"The key is to look like you know what you're doing," Todd told Jessica. "Don't ever hesitate. Always be confident. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

Todd nodded at this answer, seeming pleased. "We can't have any slip ups. One wrong move and you're not coming home."

Jessica clenched her teeth as she thought of what she was about to do. What had possessed her to get involved? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had to try her best to survive.

She carefully moved away from Todd, easily blending into the surging crowd around them in the outdoor train station. The ungainly yet precious package swung against the back of her legs as she made her way up onto the sunlit platform.

Next to her, a couple of college kids giggled at something the girl had said. Their faces were heartbreakingly happy in that autumn light. For a moment she felt regret for all the things she couldn't have. The way the boy's arm fell around his girlfriend's shoulders made her own shoulders feel cold with the lack.

But it was necessary. Agents couldn't afford to have "significant others".

She ruthlessly suppressed any thought of Daniel into the back of her mind.

"All aboard, here miss, let me help you with that," one of the young men who worked on the train reached for the package.

"No thank you, I can manage." She gripped it tightly. He looked innocent enough, but you could never be too careful. Caution was free. Mistakes were not.

Jessica settled herself near the door, glad to get the set of seats to herself. The journey had finally begun. Only at the end would she know if it had been worth it.

With a slight jerk, the train eased forward. The platform slid away. Todd had already melted into the background -- he was nowhere to be seen. Keeping sharp focus, Jessica looked around at the other people in the car with her, without looking like she was paying any special attention. It was another good trick Todd had taught her.

The college kids she had seen outside were still cuddling together in a seat two rows ahead, lost in each other's embrace. The girl's love for the boy was utterly obvious. Such a display of emotion would be dangerous for Jessica. She clutched the package to her chest as if trying to block her internal secrets from anyone else's view.

In the seat directly ahead of hers was an old man in a battered brown fedora. He wore black glasses. Bifocals, she noted. He was reading a newspaper and seemed lost on the World Events page. Nearby a young woman was settling a toddler, probably only three years old, into the window seat beside her. The little boy was bouncy and excited to be going on what was probably his very first train ride. There were other people of assorted ages and walks of life. A punkish girl with too many piercings, a boy who looked like he would be more comfortable in front of a computer than here in public, some couples, some people traveling in groups or solo... Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still, she watched.

With her attention so focused on the people in front of her, she was startled by a raspy voice behind her. "Going to Wyoming alone?"

Jessica tensed. She knew what to do, but was hesitant to do it with all of these civilians around. And what if the voice's owner was just a fellow passenger trying to make conversation? She couldn't afford to make any assumptions.

She decided to play it by ear. If the guy behind her was an enemy agent, he wouldn't want his own cover blown any more than she did. "Yeah. I'm visiting my grandmother. You?"

A pressure appeared in the small of her back. Either he had pressed the barrel of a gun to her seat, or his knee was extremely bony. "I'm going to pick up a present for my niece. Any suggestions?"

There was nowhere to go. No one to help her. She was on her own, and positive that man behind her was no friend. Quickly weighing her options, she decided the best thing to do was nothing at all. He wouldn't shoot her in front of all these witnesses. Not while the train was moving and he had no escape.

Would he?

"Who are you?" she whispered over her shoulder in a less-than-brilliant attempt to stall.

"You don't need to worry about that right now, do you?" He actually sounded like he was smiling! Here she was, scared out of her mind, and he was playing some game with her. It made her blood boil.

"I'm just wondering what to expect, is all."

"You'll find out soon enough, my dear. Just hand me that bag you're carrying and everything will be all right. Slip it through the gap in the seat."