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MANILA

Locsin writhed in agony, chained to a bed in a prison infired for death that wouldn’t come

The doctors tried to pu, but nothing worked on his now skeletal body, his nition Thehe’d survive, but they told hi itself

The dozen Special Action Force soldiers outside his rooear oefully unnecessary Locsin was in no condition to get out of bed, let alonehim from captivity

The pain was so unbearable that he went in and out of hallucinations Onein a sweat-soaked bed, the next he was back in the cavern switching out the cardboard pieces holding the dried orchid with a fake using a flower he made Dolap acquire for him in Bacolod

He could picture Tagaan’s face when he realized he’d been duped, that Locsin had hidden away the real name of the flower in a safe place so that only he knehere it was Locsin had been right to do it, too His right-hand man had betrayed him

He’d heard that Tagaan had been killed in a mysterious explosion that consumed the entire supply of Typhoon But he felt no satisfaction in that knowledge He felt only envy at Tagaan’s quick death

As his mind returned to the horror of the hospital bed, he realized there was so envy There was hatred of Juan Cabrillo for putting him here No, not hatred

Fury

GUAM

Beth’s jaw dropped open as Juan wheeled her into the Oregon’s dining room Virtually every table had been transforle finial that had started the whole thing was there

“This is the last tis will be in one place,” Juan said, “so I thought you’d want to take one last look at thehtful owners Sorry we couldn’t bring the Manet you recovered in Bangkok The Gardner Museuoes back to the US They’re ecstatic that you found their stolen art, as are the other museums The discovery has made ide news”

Beth wiped the tears streanificent one forever and now they’d be preserved for future generations She felt an enor a part in their retrieval

She took her tiot to the last Then she realized there were only fifteen

“Where’s the Picasso?”