Matt turned from the cupboard putting away the last of the dishes he'd washed and paused. He thought he heard a sob, and he went to the living room to find Sheridan, a hand over her mouth, crying.

"Hey, what is it? What happened?"

She looked up and threw her arms about his neck. "It's Devon. They got him back. He's alright."

"You heard from SR?" She nodded into his shoulder, sniffling. "Hey, these are clean clothes." He held her back and smiled. "That's great news, Wylie. What else did they say?"

"That officer Constable would be getting separate orders." She held his arms. "Officer Constable?"

"It's a status thing. They don't like being lumped with Agents." He shrugged. "Are we to wait here?"

"They found Devon in a tunnel with another man, who tried resisting. He was subdued and taken away for interrogation. The tunnel was on the property of a Miss Davenport, who was also taken in. She denied any knowledge, and expressed extreme surprised that there was a secret room under her home. A lawyer turned up arguing civil rights with national security. Oddly, the lawyer succeeded. She's back home.

"A lawyer turned up? That's a large red flag, Wylie. You don't get phone calls with SR when they take you in. Someone inside leaked."

"Maybe your call will tell us more. Meanwhile, I'm going to pour myself a huge drink and give thanks."

It was an agonizing three hours later before Matt's burner phone buzzed. He listened without a word and when the call ended, he broke the phone apart, destroying it.

"Devon identified the Davenport woman, the guy in the tunnel with him, a Rolph Steiger . . . and Arthur Tate."

"Tate!"

"Seems he was the interrogator. Devon got punched around pretty good. Couple of teeth will need to be replaced." He jumped toward her as soon as he finished speaking. Her arm was raised to hurl her glass through the window, and he was lucky it didn't hit him. "Whoa, Wylie! He's fine. I told you he was tough. Save this for our next detail."

She wrestled free, moving away angrily. "What detail?"

Matt sat her down and went over what he had been told. Rolph had folded like a cheap lawn chair. He had given names of a number of Zero members along with the fact that Miss Davenport, now in the wind, was the head. As well, he verified a contact inside military security, although no name. And that Tate, also in the wind, was working with a Lyle Stroud, Miss D's second in command.

"Rolph was a gold mine." Sheridan said, much calmer than earlier.

"Indeed. And our new detail is this Lyle Stroud. SR is verifying known haunts, plus a few that aren't. As soon as they have a lead, you and I get to pursue him."

"Another irritating wait?"

"Shouldn't be long, not with their new best friend, Rolph."

Sheridan made herself comfortable on the couch, her eyes still red from crying, she focused on Matt's face.

"How come we are both with the same force, yet your department seems to have privileges?"

"I'm with SR level three. It's the umbrella for all SR departments. There are more than just our two, Wylie. We operate in darker shadows than most of the other covert agencies. A kind of police who police the police."

She picked at a hangnail, thinking. So many people casting shadows and none completely free to cast their own exclusively. Nine years she had lived as one of those shadows, following the orders of unknown faces. Believing what she was doing was right. She still believed that, but it was harder than before. Before, the people on her side didn't spy on you and work to gain your confidence - or so she thought.

She looked again at Matt, calculating how much trust she could extend to him, in spite of recent events.

******

This time the setting was different. He wasn't tied to the chair with a bag over his head, and the three faces watching him didn't look hostile.

"Was your dental attention satisfactory? One of the men asked.

"It was, thank you."

"Right. Then let's get to it. For purposes of this debrief, present are Officers Cartwright, Simmons, and van Remortal. Principal is, Officer Steven Reilly, code name Devon. Prime Subject, Icecap."

Devon sat patiently while Agent Cartwright fed all the necessary data into the recorder. His painkiller was wearing off from the extracted tooth, and his tongue wouldn't leave the hole alone.

"Okay, Officer Reilly, from the beginning."

The next two hours were spent going over every step taken to the present. The questions were intense, with brief arguments flaring over known facts. His mouth was sore; he was tired, hungry and thirsty. The three heads leaned together, exchanging muffled words.

"You realize you are now removed from the field until all of this is resolved. You will be billeted here with no contact whatsoever with any active members of this investigation."

"I understand. May I ask if you have any news about Sheridan Wylie and Constable?"

"They are still active - together. It might ease your mind to know, Reilly, that Matthew Constable is an officer in our signature reduction agency. He is from a different division."

Devon sat speechless as the trio gathered their papers and left the room. A security officer allowed him a moment before ushering him out to his new quarters.

******

Matt destroyed another burner and sat down next to Sheridan. "That was our confirmation of a location for Lyle Stroud. He is to be brought in for interrogation, Wylie."

"I'm not interested in killing him if that's what you were thinking."

"Good to know. We should prepare to leave soon."

"This is your operation now?"

"Ours . . . but I get to make some decisions. Like, you take the truck back and get our car." He grinned, hoping to bring her around.

"Where are we headed?"

He hesitated, reading her face. Would she leave him behind? Did he really know Sheridan Wylie? He cursed himself for not asking that important question of his handlers. "You get the car and I'll dust the place while you're gone."

He waited by the window, checking his watch every few minutes, He had scoured the house, made sure it was cleaned, and now his head was buzzing with doubt. When the car pulled into the driveway, his breath came out in a loud blast, and hurried out the door with their satchel, and down to the car.

"Lots of gas this time?" He joked, hiding his previous concern.

"Depends where we're headed."

"Right. Believe it or not, it's straight back into the city. Stroud is being monitored in a small hotel near the stadium."

"And when we get there?"

"We meet the street walkers, get what they have and make our own plan for the snatch."

Wylie slowed for the stop sign at the end of the street, then whipped the car around onto the main road, and gunned the engine.

15,059 WP word count to this point