“Hopefully we won’t need it,” Charlie said, glancing out the window at the dark sky. Vicki’s chopper was three miles to their left, a mile behind. Vicki signed off.

“Why do you want another chopper?” Kelly asked.

“Gut feeling,” Charlie said.

David exited the freeway forty-five minutes later and headed toward the marina. The direction immediately set off an alarm. Vicki came back on the line. Could Falling be planning to take David onto a boat? Charlie was worried that was the case.

“Get a boat right away,” he said. “Have it hang a mile off the coast.”

“That will take time. Fifteen minutes,” Vicki said.

“Bullshit. Make it ten,” Charlie snapped.

Kelly glanced over at him. “We in trouble?”

Charlie sighed. “Depends how quickly we get the boat.”

David parked at the marina, picked up another note beneath a garbage can, and then headed for the boats. He showed some smarts—he left the note where he found it. Their people recovered it right away—a risky move but a necessity. Before Charlie and Kelly could reach the parking lot, Vicki informed them that Falling had directed David to a ship called Scallop.

“He told David to steer the boat toward Catalina,” Vicki said. “Even gave him a compass reading to follow.”

“Can David read a compass?” Charlie muttered.

“He has a yacht,” Kelly said. David had talked about his boat while she had stayed at his house.

“Got an agent in the water yet?” Charlie demanded.

“Almost,” Vicki said. “We can’t get too close. The helicopters are more important.”

“Send a boat from Catalina this way,” Charlie ordered.

Vicki considered. “Do you think Falling’s aboard this boat?”

“It’s possible,” Charlie said. “Do we have a line of sight on David right now?”

“Yeah,” Vicki said. “He’s already aboard the boat and winding slowly through the harbor. He seems to know what he’s doing.”

“Does the Scallop have a cabin?” Charlie asked.

“Yes,” Vicki said.

“Falling could be hidden below,” Charlie told Vicki.

“Yeah. David didn’t check inside the cabin,” Vicki replied.

“That’s bad. Falling specifically threatened David,” Charlie reminded their boss.

But Vicki was in no mood to alter their plan. “We’ve already done enough to scare the bastard away. We keep our distance.”

Vicki signed off. Charlie drove into the marina lot. They searched for a parking place near the boats. It was a crowded Saturday night—they ended up a quarter mile from David’s car. Hurrying on foot toward the water, Charlie made an astute comment.

“An island’s the last place in the world Falling would want to pick up money.”

“It would be so easy to trap him there,” Kelly agreed. “So why Catalina?”

“He has no intention of letting David get that far.”

“He’s aboard? He’ll kill him?”

“No. That wouldn’t help him either.”

“But it could all be for revenge. The Techer Securities connection?”