She was slender , thirty - something , a redhead with wary blue eyes . She wore a fitted pea - green suit with a matching pillbox hat , in the newest retro style . From the quality of the clothes , I guessed she was in a much higher income bracket than my regular clientele . She shook the hand I offered ; her grip was delicate . " I 'm Sarah Miller , " she replied , letting go of my hand quickly to clutch at her handbag . She spoke quietly , but with an edge of defiance . " I have a job for you . " " How long has this person been missing ? Have the police given up searching ? " I 've occasionally taken that sort of case - a child has been missing for months , the police have more or less given up for lack of any leads , and the parents are desperate to see that something is still being done . Those cases are depressing , and not one has ever had a happy ending . She shook her head . " It 's a bit . . . complicated . This person - well , he 's not officially missing . It 's just . . . " She raised her head and met my eyes . " He 's my lover . " She paused , as though expecting me to comment or to indicate shock . I 'd noticed her wedding band of course , but I had nothing to say about it . " I haven 't heard from him in two weeks , " she went on . " I 've left dozens of messages on his cell phone , I 've sent emails , I even went to his house once but he wasn 't there . I 'm afraid something 's happened to him . But I can 't go to the police with this ; my husband can 't find out , and anyway I don 't have anything to tell them , just that my lover hasn 't called me for two weeks . That wouldn 't be enough for them to start an investigation , would it ? " She opened her handbag , and took out a couple photos and a folded piece of paper . " Here 's a couple pictures of Joey , and I 've written down his address and phone number and where he works . " She handed the stuff to me . I glanced at the pictures ; this Joey was an average - looking white guy in his thirties , with thinning brown hair , silver - rimmed glasses and a close - cropped goatee . The two pictures seemed to have been taken on the same day , in some park in the autumn . " Mr . Mansfield , you have to understand that my husband can 't find out about this , " she stressed again . I heard her tight , desperate tone and drew a few conclusions . This woman was scared of her husband , and like most women who feel that way , she probably was justified . Furthermore , I 'd bet my next rent payment that she was worried her husband had something to do with the disappearance of the lover . " I need to check my schedule with my secretary , " I said , and slipped out into the reception room , shutting my office door behind me . " Rosemary , " I whispered , " I 'm being offered a touchy case , and a lot of money . How badly do I need it ? " Rosemary was my 22 - year - old secretary . If you 're thinking " sleazy sex on the desk when business is slow , " think again . Rosemary was a 5 - foot - 10 , 200 pound hard - core bull dyke , and she moonlighted as a professional dom . She was also the best damn secretary I 'd ever had , and I lived in constant dread of the day her dungeon would start paying for itself and she 'd leave me . Rosemary grunted and pulled up an accounting sheet on the computer , tilting the screen so I could see . " Rent 's due next week , " she said , tapping the screen with an accusing pencil . " Hydro bill 's two weeks overdue . Insurance payment 's a month and a half overdue . " She swivelled in her chair to fix me with a glare . " And my pay - day 's Friday . " " One other thing . " She plucked an opened business envelope from the desk in front of her , and flapped it in the air . " This is from Blood & Associates . Your last child - support cheque bounced . " Rosemary shook her head . " Not after you paid for the repairs to the pickup . " She tilted her head , giving me a sympathetic look ; her facial piercings glinted in a sunbeam . " Why don 't you just demand a fucking paternity test ? " " Yeah , OK . " She held up her hands , abdicating all responsibility - at least ' till the next time she brought it up . " You 're the nicest , stupidest man in the whole fucking world , you know that ? So the answer is yes , you gotta take this case . " I started looking for Joey - Joseph Conner was his full name - at his place of work , which was the math department at the University of Toronto . I hoped this would be quick and easy - maybe I 'd find Joey himself there . There are lots of reasons a man might stop calling his illicit lover , and most of them are sordid but not sinister . " I 'm sorry , " she said , " he doesn 't have any teaching duties this summer , and we don 't expect to see him ' till the fall . You can leave a message , but sometimes he doesn 't check in for months . I haven 't heard from him since the end of April . " I decided to leave a message with my number , and instructions to call it - with luck , Joey might yet solve the case of his own disappearance , quick and easy . Once the secretary took the note , I asked if I could look in his office . " He borrowed a book from me , " I explained . The secretary looked doubtful . " No offence , but how would I know the book is yours ? I don 't think I can let you into his office without his permission . " The secretary tilted her head , thinking about it . " Well , that would probably be all right . Neda ! " she called to a young woman who was just walking by . Neda looked about twenty ; she was wearing a long dress , and a hijab . " Neda , would you take this gentleman to Professor Conner 's office and let him look around , and make sure he doesn 't take anything ? " Neda looked surprised , and a bit amused . " Sure , no problem , " she said . The secretary gave her a key ring , and she led me away . " Is he well - liked around here ? " I wondered whether professional competition between mathematicians ever got deadly . It didn 't seem likely , but people get funny about their passions . " His students like him OK , I guess , " she said with a shrug . " I wouldn 't know about the other profs . Here we are . " She unlocked the office door , and let me in . So , the guy 's workplace was a dead end . No one had seen Joey for a month , but apparently this was normal in his line of work . Wish I had a job like that . I tried his home next . He lived in a townhouse . The front door had a mail slot ; I peeked through it , and saw a pretty big pile of mail lying there on the floor . His car was parked in his driveway , but that didn 't mean he hadn 't decided to leave town by train , say , or by plane , or in someone else 's car . I tried talking to the neighbours next . Most of them knew him by sight , a few of them knew him to say ' hi ' to . No one had seen him in weeks , but no one thought that was odd . I didn 't have the authority to enter his house for a search , so there wasn 't much more I could learn in his neighbourhood at that point . I had established , pretty certainly , that Joey hadn 't been home for weeks - but I hadn 't found any leads on where he was , nor had I managed to find any evidence that his disappearance was suspicious . I borrowed a dog from a friend , and drove out to Oakville , the ritzy suburb where Sarah Miller and her husband lived . I was decked head to toe in suburban camouflage - yuppie clothes . I parked my truck several blocks away from the Millers ' residence , and got out to walk the dog . The dog 's name was Sandy . She was a beautiful golden lab , and I 'd borrowed her for this sort of purpose before . Walking a dog is a nice , inconspicuous way to scope out a neighbourhood . When we were in front of the Millers ' place itself , I got Sandy 's attention and told her " Do your business , girl . " She was actually trained to that command ; she settled right down to sniffing out a good spot , and taking care of business . Meanwhile , I had a perfectly good excuse to stand there beside her , gazing around at everything but the dog and looking sort of awkward . The Millers ' place was three stories , ground - level entry , with a two car garage facing the front . The large front lawn was stylishly just a little bit unkempt . I could see around the house to where their property adjoined another in back , with no lane in between . Across the street , more houses . There was no good cover . The houses were all very big and expensive looking , and far apart . I 'd guess that not one on the street would sell for less than a million . I heard a car slowing down and pulling up to the curb behind me and I turned to see a black limousine . The driver was impassive , and the windows of the passenger section were black . If there was anyone in there , they could see me and I couldn 't see them . This made me uncomfortable . I grinned at the driver and waved the plastic baggy I was holding , to indicate ' Hey buddy don 't worry , I 'll clean up after the dog . ' By then Sandy had woofed her satisfaction ; I stooped down and bagged the dog shit , keeping half an eye on the limo . The limo 's engine shut down , the driver continued to sit in his seat like a mannequin , and there was no sign of life from the back . I returned Sandy to her owner , then spent a couple hours at the office making phone calls . I managed to get in touch with Joey 's one surviving relative , an uncle living in California . Not only had he not heard from Joey in the past two weeks , he hadn 't heard from Joey for two and a half years - the last contact had been a Christmas card Joey sent him , in December of 2005 . The uncle couldn 't give me any current info about Joey at all - he hadn 't even remembered Joey was working at the University of Toronto . That was a real dead end . Then I tried to get access to some of Joey 's private information . There are certain things that you shouldn 't be able to find out about people that sometimes you can find out anyway , if you ask nicely . Unfortunately , most of the service reps I talked to that afternoon had been well versed in client privacy . I couldn 't find out whether Joey had made any purchases with his credit cards in the past two weeks , nor whether he had used his debit card or accessed his bank account , nor whether he had used his cell phone . Finally I hit pay dirt . Sort of . I realized that the U of T math department probably had its own systems administrator . I called the department , asked to talk to the sys admin , and was put through to a woman named Carla . I told Carla the truth - that I was a private detective investigating the possible disappearance of Joseph Conner . I asked her whether he had an account on one of her servers - of course he did . I asked when was the last time he 'd accessed it . She told me - the 19th of May , at 11 : 34 am . That was two weeks ago , plus a day . I asked her whether it was unusual for him to go so long without accessing his account . She took a moment to call up his user data , and told me yes - in the five years since he 'd joined the department , he 'd never gone more than 48 hours without logging in . I thanked her , and said goodbye . I got home around 7 p . m . , carrying grocery bags . I went through the usual inelegant process of getting my keys out while not letting the groceries spill all over the floor . I stuck the key in the lock and tried to turn it . I put my grocery bags down softly . One tipped over , and oranges rolled out across the floor ; I let them go . I drew my gun , stood to the side of the door , and reached over with my spare hand to turn the knob and ease the door open just a crack . I waited a moment . Nothing stirred . In one quick movement , I side - stepped into the doorway and kicked the door open , pointing my gun in front of me . I swept the room ; nothing , nobody . Cautious , holding my gun at the ready , I tiptoed in . Moving silently , I checked the rest of my apartment . No kidding . Li Ann and I had sort of drifted apart in the years since we left the Agency ; these days , we barely managed a couple phone calls a year . We didn 't have much in common anymore . About a year after the end of our time at the Agency , she married a wealthy investment broker . He was a good guy and I could see that he and she were honestly in love . These days she ran a private art gallery and organized prestigious charity functions , and she lived with her husband in a $ 600K condo downtown . Me , I was a low - class private detective who couldn 't afford to pay his rent and his child support . Not that she looked down on me , you understand - Li Ann wasn 't like that . I just didn 't feel comfortable around her anymore . Mac was the luckiest of all - he escaped with minor cuts and bruises . I was the most seriously injured at the time , though unlike Li Ann I eventually recovered completely . I don 't even remember the explosion - something hit me on the head , hard . I was in a coma for two days . When I came out of it , the Director was dead , and Mac and Jackie had vanished into thin air . The Director 's death hit Li Ann and me pretty hard . It was so senseless . She 'd been shot , of course , but the bullet had only grazed her . A few stitches , and she 'd been fine . Then she stayed in the hospital with us all night , hoping I 'd wake up . She finally left at about 6 am . Then , driving home , she fell asleep at the wheel . The car crashed and she was killed . By 8 am that same day , Mac and Jackie had faded away into the shadows . I guess they figured it was their one chance to escape the Agency . Maybe they were right , maybe not . Li Ann was retired from the Agency after that because of her injury . I was retired because there was no team left , and my Director was dead , and they - the mysterious They - decided I was too old to start again on a new team with a new Director . Ten years later , I still felt cold at the depth of Mac 's betrayal . We 'd been lovers , the last few months at the Agency . I 'd been in love with him , and thought he felt the same for me . Then , in an instant , he was gone - at that point he couldn 't even have known that I would survive , yet he left . He didn 't even write me a note . And I never heard from him , or of him , again . Li Ann led me into the living room , and we both sat down on the black leather sofa . She took the rose from me and twirled the stem between her thumb and forefinger , gazing at the bloom . Then she looked up at me . " So , what 's going on ? " Li Ann stared at the rose for a moment . " I haven 't heard from Mac since the Director died , " she said slowly , " but something strange happened a couple months ago . A woman rang my doorbell around one in the morning . She 'd been beaten up by her husband - she had a black eye , a cut lip , a few other bruises . She wasn 't a total stranger , actually - I knew her to see her , we 'd been involved in a couple charity functions together . She didn 't know my name at the time though , or where I lived . A man , a stranger , had brought her to my door and left her there . " Li Ann handed the rose back to me . " From her description of the stranger , I wondered if it might have been Mac . " " Sure . " Li Ann smiled . " We 've become friends , actually . I wish I could get her to leave her husband , but at least I can usually convince her to come over here when he 's in a bad mood . Her name is Sarah Miller . I 'll get you her phone number . " " Hm . That 's strange , " Li Ann said , furrowing her brow . " Of course I 've mentioned you to her , but she never said she was planning to go to you . What sort of case ? " This was an unexpected turn of events ; suddenly Li Ann herself was the best lead I had on my new case . Not that I could see any connection yet between the hints that Mac was around and the disappearance of Joey Conner , but the rose had appeared the day I started looking for Joey . Like I said , I don 't believe in coincidences . " What can you tell me about her husband ? " " Marcus ? I 've met him only a couple times . " Li Ann grimaced . " You can guess why I don 't like him . He 's an overbearing , jealous , brutal sort of man . That 's just with Sarah of course - he 's perfectly polite in public . " " Something in the diamond trade , " Li Ann told me . " Other precious jewels too , but mostly diamonds . He 's some sort of buyer . I 'm not sure of the details , but obviously they do well by it . " " Hi Vic , " he said , looking surprised and pleased to see me . " It 's been a while . " I stood up to shake his hand , and then he leaned over to give Li Ann a kiss , and murmured something in Cantonese . Probably something indecent - she blushed , smiled , and gave him a mock punch in the gut , telling him to be polite and speak English while I was there . Tony was a first generation Chinese - Canadian ; his parents had immigrated as adults , and he 'd been born here . He was a bit short , and balding , and his ears stuck out - he wasn 't the most beautiful man in the world . But he and Li Ann were so obviously still in love , and coming near their tenth anniversary ; I really was happy for her . Seeing them just made me feel so alone . " Wait , Vic , " she said , holding a hand out to stop me . " I 'm really glad you came over - I was going to call you soon , anyway . Tony and I have some good news . You know how we 've been trying to adopt a baby ? " I nodded , feeling my lips twitching into a grin as I anticipated her news . Li Ann couldn 't have a baby herself - she was sterile as a result of an infection she 'd caught during her short time in the brothel when she was a child . She 'd told me about that back when we were engaged . She and Tony had been going through the arduous process of trying to arrange an international adoption for a couple of years now . " The rest of the paperwork has finally come through - just three days ago , " Li Ann said . She and Tony were both beaming at me now . " In two weeks we 're flying to China , to pick up our little girl from the orphanage ! " At that point I had to stay , of course , to share a celebratory glass of wine with them . I joked that Li Ann shouldn 't be drinking while she was expecting a baby , and was rewarded with a poke in the ribs right where I 'm ticklish . My wine glass slipped from my fingers when Li Ann tickled me , and I just barely managed to catch it again before it smashed on the floor . This manoeuvre ended with me sprawled on the floor holding the intact glass like a trophy , and Li Ann and Tony laughing and applauding . I walked out the door , and a feeling hit me . I spun around and stopped her from closing the door . " Li Ann , " I said quietly , " Do you still have a license to carry a concealed weapon ? " " Not much yet , " I confessed . It was the afternoon of the day after I 'd found the rose . " No one at the math department or in his neighbourhood has seen Joey for at least two weeks , but no one finds that unusual . The one suspicious thing that turned up was that he hasn 't logged on to the server at school for more than two weeks - the sys admin said he 's never been offline for so long before . That 's probably not enough to go to the police with yet - though it might be if you 'd also tell them about your relationship with him , and how he hasn 't been in touch with you . " Sarah shook her head almost violently . " No ! No one but you knows about me and Joey . It would be very , very bad if Marcus found out . " " All right , " I said , holding my hands up , " that 's your call . It would help if you could give me more info . For instance , you didn 't give me the names of any of his friends last time . " Then I had another question for her . I flipped over an 8x10 photo which had been lying face down on my desk . " Do you recognize this man ? " I asked . It was a picture of Mac . " Yes , I know , she phoned me after . Thanks for not telling her about Joey , " Sarah said . Then she gasped . " Oh ! This is the jewel thief ! " She laid the picture on the desk , and sat back in the chair with a fragile smile . " Well , that 's sort of a funny story . See , he was burgling us . We were home at the time - Marcus and me , I mean . He was very quiet - we had no idea he was there . We weren 't so quiet . We were having a bit of an argument , you know ? And Marcus gets kind of passionate . " " He doesn 't mean to , " Sarah said very quietly . Her gaze fell to her lap , and she started twisting the strap of her handbag between her fingers . " Anyway , that night , things got a bit intense . I guess I screamed a bit . Then the doorbell rang . It was after midnight , so Marcus knew it had to be important . He went to get the door . As soon as he was gone , a man came into the room where I was . That man . " She tapped the picture of Mac . " He was dressed all in black . He had a nice smile and he spoke to me gently , so I wasn 't afraid of him . He helped me sneak out of the back door , really quickly , before Marcus came back . I asked him what he 'd been doing in our house . He said he 'd been trying to steal some diamonds . " Sarah gave a bitter little laugh . " I said I didn 't care , and I promised not to tell on him . Then he said he 'd take me to a women 's shelter . I begged him not to , I threatened to scream again . He said OK , he 'd take me to a woman who he knew would take me in for the night . And that was Li Ann . " She picked up the photo again . " Where did you get this ? Do you think he has something to do with Joey ? " I visited twenty - five flower shops that day , showing around a picture of Mac and asking " Did this man buy a white rose from you recently ? " Negative . The next day , I visited twenty - three more , and went back to six of the originals ( to catch people working other shifts ) . Still nothing , and that pretty much exhausted the possibilities of Toronto 's flower shops . At the eighteenth shop , I hit the jackpot . " Sure , he 's been here , " said a clerk with a purple mohawk and more facial piercings than my secretary Rosemary had . " Actually , he ordered a CD here last week ; he should be by today or tomorrow to pick it up . " I listened to the CD over and over , as Mac failed to show up . After the store closed I went home , only to return just before it opened the next morning . I kept playing that same damn CD , though by then I knew every track by heart . I had this superstitious feeling that listening to his music would link me to him , so that he 'd be sure to come by and I 'd be sure to spot him . I knew him immediately . It had been 10 years , and he was wearing sunglasses , but I knew him immediately by the way he moved . There 'd been a time when we were so in tune with each other that I could sense his movements without even looking at him , just from the tension in the air between us . He stayed in the store for about twenty minutes . When he came out again I hopped out of my truck and followed him on foot , at a distance of about fifty meters . Any more than that and I would have lost him in the crowds ; I was lucky he was tall . His haircut was the same as the last time I saw him . He was wearing baggy dark slacks , and an army green t - shirt . The shirt was tight enough that I could tell , even at my following distance , that he was still in great shape . He went down into the subway ; I followed . When the train came I got into the car adjacent to his . I could just see him through the windows between cars , so I saw where he got off . That was a touchy bit of the tail operation , but luckily he turned his back to me when he got off , heading for the exit at the near end of the station . I found my distance again and followed him out , and along one more city street , until finally he entered a posh hotel , the Royal George . Loitering across the street , I saw him speak briefly to the clerk at the reception desk . Then he disappeared from my sight . " Your friend just told me you 'd be here . He said to go right up . " She pointed at the elevators . " He 's in room 814 . " Yes , I had trusted Mac ten years ago . I 'd thought I knew him pretty well . I had loved him . But then he 'd left when the Director died , while I was in the hospital in a coma , and that changed everything . I couldn 't trust anything I thought I knew about him . " I saw a guy shot through a peephole once , " he said , tucking the gun away in a pocket of his pants . " So . Well . Hi , Vic . Why don 't you shut the door . " He hadn 't changed much , to look at . The lines on his face ran a bit deeper . He had crows ' feet at the outside corners of his eyes . His hair was still thick and dark - my own had gone to salt and pepper . His build was still sleek and muscular . I knew I hadn 't changed much either , other than the hair . I worked out to keep in shape . I 'd experimented with beards over the years , but I was back to a clean shave at the moment . Mac had somehow found time to change his shirt since he got to the hotel room ; he was wearing a long - sleeved blue silk shirt with black buttons . Dressing up for me ? God only knew . " Oh . Her , I know . " He gave me a puzzled look . Maybe this wasn 't the conversation he 'd imagined having at our 10 - year reunion . " Not so good . She 's still with her husband , and now her lover 's vanished into thin air . I 'm trying to find him , or at least find enough suspicious details so I can go to the police and get them to look for him . " " Nah . My drug conviction never did get overturned . " I shrugged as if I didn 't care . " I 'm a private detective now . What can ya do ? " I glanced around the room we were in . It was fairly large . There was one bed , a double ; it was made , but not neatly . There were clothes and small personal possessions scattered around . There was a desk with some papers on it and a laptop computer sitting there closed . There was a table with two armchairs by it , in front of a big bay window with a nice view of downtown . On the table was what looked like the remains of day - old Chinese takeout . The room looked pretty well lived in . " About a week and a half , this time , " he said . " And I guess Sarah 's told you what line of work I 'm in . How the hell did you find me ? " I prickled a bit . He had no right to tease me at this point . " Well , I figured you 'd bought it here in the city . " He gave a wry grin . " Sarah and I aren 't exactly tight , y ' know . I didn 't even know she was having an affair . " " Or have him killed . Yeah , I could see him doing that . " Mac looked darkly off into space for a moment . Then his expression brightened , and he looked at me . " So here you are . You look good . " " I kept an eye on you too at first . " He looked away from me ; he turned around and walked towards the bay window and stood there , apparently fascinated by the scenery . " Then I heard you 'd got married . I didn 't feel like knowing much after that . " " What did you fucking expect ? ! ! " I shouted . He turned around to face me with a tired , sad expression , and I didn 't care what he was feeling . " You left ! The Director died and you just left ! I was in a fucking coma ! " I clenched my fists . My whole body quivered with the rage and hurt of ten years . " You didn 't even leave a note ! I tried to find you - for months I tried - and I never found a trace of you ! And you were ' keeping an eye on ' me ? ! Well fuck you ! FUCK YOU ! ! ! " I flew at Mac with the general intent to tear him limb from limb . He didn 't move quickly enough to get away . We fell together to the floor with me on top , trying to pummel him , and him just barely managing to deflect most of the blows . He didn 't really fight back , he just kept trying to pin me . My rage gave me strength . The fight was a blur , until I found myself pinning him to the floor in a painful arm lock , panting hard . " I don 't care , " I hissed , but I let him go anyway . He scrambled quickly out of my reach . We squatted on the floor , facing each other a couple meters away , breathing hard . Somehow , my gaze wandered down from his face to his bare chest , now revealed . It was a long time since I 'd seen him like this . My eyes focused on a roundish pale pink spot on his chest , just over his heart . That hadn 't been there ten years ago . That was scar tissue . I crept towards him . He watched me warily , but didn 't move away . Without saying a word I circled around behind him , and tugged his shirt down further so I could see his back . There was a matching scar there , bigger than the one on his chest , a bit jagged . Entry wound , exit wound . I put my hands on his shoulders , and got him to turn around to face me . " Holy shit , " I said softly , " you were shot right through the heart ! How are you not dead ? " He gave a wary half smile . " Damn lucky , I guess . It happened in Antwerp . One of the top heart surgeons in the world was working in the hospital there , and I was shot practically on the hospital 's front doorstep . He did some pretty amazing reconstructive surgery . " I parted the thick hair on his chest , and could just make out thin white lines in an inverted T - the scars of open heart surgery . I felt giddy at this long - belated discovery of Mac 's near death experience . " When did it happen ? " He was shocked , I guess , but only for a moment . Then his lips parted and let my tongue in . My hands went around his back and pulled him closer to me - I wanted him as close as possible , I wanted our bodies to merge . I felt his arms around me , too . He turned to face me , and gave a sad sort of smile . " I 'm a thief . You 're a cop . It 'd never work . " " We could make it work . " Fuck , I couldn 't believe what I heard coming out of my mouth . The bastard walked out on me without saying a word , and then ten years later all it takes is I see him , touch him , find out that he nearly died and I didn 't know it - and I 'm begging him for another chance . " No . " His expression became very hard ; I felt a chill run down my spine . " I 'll leave you again , Vic . Just like before . In a few days or a week I 'm out of here , and I won 't say goodbye , and you won 't see me again . " What could I say to that ? " I guess I 'll be going , then , " I said , making my own voice cold . And I walked out the door without looking back . Joey Conner had been missing - maybe - for nearly three weeks now . Before going missing , he 'd been having an affair with Sarah Miller . Sarah Miller 's husband Marcus was wealthy , jealous , and violent . As far as Sarah knew , Marcus didn 't know about Joey - but she could be wrong . The first day I 'd started looking for Joey , I 'd gone to check out the Millers ' home turf . A limo had pulled up in front of it just as I walked by ; if there 'd been anyone in the limo , I didn 't see them but they certainly saw me . A few hours later , I 'd gone home and found my door unlocked and a white rose on my pillow - Mac 's signature . Someone left me the rose . I didn 't know anything else , but I could make guesses . Whoever left the rose knew what significance I 'd see in it . They knew it would start me looking for Mac . They probably also knew that Mac was in town to be found . My phone rang . The display said it was Rosemary , in the front office . That probably meant someone had just walked in our front door ; if there was no one else around she never used the phone , she just yelled through the door . I gave him a tight smile that didn 't reach my eyes . " She 's good for scaring the bill collectors away . Why are you here ? " " I came to give you a present , " he said . He drew a folded piece of paper out of an inside pocket of his jacket . " I 've had a tap on the Millers ' phone for a while for . . . my own reasons . Last night I checked through the logs to see if I could find anything that might help you . " " You understand , you can 't go to the police with this , " he cautioned me . " I don 't want you telling anyone about the tap . I 'm going out on a limb here , giving this to you . " " Hopefully . The call 's from May 21st . " Today was the 9th of June . " It might be too late now . But I 'll try . " Now , this Chris Smith wasn 't necessarily the voice on the phone , but he was a good place to start . I went down to the police station to see what they had on him . I showed a clerk my license , paid 50 bucks , and was rewarded ten minutes later with a nice juicy rap sheet . Smith had a list of priors including b & e and armed assault . He 'd been to jail twice , for a total of four years . He looked like a good candidate for a hired thug . His sheet included a photo and a description , too . I glanced over it . 29 years old , 5 ' 11 " , 160 pounds , white . Identifying marks : 6 cm scar on back of right forearm . Tattoo of skull on right bicep , tattoo of flames on left bicep , tattoo of script " JJ " on left inner thigh . I went for a drive past Smith 's address , just to check it out . He lived in a bungalow , in a lower - middle - class neighbourhood . The neighbourhood looked shabbier than it might normally , because there were big piles of garbage bags in front of most of the houses . Some had torn or spilled , so there was a fair amount of loose trash blowing around . Toronto 's garbage collectors had been on strike for the past three weeks ; apparently residents of this neighbourhood were expressing their frustration by leaving everything on the curb . The garbage strike sucked in general - I had three weeks ' worth of garbage festering under my own kitchen sink , and it was starting to smell - but now it looked like real good luck . I parked in front of Smith 's house and took a good look around . I didn 't see anyone watching , and besides , who 's going to worry about a guy stealing garbage ? I quickly tossed the four bags into the back of my pickup . ( And Li Ann said there was no point having a pickup in the city . Ha . ) Working fast , I redistributed a few bags of the neighbours ' trash so that the curb in front of the Smith house wasn 't suddenly and conspicuously empty , and then I drove away with my loot . The first suspicious thing I found was a knife with what looked like dried blood on it . I put it in a ziplock bag and kept digging . The second suspicious thing was a blue cotton shirt caked with dried blood . That went in a larger clear plastic bag . Then I hit real pay dirt . I found a couple pieces of a ripped - up photo . Between them , they showed about two thirds of a face . It took about an hour to make my report . I talked to a detective who knew me and respected me , so it all went pretty smoothly . I told them about why Sarah had hired me - there was no point in keeping her secret now , since her husband clearly knew about her affair . I told them how Joey hadn 't been seen or heard from in nearly 3 weeks , and about him not logging on to the server at the math department . I told them that I 'd gone through Smith 's trash on an anonymous tip . I gave them the knife , the shirt , and the pieces of the photo , and let them know that the rest of the trash was outside in my truck if they wanted it - which I knew they would . The detective promised me that a couple uniforms would go by the Millers ' house right away and try to get Sarah out of there safely before the shit hit the fan . I couldn 't settle down . I still felt edgy . There were too many loose ends . The case of Joey Conner was as solved as I was going to get it , sure - it was the police 's job from here on . But there was still the question of the rose . I went back to the Royal George hotel . It was only 8 : 43 p . m . ; not too late for a surprise visit to an old friend , right ? I went straight up to room 814 and knocked on the door . Shit . Last time I 'd visited , Mac had made a big deal of not using the peephole . Conclusion : whoever was in there , it wasn 't Mac . " Oh shit ! Sorry to bother you ! " I called , and turned to walk quickly back to the elevator . I decided I 'd go to the front desk and find out whether Mac had checked out . I spun around , and the blow meant for the back of my head caught the side of my head instead . It was still enough . I saw a bright white flash of pain , and then sank into black . My head hurt . Where was I ? What happened last ? I could hear voices , and I didn 't recognize them . Experience cautioned me not to move or groan until I knew a bit more about what was going on . I was lying belly down on a soft surface . My hands were behind my back . I didn 't try to move them . As the fog cleared from my head , I developed the suspicion that they were tied back there , anyway . There was maybe a minute of silence , in which I distracted myself from the throbbing of my head by trying to count the men in the room by their breathing . Two , three , four ? I couldn 't tell . Then I felt rough hands grabbing my shoulder and flipping me over onto my back . I forced myself to stay limp , and I kept my eyes closed . I was way outnumbered , my hands were tied behind my back , and I was still fuzzy from the blow to the head - no way I was coming up fighting , not yet . Shit . Followed me ? I didn 't see anyone . But several people working together can do a pretty good tail if they know what they 're doing . Goddamn it . Mac was not my favourite person in the world at this point , but I sure as hell wasn 't happy with myself for leading these guys to him . " Like hell ! " the second voice hissed . " You go , he 's sure to come through the door soon 's you got your dick in your hands . It 's Murphy 's law , dig it ? " " IT ' S A TRAP ! ! ! ! " I yelled at the top of my lungs . Fast as I could , I rolled off the bed and hit the floor behind it with a thump . I heard the repeated pop and thud of someone shooting a silenced gun several times into the bed where I 'd just been lying . More gunshots followed , all of them silenced . Someone yelled , someone else swore , I heard the thuds of body parts hitting other body parts . The bed was between me and all the action , and I concentrated on trying to get my hands free . Whoever tied me up must 've been the worst Boy Scout in the world - it took me about 15 seconds to get loose . Of course , 15 seconds is a long time in a fire fight . I peeked over the edge of the bed , and Mac was the only man standing in the room . I looked on the floor and saw two bodies . Two . " Bathroom ! " I yelled , just as the third man came out with his gun firing . Mac dove right at the guy 's legs and took him down . The man kept his hold on his gun , but Mac had lost his . Mac grabbed the guy 's wrist , and punched at him , while the man tried to twist away or get his gun pointing at Mac . I had my gun out by then , pointing at them , but they were rolling around too much and I couldn 't get a clear shot . I ran towards them , and saw Mac land a hard punch on the guy 's nose . The man 's head snapped back and he went limp ; the gun dropped from his hand . Mac tugged his shirt straight and stood up . " What are you doing here ? " he asked me . He looked pissed off , and that made me angry in turn . " Vic ! " Mac bit his lip . " I 'm sorry for snapping at you . You probably just saved my life . " As he spoke , he closed the door to the hall . " Yeah , well , I guess I was the one who nearly got you killed , too . " I felt honour - bound to let him know this , even though it seriously pained me to say it . " They followed me here yesterday . " " Hey , don 't worry about that , " he said . He seemed to take the whole thing pretty casually . " They would have found me anyway , one way or another . But seriously , what were you doing in here with them ? " I winced , touching the side of my head . " I came by to try to talk with you again . You weren 't here , they were . One of them knocked me out , and they tied me up . I came to and heard them talking about following me , and killing you . " Mac had noticed my gesture ; he came to me now with a worried expression and checked out the side of my head where I was hit . " You were knocked out ? How do you feel now ? Come on , sit down on the bed . " He took a penlight from his pocket . " Look into the light , " he told me , shining it into each of my eyes in turn . " Are you dizzy at all ? Any double vision ? " I was both touched and irritated at his concern . We were sitting here in a hotel room full of bullet holes and dead bodies , and he was playing nurse with me . " No , really , I 'm OK . " " Well , you tell me if anything changes , all right ? " He put his light away , and went over to the nearest dead body . Then , to my amazement , he started to undo the dead man 's pants . The man was wearing boxers ; Mac pushed the left leg up , showing all the skin of the man 's thigh . I just glimpsed some mark on the inner thigh . Mac nodded , and stood up . The man had a tattoo on his inner thigh , the letters JJ in fancy cursive script . That rang a bell for me , but from where . . . ? The rap sheet ! " Hey ! " I said , all excited . " This is my guy ! This is Chris Smith , the guy who did Joey ! " Then I took another look at the face of the guy . " Wait a second . . . . " I frowned . " This isn 't him . But he has the same tattoo . " Mac , in the middle of putting his gun away , gestured at the other dead guys . " If you check them , they 'll probably have it too . Their boss likes to mark them . " Well . This case had already got me involved with Li Ann , and with Mac . . . . " Jackie ? " I said . " Jackie Janczyk ? She 's their boss ? She 's the one who shot you ? " " These guys mentioned it while we were waiting for you . Apparently you 're sort of a legend to them . " That got a smirk from Mac . " But . . . what the hell ? Wasn 't Jackie on our side ? " Mac rubbed his jaw , giving me a long , thoughtful look . I thought he looked tired , and sad . " I wanted to keep you out of this , " he said finally . " But I guess you 're in it now . Why don 't we go for a walk , and we can talk ? " " Yeah . Hold on a minute . " Mac took a cell phone from one of his pockets . He flipped it open , and clipped a scrambler on it . He punched some numbers , then put it to his ear . " Hey , " he said into the phone . " I need a cleanup . Royal George hotel , Toronto , room 814 . " He paused , listening . " Three , " he said . Then , after more pauses , " Yeah , " and " No . " Then he put the phone away . I kept my silence until we were outside the hotel . It was around 10 p . m . , and a balmy night . A busker played a cheerful song on a guitar just down the street , and his music drifted around us . Mac put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer . I jerked away from him . " We don 't exactly have that kind of relationship right now , " I sort of hissed . " Stay calm Vic , " he murmured , tightening his arm around my shoulders momentarily . " I 'm going to tell you some things that 'll probably be hard to hear . " By then we 'd come adjacent to a very small city park . He led me to a bench . " Why don 't we sit down here . " " Stay calm , " he murmured again , keeping his arms around me . " Jackie brought her a cup of coffee just before she left the hospital . It was poisoned . That was why she crashed - the poison killed her , not the crash . They - the Agency heads - covered it up , of course . I took off after Jackie . It all happened very fast . There was no time to leave a message for you . I 'm sorry . " He tightened his grip around me for a moment . " I lost her trail after a couple days , in Chicago . When I reported back to the Agency , I got told I was being moved to the international section . I wasn 't even allowed to go back to my apartment to get anything . They took me right away to the Section , in - well never mind where . Far from here . It was weeks before I was allowed to find out anything about you or Li Ann , except that you were alive . When I did , I found out that you 'd both been allowed to retire from the Agency . That you were finally being allowed to have a normal life . I knew how much you 'd wanted that . " " Anyway , I couldn 't have contacted you without putting you in danger , " he said . " The international section is even more hard - core than the Agency . Operatives aren 't allowed any outside connections . " He stroked my hair as he spoke . He kept telling me his story . " Working for the Section was a lot like working for the Agency , only I worked with different partners on nearly every mission , and the missions crossed international borders . Jackie resurfaced about three years later , in connection with some diamond smugglers . I was put on that case because I knew her . That was when we met in Antwerp , and she shot me . " " I don 't like to talk about it , " I said . " It lasted two years , and when we got divorced she was pregnant , and neither of us knows who the father is , except it sure as hell isn 't me . I pay child support anyway , ' cause I know she can 't afford to raise the kid on her own . And I don 't get visitation , because of my criminal record and the six years I was with the Agency , which I can 't account for to her lawyer . " " Yeah . Well , your story 's better . And has more to do with us nearly getting killed tonight . So let 's talk about that some more . What about the white rose ? " " I get it . " I didn 't like this bit at all , but I saw how it fit together . " The guys in your hotel room said they 'd followed me . Jackie wanted to find you - so she left the rose and let me look for you . " I made myself relax - Mac wasn 't mad at me , and there was no point being mad at myself . As for Jackie - wow , ' mad ' didn 't even begin to describe what I felt about her . " I guess Marcus Miller was working with Jackie somehow , " I said . " I know he was involved in the diamond trade . The day I went out to the Millers ' place to look around , there was a limo out front - whoever was in it saw me , but I never saw them . That must 've been Jackie . And when she saw me she came up with that plan with the rose . " I looked around at him and smiled . " Once a thief , always a thief , right ? " I kissed him on the lips , just softly . " And then you heard Sarah screaming , and you risked everything to save her . " " It wasn 't much of a risk , " he protested , mock - wounded , " I knew what I was doing . There was another agent with me . He rang the front doorbell and ran away while I snuck Sarah out the back . " And Mac hadn 't betrayed me . Not really . He 'd thought he was keeping me safe by staying away - he 'd thought he was doing the best thing for me by letting me have a normal life . I thought he was wrong about all that , but that was very different from cold - blooded betrayal . I felt Mac shiver . It was getting cool out , and he was wearing a thin , short - sleeved shirt . " You can 't go back to the hotel room now , " I said . " Come home with me . Please . " He had changed , for sure . He was a lot more serious than he had been ten years ago . Quieter , too - ten years ago , he would 've been chatting my ear off at this point , telling me about the music he liked now , or the shirt he wanted to buy , or the cool action movie he 'd just seen . When I let him into my apartment , he walked around the whole thing once , checking it out . He came back to me with a bag of frozen peas from my freezer , and made me sit down and put the bag against my head where I 'd been hit . He paced around the room , reminding me more and more of a caged cheetah , while he thought out loud about how he 'd justify all this to his current Director , a man he called X . " It 's not like you 're a normal person , " he reasoned . I snorted a laugh at that . " I mean , " he said , " You used to be an agent , too . You were on the inside . And they let you retire alive , so they must trust you . " Mac stopped moving for a moment , and I saw intense pain flicker over his face . " Yeah , " he said tightly , " It 's been done . " He resumed pacing around the room . I nearly accused him of making me dizzy , but I realized he had to work his nervous energy out somehow . Besides , if I said I was dizzy he 'd probably think it was from the blow to the head , and insist on taking me to the hospital . Mac had never been so solicitous of me before - but ten years ago , he 'd left me when I was in a coma it looked like I might not come out of . Maybe he was having flashbacks . He shook his head . " Probably not - not while Jackie 's still active , anyway . You were retired pretty early , because of the Director dying and your head injury and everything . I know of a few field agents who are over forty . " I shifted the bag of peas around ; the side of my head was getting nice and numb . " Maybe I could get back in , if they just retired me because of the head injury . I had double vision on and off , and balance problems , after I came out of the coma , so I can see why they would 've decided to let me go . But that all cleared up after a few months - after I was already out of the Agency . " He shook his head , like he didn 't quite believe me . I remembered then that that had been one of our big problems back when we were together - he 'd never seemed to fully trust my love for him . He 'd been abandoned and betrayed too many times . I 'd wanted to get past that , to convince him that he could count on me , that I 'd always want him - but there hadn 't been time . The end had come too soon . " Hey ! " I took offence . " Forty - six is not close to fifty . " I glared at him . " Unless you want me to call you ' close to forty . ' " I dropped the bag of frozen peas , and leapt to my feet to plant myself in his path . He nearly bumped into me . We stood so close together then that I had to tilt my face up to look him in the eye . " I absolutely would agree to that , " I said firmly . " I would do anything to be with you again - including selling my soul to another Director . " I couldn 't stand seeing the doubt and hesitation still in his eyes . I reached up to run my fingers through his hair in a light caress . " Has there been anyone else for you ? " He shook his head . " Never for more than a night or two . " He said the words casually , but I could feel the loneliness behind them - echoing my own . We kissed deeply , getting reacquainted . My hands snaked around his back , and I drew him even closer to me . I felt like a slow fire was starting deep inside of me - my passion for him had never died out , though the embers had been buried under years of cold ashes . My fingers itched to rip his clothes off , but I held back - I wanted to know that he wanted me . I wasn 't disappointed . Soon Mac 's fingers were walking up my chest , and settling to the task of loosening my tie and pulling it off , while he nibbled at my neck . That broke the ice - soon we were leaving a trail of clothes behind us on the way to the bedroom . Mac , naked , on my bed , in my arms . It was a beautiful dream I hadn 't dared to think about in a decade . And now he was nibbling and nuzzling and kissing every part of me . I felt his lips on my dick , and I tightened my fingers in his hair and moaned . He was only teasing - he licked me , teased the tip of my penis with his tongue , then came back up to kiss me on the lips again . " I promise , " he answered fiercely , and began kissing me with a frenzied passion . I met his intensity with my own , and our kisses and caresses became rougher , more wild . He bit me on the shoulder and I moaned at the sweet pain . " So you haven 't been living like a monk after all ? " He sounded shocked , but not upset . " Good for you . " He sounded really proud of me actually . That surprised me - but Mac had never been possessive with me . Needy , but not possessive . " Actually , " I had to admit , " I have been living like a monk . " I pulled out a paper bag of condoms and little sample tubes of lube . " Rosemary - my secretary - she gives these to me . I mentioned to her once that I was bi , and ever since then she 's been giving me these little presents . And pamphlets on safe sex practices . And toys . And she keeps inviting me to come with her to Egale meetings . " I guess I sounded a bit harried . Mac laughed at me . " She sounds great . What kind of toys ? " He saw the expression on my face , and came over to kiss me . " Sorry . Too much at once , right ? Maybe you can show me some other time . " We drifted back to the bed , our hands running all over each other . He ripped open a condom packet , and unrolled the condom over the hard length of my dick ; I twitched at his touch , and buried my face in his hair , whimpering , while he slicked lube over me . Then he gave me the tube , and I did my fingers . " Ready ? " I breathed . " All right , you asked for it . " I judged he was ready to take me . I slicked a bit more lube over my dick , and then pressed it against his ass - and he pressed back , and took me inside . I almost felt like weeping at the first moment of tight warmth , as the memories of all the other times flooded back to me . He bucked his hips impatiently , and I started to move . I thrust harder in response to his urgings , and felt myself begin to slide away , lost in the absolute pleasure . He came with a primal yell , and that sent me over the edge as well . And then I collapsed against him , with my arms around him , aware of absolutely nothing at that moment but the smell of him and the sweaty warmth of his skin against mine . We lay there , tangled up with each other , while our breath slowed down . I hugged him as tightly as I could . " I love you , too . And this time , I 'm holding on and I 'm not letting go . " Fandom : Once A Thief Pairing : Vic / Mac Genre : It 's a detective story ! Rating : NC - 17 Warnings : Nothing in particular . The NC - 17 is for the sex ; there 's also some violence , but it 's not so explicit . Spoilers : Series Finale . Disclaimer : Characters belong to Alliance . This was written for fun , not profit . Important explanation : This story takes place 10 years after the end of the series . The series ended in 1998 , so that makes the year 2008 . The year in Real Life at time of writing is 2002 . This means that the story is set 6 years in the future . I wanted to write a detective story , not speculative fiction or sci - fi , so I don 't make a lot of concessions to the fact it 's set in the future - I mostly just assume that the world in 2008 isn 't much changed from the world in 2002 .