Express Male. Elizabeth Bevarly

if I’m her, why wouldn’t I come along peacefully and cooperate with you? Why would I keep insisting I’m someone else?”

      “Well, there were some…circumstances…surrounding her disappearance,” Gestalt said. “Circumstances that are a bit unclear.”

      Lila was silent for a moment, clearly digesting the information. Then she said, “Meaning she either screwed something up really badly, or else she’s turned to the dark side.”

      Gestalt smiled again. “Let’s just say there are a few questions we’d like to ask her. A few things we need for her to clear up. But let’s talk about you, Marnie. I want to hear more about you right now.”

      For the next half hour, Gestalt quizzed Lila on her phony-baloney Marnie Lundy persona, asking questions that ranged from her childhood illnesses to her high-school social life to her experiences as a teaching assistant at Ohio State. Had he not known better, Noah would have sworn Lila really was some woman named Marnie Lundy. Not once did she stop to think before responding, and not once did she waver from her story. Even when Gestalt tried to trip her up, Lila always made perfect sense.

      But that was Lila. She had a gift for changing herself into whatever she needed to be. When she took on the identity of someone else, she didn’t just pass herself off as that individual. She became that individual. Mind, body and soul. The fact that this time the identity was one she’d assigned to herself instead of being assigned it by OPUS didn’t change that.

      At the end of Gestalt’s questioning, she left Lila alone and returned to the room where Noah and the others were waiting. Much to his surprise, her expression when she entered was one of philosophical acceptance.

      “You think she’s telling the truth?” he asked incredulously.

      “I think she’s telling the truth as she sees it, yes,” Gestalt told them. “I think She-Wolf genuinely believes that she’s Marnie Lundy.”

      “What?” Noah barked.

      “She’s delusional,” Gestalt said. “Something happened to her that’s made her block out her actual identity and assume the identity of a fictional person who lives a life completely different from the one she’s used to. A quiet, uneventful, safe life,” she added meaningfully. “She’s even given that fictional person her initials, albeit reversed. Lila Moreau. Marnie Lundy. But I’m quite convinced that right now, She-Wolf firmly believes she’s who she says she is.”

      “So what are we supposed to do?” Noah asked. He still wasn’t sure he believed Gestalt’s analysis, but he couldn’t offer a better explanation himself.

      The psychologist sighed heavily. “There are a number of ways we can deal with it, but most of those take time, and I gather you don’t have much of that to spare.”

      “You got that right,” Noah told her. “Sorcerer has resurfaced, and She-Wolf’s made contact. Hell, Philosopher’s turned up again after being missing for three years, and She-Wolf has made contact with him, too. I never thought we’d see him again. If we’re going to nail Sorcerer and find out what Philosopher knows, not to mention discover what Lila learned over the last five months, we need her.”

      “Then we need a quick fix,” Gestalt translated. “And I have an idea. It’s unconventional, and normally not what I would do in such a situation, but…”

      “What?” Noah asked. “I’ll try anything.”

      “Then try playing along with her,” Gestalt told him. Though she clearly still had some reservations about what she was saying. “Go in there and tell her you ran her name through the databases and found out Marnie Lundy really exists, and that everything she’s said tonight has been corroborated, and we’re so sorry for detaining her and now she’s free to go.”

      “Oh, yeah, right,” Noah muttered. “Like I really believe there’s a Marnie Lundy out there in the world who looks exactly like Lila Moreau and just happened to have her path cross with both Philosopher and Sorcerer in one night.”

      “You don’t have to believe it,” Gestalt said. “Just make her think you do. She was specific about her background and home life and jobs. She has a firm grip on her delusion. So expose that delusion for the fantasy it really is. Prove to her that all of what she’s told us is completely false. Once she’s forced to confront the fact that there is no reality to support her convictions, she may—and I do mean may—come out of it.”

      “How do I do that?” Noah asked.

      “Take her to the address she insists is hers. See if it really exists. And if it does, go inside and see what you find. Ask her questions. Try to trip her up. Do the same thing with her workplace.”

      “You didn’t have much luck tripping her up,” Noah pointed out.

      “Here, I have no choice but to accept that what she says is true. Out there, you’ll have more opportunities to force her to accept the unreality of the world she’s created for herself. I’m betting she won’t be able to prove much of what she told us tonight. And I’m betting it will happen fairly quickly.”

      “And then she’ll go back to being Lila again?” Noah asked dubiously.

      “Maybe,” Gestalt told him. “Of course, she might be propelled into an even worse state than she’s in now.” Her gaze shifted from Noah to No-Name, then back to Noah again. “But I don’t think something like that is really a concern for OPUS, is it?”

      Noah clamped his jaw shut tight. Gestalt was right. OPUS never put the human condition before national security. They couldn’t afford to. National security was job one. Even more important than the health and well-being of one of their top agents.

      “It’s worth a try,” No-Name said without hesitation.

      “We need to know where She-Wolf’s been and what she’s discovered. At this point, she may be our only hope for bringing in Sorcerer.”

      And they needed to bring Lila up on charges for trying to take out the big guy, too, Noah thought. If indeed she had tried to take out the big guy. The big guy was acting awfully calm for a man whose alleged would-be murderer was on the other side of the wall.

      “All right,” Noah said, ignoring the sudden bad taste in his mouth. “I’ll do it. I’ll take her home and see what happens.”

      He looked at the TV screen again and saw that Lila had laid her head back on her arms on the table. She was completely motionless. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her in such a state. Even when she slept, she moved constantly. He remembered that much, and more—too much more—about her.

      He shifted his attention to Gestalt. “This better work,” he muttered. “And it better work fast. I need She-Wolf back.”

      CHAPTER FIVE

      IN HER DREAM, Marnie was playing the Polonaise in an empty Carnegie Hall, her passion and love for the music swelling inside her, flowing out through her fingertips and into the cavernous room. As she completed the final stanza, she dropped her head and let her hands fall from the keys into her lap. But when solitary applause erupted, she snapped her head up again.

      Not an empty auditorium after all. A lone, tuxedoed gentleman sat center stage in the front row, his crisp white shirt and tie a direct contrast to the black cut of his jacket and trousers. His dark-blond hair was swept straight back from his face, giving more prominence to his blue, blue eyes, his finely sculpted cheekbones, his full, sexy mouth. Marnie’s own lips parted in surprise at seeing him and her heart hammered hard in her chest. But she said nothing.

      He stood silently, moved fluidly to the end of the stage where steps appeared, climbed them with clear intention. She remained seated on the bench as he approached from stage right, her mouth going dry at the sight of him, her pulse racing faster with every step he took. Her dream self remembered now that he had attended all her performances, always seated in the same place, watching her with a hazy half smile playing about his lips. He always seemed to