the area, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember. Your apprentice has lost her edge, Con. Slipping big time .
    Shaking her head, she put the car in drive and bumped her way out of the parking lot, watching her rearview mirror. It wasn’t until she was on the highway that she noticed the Audi’s hood bobbing slightly. Julia slapped the steering wheel. The Audi was nearing 180,000 miles and the metal release latch hidden in the grill had been loose for several months. An errant pothole or train track sometimes shook the latch enough to spring the hood.
    Julia took the first off-ramp and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station. She sat for several minutes scanning the traffic passing by. When there was no sign of a tail, she got out of the car and raised the hood, keeping one eye on the cars entering the parking lot. There was no such thing as being a little paranoid and all of Julia’s senses were on alert. She did a thorough check of the engine, and once she deemed it was clean, she slammed the lid and dropped to her hands and knees to examine the underbelly of the car. Again, nothing unusual. Standing up, she walked around the car, running her hands in the wheel wells and the undersides of the bumpers looking for tracking devices. All she came up with was a dirty hand. Sinking back into the Audi’s driver seat, she found her antiseptic hand gel and cleaned up as best she could. Then she let out a deep sigh. What a way to live , she thought. And then, This is all Con’s fault, the dirty rotten sneak.

    The message light was blinking. Conrad pushed the play button.
    “An old and dear friend of yours asked me to give you a message,” Ace’s voice said. “It goes like this: The Queen of Sheba is being guarded closely. You should not, repeat not , pay her a visit tonight. End of message.” There was a slight pause. “Man, she’s pissed. I wish you luck, bro.”
    The line went dead and Flynn stood staring at the phone with his hands on his hips.
    Nice try, Jules. Like the Great Conrad Flynn couldn’t outsmart whatever surveillance and security the Agency could throw at him.
    He left his apartment, locking the door, and sauntered down the hall to Julia’s place.
    Hell, he smiled to himself, he already had.

    She couldn’t believe she was standing