Whiplash

Sherlock added, "We also had a gorgeous German agent added to the mix today. Dolores Cliff, one of Bowie's agents, thinks he looks like Adonis. He's not Dillon, but I've gotta be honest here-he's a pretty close second."

Bowie said to Georgie, "You remember Agent Cliff ?"

"Oh, yes, she kicked my soccer ball clear out of the field. It took Coach and a bunch of parents to find it. She showed me how to do the splits. I'll bet Erin does the splits better than anybody."

"Don't kiss up," Bowie said. "Yeah, that's Agent Cliff, a real hardnose. Only thing is, she's acting like you'd better not act when you turn thirteen, kiddo, and discover Y chromosomes."

"What's Y chromosomes?"

"Y chromosomes give fathers nightmares." He ruffled his daughter's hair. "Boys," he added.

Erin said, "You mean this guy, this Adonis, bowled her right over?"

"Yeah. I had to team him up with a guy who wouldn't care what he looked like."

"Why does he look like Adonis?" Georgie asked.

It was left to Sherlock to describe Kesselring, and she did him justice.

Georgie thought about this as she took another bite of her moo shu pork burrito. "I bet Krissy would really like him."

Bowie blinked. "Why do you think Krissy would like this foreign agent, sweetheart?"

"I heard Krissy tell you that she really likes your sexy stomach muscles. I'll bet this guy has sexy stomach muscles like you."

Bowie looked appalled. Erin thought he looked like his heart had seized.

Savich said easily, "This makes me wonder if Sean has passed along any phone conversations he's overheard. Scary, isn't it, Sherlock?"

Sherlock laughed. She leaned over to Georgie. "Do you know, I've probably said the same thing about Dillon. Hmm. I have to say that Agent Kesselring does look like a real dish. But you know what? Even though he looks like a chocolate sundae, I don't like him much. He isn't a straight shooter like Dillon or your dad, and that's something super important. I don't think he's got much respect for us women, either."

"A woman's got to be honest too," Bowie said. "Even if the woman is still a kid," he added, looking at Georgie.

Georgie spooned on some more sauce and took a big bite of her burrito. "Daddy's always honest except when he lies to Krissy."

Another heart stopper.

Bowie eyed his daughter. "I don't lie to Krissy. Why'd you say that?" Why had he asked that question, he, the well-trained FBI agent?

All the adults watched Georgie chew and swallow, and take a drink of her water. "I heard you tell her once that you were head-over-heels with work and couldn't see her. Then you took me out for pizza and a movie."

"Okay, but it wasn't a lie, not really," Bowie said. "I worked after you went to bed." Talk about lame. Well, he had checked his e-mails.

"What about when she wanted to give me a movie-star Barbie birthday party and you told her my birthday was going to be at Grandma's?"

"That was very nice of her, but something came up. Hey, I threw you a party, remember?"

Georgie said to Sherlock, "I was Wonder Woman. I looped all my friends with my lasso of truth so they'd be forced to tell me what was written on the card in their hand-Daddy wrote down stuff-and they had to tell me if it was a lie or not. It was totally fun although the lasso didn't work very well. Well, Billy Bennett did tell me he'd stuck his finger in the frosting on my birthday cake."

"What did Wonder Woman do about that?" Sherlock asked.

"Billy helped me climb up to where Daddy hid the cake and I got a swipe too."

Bowie stared at his daughter, who looked very pleased with herself, the center of attention. "I wondered why the cake was all smeared."

"Billy and I tried to smooth out the frosting," Georgie said. "With our fingers."

After dinner, Sherlock dried glasses in the small kitchen while Erin washed. "Imagine, both guys tucking Georgie in."

Sherlock buffed up a dish and set it in the cupboard. "Dillon told me he'd like to see how it works with a little girl as opposed to a boy. He's very good at reading bedtime stories."

Erin handed her a plate to dry. "She's precocious. I'm reading her Nancy Drew's Mystery at Lilac Inn right now."

"I remember I always had a Nancy Drew under my pillow," Sherlock said. She added after a moment, "I know Bowie's wife died in an automobile accident. Do you know what happened?"