Blind Read Online Free Page A

away from her umbrella and put it on her hip. “But Gaia has been so rude to you.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œShe treats you badly. You deserve better.”
    Ed sighed. “I guess maybe you get treated the way you let yourself get treated. With Gaia…” He hesitated and stared at the ground. “I wanted her for so long.”
    Tatiana let the umbrella fall to the side. Cold drizzle fell down on them both. “I don’t know why Gaia acts the way she does. She’s hurt you so much already.I think that if you keep this up, she’s only going to hurt you again.”
    â€œProbably.” Ed raised his head and looked at her from between strands of damp hair. “How do you say ‘idiot’ in Russian?”
    Tatiana tapped a long, slender finger against her chin. “Idiot. Idiot. Ah! I believe the word is ‘Ed Fargo’.” She took his arm, squeezed it, and smiled.
    Memo
    From: G
    To: L
    Subject has left the target area. Reconnaissance indicates that the planted material has been removed. Request instruction for next phase. Additional assistance may be required, as subject’s habits continue to be irregular.
    Memo
    From: L
    To: G
    That material should ensure the subject follows another blind alley. Proceed with delivery of additional material and evaluate subject’s response. Continue observations. Resources will be made available. It won’t be long now.

dangerous dangerous
    But in the absence of their leader, the M&M twins seemed to be verging on mental anarchy.

Spearfish
    A STORM HAD PASSED THROUGH during the night. Lines of driftwood and brown seaweed along the beach marked how far the gale-blown waves had reached, but now, under the morning sun, the sea was almost glassy.
    Tom Moore sat on a clean patch of sand and stretched out his legs until the heels of his brown Paloma loafers were lightly touched by the gentle surf. The sun warmed his face, and his surroundings were reflected in the lenses of his aviator sunglasses. It was a small bay, no more than half a mile across, and the beach was small, too, but it was a beautiful space. Tall palm trees curved out into the bright air above the sand. Dark patches on the impossibly turquoise water marked knots of coral reef just below the surface. Off to one side a stack of sun-bleached, faintly pink shells showed where both locals and tourists had fished conchs from the water. It was exactly the sort of place where people came to relax and enjoy themselves.
    Tom wasn’t relaxed.
    He reached down, picked up a handful of sand, and let it trickle away through his fingers. In books and films it seemed that secret agents were always ending up in places like this. How many movies had there been where James Bond spent time on thebeach with some bikini-wearing babe? All those chase scenes on motorboats and fights on yachts. Agents in films seemed to get in a large share of yacht time.
    Tom’s life had certainly not worked out that way. It seemed to him that for every hour he had spent in sunshine, there had been at least two spent in shadows. Letter drops in the basement of some Chicago high-rise. Meetings in a Moscow alley. Midnight assignations in Abu Dabi. Being an agent, a successful agent, was about keeping yourself inconspicuous. It was easier to hide where it was dark.
    It had only gotten worse over the last few years. The years without Katia. Since her death there had been more dark meetings, more travel, and more lurking in shadows. Tom turned over his sandy hand and looked at the back. Thirty minutes on the beach, and he could already tell that the sun was starting to redden his skin.
    That’s what happened when you dragged a mushroom out into the sunlight.
    He wondered where Gaia was at that moment. It was a thought that often crossed his mind. Probably the thought he had more frequently than any other. Being away from his daughter was… It was almost like losing his wife, only not as sudden.