1
Something was wrong.

2
Holy shit,” Lane Faroe said reverently.

3
Zachary Balfour tried not to look bored, which he was.

4
Jill drove past the ruins of the ranch house and…

5
When the buzzer rang on the front door of the…

6
Sheriff Ned Purcell rocked his high-backed chair away from the…

7
Ramsey Worthington frowned at his computer screen. It was a…

8
Score was sweating hard, pumping iron in a controlled frenzy…

9
Jill rolled over and tried to find a more comfortable…

10
Jill parked in the huge, dusty lot of the Eureka…

11
When it was full dark, Score finally stirred from his…

12
Jill forced herself not to reach for the room phone…

13
As usual, Dwayne Taylor had night duty. He liked it…

14
Grace picked up Faroe’s phone, saw who it was, and…

15
Zach Balfour knocked smartly on the door of 435, then…

16
Lee Dunstan hung up the phone with a curse and…

17
Zach put on his truck’s parking brake, switched off the…

18
No problemo,” Score said into the telephone. “I’ve got the…

19
Caitlin Crawford glanced up from the computer in her home…

20
Jill drove up to the old cabin, put on the…

21
Score had barely ushered a rich new client out of…

22
Without a word, Jill unwrapped more paintings and leaned them…

23
Score watched the intercom light flash at double speed. Urgent.

24
Inside the house, Zach talked on his own phone to…

25
Score woke up when the alarm on his computer went…

26
Zach drove to the edge of the small airport’s paved…

27
The small plane took a sudden downward swoop, then settled…

28
Zach switched his headphone from sat/cell input to the plane’s…

29
Ramsey Worthington waited with concealed impatience while Cahill carefully, slowly,…

30
Jill watched out the window while the plane landed at…

31
The first gallery Zach and Jill went to was housed…

32
Zach watched the woman as she walked up to him.

33
This time I’m the hard case and you’re the sympathetic…

34
At least this won’t be a total waste of time,”…

35
I’m Ramsey Worthington, and you are…?” he asked.

36
Crawford residence, Caitlin speaking.”

37
Score’s fingers flew over his computer keyboard. He didn’t need…

38
As Tal Crawford stood to one side of the governor…

39
A new Dodge Magnum was waiting for them at Taos…

40
Anything new?” Score barked into his headphone.

41
So you like Western landscapes,” Frost said to Jill, breaking…

42
The answer to that is complicated,” Zach said. “One of…

43
Score sat in the back of the anonymous rental minivan.

44
The breakfast nook in Frost’s big kitchen seated three. Barely.

45
Score eased open the side door of the van. The…

46
That hasn’t changed,” Zach said, disgusted.

47
Garland Frost sat surrounded by paintings, brooding over the collection.

48
Score finished peeing into the empty bottle of Gatorade, capped…

49
Zach had yanked on his jeans and was running for…

50
As Zach disappeared through the open gate, Jill dropped to…

51
One police unit stood off from the front gate and…

52
Zach started up Frost’s old Travel-All. The engine fired with…

53
That’s right,” Score said into the phone. “The six shipping…

54
Even though the last cops were gone, Garland Frost’s circular…

55
Lane Silva Faroe watched his tiny baby sister sleeping in…

56
Jill gave up on the paintings and the black light.

57
Sheriff Ned Purcell made Jill and Zach wait for twenty…

58
As soon as the outer door opened, Amy leaped to…

59
Grace picked up the phone. “Zach? Faroe’s tied up.”

60
Score picked up the phone with a snarled “Yeah?”

61
The boxes were coated with a red-brown dust that came…

62
You drive,” Zach said, getting into the passenger side of…

63
Score read the transcript, reread it, and then read it…

64
Ramsey, you better take this,” Cahill said. “Lee Dunstan calling…

65
Dad?” Lane asked, sticking his head out of the bedroom…

66
Zach looked at the crowded lobby of the Golden Fleece.

67
At the front of the room, two Dunstans waited in…

68
Very lightly Zack ran his fingertips along the bottom edge…

69
Lee Dunstan staggered slightly, then righted himself by leaning against…

70
Like Zach, Jill was freshly washed, wearing new clothes from…

71
The sound of a satellite phone ringing in the next…

72
Faroe picked up the phone, listened, and glanced toward the…

73
Score listened to the bug on Jill Breck’s sat phone…

74
Jill lay with Zach, sweat gleaming, pleasure burning. With whispered…

75
That’s right,” Jill said into the room phone, “I’d like…

76
Zach sat in the right-hand seat of the orbiting aircraft,…

77
Jill leaned against the car and let the gas feed…

78
Grace had watched and listened while her husband peeled away…

79
Contact continues,” Zach said into the microphone that went to…

80
Hi, Mary,” Jill said into her sat phone. “I wanted…

81
Score watched the deputy park at the end of a…

82
I’m going in,” Jill said to Mary. “I’ll call you…

83
Take one quiet orbit close enough for me to read…

84
The gaping door of the fourth cottage opened into a…

85
A white Lincoln Navigator wheeled up beside the Skymaster almost…

86
Score yanked the ski mask back over his face and…

87
Gunshots sounded above the SUV’s racing engine. Zach recognized the…

88
Pain was a living, wild creature clawing at Jill.

89
Zach turned and raced for the front door of the…

90
Jill was running hard through raking, dry, shoulder-high brush when…

91
With each step, Zach gained on Ski Mask. Whatever the…

92
Flashlight beams danced through the brush and finally came to…

93
The conference room that the Golden Fleece had turned over…

94
Jill walked into a room that had a well-stocked wet…