Copper Beach

through heavily wooded terrain. One of them skidded on a pile of needles and stones and nearly went down. Dead branches crackled under their feet.

    City thugs, Sam decided. Guys like this were used to dealing drugs in back alleys, conducting smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings, crimes more suited to an urban environment.

    They were out of their element today, and working under a major strategic disadvantage, whether they knew it or not. They were advancing uphill on an opponent who had the high ground, a fortified high ground at that. And they didn’t know yet that the opposition was armed.

    Sam settled into the zone. I can work with this.

    The second man stumbled again and fell to one knee. “Shit.”

    In the deep silence of the woods, the curse was clearly audible.

    Sam squeezed off a warning shot. A branch exploded above the second man’s head.

    “Shit,” the second man yelped again. He lunged for the cover of the tree trunk. “He’s got a gun.”

    The first man scrambled for cover. “Yeah, I can see that.” He raised his voice. “You up there, the guy with the gun, listen, man. We’re armed, too. But this doesn’t have to get messy. We don’t care about you. We want the woman. Send her out and everyone walks away from this now.”

    Sam let the silence echo. City thugs were no good when it came to the waiting game. They tended to be a jittery, impatient lot. They lacked the discipline for this kind of hunting.

    “Hey, we’re not going to hurt the woman if that’s what you’re worrying about,” the second man shouted. “It’s okay, man. We’re just going to take her with us for a little while. We were hired to pick her up, that’s all. There’s this guy who wants her to do a job for him. When it’s over, she goes home, safe and sound. Nobody gets hurt.”

    There was another long silence. The first man couldn’t take it. He leaned around the tree and fired blindly. Most of the bullets plowed harmlessly into the ground. A couple zinged off one of the larger boulders.

    When the silence became intolerable again, the second man called to his friend.

    “Maybe he’s out of ammunition,” he said, sounding hopeful.

    “Like hell,” the first man responded. “He’s going to wait up there and pick us off if we try to get to those rocks. Shit, this isn’t going to work.”

    “I’ve had it,” the second man said. “We didn’t get paid enough for this. Let’s get out of here.”

    “You up there in the rocks,” the first man shouted. “You win. We’re leaving. Don’t shoot.”

    Sam let the silence lengthen once more.

    Cautiously, both men edged away from the sheltering trees and half crawled, half stumbled back down the hillside toward the road. Sam fired two more shots by way of encouragement.

    Newton exploded out of Abby’s clutches. He charged around the tumbled boulders and raced down the hillside.

    “Newton,” Abby yelped, stricken. “No. Come back here.”

    “I knew that condo dog was going to be a problem,” Sam said.

    “Shit,” the second man yelled. “There a dog.”

    The first man had reached the chase car. He jumped in behind the wheel and fired up the engine. The second man tried to open the passenger-side door, but Newton’s jaws closed around his trouser leg. The guy yelled. He managed to kick free and get the door closed.

    The chase car did a three-point turn and roared off, disappearing around a bend.

    Sam got to his feet and went cautiously down the hill.

    Abby followed quickly. “Newton, Newton, come here. Are you all right?”

    Newton trotted back toward her, giving her a doggy grin. She went down on her knees and hugged him close.

    “Good dog,” she said. “Brave dog. You’re the best dog in the entire world.”

    Newton licked her furiously.

    “Always figured he’d go for the ankle, not the throat,” Sam said. “Let’s get moving.” He urged her toward the SUV. “I want to make a stop before we head back to the island.”

    “Where?”

    “The Black Box lab.”

    “Don’t forget, we have to make that nine-one-one call to report Thaddeus’s body,” Abby said.

    “We’ll stop at a gas station on the way back to Seattle,” Sam promised.

19

    SHE FELT THE HOT CURRENTS OF ENERGY SWIRLING INSIDE the lab as soon as she walked through the automatic doors with Sam. The interior of the Black Box facility, officially known as the Coppersmith Research and Development Laboratory, gleamed and sparkled with a lot of