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“Good point”

“Assuht be some clues in the blueprints If he’s a serious collector—and we know he is—then he’s going to keep his most prized pieces in an environ units, huenerators, fire suppressionAnd he’ll probably have it separated from the rest of the s”

It took an hour of work, picking their way through Bohuslav’s chicken-scratched notes, which ritten in both English and Russian, but finally Re that was labeled SECURE UTILITY ROOM

“The location fits,” Selma said

“Here’s so from another note: “ ‘Denied access western side’ Add that to the secure utility room and we may have found our X”

Ironically, the mansion itself was laid out in the shape of a peace symbol, with theout to the southeast and to the northeast, and a third wing to the west, and all encircled by the low stone wall

“The problee with the mansion in two places—at the stables a couple hundred yards north of the house and in the southeast wing”

Sam replied, “So we either have to hoof it—no pun intended—across the open ground to the ing and hope we find a way in, or coh the house and pray we’re able to dodge the guards”

Surprising neither of them, Selma had found them a reliable equipment source in Yevpatoria, an old Soviet Red Army surplus store run by a former soldier turned body-shopwere a pair of Cold War-era naval coe coveralls; their transport a five-foot rubber dinghy co motor

Suited up, their faces streaked with black face paint, they inflated the raft, affixed the motor to the transo boat, donned their backpacks, and cliunwale and within seconds it disappeared in the fog Sa on the bow, Rehthouse, then lifted her hand and pointed into the fog

“Damn the torpedoes,” Sam said, and throttled up

The trollingat three knots, barely a walking pace, so it was an hour before Re beacon, raised her hand, calling a halt Sam throttled down

All was quiet save the waves lapping at the raft’s sides Fog swirled around the all but a few feet of black water around them Sam was about to speak when he heard it: in the distance, the muffled crash of waves Reain

Ahead lay their first hurdle Given the nature of the Black Sea’s currents they’d decided to approach fro the tide, they would have to pick their way through the spires of rock that jutted from the bay beneath Bondaruk’s estate, a dicey proposition in the dead of night, let alone in the fog Worse still, assuuards posted on the cliffs, they’d decided against flashlights On their side they had Re and Sam’s quick reflexes

Moving at half throttle he aimed the raft’s nose in the direction Remi had indicated for thirty seconds then throttled down They listened To their left and right, distantly, came the hiss of waves Eyes closed, Rerees left off the bow Sa