Nemesis Read Online Free PDF Page B

line is open.”
    â€œOh. Oh, I see. Even on a public beach?”
    â€œEven there. I should be able to hear everything you and whoever makes the noon contact say to each other.”
    She turned the Q-Phone over in her hand, looking at it now as if she found it fascinating. “Is something like this legal? Not that I care if it isn’t.”
    â€œPerfectly legal.” Though there were some who felt that it shouldn’t be. “If the contact is somebody you know, use his name. If it’s a stranger, say something to tell me so.”
    â€œThen what will you do?”
    â€œDepends on the circumstances. Leave that to me, Ms. Daniels.”
    â€œVerity. Please.” Then, “You’ll be very close by, won’t you? On the beach?”
    â€œClose by, yes, but don’t look for me. You may be watched beforehand—don’t do anything to call attention to yourself.”
    â€œI won’t. What should I say to him?”
    â€œJust follow his lead. And comment on the alleged evidence so I’ll know what it is.”
    â€œHe can’t bring what doesn’t exist.”
    Runyon said, “Chances are he’ll have something to show that he thinks is incriminating enough to buy him ten thousand dollars. Photos, documents real or faked … something tangible.”
    â€œYes, I see what you mean.”
    â€œTry to get him to give it to you, whatever it is. If he refuses, don’t insist. Agree with whatever he says and let him walk away with the money.”
    â€œIn other words, don’t make waves. Just let the ocean do that, right?”
    Runyon ignored that. “Don’t call me after the exchange,” he said. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I have something to report.”
    â€œWhatever you say, Jake. I’m completely in your hands.”
    She wanted to sit and talk while they finished their coffee; he didn’t. Preparations to make, he said, ignored the hand plucking at his coat sleeve, and left her sitting there in a half-pout.
    The meeting left him with the same off-kilter feeling he’d had after his previous encounters with her. She was scared, she’d said, but she seemed as eager to have him call her by her first name as she was to have him protect her. The nude sunbathing comment last night and the one today about the ocean waves … both inane and uncalled for, and both punctuated by a hint of girlish giggle.
    She seemed reasonably intelligent, reasonably stable, but you couldn’t always tell. A head case? Getting off giddily on the sharp edge of danger? Coming on to him for the same reason? He’d come in contact with a few of that type over the years, but Verity Daniels didn’t display any of the usual, obvious symptoms.
    He couldn’t figure her out. And he had a feeling he wouldn’t like her any better if and when he did.

 
    4
    Runyon had never been to Baker Beach. Driven past it any number of times on his restless roamings around the city, and because the road that ran past it, Lincoln Avenue, was the shortest route from Sea Cliff and other points on the far-west side to the Golden Gate Bridge. But there’d been no reason for him to set foot on the beach itself. He had no interest in scenic views, crowds of sunbathers, and families with kids and dogs. A couple of times he’d gone on picnics with Bryn and Bobby, but neither outing had been in the city. And Bryn was too self-conscious about the frozen side of her face, even covered by the scarf she always wore in public, to want to make a habit of it.
    He knew a little about Baker Beach now because he’d Googled it last night after Verity Daniels’s call; he’d always been leery of going into unfamiliar territory on an assignment without some idea of what it was like. The beach stretched along the foot of serpentine cliffs on the northwest shore, part of the Presidio that had once been military land and now belonged to