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My phone rings unexpectedly Jolted awake, I check the ti up the phone, I yawn, "Yes?"

"It&039;s e accent

"Who?"

A pause "You&039;re not Shark"

"No, I&039;m Grubbs Shark&039;s in the next room Do you want me to-"

"It doesn&039;t matter," he interrupts "I&039;m Timas Brauss Tell the receptionist to let me up"

A couple of minutes later there&039;s a knock on my door I open it to find an incredibly tall, thin ht centi, bony fingers Floppy red hair, an even darker shade than mine A startled pair of blue eyes, as if he&039;s in a constant state of shock

He pushes pastHe&039;s carrying a couple of laptops and a briefcase He sets thes the desk by the wall out into the ear on top of it Fires up the laptops, takes a few plug-ins out of the briefcase and connects theods," he mutters as I stare at him "It was hell on Earth when I had to hook these up to ordinary phone lines Who are we looking for?"

"A woman called" I hesitate "Do you want me to wake Shark?"

Timas shakes his head "I can ithout him Who are you after?"

"Prae Athim"

"Spell it"

When I&039;ve done that, I tell hianisation called the Lambs I start to describe the attacks and ant to find her, but he holds up a hand "That is enough infor on with," he says curtly and bends over his laptops like a pianist He&039;s soon tapping away at a fierce speed, oblivious to all else, working on both computers at the same time

Meera wakes before Shark She&039;s surprised to find the odd-looking stranger inonce I&039;ve told her in whispers of his approach to business We eat breakfast, then return to watch Ti to eat or drink He shushesup

Shark finally rises close to midday When he steps in to find Ti, he nods at Meera and runts at the man hunched over the laptops "What do you have?"

Tiers rest on his knees He looks like an overgrown schoolboy "I have a full profile of the woround?"

"Couldn&039;t care less," Shark sniffs "Where is she?"

Tiue "I would need more time to answer definitively But I can tell you where she should be if she&039;s adhering to her regular schedule"

"That&039;ll do," Shark says

Ti address, down to the postal code, finishing off with her floor and office nu?" Shark asks

"Yes The Lambs own the complex A mix of offices, laboratories and miscellaneous divisions I&039;ve downloaded a schematic plan of the structure and environs"

"Let&039;s see" Shark pushes Tie over to look at it with hio blurry fro at all the lines-but Shark nods happily as he scrolls down "Should be easy enough to crack Security syste the other laptop

"How er?"

"Maybe an hour They are very cleverly protected An invigorating challenge"

Shark stretches again He looks pleased "Unless they&039;ve packed the corridors with troops, this should be a piece of cake We&039;ll put a srab Prae Athim, shake her up be home in time for supper"

"You really think it&039;ll be that easy?" Meera asks sceptically