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in the church."
The sound of heavy footfalls came drifting down into the crypt.
J traddling a carved wooden chair, Jake was facing the tap-proof vidphone that
rested atop the desk in the living room of the Hotel
Condor suite. "It might be," he said, "so long as it doesn't put you or Molly
in danger, Dan."
From the phone screen his son said, "It may not lead anywhere. But since Rex
came up with the information that there might be something odd about the
reports of Devlin's death--or that the guy might not even be dead-Well, I
thought we ought to look into it."
"Go ahead, but be careful," his father cautioned. "We're still not sure of all
the factions involved in this gun running mess."
"I can tell you somebody else who's connected."
"That operative of Bev Kendricks's that you tangled with. Jabb
Marx."
"How'd you find that out?"
"Bev just phoned to ask how to contact you over there," said his son.
"She's going to be calling you, but she gave me the basic facts."
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"Pass 'em along now."
"Have you ever heard of an OCO agent named Gardner Munsey?"
"Munsey, yeah. He's known as the pricks' prick," answered Jake. "Marx is
working for him?"
"That's what Bev thinks. Jabb was planted in her office to keep Munsey filled
in on her work on the Flanders murder," said Dan. "And also to incapacitate
you if he got a chance."
Jake grinned. "He let Munsey down on that chore."
"Oh, and Bev is pretty sure Munsey is either over there in Spain or on his
way."
"Maybe we'll run into each other and exchange pleasantries."
"I also--"
In the right hand corner of the phone screen a tiny dot of red light appeared
and started blinking.
"Another call coming in, Dan," said Jake. "Could be Bev. I'll talk to
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you later."
"Okay, Dad. Bye. Molly sends her best."
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Dan's image was replaced by that of Jimmy Bristol. "Me again," she said.
"You have something already?"
"Sure. I'm not calling you for another of your pious pep talks."
"No need for that anyway; one pep talk from me'Il last you months," he assured
her. "What about the moneyJa-nine Kanter got from your old chum Mockridge?"
She smiled. "Is he still using that awful British accent?"
"He is."
Jimmy shifted slightly in her wheelchair. "Do you want to view all the charts
and graphics--or can I just verbally fill you in on what I've found out?"
"Talk to me, Jimmy."
"Okay--Janine Kanter, using the name Jessica Col-burn, deposited a
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million, eight hundred thousand in the First Bahaman Fidelity
Organization yesterday morning."
"Not in person?"
"Nope, from a trace-proof computer in the town of Santa Francesca, Spain."
"You can trace a trace-proof transaction?"
"Easy." Jimmy smiled. "Jessica Colborn is listed in the bank's non accessible
files as the Executive Secretary of the Worldwide Pacifism
Foundation. A good name for weapons smugglers, huh?"
Jake asked, "How much was in the account before her deposit?"
"Twenty-five thousand."
"That's not much."
"This gets more interesting."
"So tell me."
"Three hours--well, two hours and forty-seven minutes, to be
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exact--after the money was deposited, it was withdrawn again."
"ByJanine?"
"Ah, no, by a gentleman named Rafe Santos," answered Jimmy. "He's the only
other person, by the way,
who can access the Worldwide account."
"Where'd the dough go next?"
"Switzerland, Zurich Fidelity. It's now in Santos's private account, along
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with the three million, two hundred thousand that was already reposing there."
"Where was this Santos guy when he played with the money?"
"Also in Santa Francesca, which isn't that far from Madrid, you know."
Nodding, Jake said, "Any idea who he is?"
"Not so far, but I'm in the process of ting to find
"OUt."
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Resting his chin in the palm of his left hand, Jake eyed the ceiling for a few
seconds. "Wonder ifJanine knows the money isn't where she put it."
"I can't tell you that."
"I appreciate your efforts, Jimmy," he told the girl. "Send Cosmos a bill and
keep at it."
Jimmy said, "This one is on the house."
THE ROBOT OOG made a metallic snuffling sound as it came clattering down the
stone steps and into the crypt. Its plastiglass eyes glowed an intense red,
filling the musty underground room with a crimson glare.
The dog halted at the bottom of the steps, legs planted wide and silvery head
low. After scanning the crypt, it started producing a loud metallic bleating
sound.
"He's found some of them," shouted a woman's voice from up in the mined
church. "And none of them is armed."
She came hurrying down the stone steps. She was a heavyset woman in her late
thirties, dressed in a black skirt suit and carrying a chunky
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lazrifle cradled in her muscular arms. "Only zihos," she said scornfully,
frowning from the cowering darkhaired girl to the three children hunched in
the corner.
The smallest kid jerked back in fright, accidentally kicking at the yellowed
skull. When the skull rolled a few feet across the dusty floor, the robot dog
snarled.
"Please se hora pleaded the fifteen-year-old girl. "We are only poor innocent
children. Don't hurt us."
"What sort of prey?" called a harsh masculine voice from the top of the
stairs.
"Pequehos," answered the woman. "Three kids and a girl."
"You can have them all, Rosa."
Laughing, Rosa took two steps farther into the crypt. She aimed her lazrifle
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at the three huddled children. "The littlest first."
"Oh, please," pleaded the teen girl. "Spare them,
seora. "
Rosa swung the gun barrel around, moving closer to the girl. I'll
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take care of you first, nina," she decided. "Then you won't annoy me while I
bring down the others."
"No more sport for tonight.". Gomez sat up in the stone coffin where he'd been
hiding and fired his stun-gun twice. First at the startled
Rosa and then at the snarling robot hunting dog.
Darting forward, the girl wrenched the lazgun out of the toppling
Rosa's grasp.
Dust swirled upward and an ancient bone cracked when the huntress slammed into
the floor.
Gomez rubbed at the disc he'd attached to his jacket, the one Silveira had
given him on the island. "Still works, the hound didn't notice me at all," he
said, pleased. "You all did your parts well, my children.
Now, pot favor; let's move into the next phase of the operation."
The girl hurried over and pressed her back to the wall near the entryway. She
held the lazrifle against her chest. "Seor, oh, please," she called up the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]