line is open.â
âOh. Oh, I see. Even on a public beach?â
âEven there. I should be able to hear everything you and whoever makes the noon contact say to each other.â
She turned the Q-Phone over in her hand, looking at it now as if she found it fascinating. âIs something like this legal? Not that I care if it isnât.â
âPerfectly legal.â Though there were some who felt that it shouldnât be. âIf the contact is somebody you know, use his name. If itâs a stranger, say something to tell me so.â
âThen what will you do?â
âDepends on the circumstances. Leave that to me, Ms. Daniels.â
âVerity. Please.â Then, âYouâll be very close by, wonât you? On the beach?â
âClose by, yes, but donât look for me. You may be watched beforehandâdonât do anything to call attention to yourself.â
âI wonât. What should I say to him?â
âJust follow his lead. And comment on the alleged evidence so Iâll know what it is.â
âHe canât bring what doesnât exist.â
Runyon said, âChances are heâll have something to show that he thinks is incriminating enough to buy him ten thousand dollars. Photos, documents real or faked ⦠something tangible.â
âYes, I see what you mean.â
âTry to get him to give it to you, whatever it is. If he refuses, donât insist. Agree with whatever he says and let him walk away with the money.â
âIn other words, donât make waves. Just let the ocean do that, right?â
Runyon ignored that. âDonât call me after the exchange,â he said. âIâll be in touch as soon as I have something to report.â
âWhatever you say, Jake. Iâm completely in your hands.â
She wanted to sit and talk while they finished their coffee; he didnât. 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 heâd had after his previous encounters with her. She was scared, sheâd 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 couldnât always tell. A head case? Getting off giddily on the sharp edge of danger? Coming on to him for the same reason? Heâd come in contact with a few of that type over the years, but Verity Daniels didnât display any of the usual, obvious symptoms.
He couldnât figure her out. And he had a feeling he wouldnât like her any better if and when he did.
Â
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 thereâd 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 heâd 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 heâd Googled it last night after Verity Danielsâs call; heâd 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