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CHAPTER 1

WILL ROBIE HAD closely observed every one of the passengers on the short flight froh and confidently deduced that sixteen were returning Scots and fifty-three were tourists

Robie was neither a Scot nor a tourist

The flight took forty-seven e swath of Scotland The cab ride in from the airport took fifteenat the Balmoral Hotel or the Scotsman or any of the other illustrious accommodations in the ancient city He had one roo that was a nine-ot his key and paid in cash for one night He carried his s up to the rooht and sank nearly three inches

Squeaking and sinking hat one got for so low a price

Robie was an inch over six feet and a rock-solid one hundred and eighty pounds He possessed a compact musculature that relied th His nose had been broken once, due to a mistake he had made He had never had it reset because he’d never wanted to forget the mistake One of his back teeth was false That had come with the broken nose His hair was naturally dark and he had a lot of it, but Robie preferred to keep it about a half inch longer than a Marine buzz cut His facial features were sharply defined, but heeye contact with anyone

He had tats on one are tooth froreat white The other was a red slash that looked like lightning on fire They effectively covered up old scars that had never healed properly And each held soed skin had proven a challenge for the tattoo artist working on Robie, but the end result had been satisfactory

Robie was thirty-nine years old and would turn forty the following day He had not come to Scotland to celebrate this personal milestone He had come here to work Of the three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, he orking or traveling to do his job on about half of them

Robie surveyed the rooically located He did not require much His possessions were few, and his wants fewer still

He rose and went to the , pressed his face to the cool glass The sky was gloomy It was often that way in Scotland A full day of sun in Edinburgh was routinely greeted with both gratitude and astonishment by its citizens

Far to his left stood Holyrood Palace, the queen’s official residence in Scotland He could not see it froh Castle He could not see that battered old edifice either but knew exactly where it was

He checked his watch A full eight hours to go

Hours later his internal clock woke him He left his room and walked up toward Princes Street He passed the majestic Balmoral Hotel that anchored the city center

He ordered a light e selection of stouts offered on the board over the bar As he ate he spent so butcher knives atop a unicycle while regaling the croith funny stories delivered with an eue Then there was the fellow outfitted as the invisiblepictures with passersby for two pounds each

After his h Castle He could see it in the distance as he a, and had never once been taken by force, only stealth

He cliloo cannon that would never fire another shot He turned to his left and took in the full breadth of the sea that had o as vessels cao He stretched tight limbs, felt a creak and then a pop in his left shoulder

Forty

Tomorrow

But first he had to make it to tomorrow

He checked his watch

Three hours to go

He left the castle and headed down a side street

He waited out a sudden chilly rain shower under a café awning and drank a cup of coffee

Later he passed a sign for the ghost tour of Underground Edinburgh, adults only, and only conducted after full darkness had set in It was almost time Robie had memorized every step, every turn, every move he would have to make

To live