Page 45 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

A check of the man’s pocket turned up a couple hundred euros, a mobile phone, and a business card that had the Trust’s logo printed on it.

Billy grabbed the man’s arms and Vesna the legs, andthey carried the assassin out the door at the back end of the car. The remainder of the walkway was capped off by three metal chains meant to prevent anyone from walking off.

They lifted the assassin over the chains and dumped him off the back. The body fell onto the tracks, bounced over one of the rails, and rolled to the side.

“Still a lot to clean up,” Vesna said.

“Being handled by others. I’d like you to take over for Peter and keep any train personnel away until the car’s been sanitized, if you don’t mind.”

She nodded and turned to leave.

“Vesna?”

She glanced back.

“Thank you.”

“This is why I am here, is it not?”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry. You will pay me back someday.”

“Count onit.”

16

As promised, the CIA cleanupteam boarded in Ferrara.

While two of the four agents set to work removing any signs of the encounter from the hallway, Billy took the other two into the cabin where Rogers’s body lay.

The leader surveyed the situation, then said, “Okay. We’ve got it from here.”

Billy went down to Tessa’s cabin and knocked before sliding the door open.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Please do,” Tessa said.

With her were Peter and Stacy, who looked less off-kilter than earlier.

Hattie was in the cabin next door, keeping Lizzie and Adriene occupied.

Making sure Adriene remained in the dark about theevents had been simple since she’d slept through everything. Getting Lizzie back to her cabin without her finding out had been accomplished by the art of distraction. When she and Hattie had returned from the restaurant car, Billy, Peter, and Tessa had staged an animated conversation about a scene in Peter’s new script, and in the process blocked Lizzie’s view of the blood on the floor.

Stacy was another matter entirely. She had seen too much.

“How are you feeling?” Billy asked her.

She snorted. “Like I just stepped into one of Peter’s movies.”

“I can imagine.”

“Did you actuallyshootthe guy that grabbed me?”

“I did.”

She made several aborted attempts to ask a follow-up question but couldn’t find the words.

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