Twohundred? Hancock glanced down in surprise.You can tell just from the butt of the gun? You didnt see him drive away? I was looking toward the kitchen, thinking that Quane perhaps had forgotten the cream or the sugar for his coffee. There was a sound to my left. I looked. Max Quane came out of the bathroom. Yeah, like those two morons in Florida who sent ricin to the White House a few months ago. One of them was an unemployed Elvis impersonator and the other a taekwondo dude who was running for president. No, thats what we thought, too. ME confirmed that she wasnt, replied Ekman. Well, listen again, Mason said, and youll find that Im simply trying to protect my client against imposition. The dark waters reflected the moonlight. The yellow security lights swayed in the wind. Only one of the houseboats showed any light in its windows. The expensive craft were at the west end of the dock. The ones nearest the asphalt I stood on were not only modest, a few of them were in shambles. Paint faded, windows patched with tape, not much bigger than a prison cell. I doubted that these ever left the dock. Theyd work for beer parties just fine as people, drinks and drugs sprawled over the land, keeping the shabby houseboats nothing more than storage bins. The elites at the far end of the dock probably roared up here just to stand on the bow and piss. It was strange then that the pavilion would be at my end. It was behind me in the wooded area. Id checked it out. It was empty. So that would eliminate both it being staged and anybody in our campaign being involved. Roxy Claffin jumped to her feet.Why... why... I dont know anything. I— Well, Dino said, at least they wont be looking for a Suburban. He got on his cell phone again, spoke for a moment, then hung up. “The locals lost them. They werent in the house, the bakery had reported its van stolen, and Larkin and his buddies are nowhere to be seen.” She gave him an odd look.Hows the police investigation going? Yes. They went back into the house. Stone excused himself and went into the mens room. He looked at himself in the mirror: a little pale, he thought. He splashed some cold water on his face and neck, wiped it with a towel, took a few deep breaths, then went back to the table..