sponge. That's a direct quote."

"I think, Agent Leary, you owe this young lady an apology," said Loomis. "You'll be lucky if she decides

not to press charges."

"Anapology? Press charges? You can't be serious!" said Megan. "Did you take a good look at that

printout? It's got all the details of our undercover operation on there! The names of all the agents, their

covers, and where they're staying!"

"Hey, I don't know anything about that," Kira said. "I just came down to the office to get that stuff for

Paul. He said it was important."

"It's classified!" said Megan.

"Apparently, someone at the Bureau thought the local field office ought to know about it," Loomis said.

"Doesn't seem unusual to me, unless the Bureau makes a practice of conducting undercover operations

without letting their own people know about it. Frankly, I'm not too happy I wasn't told about this, Ms.

Leary. I thought the Bureau had a policy of cooperating with the local authorities. Either way, it looks like

you've made a serious mistake. This young woman has an excellent case for false arrest and harassment,

not to mention brutality."

"Brutality?"

"If you threatened her with a spell of compulsion, I'd say that definitely constitutes brutality," said

Loomis.

"Brutality, my ass!" said Megan. "She resisted! And I want to know how the hell she was able to

successfully resist a spell from a ninth-level sorceress!"

"Let me get this straight," said Loomis. "Are you actuallyadmitting that you violated this young woman's

constitutional rights and used magic in an attempt to force a confession? Is that what you're telling me? I

sincerely hope it's not, Ms. Leary, because if it is, I'll have no choice but to place you under arrest."

"Arrest?"

"You heard me."

"You have to be kidding!"

"Kira, if Agent Leary violated your rights and you want to file a complaint, that's up to you. Maybe she

overreacted, but you know what's been going on. It's a tough case and everybody's been under a strain."

"Well, I can see how she got the wrong idea," Kira said. "I guess there was no real harm done."

"Thanks," said Loomis. "I'm sorry about this, Kira. Please tell Paul that it was a misunderstanding. You

can go."

Megan stared at them, speechless with disbelief. Kira got up from the table. "Thanks, Joe," she said.

"Come on, Broom, we're going home." She smiled sweetly at Megan. "Bye . . . honey."

"I'll walk you out and have someone give you a ride home," Loomis said. He turned to Megan. "And I'll