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  "No problem, it's not new."

  "Jim." He didn't know if that was the truth, or intended to make him feel better.

  "Trust me, Sandburg."

  Blair was silent, listening to Jim's breathing over the headset. "Talk to me, Jim."

  "Got the first two. Going for the second. This safe is pretty old. I think even Fingers could do it."

  "Jennifer's in the room. Does she use a motion sensor?"

  "Yep. Two more numbers. This one could practically open itself."

  "Don't get cocky, Jim." He heard laughter then and rolled his eyes. "Well?"

  "Got it. Is she out yet?"

  Blair glanced down the hall, "No." What was this, a competition? "Here she comes." The door to room 809 opened at the same time as room 811. Blair watched Jennifer walk to the elevators, stopping to speak to Jim, then Jim moved over to room 804 and used the decoder to get inside. "Where's she going?"

  "To 732. Diana just told her it was empty."

  "Jim, how do you feel? Any trouble?" Blair couldn't see his partner from where he sat well enough to know if he was feeling any of last night's tension.

  "I'm fine. This should be the last one, partner. Then we're home free."

  Blair shook his head and glanced down each corridor. He'd had enough two days ago. One more, then they could...what? Go spend several hours in a strange house with two very strange women while they waited for some strange man to come along? God, how did undercover cops do this for a living? The unpredictability bordered on chaos.

  "Good news, it's just as old as the last one."

  "Good. Just get it open and let's get out of here."

  "Almost there."

  Blair realized he hadn't been paying attention. If Jim was halfway through, and he hadn't been talking to him...it was just damn lucky that was an older safe. The elevator bell chimed and Blair glanced down the hallway. "Someone's coming."

  "Almost done."

  "Jim, it's Diana." Blair looked at her quizzically as she approached. "What are you doing here?"

  "I'm ready for that party now." Diana sat down in Blair's lap, putting both arms around his neck.

  "Jim, she's stoned." Blair tried to fight her off from around his neck. Her face was blocking his view of the hallway, and her hands were going down his back. "Where's Jennifer?"

  "She's in the room. They really don't need us." She leaned back and looked at Blair. "Let's go wait for Hank and split her share."

  Just then Jim came out of the room and hurried over to the two of them. "Come on." He lifted Diana off of Blair so he could stand, then the three of them entered the elevator and Jim pressed the seventh floor button. "Where's Jennifer?"

  "In the room. She doesn't need me anymore." Diana swayed slightly and leaned into Blair.

  Before the doors even opened at the seventh floor, Blair saw Jim raise a hand and hit the door close button, preventing them from opening. "Trouble." He hit the lobby floor and turned to Blair. "Security caught her."

  "What are we gonna do?" Blair was trying to push Diana off but she was leaning on him and snaking a hand into his pocket.

  "Harry's coming in today. He'll know what to do," she said, looking up at Jim.

  "We'll go to the house."

  Blair let Jim lead the way to the truck as he and Diana followed. In the lobby they had seen several security guards rushing about and uniformed officers driving up to the hotel. Jim drove them back to the house, and Blair spotted another car parked at the side of the building.

  "Must be Harry," he said, glancing at Jim. Diana was sitting between them and she nodded,

  "Yep. That's Harry. Come on inside, I'll introduce you." They parked next to the rental car and Diana led the way to the front door. "He's gonna be pissed."

  ******

  "Stupid bitch!"

  They met Harry the minute they walked into the house. He was short, and reeked of cigars even though there were none in the house or on his person. Blair guessed him for mid-fifties, and some type of business man judging by his clothes. But what business?

  "So where's the loot?" Harry glanced from Jim to Blair, then back to Diana. "You didn't bring out the loot? You get Jennifer caught and you don't even bring out the take? "

  "She said we'd collect it tomorrow morning," Diana replied, crossing the room to sit on the couch. "Besides, I think she was starting to skim, Harry."

  "What? Jennifer wouldn't skim from me, little missy. If anyone was skimming from me, it'd be you. Stupid bitch." He looked at Jim, sizing him up. "So, I guess you're the safe man?"

  Blair would have been offended by the assumption that classed him with Diana instead of Jennifer, if it had been any other circumstance. As it was, he was more than happy to once again be able to defer to Jim.

  "That's right. Looks like you just lost one."

  "Yeah, well maybe I just gained another." He paced the room for a moment, then turned back to them. "You're gonna go back there and get the loot tonight. During the confusion, they'll be searching all the rooms once the others get wind of a robbery. You slip in there and clean out what you managed to get." He looked at Jim again. "I'm betting with that look, they'll figure you for some dumb cop anyway." He nodded to himself, "Yeah, you'll pass. They're none too smart around these parts, anyway."

  "What about Jennifer's cut?" Jim asked.

  "It's yours," Harry replied. "If you come back with it. Try and skim from me, and you'll regret it."

  Jim nodded and reached out for Blair's arm, "Come on, Chief."

  "Uh uh," They both turned around and found themselves staring at a 357. "The little one stays with me."

  Blair looked at Jim, then back to Harry. Not again.

  "They'll never buy him as a cop. Besides, he can keep Diana off my back till you come with the goods." Harry motioned for Blair to move to the living room.

  Blair didn't move at first, then the gun was cocked. "Go ahead, I won't be long." Jim said, nodding for him to do what he said. Jim then turned to Harry, "Anything happens to him, I'll kill you."

  "It's a deal," Harry replied.

  Blair watched as Jim glanced at him, then left the house and drove back down the driveway. Harry pushed him into a chair and Diana left once again for the bathroom. Harry had reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a set of handcuffs.

  "Use these when I'm feeling frisky," he said, tossing the cuffs to Blair. "But for now, I guess they'll come in handy for what they were intended for. Put them on, behind your back."

  Blair did as he was told, securing his own right wrist. Before he put his arms behind him, Diana reappeared and Harry told her to finish cuffing his wrists. She happily obliged, tightening each one after wrapping them between the slats of the hardback chair he was in.

  "You know, Harry, I've been thinking. We never had any trouble before these two." Diana was still standing behind Blair and she began to stroke his hair, running long fingers through the curls. "Cute as he is, I think it's all their fault."

  Harry was pacing the living room, having put the gun back into his jacket. "It's all your fault, Diana. Just like always." He paused and looked at her. "You and that habit that keeps eating away at your profit margin." He shook his head, "When are you going to learn? Just say no."

  "Funny, Harry. Coming from you that's real funny." She stopped stroking Blair's hair and crossed the room to stand in front of Harry. "Seeing as how it was you that drove me to it."

  "Damn you, woman!"

  Blair could tell he was furious. God, just my luck, stuck in a room with two psychos. Harry suddenly marched over to where Blair was sitting and looked at him.

  "I can't hit a woman. Never could. So you'll have to do."

  Before Blair could react, a huge fist slammed into his jaw, snapping his head back. He tasted blood immediately and had to fight the black spots that danced across his eyes.

  "God, Harry, that was crude." Diana pushed Harry away from Blair and looked down at him.

  Blair moved his jaw a little, trying to decide i
f it was broken. He looked past Diana to Harry. "You know, I've hit a woman. It's really very liberating."

  Harry smiled and nodded. "I'll try it sometime, kid." He looked at Diana then and pointed a finger at her. "One more word out of you, and I'll take his advice."

  She marched past Harry and into the kitchen. Blair watched as the now not-so-silent partner walked to the windows and looked outside. Where were Bryce's men? Jim would be back soon, and it would all end peacefully, right? Diana returned, carrying a washcloth, and sat down on Blair's lap, straddling his legs.

  "Let me see that." She reached out for his jaw and he pulled away, "Come on, you're bleeding."

  "I'm fine."

  "You're bleeding." Blair tried to pull away but there wasn't anywhere for him to go with her in his lap. She took his jaw in her hand and held him still, dabbing his split lip with the wet cloth. "Don't worry about Harry, he's never killed anyone before, and he's not going to start now." She kept dabbing the cut until it stopped bleeding, then she tossed the cloth to the table. "Besides, if we've lost Jennifer, we'll need another partner."

  "You'll need another safe cracker," Blair said, trying to get some distance between her face and his. She was stroking his hair again and gazing at his mouth.

  She sat straighter and began to run her hands across his shoulders, rubbing up and down his arms. "Oh, I dunno. Your partner's pretty good."

  "Then what do we need you for?" He wanted her off his lap, but she wasn't taking the hint. Instead, her hands moved from his shoulders to his chest, unbuttoning the three buttons of his shirt. One hand slipped down inside and began to caress his chest. Blair didn't want to do anything to encourage or antagonize her. He glanced over at Harry, but the man was busy concentrating on the driveway. Diana bent her head and kissed his chest, pushing the top of his shirt open. Blair had to turn his head to the side to keep her hair from his face. She was licking him now, trying to twirl his chest-hair around her tongue. How far was this going to go? Come on, Jim, don't let me down here. She sat up again and touched his bruised chin gently,

  "You'll need me to show you the ropes. I've been to all the good hotels, I know the best way in and out of each and every one." She leaned forward then and kissed him on the lips, trying to force her tongue between his tightly clenched teeth.

  Blair tried to pull back, but her other hand was holding the back of his head. His mouth was sore, and all he could taste was blood, but there was nothing he could do. She gave up trying to get her tongue inside and began to suck on his lower lip. He tried to tell her to stop, but her mouth was covering too much of his. Finally, she sat back, wiping some of his blood from the corner of her mouth. Her hand was still down his shirt and she smiled,

  "I like a man with a hairy chest," she purred. "Not too much, not too little."

  "God, Diana, take a cold shower," Harry called from the windows.

  "Leave me alone!" she shouted back. "He promised me some fun, and I'm ready."

  "I said when the job was over," Blair said, trying to shift a little in the chair so he wouldn't lose all the feeling in his legs as she sat on him. "It's not over, yet."

  "Soon." She removed her hand from his shirt and grabbed the hair on either side of his head, leaning in for another kiss, harder this time. She ran her fingernails through his hair, close to the scalp, moving from front to back, then down his neck.

  There was nowhere he could go, even when her hands left his neck and started to pull the shirt out of his pants, he was pinned down. Hands started up his back from underneath the shirt, and fingernails began to dig in. He turned his head, trying to get her off, but she turned with him. Come on Harry, now would be a good time to try hitting a woman. Her hands were up and down his back, both caressing and scratching. Then they moved to his stomach, pushing up under the shirt to reach his chest, then back down. He was glad then that the nipple ring was gone, he didn't need her playing with that, too. Blair struggled, trying to get her to stop before the hands went anywhere else, but he couldn't move. He tried to bite her lip, but she liked that and laughed from deep inside her throat. One hand reached down and began to work his belt, trying to unhook it as the other hand continued to stroke his chest.

  "He's here."

  Blair was certain he heard a voice, but Diana had released his abused mouth and was sucking on his ear, playing with his earrings in her mouth. Suddenly she was off of him and screaming. Blair looked up to see Harry pulling her off as Jim crossed the room towards them.

  "I said enough!" Harry swung his fist and hit Diana square on the jaw, sending her to the floor. He shook his fist and turned to Blair. "You were right, kid. That did feel good."

  * * *

  "Get him loose," Jim demanded, looking at Blair. "I brought it all." He was holding a briefcase but didn't set it down until Harry fished out the keys to the handcuffs and handed them to him. He set the case down then and stepped behind Blair. "You okay, Chief?" At first he'd thought Diana was just getting fresh, but then when Harry pulled her off, he could see blood running down Blair's chin.

  "I am now," Blair replied, rubbing his wrists now that they were free of the cuffs. "Another minute with her and I wouldn't be so sure."

  Jim gripped his shoulder for a moment, then took a closer look at his bleeding lip. "Jennifer's been arrested." He glanced at Diana sitting on the floor, glaring up at Harry. "We want our cut now." Jim stepped over to Harry as he was examining the stolen goods.

  "Yeah, yeah, it a minute," Harry replied.

  "Now. This whole town is going to be crawling with cops in a minute." Jim moved closer and closed the lid to the case.

  Harry shot him a dirty look, then nodded. "Okay. The deal is, I buy this from you at an assumed value." He walked over to the kitchen, then returned with his own briefcase. "There's an itemized list here of what was to be auctioned. As soon as I can compare what you've brought to the list, we'll have a figure."

  Jim nodded and watched as Harry compared each gold coin and gemstone with the list in his notebook. Diana had roused herself and was pouting in the corner, nursing a swelling lip. He sent Blair to the kitchen to put ice on his face after he was satisfied that the split lip was his only real injury. Getting back into the hotel to retrieve the stolen goods had been a snap, of course. Detective Bryce was there to help, and explain how a hotel security guard had walked in on Jennifer while she was unloading the safe. When Diana left her post, room 732's occupant returned unexpectedly. They collected the loot, then followed Jim back to the house at a discreet distance to await his signal. Walking in to see Blair cuffed to a chair and bleeding from the mouth, with Diana crawling inside his shirt, stirred every protective instinct Jim had. He was going to enjoy this arrest. Jim had a partner once before, but Jack was the older, wiser one then. Now, being with Blair both on the job and off, Jim felt a responsibility like none he had ever known. His partner's constant questioning of police procedure both impressed and pleased him as Blair showed a constant curiosity and understanding of Jim's work. And having him there to bounce his own theory's off of helped him to think out loud. His protectiveness had gone beyond that of one partner to another. Jim didn't completely understand it, but he had learned to accept it. Twenty minutes later, Harry set his notebook down and stood up, nodding.

  "Okay, minus what Jennifer didn't bring out, and including her cut into yours, I'd say you two have just made yourselves 4 million. Not bad for two day's work." Harry reached into his case and removed several wads of cash.

  "You carry this much around often?" Jim asked, accepting the money.

  "Only when I'm on a business trip." Harry replied. "So, can I assume we'll do business again?"

  Jim set the cash down, then in one fluid motion, pulled his badge from his back pocket with one hand, and the gun from Harry's jacket with the other. "I think our business is concluded." he said, showing the badge as he cocked the gun and pointed it at Harry.

  "Damn you!" Diana suddenly screamed and jumped to her feet, charging across the room.r />
  Jim took two quick steps backwards, trying to cover Diana with the gun and keep from losing sight of Harry. Just as she was about to lunge over the couch at Jim, Blair intercepted, tackling her and sending them both to the floor. The front door burst open then and the room was instantly filled with officers with weapons drawn.

  "Stupid bitch." Harry spat at Diana as Detective Bryce cuffed him. "I'm just glad I hit you when I had the chance."

  Two officers pulled her from the floor and drug her, kicking and screaming, out to the front yard and read her rights as they handcuffed her. Jim gave Blair a hand off the floor and patted him on the back,

  "Good tackle, Chief."

  Blair laughed a little and shook his head, "Thanks, Jim."

  "Good work you two." Detective Bryce had sent Harry out with three other officers and walked over to shake their hands. "Couldn't have done it without you."

  "Anytime." Jim replied.

  "Listen, if you want to head back to my office and give my sergeant the details, he can type up the report."

  Jim nodded, then turned to Blair. "Come on, Chief. Let's get out of here." He led the way through the patrol cars that now lined the driveway and out to the truck. Blair climbed in and Jim glanced at his face for a moment. His jaw had a large, purple bruise on the right side, but the lip hadn't swollen, and the cut wasn't too bad. "Thought I'd have to turn the hose on Diana there for a minute."

  "Just how long were you standing there watching?" Blair asked, touching his jaw gingerly.

  Jim laughed and started the truck, "You kids today."

  Three hours later, after having dictated their report to Bryce's sergeant, then filled Simon in over the phone, they were finally home again. On the drive home, Jim had tried once again to discuss Blair carrying a gun, unsuccessfully. He knew his partner never would feel comfortable with the idea, and he wasn't exactly sure he did either. But it was a good subject to throw into his face after that evening's little tension.