“What’s the bad news?”

“This guy Gregory still has Amy. They’re on a boat waiting for Chino. When Gregory figures out that Chino’s not coming —” He stopped. “All I’ve got is the number of Gregory’s cell phone and my memory of the maps in the computer.” It would have to be a fast boat, Merrill realized. He had heard the American gangster say he wanted to be fifty miles out to sea. Chino’s boat would be loaded with electronics. And — at this hour, and in the expectation that there was no one around to give Gregory any opposition — it would be lit up like a Willamette River dinner queen. Merrill was passing the airport, in darkness now. “Is that cutter on time?”

“Close enough for government work. Hang in there. Washington did let us have one scrap about Chino to pass along, if you want to hear it now. His parents were murdered in a robbery —”

“You mean like Batman? Oh, Jesus. I’ll get back to you.” He disconnected. This was the same road he had taken into town earlier, after jumping from O’Malley’s plane. Now he felt like a completely different human being. How would Amy react to him, if he ever saw her again? Merrill had to stay alert. It was too easy to drift off, get lost in that kind of wondering.

The bay was on the left. Would the boat be so far from the mouth of the harbor? Merrill had seen a marina tonight — where? He had looked down on it, he could remember that much. When he had climbed a lot of stairs? No, he had taken an elevator to Ruiz’s apartment!

From what he remembered of the computer maps, Merrill knew that the marina was on an island connected to the rest of the city by bridges at the north, east and south. The trick was in finding one of the bridges. He turned left.

In another two blocks he could see he was still too far south — and worse, so many hulls of pleasure boats of every description were gleaming in the darkness they looked like toppled tombstones in a cemetery. At least he could see a route to the bridge.

What else was he looking for besides a fast boat with signs of people aboard? A car nearby, an expensive car, one with a warm hood. Maybe. Chino had been concerned with covering his tracks. Merrill was growing concerned with the time. Ten after four now. No problem if he found Chino’s boat soon, killed or overpowered Gregory immediately, and was able to get underway without delay.

On the other side of the bridge he turned left again. As the waterfront swung into view a single light dead ahead suddenly winked out.

Almost without thinking, Merrill switched the car’s headlights off.