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"Execute the witnesses by shooting the their bodies overboard, is that your policy?"

"Shoot you and Mr Giordino in the head?" There was no trace of e so crude and mundane, nor so merciful Thrown in the sea? Yes, you one conclusion In any event, I will guarantee you and your friend a slow but violent death"

After thirty hours of pounding through the sea at incredible speeds, the powerful turbodiesels fell off to a an to drift aht of the New Zealand shoreline had long since disappeared in the yacht's wake To the north and west dark clouds were laced with forks of lightning, the thunder ru dully across the horizon To the south and east there were no clouds and thunder The skies were blue and clear

Pitt and Giordino had spent the night and half the next day locked in a sine rooh room to sit on the deck with knees drawn up to their chins

Pitt kept awake htened, listening to the revolutions of the engines, the thuhts of restraint, Giordino had wrenched the door off its hinges only to be confronted by four guards with the muzzles of their automatic weapons pushed into his navel Defeated, he pro

Angered and bla only himself for their predicament, Pitt was very self-critical, but no fault could really be attached to hiht with his guard down because he miscalculated their fanatic desire to lure Maeve back into their clutches He and Giordino were mere sideline pawns Arthur Dorsett considered them little more than a minor annoyance in his insane crusade for an absurd accumulation of wealth

There was so concentration on such a cohter and eliminate the men from NUMA Pitt wondered dimly why he and Giordino had been kept alive, and he had no sooner done so when the da on the threshold Pitt auto his ne

Time to board your vessel," Merchant a

nnounced pleasantly

"We're changing boats?" asked Pitt

"In a "

"I hope the service is better than on this one," said Giordino lazily "You will, of course, take care of our luggage"

Merchant disentle"

They were escorted out onto the stern deck, surrounded by a sned to inflict bodily harht just as the first few raindrops fell carried ahead of the advancing clouds by a light breeze

Dorsett sat protected under an overhang in a chair at a table laden with several savory dishes laid out in silver serving bowls Two uniformed attendants stood at his elbow, one ready to pour at the slightest indication that his wineglass required refilling, the other to replace used silverware Boudicca and Deirdre, seated on their father's left and right, didn't bother looking up froht into their divine presence Pitt glanced around for Maeve, but she wasn't to be seen