Page 116 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

“Then I’ll take the desk.”

She nodded and they began their search.

The surface of the desk was clear of anything but a monitor, a trackpad, and a keyboard. Teddy tried the drawers. Unsurprisingly, all were locked.

He picked each and checked its contents. The only drawer holding anything remotely interesting was the larger one at the bottom. In it were a few dozen files, but none appeared to have anything to do with the special projects unit.

“Safe,” Vesna whispered.

Teddy joined her at one of the bookcases. She had already removed several items from a shelf and exposed a safe that had been hidden behind a sliding panel. On the safe door was a glass touch screen and nothing else.

“It’s a Dalby Utra,” Vesna said. “First one I’ve seen in person.”

“What do you think?”

“In theory, I should be able to get it open.”

“Then give it a go.”

From her backpack, she removed an electronic device with several wires hanging from it. As she started to attach the sensors to the safe, Teddy turned to continue searching the room.

As he did, a framed photo on top of the pile of stuff Vesna had cleared away caught his eye. He picked it up and stared at it.

“Forget about the safe,” he said.

Vesna looked over her shoulder. “Why?”

“I know who the client is. Or, more accurately, we were wrong. There is no client.”

41

The next morning, the restof theStorm’s Eyepress tour crew flew into Berlin and found Ben Bacchetti waiting for them at the private jet terminal.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” Tessa said to him, after they’d untangled themselves from their passionate greeting.

“I finally convinced the boss to let me go,” Ben said.

“Aren’t you the boss?” Adriene asked.

“Sadly, yes. And I can be a real hard-ass when I set my mind to it.”

They boarded a VIP van. As they pulled up to their hotel, a cab stopped behind them from which emerged Mark Weldon.

Stacy did a double take when she saw him. Forcing a smile, she walked over to him. “Good morning, Mark.”

“Hi, Stacy. How was the flight?”

“No complaints.” She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “You’re supposed to be Billy, remember? He’s the one with an interview this morning.”

“Change of plans. Billy won’t be able to make it until the premiere tomorrow night.”

“Are you trying to make my life miserable?”

“Not consciously.”

“What am I supposed to tell Lizzie?”

“That Billy was unavoidably detained and begs her forgiveness.”

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