in one hand and a cell phone in the other. "Why would I want to go to your room?" she asked. Pulling an Ice House beer from under his jacket, Cade opened it and handed it to her as he said, "Here, I smuggled this out of the bar for you. Frank and everybody else on the teams have probably dropped their forks and are most likely on their way back up here. I'd say you have about five minutes to be elsewhere." Taking the beer, Mandi wryly said, "Gee, thanks, mister, but Timbuctu and Borneo are considered 'elsewhere' too. Why should I go to your room in particular?" "So you won't be in your room when they get here, that's all. Turn off your phone. Kick off your shoes and relax. We can ring John and Alan on my phone and tell them to settle the herd, then talk about what to do next." Laughing, Mandi asked, "Next? Next I head back to Vegas." She took a long hit from her beer as Cade said, "Uh, huh. I've heard they even have TV's in Vegas nowadays, ma'am. John said that there are still four terrorists unaccounted for. Do you really want to be way out West if they try something else this weekend? We still don't know why they chose this time and place. Could be it isn't over yet." "He didn't say anything to me about four more of them." "Well, he didn't tell the rest of us about you, either, so it could be he just doesn't communicate very well, y'know?" Levering himself off the door frame, Cade said, "I'll leave my door open, just in case. Later, milady," and swigged his beer as he headed for his room. Some guy with a phone to his ear opened the temporary ops room's door across the hall, saw Mandi, and spoke to someone as he stood there. Cade veered across the corridor and noddingly pushed past him into the room. The guy followed, protesting, but his objections ceased as Cade showed him his ID. "Where's Frank?" asked Cade. "Uh, downstairs, at dinner. Which group are you with?" "I'm on John's B-team. We worked with the cops today. You guys got any loaner laptops in here?" "No, they're two doors down. See Mitchell or Gray." "Will do. Thanks," said Cade, heading for the door. Some twenty steps later he had to use his keycard on his door, which hadn't been closed when he'd left the room. Letting himself in, he closed the door securely and turned to see Mandi step from behind the hallway corner by the bed. With a grin, Cade said, "Hi, there. You're as quick as ever. Should I send out for more beer?" Waving her half-full bottle, Mandi smiled and said, "Oh, not just yet, I think. I didn't really come here to party. Thanks for running interference for me." Looking enlightened, Cade said, "I knew there was a name for that," and handed her his phone. "Might as well call John and see what he has to say about what happened." Mandi put the phone on the desk and pulled the chair out to sit down, then said, "In a little while.