Page 141 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

As the first helicopter touched down, Vesna gave them a wave and disappeared into the night.

After both aircraft had settled on the ground, Rick La Rose hopped out of one and led a troop of special forces soldiers over to Teddy and Stone.

“Mr. Barnett, sorry we couldn’t get here sooner,” he said. “Stone, good to see you again.”

“Hello, Rick,” Stone said.

Rick looked around. “Where’s John?”

“John?” Stone asked.

“The specialist Lance sent. I met him in Venice.”

“He had obligations elsewhere and said he’d be contacting Lance directly,” Teddy said.

“Then I guess we’ll take the prisoners off your hands, and you can be on your way.”

“One thing,” Teddy said. “The woman’s name is Jillian Courtois. I think she became wrapped up in something bigger than she realized. I’m under the impression she has some pretty impressive skills. If you handle her correctly, she could be an asset. You should also mention to Lance that she’s the one who emailed him.”

Teddy had confirmed this with her after everything had gone down.

“Email?” Rick asked.

“He’ll understand.”

“Then I’ll let him know.”

54

For the next week, thefestival was filled with films, panels, meet and greets, and parties. The final event was the awards ceremony. Trophies for the best actors, writers, documentaries, shorts, and the like were handed out.

Near the end, the MC’s voice announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, once more, film star and head judge for the inaugural World Thriller Film Festival, Tom Norman, and joining him, musical sensation Mari Chen!”

Tom and Mari walked onto the stage to the cheers of the packed crowd and headed for the Plexiglas podium rising out of the floor, front and center.

When the shouts and whistles finally faded, Mari said, “Wow! Thank you!”

Someone in the audience yelled out, “We love you, Mari!”

“I love you, too!” She made a heart with her thumb and index finger and thrust it toward the audience.

The crowd cheered again, and many returned the gesture.

Mari beamed and then glanced at her copresenter. “Sorry, Tom.”

“We love Tom, too,” someone else yelled.

Tom grinned. “Back at you!” Someone else started to shout something similar, but Tom held up a hand. “You are all too kind, but if we let this go on any longer, the festival will have to pay overtime to the crew.”

The crowd laughed.

“Mari and I are here right now for a very special reason,” he said. “Tonight, we’ve been celebrating the award winners of those films entered for competition. But there have also been several excellent, noncompetition films screened over the last week.”

He listed several of the titles, then said, “One in particular caught the attention of both fans, judges, and festival staff.”

“In a special committee session,” Mari said, “it was decided to present the first of what we hope will be many World Thriller Masterpiece awards, to be given to films that the festival believes will stand the test of time.”

Tom said, “Tonight, we are honored to present that award to…”

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