coming along?" "I can only tell you what I told her. Our people are working on it. So far we've recovered five sets at WNN alone." "It doesn't look good for total containment, huh?" Shaking his head, John said, "Honestly? No, it doesn't. And if they get to the internet, we can forget about it." "No shit. John, do you remember the Marilyn Monroe and Elvis look-alike contests back in the sixties?" He shrugged. "Yeah. Vaguely, I guess." "They happened all over the country. If Mandi's pictures get out, maybe the thing to do is hold contests in L.A., Vegas, and all the major cities as quickly as possible. Send up some chaff. Make Mandi Steele-wannabes all over the place and give her a nationwide crowd to get lost in; otherwise she'll have to hide between missions in order to have any privacy at all. Now tell me something, John." "What's that?" "Tell me why didn't you just let her buzz into the room and grab all the guns. I've seen the tape. With a running start from the hallway she could have zapped them all in half a second or less and been out of there." With a straight face, John said, "It was felt that we needed a distraction to minimize risk." "And I need taller boots. Just tell me you aren't going to tell me, John. Don't bullshit me." Nodding, John said, "Okay. I can't tell you." "That means someone else is in command of this op. Someone I don't know. I really don't like that, John." Sighing slightly, John said, "Well, I don't either, but you know it isn't the first time and it won't be the last." "Can you tell me who's running the show?" "Not at this time." "That sucks, John." Nodding again, John said, "That's how I see it, too, but that's how it is." Someone called to John from the doorway and John excused himself, patting Mandi's shoulder on the way past her and saying, "Thanks again for your help." Mandi shortly disengaged from her SWAT fan club and joined Cade by the bed. "Is everything all right?" she asked. "No," said Cade. "John can't tell me who's running this op." "Neither can I," said Mandi. "Alan's getting his orders from John and won't admit to knowing anything else. Does it really matter who's at the top?" "It does to me, but as long as John's in my command chain, I'll go along with things. Do you have dinner plans?" "Yes. Some of the people from my group are going to DelMonico's around seven if nothing else happens. Want to come with us?" "No, thanks," he pulled the DragonCon schedule halfway out of his pocket, "I'm gonna disappear before they let the news people out and go find some food. There are a couple of things I want to check out between seven and nine." Reaching to touch his arm, Mandi said quietly, "You gave me the opening I needed in there. Thanks." Regarding her silently for a moment, Cade said, "You didn't need me at all, Mandi.