"But Ingrid Bergman would have done it in a heartbeat. She knew about duty."

Joel sighed and repeated, "Boring."

"I'M DONE," JOEL SAID. "NARY a cache in sight. Do you need any help?"

"No. I'll only be a few more minutes." She moved a few feet, her gaze narrowing on the wall. "You'd just get in my way."

"If you take any longer, I'll build a bonfire of those trunks." He blew on his hands. "We've only been down here ten minutes, and it's like an icebox."

"A few more minutes," she repeated absently, her fingertips probing the rough stone wall. Joel leaned back against the wall, watching her. She probably didn't even feel the cold, he thought. Once Emily focused on a project, nothing existed but the work at hand. That was the reason she was admired and respected by military and diplomats alike in this part of the world. She was brilliant and dedicated and had credentials out of the stratosphere. She was only thirty, but she had been working for the U.N. since before she had gotten her degree. At first, she worked under Oxford Professor Cordwain, but she had taken over after he opted out eighteen months later.

More power to her. He wouldn't have her job on a bet. He didn't mind being on the team, but he liked his personal life, and Emily had none. Every time she started to have a tentative relationship, she was sent to another part of the world.

Why hadn't he tried to get her into bed? They worked together with a closeness that should have lent itself to a more sexual intimacy.

God knows, she was attractive. Maybe not in the usual sense. She was tall and thin, but with a grace and strength that were kind of sexy. Her brown eyes were wide set and slanted, giving her a faintly exotic appeal. She wore little makeup, but her skin was baby soft and clear, and her short blond-brown hair was always clean and shiny. So why hadn't he hit on her?

Because he'd sensed the fragility beneath the strength. In spite of what she faced every day, she was a dreamer, and dreamers could be hurt. She wanted to believe in a better world that had all the beauty of the past, and ignored the fact that the past had been as violent as the present.