Page 42 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

Billy received another text fromRogers as the train departed Florence.

I’m on board. Where are you?

Billy replied:

Last car, through the door that says no entry. Cabin 6.

Several minutes later, Billy heard someone sprinting down the hallway.

Instinctively, he grabbed his silencer-equipped pistol and reached for the door. Before he could pull it open, he heard the soft metallic spit of a sound-suppressed gunshot followed by thethudof something hitting the floor.

He shoved the cabin door open. Sprawled on the floor just outside was Rogers, his body unmoving.

Billy leaned out. Running down the hallway toward him was man in a suit.

As soon as he saw Billy, he skidded to a stop and raised his pistol.

Before either he or Billy could pull their triggers, Tessa’s cabin door slid open, and Stacy leaned out.

“Go back!” Billy yelled.

The assassin grabbed Stacy’s arm before she could do anything and yanked her toward him. At the same moment, Vesna appeared at the other end of the hall.

In the split second before Stacy would have become the assassin’s human shield, both Billy and Vesna fired their guns.

Billy’s bullet punched through the assassin’s forehead, and Vesna’s caught him in the back, heart high. The man was dead before he hit the floor.

Billy motioned for Vesna to make sure no one else could enter the car, then rushed to Stacy, who had stumbled into the outside wall, where he positioned himself to block the bodies from view.

“W-w-what’s going on?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Close your eyes.”

“O-okay.”

Tessa stuck her head out of her cabin. “What’s all the—” She gasped as she caught sight of the assassin’s body. “Is he…?”

Billy walked Stacy to her. “He is. Please, take Stacy inside. She’s going into shock.” He passed Stacy to her.

“She’s not the only one.”

“I’ll explain everything in a bit. For now, keep her and—” He looked into the cabin. “Where’s Adriene and Lizzie?”

“Lizzie went to get something to eat, and Adriene was sleepy, so she went to one of the other cabins to take a nap.”

“Do you know which one?”

“Next door, I think,” Tessa said. “Go, I’ll take care of Stacy.”

Billy peeked into the neighboring cabin and was relieved to see Adriene stretched out across the seats, sound asleep. He hurried back to Rogers and checked for a pulse, but as he feared, the man was dead.

He could hear music and what sounded like the roar of a jet coming from inside Peter and Hattie’s cabin. As much as he was loathed to involve anyone else in this, he had little choice.

He tapped on their door. The noise inside cut off, and Peter slid the door open.

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