Mooney stepped near to her and brushed a tear where it had fallen onto her cheek. "It's okay," he said. "In a few months this will all be behind you. It's just getting through the tough part."

"I so hope you're right. I feel like such a fool for letting this happen. I mean, it was just the one time."

"It only takes once." Mooney spoke gently. "You might want to keep that in mind, though, in the future."

"Don't worry," she said. "It's locked in." But again her composure slipped. Tears still threatening, she stood looking helplessly up at him. "Do you think I could get one more hug?"

"As a special request, one short one." He put his arms around her.

She pressed herself against him, squeezed hard, then all but jumped back out of his embrace as a knock came on the door. "Oh God," she said. "There's my great timing again. That's got to be Andrew. What if he saw us?"

Mooney held her at arm's length. "Laura," he said, "Andrew's a great guy. You don't have to worry about him, and even if he saw us, he knows you love him. Really. You just take care of yourself and do what you have to do and everything will be fine. I promise."

Mooney didn't know it, but his last words were a lie. Another knock sounded, and he moved to get the door.

1

Hello."

"Amy Wu, please."

"This is Amy."

"You sleeping? I wake you up?"

"No. Just lying down for a minute."

"So Friday afternoon, you're not at work?"

"No. Right. I'm not feeling too well. Who is this anyway?"

"Hal North. You remember me."

"Of course, Mr. North. How are you? How'd you get my home number?"

"You gave it to us last time, remember?"

"Right. That's right. I gave it to you. So how can I help you?"