The business of ordering taken care of, Hedwigfolded her arms on the table and scrutinized Taylor and then Will.“Do you two live together?”
“Not your business, is it?” Taylor said, checkinge-mail messages on his BlackBerry.
That was the correct answer, so Will was startled tohear his own voice simultaneously answer, “Yes.”
“Yes?” Taylor questioned, looking up asthough someone else had answered.
“Half my stuff is at your place. My dog is at yourplace.”
“That’s not the same as living together.”
“According to Riley it is.” Will was trying to joke,but Taylor was unsmiling.
“You have to hide your relationship,” Hedwigdeduced.
“Not anymore,” said Taylor.
Apparently the truce Will thought they’d reachedearlier that day was already at an end. “Wait a minute.”
Taylor’s gaze was cool. “Our relationship won’t be aproblem once we’re not partnered.”
That was true. Will hadn’t thought about it before.He said staunchly, against the sinking sensation in his belly,“That’s one of the positives then.”
“Yeah.” Taylor returned to studying his e-mail. “Iknow I’m thrilled.”
Will folded his lips against all the things hewanted to say. He needed to be sensitive to Taylor or thislong-distance thing was going to rip them apart, and he had nointention — regardless of what Taylor believed — of letting thathappen. So he would bite his tongue and keep biting his tongue, andeventually Taylor would get over his insecurity and they’d be okayagain.
“How’d you get involved with Bashnakov?” He thoughtHedwig looked mildly disappointed at his change of subject.
“I met him when I was an exchange student in Moscow.I was friends with his son Alexi. Mikhail and I…there was aninstant…connection. The age difference meant nothing.”
“How long ago was that?”
“I was in high school. When I came home, I wrotehim. He wrote back.” She shrugged. “One thing led to another.”
“Those must have been some postcards.”
“Then, when I was at Barnard, Mikhail bought anestate in New York —”
“You went to Barnard?” Taylor interrupted.
“Yes. Why not? Oh. Because I don’t fit yourpreconceived notion of what a Seven Sisters graduate is like?”
“You don’t fit my preconceived notion of what ajunior college graduate is like. Or a normal high schoolgraduate.”
“Okay,” Will said. “Don’t make me separate youtwo.”
Hedwig gave Taylor her bared-teeth expression.Fortunately, their lunches arrived, ending further civilities.Hedwig tore into her plate of shrimp with the savage satisfactionof a great white.
When the meal was over, Will went to pay the bill.He was replacing his credit card into his wallet when he spotted afamiliar figure heading in to the Mountain Inn next door.
Of course it was possible there was a dog show intown, but somehow Will suspected Reuben Ramirez might have anotherreason to be wandering around Carrizozo. He returned to the diningroom.
As he reached the table, Taylor, apparently readinghis expression, hooked a hand around Hedwig’s arm and drew her toher feet.
“I have to use the ladies’ room.”
“You’re going to have to hold it,” Will toldher.
“I can’t hold it!”
“Make it snappy.”
She yanked her arm away from Taylor and sailed offto the restrooms.
“We should have left her handcuffed,” Taylorsaid.
“The idea was to avoid attracting attention. Thatmight be academic now. I just saw Reuben Ramirez go in to theMountain Inn lobby.”
“That’s quite a coincidence. Here’s another one.There’s an automotive repair shop next to the car rental place.Guess who I spotted getting a tire replaced on his SUV?”
“Our friend with the Mohawk?”
“Da.”
“Great. The sooner we get out of town, the better.Hopefully Ramirez and Nemov will stake out the airport. Or eachother.”
“I’ll go watch the rear in case Mother Russiadecides to climb out the bathroom window.”
Will nodded. Taylor disappeared through the crowdedtables of diners and exited through the glass door.
A few minutes later, Hedwig pushed out through thebathroom door.
Will hustled her to the parking lot. Taylor joinedthem, and they piled into the rental SUV.
Nobody appeared to be following them as they leftCarrizozo in the red dust and started the drive to Sierra Blanca.Nor did anyone have much to say. To fill the silence, Will turnedon the radio, and they listened to weather and traffic reports.There was an update on the flash flood cleanup efforts. It seemedthat their rescuer in the Hummer had been correct. No lives hadbeen lost, though property damage had been considerable. Thatsection of the national forest was currently closed tovisitors.
“Have you ever been with a woman?” Hedwig askedsuddenly from the backseat.
Pop goes the weasel. She had to be doing iton purpose, Will decided. Either because she liked mixing things upor because she believed she could gain some advantage by keepingthem distracted and on edge.
“What is it with you?” Taylor asked, possiblyreaching the same conclusion.
“I’m curious. In the Mafiya, it’s one of thefour unforgivable transgressions. It carries a death penalty.”
Taylor made a sound of amused disgust.
“Anyway, how do you know you wouldn’t like sex witha woman if you’ve never tried?”
Will said, “I have tried.”
The words just…popped out. Seeing Taylor’sastonishment, Will wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
“You have?” Taylor was frowning. “When?”
“Back in high school.”
“High school? You never mentioned it before.”
Will shrugged. That was one thing that had alwayssurprised him about Taylor. For all Taylor’s sexual adventures, onething he’d never tried was intercourse with a woman.
Hedwig asked, “You didn’t like it?”
“I liked it fine.” Will was a little irritated atthe way Taylor was staring at him — as though Will had confessed tohaving an extramarital affair. It was kind of ironic coming from aguy who’d had intimate acquaintance with such items as butterflyboards and piercing needles.
“Did you only try once?”
“Mind your own business,” Taylor told Hedwig. ToWill he said, “How many times?”
Will sincerely wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “Idon’t know. A few. I had a girlfriend.”
“A girlfriend? A steady girlfriend?”
Will nodded. Why the hell was this a big deal? Forthe life of him, he couldn’t imagine, but he could feel Taylor’sshock like an electromagnetic field.
“Why’ve you never mentioned this?”
“I have.” Will knew he hadn’t, actually, but notbecause it
