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Clay understood--first the cop would find hishiht, his eyes on the oil "You know anyone else who e turned Max’s blood to fire "Bonner--the Butcher of Park Avenue" Forcefully wiping away the red haze that would just get in his way, Max ive hiood thing is--if the bastard does have her, he won’t kill her" No, unlike with the doctor, Bonner would play with Sophia in the cruelest of ways

His hand fisted

"The car crash," Clay pointed out, raising his voice to be heard above the rain pounding on the wreck, "could’ve gone very wrong"

"No" Max shook his head "It was planned very well Look at where we are--right after a curve, so their speed would’ve been low"

"The car had to be on wheels for this to work," Clay said "And they were--doesn’t ht, Max exa on the section that he knew controlled the hover system "Does that look like a bullet hole to you?" He pointed to a distinctive hole in the plasmetal

"Here’s another one," Clay said from the other side

"He must’ve tailed thee to set up the oil slick," Max said, well aware of the Butcher’s intelligence He would’ve checked his vehicle’s nav system, discovered this road had no turnoffs, no side streets "All he had to do then was lie in wait and shoot" Squatting, he stared through the broken wreckage of the car "The straps in the back have been cut through--but it’s obvious Sophia was strapped in far more securely than either of these two"

"And if he was stalking her, Bonner would’ve seen theht in the rain dark "Acceptable fucking risk"

"For hian to consider and discard options, refusing to let Clay’s anger feed his own Not yet He had to think, had to find Sophie "Bastard’s gothim stay on the run He won’t be out in the open or even in a cheap motel, but he’ll be close"

Clay walked around to stand beside Max "It would ive himself room to breathe"

"He’simpatient" Max sed his fury for the thousandth time, told himself he could scream at the heavens later "He’ll want to have her to himself as soon as possible" And if the Butcher touched her, the viciousness of hiritted, Max hunkered down, blocking the rain with his body as he exaain Bonner had apparently had no probleers Either one or both had been unconscious at the tile

He ed through That hen he saw soht below theitselfwhere Bonner e He bent down, until his nose alht of his cell phone to illulile of the wreck

Sand

But there was soertips, he brought it even closer to the light Sparkles of yellow and crystalline red, along with the odd flicker of what looked almost like blue "Clay!"

Max’s eyes fell on a tiny white shell just as the leopard ran over "What’ve you got?" the sentinel asked

Max showed him what he’d found "The sand’s not natural I don’t think we’re talking a beach house"

"Wait" Clay took the tiny shell, brought it up to keen changeling eyes "I think this is coated with souess"

"You know of any place nearby that h isolation that Bonner will feel coed" That wasn’t the Butcher’s style

Clay’s eyes narrowed "Kit and the boys were laughing about some kind of a fake ‘beach resort’ about an hour froot the web address saved There--says it has bungalows set ‘discreetly apart,’ laundry and room service"