Black River

O’Brien smiled. “That pretty much sums it up.”

“Sean, you can’t save the world.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“I never should have pointed you in the direction of that old man. If I’d known a photo he was carrying would put your life in danger, I would have told him you sold your boat and no longer come to the marina.”

“But that would be lying, Kim.” O’Brien smiled.

“I’d much rather tell a white lie than see you hurt or worse. I couldn’t handle that…not now. Not ever.”

“Hey, nothing’s going to happen. Police are investigating. I’m out of it.”

“Did you tell the old man you’re out?”

“Not yet because I haven’t found the painting.”

“Then stop looking for it and the answer to his question. If that painting, and apparently you think it is…if it’s co

O’Brien said nothing.

Kim looked out the open isinglass window, the soft breeze in her hair, a white pelican alighting on a dock post. “Sean, I just worry about you…that’s all. I care deeply about you. Maybe that’s my fault. I guess there’s that fine line I walk by caring about you and trying hard not to sound like I’m nagging you. Of course you’ll help the old man find the painting, maybe help the widow and daughter, because it’s what you do. But helping others doesn’t have to mean putting your life on the line. You could do something a little less threatening, like volunteer to help at the Salvation Army or a homeless shelter for God-sakes.” Kim bit her bottom lip and tried to smile.

“Hey, it’ll work out. I’m not putting my life on the line. I’m not looking for a diamond or a killer. I’m just trying to assist an elderly man in finding a family heirloom, that’s all.”

Kim lifted Max off the wooden floor and held her close. “If you need to be out of town, I can watch Max.”

“Thank you.”

Kim looked down and lifted the old photo of the woman from behind the child’s artwork. She asked, “Do you still believe the woman in the picture was holding the same type of rose I received?”

‘Yes. Did he leave another one?”

“No, thank God. Did you ever bump into the guy I described?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, I have.”

“When?”

“He showed up here at the Tiki Bar. I think he might be following me.”

“When you were auditioning, did you tell him you worked here?”

“No. I don’t know if it’s just bizarre odds that he’d stop in here for lunch, or is he stalking me?”

“Did he approach you?”

“Not directly. He took a seat in the back corner of the restaurant. Julie waited on him. He ordered sweet tea and a hamburger. And every time I’d glance toward that part of the restaurant he was looking at me. My shift ended twenty minutes later. On the way home, I had some errands to run. Each place I stopped, I had the feeling that I was being followed. Maybe I was just suspicious, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. It’s something I’ve had since those men broke into my house.” She bit her lip and looked away. “And this re-enactor hasn’t broken any laws. He hasn’t said a word to me since that day on the movie set. I hate the feeling of being suspicious and downright paranoid.”

O’Brien said nothing for a moment. His phone rang in his pocket. He removed it and glanced at the number. Dave Collins calling. O’Brien answered and Dave said, “Sean, I just spoke with Charlie Simmons…the guy who owns the sixty-foot Hatteras docked two slips down from me. Anyway, he said he saw your Jeep in the marina lot. Are you on property?”

“Yes, I’m talking with Kim.”

“Better cut it short and come take a look at this.”

“Take a look at what?”

“Nick and I are flipping through the news cha

THIRTY-NINE

The black Jaguar sedan moved through London traffic en route to the Palace of Westminster and the Parliament House of Commons when Prime Minister Duncan Ha

All his life he’d leaned into challenges. Never back away. It was time this threat was quashed like an a

“It is so unfortunate that the proverbial cat is out of your bag, Duncan.” The man’s voice had dreamlike coolness. It was as if a master hypnotist was about to instruct the most powerful politician in Britain to swim naked across the English Cha

“How can you negotiate without the goods?”

“Who says I don’t have them?”

“I do. Your call is rubbish, tantamount to the threat of blackmail without the cards on the table. You’re nothing but the joker.”

“I will show you the cards, but now when I spread them on the table it will be for the world to see. And you, dear Duncan, will go from what could have been a knightly position to a mere jester in Her Majesty’s court.”

The caller disco

Duncan pressed four numbers on his mobile phone. A man with a low voice said, “We have every word, sir. Hold a minute and we’ll triangulate a possible location.”

“Please be expeditious. I want this bastard picked up. If England still had beheading, I’d personally stick his bloody head atop a post on the London Bridge.”

“Sir—”

“Yes!”

“The call came from a disposable mobile near Orlando, Florida.”

“Is Randolph James there?”

“He’s standing next to me.”

“Put him on the line.”

“Mr. Prime Minister, we’re getting closer.”

“James, find this man and find him quickly. Send your best man or woman. Find this person and bring him here.”

The Jaguar slowed and stopped in front of the entrance to the House of Commons. Prime Minister Duncan Ha

“We’ll find him, sir.”

“James, after 160 years, why does this suddenly appear on my watch, and four months before the elections?”