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"Awhat ?"
Jack looked up and saw Alicia on her feet, staring wide-eyed at the toy.
"A Land Rover. They're British and "
"The will," she said. "It mentions a rover twice& in those crazy poetry
quotes." She snapped her fingers and looked at the ceiling. "What were they?
'Clay(ton) lies still, but blood's a rover' was one. And the other& the other
went, 'Whither away, fair rover, and what thy quest?'"
Jack felt a tingle of excitement as he sensed pieces of the puzzle clicking
into place. Maybe "the key that points the way" wasn't a key at all. Maybe it
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was something that simplypointed the way.
He placed the toy on the floor again and watched it do its thing, winding up
nose-on against the wall in that same spot.
This little "rover" was sure as hell pointing the way to something.
"What thy quest indeed," he said. "Wait here."
He trotted back to the bedroom, grabbed the sledgehammer and one of the
crowbars. For a moment he considered hammering a hole in one of the pieces of
plywood blocking the windows to allow him a peek at the guard car out front,
but thought better of it. The racket might attract too much attention.
"What are you going to do?" Alicia said as he returned to her room.
"Something in this wall is attracting our little friend there. Hang onto him
while I find out what."
He lifted the sledge and swung it sidearm at the wall.
8.
The phone rang just as Kemel was finishing his evening prayers.
"Someone's in the house," Baker's voice said. "We think it's that guy the
broad hired. I'm goin' over there now."
Alarm shot through Kemel like a jolt of electricity. How could this be? Just
yesterday she had offered to sell and he had agreed to her price. Why would
she send someone to invade it tonight? Unless&
Unless she knows something& unless she has guessed why the house is so
valuable and has sent her man to find it.
Kemel closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. The air duct! Someone had been
in there after all Alicia Clayton's man. And he must have heard something.
"How did this happen?"
"He used some kind of knockout gas on my guys. They just woke up and called
me. They think he's still in there."
"I'm glad you called."
"Not like I have much choice."
Kemel could hear the hurt pride in Baker's voice, but that was too bad. After
last week's abduction fiasco, Kemel had put the mercenary on a short leash. He
was to keep Kemel apprised of every development as it happened and was to take
no action do absolutelynothing  without first clearing it with Kemel. The
operation was too close to successful completion to risk a setback from
Baker's heavy-handed tactics. In fact, if Kemel had not needed ongoing
security for the house, he would have fired Baker last week.
"But time's a-wasting," Baker said. "I'm headin' over now. If it's the same
guy from the van, I want to be there."
"I want no action taken until I arrive."
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"I may not have a choice."
"Nothinguntil I am present. Is that clear?"
"Clear," Baker said in a tight voice. "But I won't take responsibility for
anything this guy does before you get there."
"I don't think that will be an issue since you are going to pick me up and we
will arrive together."
"You're up in the Seventies. That'll take too long."
"I will be waiting out front," Kemel said, and hung up.
9.
Jack used the sledge gently at first, for fear that he might damage whatever
was hidden inside. But he quickly discovered that this was an old, solid, wet
plaster wall, and he was going to have to put some muscle into it. It took a
lot longer than he'd planned, but finally he had a good-sized hole clear
through to the other side.
Alicia peered over his shoulder. "Find anything?"
"Nothing inside this wall but& wall." He turned and looked at the toy in her
hand. "But then, why& ?"
And then it hit him.
"Oh, hell."
Jack took the little Rover from Alicia and placed it in the hall on the other
side of the wall. It wheeled across the floor and ended up against the wall on
the far side of the hall. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]