“You fool.” Bohdan whirled on George Chiswick in a fury. “Did you actually let this Seth Caleb leave the country? What good are you? I told you that I wanted to make an example of him. Fear is the only thing that’s keeping the troops in line right now. I won’t have someone else stepping up and pushing me aside when I’m this close to taking over the entire country.”

“No one would do that,” Chiswick said quickly. “They’re all afraid of you. I’ve sent a troop to Savgard Airport and one to the border. I’m sure we’ll locate him soon.”

“How? We didn’t even know the bastard was in the country before he managed to get close enough to the general to take him down. Who the hell is he?”

“We found out a few details from Zeller before we killed him. Caleb was a special agent from MI6. Very special. They only send him on assignments that require a certain skill and expertise. He moves in like a ghost, stalks the prey, and then takes him down. Then he’s gone again. He never misses and has a good many other talents that are unusual. I’m afraid we wouldn’t have known even that much if Zeller hadn’t been identified as MI6 by one of our men. We were able to catch him and force him to reveal Caleb’s mission.” He added apologetically, “I would have learned more, but you were so furious with Zeller that you wanted him dead. I didn’t have time for any other questions. I do know he was working with Agents Jennings and Pasternak. I’ll access my contacts and find out more for you.”

“See that you do.” He scowled. “Caleb’s like a ghost? I’ll make a ghost out of him all right. I can’t wait to bring him back and show everyone how I treat a son of a bitch who has the nerve to get in my way.”

“One more question,” Chiswick said. “What do I do with Diehl, the helicopter pilot? He’s a good man and valuable to you.”

“What do you think you should do? He let Caleb escape. Kill the asshole.” He turned on his heel. “Now get busy. Find Caleb. I want to know everything about him.”

*  *  *

MacDuff’s Run
9:40 P.M.

“Dammit, why are you being so quiet, MacDuff?” Jane leaned back in her dining chair, her gaze narrowed on him. “Is something wrong?” She made a face. “Besides the fact that I was so rude to Fergus and won’t sell you that sketch. I’ve already apologized to him, and I may still let you have the blasted sketch. It was just that she looked so familiar to me that it…bothered me. Did you ask Fergus if he recognized any children in the village who looked like that kid in my mystery sketch?”