Lone Hunter by D. F. Bailey

Author:D. F. Bailey [Bailey, D. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780968728390
Publisher: Catchword Publishing
Published: 2015-12-19T23:00:00+00:00

※ — TWELVE — ※

ON THE FLIGHT back to San Francisco, Finch and Eve found themselves sitting ten rows ahead of Sochi. Although Sochi didn’t object to his seat assignment, whenever Will turned around he noticed the worried expression on Sochi’s face. His rising anxiety suggested he regretted everything to do with Finch, Eve and GIGcoin. Maybe it’s even worse than that, Finch concluded. Much worse.

“I can’t believe what he did,” he said to Eve as they unbuckled their seat belts following the crew’s all-clear announcements. “Something’s wrong with him.”

“No, everything’s wrong.” She fixed him with an angry look. “Marat’s dead, Sochi betrayed Malinin, and you and I were filmed screwing our heads off. Tell me, Will, which part of all that went right?”

The shrillness in her voice turned him away and he gazed through the cabin window onto the Pacific. The ocean was heavy with rolling waves and white caps that dotted the dark surface.

After a moment he said, “Look. We got the three things we set out for. You got the first key that unlocks the GIGcoin software. I got an interview with Malinin. And now we know who holds the second key. The other stuff, that’s the price that had to be paid.”

“The other stuff? You mean shooting Marat?”

He studied the frown on her face. Was it remorse — or fear? “Eve, you’re going soft.”

“Soft?” She narrowed her lips as if she might be assessing the aftertaste of cheap white wine. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“No. I can’t imagine anyone has.” He shrugged and set his laptop on the fold-down dinner tray.

“You know what the worst part is?” She crossed her arms and clenched her fists.

He shook his head.

“I can’t stand that Witowsky stole from us.”

“You mean Marat’s laptop?” He tapped the keys and opened a new text file.

“That and everything else. Don’t you see it? That string of coincidences was an elaborate ruse. He played on my fears to reveal where we were meeting with Malinin. Then he shot Marat to steal his computer after Sochi gave him the GIGcoin software. Jeezus, he’s been playing us since he came to interview you about Fiona.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t actually see Witowsky shoot Marat. I didn’t see who threw the pistol to the ground. And I didn’t see what happened to Marat’s laptop.”

“All right.” She took a moment to weigh the options. “So anyone could have it. Malinin, Witowsky. Some kid who snatched it off the ground.”

Finch was pleased to hear her talking like a cop again. “Right. And there was nothing I could do to save Marat. Nothing I could tell the Honolulu police that would help him. Or them.” He felt as if he had to justify his actions. Not that Eve or Sochi had accused him of abandoning the Russian. Nonetheless he felt a kind of guilt by association.

She sighed and nuzzled her chin onto his shoulder. “I know. I know how these things are.” She took his hand into her own.

As the plane banked to the left they were offered a view of the Pacific below.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.