Part 19 (2/2)

”Bad news,” Melissa said, sensing unease in Diana's voice. ”Detective Daly had to pull his man off Sloan's tail. His captain wants him to s.h.i.+ft his focus elsewhere. Possibly close the cases for now.”

She leaned back in her chair, disheartened. ”So we have nada. Zip. Zilch.”

Diana laid her hand over Melissa's. ”It sucks, I know. But we'll get something soon.”

”How?” Melissa expelled the word harshly. ”It's been quiet here and at the lab. Sloan seems to be one cool character.”

Diana motioned to Melissa's plate of food. ”Eat up. You could use it.”

Melissa stared down at the turkey sandwich she had taken just because Diana had insisted. She wasn't really hungry. There was too much happening, or rather not happening. But when Diana picked up her own sandwich and again motioned to Melissa's, she relented and grabbed it.

Diana resumed her report. ”I asked Peter to let the files sit on his desk for another day or so. I've got the feeling something is about to happen.”

Melissa wished she could be as optimistic. ”I hope so, Diana.”

”Trust me. And keep alert. Don't let Sloan's apparent inactivity fool you.” Diana finally took a bite of her sandwich and Melissa followed suit. The turkey was surprisingly moist and tasty. In response, her mouth watered and her stomach growled.

”Good thing I forced you to go to lunch,” Diana teased with a smile.

Diana's visit to her office had been a surprise, Melissa had to admit. Although they'd known each other for months, up until recently, they hadn't really bonded. ”Thanks for that. I think if left to my own devices-”

”You'd starve?” she teased again. ”Good thing you've got Sebastian and me around now. Maybe we can even get some good Cuban food in you, put some meat back on those bones.”

Melissa was a little taken aback by Diana's comments. ”Why do you think I need more meat-”

”From the pictures you have in your office and back at the apartment.” Putting down her sandwich, Diana leaned closer to the table. ”Look, I know how hard it can be when you lose someone. After my dad died...”

”It's hard, isn't it?” Melissa was intrigued by the emotion visible on Diana's face. For the most part, she'd only seen FBI Agent Diana. Always tough and ready to rumble. This was a new side to Ryder's girlfriend.

Diana nodded. ”Very. I was lucky to have Sebastian afterward. He was my rock. If it hadn't been for him, I'm not sure what would have happened.”

Melissa knew just what Diana meant. If it hadn't been for Sebastian during the last few weeks...”He's my rock, as well. I don't know what I'd do without him.”

Diana once more grasped Melissa's hand, but instead of pulling away as she might have a few months ago, Melissa joined her hand with Diana's. ”I know you care for him and he'll be there for you. That's the way he is. That's the way I am.”

”Thanks. It's been easier knowing that I'm not alone anymore.”

Diana gave her hand a rea.s.suring squeeze, and then returned to eating her lunch. Melissa did the same and they ate in companionable silence until Melissa asked, ”This Detective Daly. What's he to you?”

With a small smile, Diana replied, ”A friend and nothing more. For me, there's only Ryder.” Her answer eased a little bit of the disquiet Melissa had about Ryder's feelings for the detective. ”Glad to know that, but Daly must be a good friend.”

Diana shrugged. ”When I first met him, I wasn't sure whether he'd be friend or foe. But we reached an understanding of sorts.

He's come through for us, so I owe him.”

”And what do you think the good detective will ask for in payment?”

”Not anything romantic, trust me. Rumor has it that Peter got burned by his wife and has absolutely no interest in anything romantic. And he's aware that I am totally not interested.”

”That's good to know.” Melissa finished her sandwich. ”So what do we do now?”

Diana glanced at her watch. ”I need to head back to the office and try and get more info from my sources, not to mention work on a few other cases. In the meantime, if you can find out for me where Sloan is, I can unofficially tail him.”

”Sounds like a plan.”

After grabbing one last chip from her plate, Diana rose with her tray in hand and Melissa followed. Once out in the hall, Diana said, ”See if you can locate our friend. Then give me a buzz.”

”I will.”

For a moment they stood there awkwardly, and then Diana reached out and gave Melissa a tight hug. It was that Cuban, being- physical-with-friends-and-family thing, Melissa thought. Surprisingly, she found that she didn't mind. She hugged Diana back and said, ”I'll call you as soon as I have anything.”

Melissa returned to her office and tried to track down Sloan, to no avail. He wasn't on the floor, according to the on-duty nurse.

Calls to his home yielded only the answering machine.

Melissa reported in to Diana, who was clearly unhappy with the results.

”I'll call Peter and see if he has any ideas where else we can check. In the meantime, can you fill Ryder in for me?”

Melissa dialed Ryder and gave him the bad news about the surveillance and the pressure on Peter to close the cases.

”Seems to me there's only one thing we can do,” Ryder said. ”You need to make it seem as if you've started something with the rats. That might be enough to force Sloan to act.”

”If I do that, we need to be careful. We can't take any risks.”

”Sebastian and I will watch you. Do you want Diana to come by and stand guard, as well?”

Melissa picked up a pencil from her desk and nervously tapped it from end to end. She feared for the safety of all of them, given Sloan's past activities, and there wasn't anything Diana could legally do. ”She's got enough for right now. Unofficially, of course.”

”Melissa. Sloan is not someone to mess with, so expect me and Sebastian to be on you 24/7.” He hung up before she could respond.

But who's going to watch after you? she thought, fearful that Sloan would eventually connect the dots from her to Ryder and decide to change his focus.

Or worse, that Sloan would realize Ryder was the source of the elusive cells. Her father had already placed them in enough jeopardy.Melissa didn't want to do anything to make the situation worse.

Sebastian was exhausted and no amount of power napping was going to make up for losing last night's and this morning's sleep.

His client had had a major network failure. It had taken Sebastian and one of the client's technicians the better part of a day to set up a new server, get all the network users and rights reconfigured, and restore the data and programs from the backup tape from the night before.

But no amount of exhaustion was going to keep him from meeting Melissa in the lab. If he needed to, he could catch a few zzz's while he waited for her to finish up whatever she was doing.

At the door of the building, he was stopped by the security guards asking for clearance. Melissa was waiting for him at the door, a slightly worried look on her face. When she saw him, she motioned for him to enter quickly.

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