Page 43 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

“Hey, Billy. What’s up?”

“I could use your assistance.”

“Sure, what do you need?” He caught sight of Rogers’s body. “Is he dead?”

“Yes.”

“Didyoukill him?”

“Not him.” Billy nodded his head toward the assassin.

Peter gaped at the second body, then said, “Well, this isn’t great.”

“What’s not great?” Hattie asked, then peeked into the hall from behind Peter.

“We had an uninvited guest,” Billy said.

Hattie leaned forward enough to see Rogers. “Is that a body?”

“Yes, buthewas invited.”

She noticed the assassin. “Oh.”

“I need both of your help,” Billy said.

“Just tell us what to do.”

“Hattie, Lizzie went to the restaurant car. If you could find her and keep her away until I give you the all-clear, that would be great.”

“No problem.” She hurried down the hallway.

“You’re not going to ask me to help you move them, are you?” Peter said.

“I think I’ve scarred you enough as it is. What I need you to do is go to the entrance of our car. You’ll find a friend of mine there. Dark hair, looks like the kind of person you don’t want to mess with. Send her to me, then you stay there and make sure no one else comes in.”

“Got it.”

Peter followed his wife’s route out of the car. A few seconds later, Vesna returned.

“Dead?” she asked, eyeing Rogers’s body.

Billy nodded.

She pointed at the assassin. “Who is this asshole?”

“Never seen him before.”

“Sorry I couldn’t stop him before he got here. Some idiot thought I was going to get to the toilet before him and got in my way.”

“You arrived in time to stop him from killing one of my friends. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.”

“What do we do with them?”

“That’s a question for someone else. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

He walked to the end of the car and called Lance.

As soon as the director was on the line, Billy explained what had just gone down.

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