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Des nodded “Sure I’ll run you over myself”

Saht back”

She rubbed her neck and winced “I’d offer to join you, but not this tis you shouldn’t do after plunging off a cliff?”

Saave her a concerned look “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine I think I just slept wrong,” she said, but neither of them believed that

Soon they were cutting across the placid sea There was hardly any swell on the cal, and they reached the beach in minutes

Sam hopped out onto the sand and approached the van, which looked exactly as he’d left it He checked the locking gas co to break into it The ere up tight and the doors all locked His senses on alert, he inspected the vehicle, listening for any hint of le

Nothing but the slight rustle of the wind tickling the tops of the trees

After a long glance at the area around the Toyota, he walked back to the boat

He’d spotted fresh tire tracks near the van

Re the boat

CHAPTER 24

Orwen Manchester sat in the rear of a waterfront bar, empty except for a desultory bartender, ell paid by Manchester to be blind and deaf whenever he required a discreetplace out of the public eye The Rusty Shri hole for decades, a favorite of thethe port, but quiet that htfall

Manchester drank his beer and checked his watch The suue and sometimes partner in crime, Gordon Rollins, had been abrupt, which Manchester was accustoely symbolic representative of the British Crown’s authority, had made him even more powerful and influential than he’d been by virtue of his considerable wealth alone and declining an invitation to meet wasn’t an option

Rollins pushed his way through the back service entrance, a hat pulled low over his forehead, and approached Manchester’s table He flicked a finger at the bartender, who nodded, and then shook hands with Manchester before taking his seat A Boibson arrived, and the pair waited until the bartender was out of earshot before they joined in a muted toast