owhere. The NIA said they could use me, so I
switched over."
"Seems to me I first saw you in -- what? -- 1993?"
She nodded. "Right after we busted that colonel at the Watergate in March."
"You were impersonating an Air Force captain and I said something about
being a sucker for a woman in uniform. If I recall correctly, you rolled your
eyes and sighed at me."
"I'd heard that line thirty times by then."
Doing his best to look hurt, Cade said, "Hey, it wasn't a line. Put on a
uniform sometime and try me. I'll fall all over you, ma'am. Putty in your hands,
and all that."
As their food arrived, she snickered and said, "Sure, I'll do that someday.
Pass the salt and pepper."
They chatted some more as they ate, and when her food was gone, she began
filching his french fries as they talked. Cade pushed the burgerless basket
toward her and reached for the second burger.
"Mind if I order another one?" he asked.
In some startlement, Beth asked, "You got a tapeworm or something?"
"Nope. Just hungry tonight for some reason."
Shrugging, she said, "Go for it."
After the third burger and fries, Cade felt as if he'd make it through the
night without quite starving. Beth had occasionally stared at him as he'd put
away the third basket of food, but she'd only remarked that he might want to see
a doctor sometime about his appetite.
It occurred to Cade that he'd made no eliminations of solid or liquid waste
since he'd nibbled on Mandi. That pretty much had to mean that anything he ate
or drank was being used fairly completely by the conversion process.
He wondered if he could take that to mean that any mass would do in a pinch.
If so, a phone book would do as well as a steak dinner as a midnight snack. He
put that thought on the shelf as he realized water would do, too, and nobody'd
miss any amount of water he could possibly drink.
"Beth," he said, "How come you were free to make me take you to dinner
tonight?"
"Make you? I didn't make you... Oh. You want to know why I don't have a
boyfriend, huh?"
"Yup. May I speak freely?"
"Uh... Okay, I guess so."
Nodding, Cade said, "Okay, then, I'll run with it. Regardless what you may
think of yourself, most men see you as a fine looking woman..."
"You've decided that based on your opinion and what Tony said upstairs?"
"No, and don't run yourself down around me, okay? He was right and you know
i