Chapter One
Shane Donovan pulled off his coat as he stepped into the foyer of the Salem house. He wiped the remnants of the light July rain from his face and grimaced. It had been a tough day. Peachy's condition was getting worse, Carly seemed no closer to finding a cure, and Kim and Kayla were hiding something from him. And to top that off, Chief Tarrington had some urgent ISA matter that he wanted to discuss with Shane. Tonight.
"Good evening, Sir." Simmons, Shane's butler, had entered the foyer. "Will you be wanting your dinner now?"
It was 10 p.m., and Shane had not eaten since breakfast, but he shook his head. "Just leave something in the kitchen," he said. "Tarrington's coming over to discuss something. I'll have a bite when we're done."
If I have any appetite, Shane added silently.
"Very well, Sir." Simmons looked around. "Is Mrs. Johnson still here?"
"Kayla?" Shane asked in surprise. "Kayla's here?"
"She was earlier and said she'd wait for you. I left her in the library."
That was the first good news of the day, Shane thought. "Thank you, Simmons," he said, making a beeline to the library doors. He opened them and spotted her. She was lying on the couch, fast asleep.
As quietly as he could, he walked toward her until he was only a foot or two away. He stood there, silently watching here. God, she was beautiful. Asleep, she reminded him of a cherub, so peaceful and angelic.
Kayla had been the one bright spot in his life over the past year. He shook his head thinking about that. It was still hard to believe that it had not yet been a year since Kim had walked out on him and Kayla's husband, Steve, had died.
Both of their lives had ended with those events, or at least it had felt so at the time. Shane remembered the pain that had nearly torn him apart when Kim left. His only defense had been to rebuild the walls from his past, the walls that he had allowed Kim to slowly break down when they had fallen in love. Even now, a lot of those walls were still there; he had just lowered his defenses a bit when he had fallen in love with Kayla.
It had taken her a lot longer to admit what he knew she felt. Steve's death had left her in as much pain as Shane had experienced from losing Kim. Perhaps it was because of that pain that they gravitated toward one another. They were two wounded people who had found some moments of happiness with each other. From there, their love had grown.
Kayla moved slightly, probably deep within a dream, and murmured something. A name. "Steve."
Shane tried to tell himself he didn't mind. After all, he had told her early on that he never wanted her to stop loving Steve, that he understood how special their love had been. He knew he could never compete with Steve, just as he knew he would never love Kayla as deeply or as intimately as he had loved Kim. The loves they had before were once-in-a-lifetime, and whatever they now had could not compete with what they had lost.
That's what Shane told himself. Intellectually, he knew it to be true. His visceral, emotional response was quite different. He couldn't change his feelings. He couldn't prevent the gnawing jealousy. But how could he ever compete with a ghost?
He sighed. No point dwelling on that now. Crouching down beside Kayla, he reached over and brushed some of her light blond hair from her face. She murmured again, turned to face him, and slowly opened her eyes.
"Hey, sleepyhead," he said softly, adding a small smile.
It seemed to take Kayla a minute to find her bearings, but then she smiled back. "I didn't realize I was so tired. Sorry."
"Don't apologize." He ran his hand along her cheek. "You've been spending so many hours at the lab, it's a wonder that you managed to stay awake long enough to come over. But it's a wonderful surprise. I've missed you."
"Come here and kiss me," she whispered. Shane complied without hesitating and leaned close to her. His lips brushed hers softly, as always, letting her decide what she wanted. He had promised to go slow. She pressed her lips more strongly against his, and soon he felt her tongue probing gently. He responded in kind, and for the moment, it was just the two of them, everything else was forgotten.
Unfortunately, the world returned as they broke apart to come up for air. Tarrington, Shane remembered, and he pulled away. "I wish we could continue this," he said, apologetically. "But Tarrington's coming over to discuss some ISA matters." He looked at her, secretly glad to see the disappointment evident on her face. "You could stay until he leaves. I could have Simmons prepare a guest room, so you could rest."
What he desperately wanted her to say was that no guest room was necessary, that she was ready to commit completely to their relationship, but he saw her hesitate. "I should go," she said. "It's late and I need to get Stephanie from my folks' place."
"At this hour?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be better just to let her stay there for the night?"
She smiled and touched her index finger to his nose. "Nice try." He knew he was beat, so he stood up and gave her his hand as she rose from the couch. That, at least, earned him another kiss.
"So will I see you tomorrow?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they walked to the foyer.
"It's possible," Kayla said in a coy voice. "How about you come by the lab at noon and we can have lunch together."
Shane smiled. "It's a date," he said before giving her a final, soft kiss on the lips and opening the door. He watched as she climbed into her car and drove away. He already missed her.
Chief Tarrington arrived ten minutes after Kayla left. Dispensing with all pleasantries, he pushed past Shane into the library. "Shane, old boy, we have a problem."
"What sort of problem?" Shane had rarely seen Tarrington so agitated.
The ISA chief turned and looked Shane in the eye. "What I'm about to show you is top-secret. So classified that I shouldn't even be showing it to you; it's above your clearance."
That came as a surprise to Shane. He thought he had the highest possible ISA security clearance. "What is it?"
Tarrington seemed to hesitate, but finally heaved a sigh. He pulled an envelope out of his coat pocket and handed it over. "This came from one of our agents in Egypt. Open it."
Shane opened the envelope and pulled out a photograph. The picture was a grainy black-and-white shot that appeared to have been taken through a fence. However, Shane immediately realized why Tarrington thought it important.
On the opposite side of the fence was a figure -- a man of medium build with long blond hair and a patch over his left eye.
Shane immediately looked up at his boss. "Is that . . . I mean, could it be . . . That's Steve."
