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"Neatly done," Giordino said adhtened out and braked sharply beside the yacht's gangway

"Quickly!" Pitt shouted "Al, run to the helicopter, reine

Maeve, you take your boys and wait out of sight in the salon It will be safer there if the guards arrive before we can lift off Wait until you see the rotor blades begin to turn on the aircraft Then make a run for it"

"Where will you be?" asked Giordino, helping Maeve lift the boys out of the car and sending theway

"Casting off thelines to keep boarders off the boat"

Pitt eating by the ti ropes from their bollards and heaved the to the Dorsett ed his turn off the main road and skidded the vehicle crosswise into a muddy field Precious seconds were lost by the security oon Then, in alhed into life followed by the crack of a gunshot from inside the yacht

He sprinted up the gangway, fear exploding inside hi Maeve and her boys on board the boat without investigating He reached for the nine iven it to Giordino He ran across the deck, muttered, "Please, God!" tore open the door to the salon and ran inside

HisMaeve plead, "No, Deirdre, no, please, not them too!"

Pin's eyes took in the terrible scene Maeve on the floor, her back against a bookcase, her boys clutched in her arht A blood-

red stain was spreading across her blouse from a small hole in her stomach at the navel

Deirdre stood in the center of the salon, holding a small automatic pistol aimed at the twin boys, her face and bare araro that enhanced her beauty, her eyes were cold and her lips pressed tightly together in a thin line She stared at Pitt with an expression that would have frozen alcohol When she spoke, Deirdre's voice took on a peculiarly deranged quality

"I knew you didn't die," she said slowly

"You're enerate brother," Pitt said coldly

"I knew you'd come back to destroy my family"

Pitt moved slowly until his body shielded Maeve and the boys "Call it a crusade to eradicate disease