Chapters (124)
- Cover
- About the Author
- Acclaim for Frank Gardner’s Luke Carlton thrillers
- Also by Frank Gardner
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
Lina was tall, with wire-framed glasses and mouse-brown hair, and she carried a canvas tote bag. As promised, she wore a red scarf around her neck, but it was so voluminous it was practically a shawl. She looked to Luke like a PhD student who had just stepped off campus; he put her at about twenty-eight. She pulled up a chair, sitting so close to him anyone watching would have thought they were old friends, or even lovers. She must be a regular here, he reckoned, as he didn’t notice her order anything yet moments later the waiter brought her a bottle of Salaus Alus beer, which he poured with a flourish, dark and foaming, into a tulip-shaped glass. She took a long swig before she spoke.
‘Your first time?’ Her eyes, he noticed, were pale blue behind those wire-framed glasses.
‘In Lithuania? Yes.’ Was this going to be small talk? He didn’t really have time for that.
‘I heard what happened,’ she said abruptly. ‘In the police station.’ She shook her head. At the mention of the police station Luke moved his hand unconsciously to touch his face, just below his left eye. ‘Yes, I can see,’ she said. ‘That Kadunov is a bastard. You must have pissed him off. He definitely wants you out of the country. Be careful.’ She wagged an admonishing finger at him and took another swig of her beer.
‘You don’t say.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Sorry, it’s just an expression. So, Lina,’ Luke said, placing his hands on the table, ‘we need to meet up with this guy Darius Janulis. He’s the in-house lawyer at Matulis ChemExport.’
‘I know this.’ Another swig. She had practically finished her beer while he was still toying with his lukewarm cappuccino. ‘I have already made contact with him.’
‘You have? Great!’ Luke said. ‘Where do we meet him?’
‘Are you tired?’ She stared at him appraisingly, her expression hard to read.
‘No,’ he lied. ‘Why?’ What an odd question, he thought.
‘That’s good, because it will be very late tonight. I have the address. We will go together. It is … a special kind of venue. I hope you can be … let’s just say, open-minded.’