page3 (1/2)

He decided that he wanted to knohat these tere doing, so he retreated into the bowels of the building and slipped behind a ceiling-to-floor stack of cardboard boxes, each container overfloith books He was able to squeeze behind them just as the bell sounded, and he used the spaces between the stacks to watch as the two h the curtain and found the vault Each carried a small briefcase, which was laid on the floor as they disappeared inside He heard the , thenthe floor

They were apparently e the memorabilia closet, too

One of the men returned and retrieved a briefcase

A couple of minutes went by, then they both exited the vault

The second briefcase was opened, and Wyatt spotted four bundles of a gray material wrapped in clear plastic Each was laid on the floor, down the hall, two on one side, two on the other Protruding frole

He knew exactly what he was looking at

Plastic explosives with radio-controlled detonators

The resulting fire would be hot and volatile, and little would remain afterward Sure, it would clearly be arson, but it would be untraceable If they were smart, the detonators were constructed of materials that would vaporize in the explosion That was the kind he’d always used when he was a valued Aent

Noasn’t sure what he was anymore

A whore, hired only when no one else was available

That’s what he felt like

Thetheir departure He assu

That meant he had maybe a minute or so

He fled his hiding place and raced down the dim, narrow hall until he found a wooden door in the rear wall He released the latch, opened it, and darted into an alleyway that stretched behind a row of buildings Finding the street, he slowed his pace, turned, and cal with the people one block beyond the bookshop’s main entrance

An explosion rocked the afternoon

But he kept going, tohere his car waited

He left Santiago and drove back toward Turingia, a forty-minute ride across mountain roads sparse with traffic He had to make it to Isabel If those et, too He wasn’t sure why he cared, but he was concerned for the old woman

What had Combs become involved with?

Certainly not what he had expected

Not even close

He entered Turingia, eased the car past shops settling down for the day, then sped out of town He spied the farmhouse All quiet He motored the car down the dirt lane and parked near the barn

The front door to the house hung open

He slipped fro short, listening for movement

No wind disturbed the trees Frogs croaked out a distant concert

He peered past the jamb

Still and quiet

He stepped inside and saw, to his right, Isabel’s wizened body slouched in a rocker beside the hearth, a bullet hole in the head

A sour presence of death laced the warm air