Read The Raft Page 26


  Chapter 15

  The phone rang, stirring Rachael from her stupor. She tapped its screen and raised it to her ear.

  “You might as well have asked for John the Baptist's head,” Kid Galahad growled, unconcerned with who was on the other end of the phone.

  “Jezebel did get her prize,” Rachael replied.

  “Indeed she did,” Galahad continued. “And you can tell your friend that she has hers. The Senator is back in town for four hours, then he has a plane to catch for the other Washington. So this farce you've both created better be over before then. Tell Ms. Straight her twenty-four hours has started. There will be an SPD vehicle waiting at the lighthouse at West Point.”

  The phone went dead. Rachael's look of triumph was enough to tell Maggie everything she needed to know.

  “Well I'll be damned,” Maggie said with a chuckle.

  “You're surprised?”

  “In fact, I am. I was playing a long shot.”

  “Well, you only have a few hours to get ashore, and up to the top of Queen Anne. There'll be a car waiting at Discovery Park.”

  “Then there's not a moment to waste.” Suddenly, after so many hours of idleness, Maggie was all action. She hopped to her feet and sprang for the companionway.