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Chapter 1
BRANCHES FROM THE eucalypts and blue gued air
A storh the dense bushland The cabin was isolated and close to a river, with a 270-degree vantage of the valley below, but that was in daylight
Every sense on heightened alert, he scanned the doorfrales for the two strands of hair he’d positioned in the ja both, he exhaled as the door eased open
The urn over the fireplace was exactly as he’d left it too, the tiny notches in the wood lined up precisely with its rim He checked his watch Ninety seconds
He unscrewed the base of the urn and located the USB device, which he secured inside his zippered jacket pocket
His watch buzzed with a slow pulse Someone had infiltrated his perimeter With no road access from the north, they had to be on foot
The pulsing sound doubled Noo people headed towards the cabin Cleaners Men whose job it was to clean upwas left behind
It confirmed he was a priority If they hadinvested in hunting him down
He snatched his backpack and headed for the bedroo at the foot of the bed exposed the trap door
With the alarrabbed a bowie knife fro it into the narrow space between the hatch and floor, dislodging caked dirt
Suave way He squeezed through and lowered himself feet first With a hook and wire he’d screwed into the cavity years before, he reached up, replaced the handle in its recess and repositioned the rug before lowering the hatch
Sweat dripped froain and listened
No other sensors had been tripped Instinct told him there were still just two men out there
On his elbows and stoht, but at least he could propel backwards After a few metres he removed a rope and screw-top tin fro it with a thin layer of nesium powder
Fifteen more metres back and his boots should reach the removable panels at the rear of the wood shed
The sound of feet clo There were two lass smashed
He lit the rope and reverse commando-crawled as fast as his elbows, toes and knees could e
Fla the tunnel to the base of the cabin As he kicked out the shed boards and escaped the tunnel, yelling pierced the night