Three Weeks Last Spring Read Online Free PDF

heard it too, for one moment the cabin was in darkness and then suddenly it was a blaze of light. Walker watched the slim figure come to the window and look out before closing the drapes. He stepped back into the shadows afforded by the trees, his ears straining for the slightest sound. An owl hooted nearby, no doubt in protest at having its nightly hunting raid disrupted.
     
    Somewhere out on the water he could he ar the throb of a ship's engine as it made its way through the strait. He ha d heard the same vessel earlier that evening as it rounded the headland a few miles south of where he now stood. But the ship hadn't been what caught his attention. It had been the sound of a heavy vehicle moving down the track towards the cabin and beach. If he'd left the lodge earlier and hidd en in the woods, he would have seen the vehicle and more importantly, he would have known why it was using the track at this time of night.
     
    A light in the cabin bedroom flicked on , then off . His tenant was preparing to go to bed. Walker decided to give it another thirty minutes before he trekked down to the shore to see if the vehicle had left any tracks. He was quite sure that whoever was using the cove would leave little or no trace of their visit. He hoped for once he was wrong, and that his tenant had spooked whoever it was , just as she ha d spooked him earlier that day. Sufficient perhaps to make them find alternative access to the shore, but he rather doubted it. The bastards didn't have any thoughts other than for the large bundle of untraceable bills , which undoubtedly would be pressed into their eager grubby hands.
     
    Two hours later, after a fruitless and frustrating search, Walker had found nothing. Whoever had used the track had been careful to cover their movements. Apart from a few broken twigs and the odd footprint, there was little to show that a vehicle, other than his tenant's rental car, had driven down the track. Yet Walker was sure that so meone was using the dock to off load cargo onto a small boat. He just needed one breakthrough—something that would help him to identify either the vehicle or the goods being transported. And if those goods turned out to be the chemicals he ’d found in the fish, then he could trace them back to the plant that produced them.
     
    He shivered slightly in the cool breeze as he returned to the lodge. N ot only was he tired and frustrated by this latest case, but he was also angry with himself for renting out the cabin. It was too late now to change things. He’d just have to work round the situation. He'd been in tighter spots than this over the years, so why was this beginning to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up? Part of it, he knew, was the feeling that this latest case of illegal dumping was personal—someone getting back at him. That didn't surprise him. He had trodden on enough toes over the years, so he guessed it was payback time. But the question was who and why?
     
    The other part of the problem was the woman, that small vulnerable figure who brought out the protector in him, even if she did have the temper of a wildcat. He didn't know her, and had no particular wish to. He wasn't one for short vacation affairs , the love them and leave th em attitude of the beach lothario was definitely not his style, even if he had the time or inclination. Besides, he preferred his companions to be less fiery and opinionated, although he had to admit that she did have a certain appeal.
     
    He shook his head in disgust at the direction his thoughts were headed. He let himself into the lodge, and flicked on the percolator in the kitchen on his way to the study. He sat down at his desk and waited for his computer to boot up. Although it was after midnight he wasn't ready to sleep. He intended making a list of every company, corporation and individual who might be interested in nailing his hide to the mast for closing down their operations, even for one day.
     
    While his