Infiltrator

Sarah rolled her eyes. 'And dinner and being picked up…'

He smiled and they walked along in silence until they came to where he'd parked the car. She looked very nice in a blue dress with a full skirt accented with a colorful scarf and a wide belt. It was the sort of outfit one's wife might wear, very respectable.

Dieter supposed it was intended to send a subtle message. Keep your distance, or something of that nature. He opened the door for her, then went around to his side. She was one of those women who didn't like to be touched, he'd noticed. In his experience there was usually a story behind that sort of behavior.

'Maybe it would be easier if you didn't think of this as a date,' he suggested.

'Just two friends going to a concert together.'

Sarah looked at him, then smiled. 'Maybe that's what we should do next time,'

she said. 'But I'm afraid that if the man does the asking and the paying and the driving, it's unequivocally a date.'

He laughed. 'Well, what if the woman does the asking and paying and so on, what do you call it then?'

'I suppose you'd call it a date,' she said, smiling.

'Then you owe me one. After that, we can just go as friends, if you like.'

'That would be nice,' Sarah said.

He was so damn nice. Her stomach was in knots. He was good company, he was pleasant, he was attentive, he was clean, not something she'd always been able to rely on. He's not what I would have expected a rich, spoiled playboy to be like.

And if he was a cop, then he was definitely off duty tonight. She wished he would do or say something crummy so she could stop feeling so ambivalent.

They talked about this and that as he drove, Dieter steering the conversation in a more personal direction by degrees.

'Why didn't you go back to the states after… your husband passed away?' he asked.

Sarah shrugged and looked out her window. 'I didn't see any great need to go back. My family are all dead, I'd drifted away from my friends.' She laughed.

'I'm a very bad correspondent. And besides, we'd put so much effort into the business. I was determined to make a go of it. And I didn't want to uproot John so soon after. That's hard on a kid.'

'You moved to Villa Hayes,' he pointed out.

'Yes, but that's still in Paraguay. And we visit Ciudad del Este at least once a year.'

'Kids are amazingly resilient,' Dieter observed.

'Maybe,' Sarah said. 'Or maybe that's just something adults say to make themselves feel better. Kinda like whistling in the dark.'

'Well, you're the parent, I'm not,' Dieter said.

The talk rambled all over the map from there and the long 'drive seemed to last no time at all. When they pulled up to Sarah's house Dieter got out to open her

door for her.

I used to like it when guys did that for me, Sarah thought. Then it seemed to show a little extra caring. With Dieter it's probably Austrian formality. At least it might be if he was Austrian. It might also be that he likes intimidating people by standing over them.

He handed her out of the car and smiled down at her.

'Would you like to join us for dinner sometime soon?' Sarah asked, taking a step back and toward the portal.

'Yes,' Dieter said as he shut the car door and stepped back himself. 'Why don't you set it up with John and give me a call. I'll bring that dog I promised you.'

His eyes glinted with amusement. He suspected that she thought her son might be watching them. John had left enough lights on to let them know he was still awake.

'I will,' she said, smiling. 'Thank you for a wonderful evening.'

He nodded. 'Good night,' he said, going around to his side of the car.

'Good night.' Sarah went up the steps and stood on the portal to wave as he drove off. Then she entered the house, turning off the outside light and locking the door.

'What, not even a goodnight kiss?'

Sarah turned and raised her brows. 'Watching, were we?' she asked.

'Yeah, we were. How come you didn't kiss him?'

'Because I think I'm already getting to like him more than I probably should,'

she answered. 'It makes me nervous.'

'I thought maybe you didn't want him to think you were that kind of girl,' John teased.

'If he ever finds out just what kind of girl I really am, I shudder to think what might happen,' she said. 'Any word yet?' She tipped her head toward the computer.

' Nada,' John told her. 'The silence is starting to freak me out.'

'Me, too.' She shrugged. 'I'm going to bed.'

'How was your date?' John asked. He backed up as she came toward him.

'It was nice.' Sarah switched off the light behind her. 'Very nice. I asked him to have dinner with us soon.'

'Wow, the action intensifies.'

Sarah smiled weakly. John watched her go on down the hall to her room.

'Mom,' he said. Sarah turned to look at him inquiringly. 'Should we leave? Is it time?'

'Maybe my instincts are blunted, John, but I honestly don't know. Let's give it another week and see how things shake out, okay?'

John shrugged. 'Fine by me. I just wanted you to know that I'm with you, whatever happens.'

She came back down the hall and hugged him.

'I love you, you know that?' she said, smiling up at him.

'I love you, too, Mom. Good night.' He gave her a squeeze.

'G'night.'

Dieter poured himself a brandy, then decided to check his messages before turning in.

Jeff had finally gotten back to him with a simple message that read: 'Get back to me. RIGHT NOW!'

So he called, knowing it was brutally early in Vienna. It's brutally late here. And I'm not sure what I want to hear.

' fa,' a sleep-muffled voice said.

'Jeff, it's me, Dieter. I just got your message. I'm sorry to call so early, but you said—'

'No, no, it's all right. Just a moment, I'm changing phones.'

Dieter heard him speaking to his wife, asking her to hang up when he got on the other phone.

'Hi,' she said.

'Hi,' Dieter said. 'I'm sorry to wake you up this early.'

'S'all right,' she said.

'Okay, honey,' Jeff said, 'you can hang up now.'

'G'night,' she said, and hung up.

'What was so important?' Dieter asked his friend.

'You've got to see this. Have you got your computer on?' Jeff asked.

'Yes.'

'This will probably take forever to transmit, but I think I may know who that woman is,' Jeff told him, his voice excited. 'If I'm right then you, my friend, may be in line for a huge, and I do mean