Page 58 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

As he walked through the hotel lobby, he passed right by a pair of his new CIA protection agents. Neither realized who he was.

He took a train across the lagoon to the mainland, then grabbed a rideshare that dropped him off in the industrial area surrounding the port, a couple of blocks from the building that Rick had chosen for the meet. Teddy slipped hisright-side ear pod in as the car drove away and activated the radio app.

“Check, check,” he whispered.

“Read you,” Vesna said. “Route clear.”

“Copy.”

Keeping to the shadows, he made his way to the unoccupied manufacturing facility where Rick had directed him.

“Any backup?” he whispered.

“If there is, it’s not close by,” Vesna said.

“Copy.”

Teddy found the unlocked side door through which he’d been told to enter. “Going in and putting myself on mute.”

“Copy,” Vesna replied.

He stepped into a dim, cavernous space that was all but empty.

Per instructions, he climbed a metal staircase anchored to the wall to a mezzanine walkway. On one side was a half wall overlooking the open space, and on the other were several office doors.

Light leaked out around the partially opened door to the first office. Inside, Rick La Rose leaned against a desk, his phone lying next to him, its flashlight on. He was not holding a weapon.

After the recognition code was dealt with, Rick said, “I heard Lance didn’t tell you I was coming. I’m sorry about that.”

“Lance’s faults are neither yours nor mine,” Teddy said. “No apologies necessary.”

“Agreed.” Rick held out his hand and they shook. “Rick La Rose.”

“John,” Teddy said.

“There is one thing I really do need to apologize for. I heard about trouble on the train this morning, and that the team sent to protect your colleague and his friends was—”

“Oblivious? Useless?”

Rick winced. “Both of those. The new people are all top-notch. If there are any problems, contact me directly. I’ll fix it right away.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to Teddy.

“You’re asking me to bypass Lance?”

“Technically, but the response will be quicker because he’d likely just call me anyway.”

“Noted.” Teddy slid the card into his pocket. “I understand you’ve been dealing with Owen Pace’s murder.”

Rick’s expression darkened. “I have.”

“Any leads on who did it?”

“Sadly, no. We have security footage that shows Pace entering the Latin Quarter that evening, but none of him leaving, mainly because the CCTV system in the area experienced an outage.”

“How convenient.”

“Very,” he said.

“Hacked?”

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