"Who gave you that?"

"Papa John's Pizza."

Hannah thought about it for a moment. "You called every pizza place in the vicinity of those other fast-food restaurants…"

"Exactly. When one orders a pizza delivery, the first thing the store does is ask for a phone number. That pulls up the customer address in their database, which the order taker reads aloud to confirm. I only had to call three other restaurants before I found one that Niler had previously ordered from." He handed her the pad. "Let's map this through the GPS device."

"Are we going to break in?"

"Hell, no. Believe me, we don't want to go in there. Think about it. Niler is one of the world's leading experts in explosive booby traps, and he could have a most lethal idea of what constitutes a home security system."

"Then I'm surprised you were willing to break into his car."

"It was a risk, but people in Niler's profession don't usually like to drive around town in cars packed with explosive materials. Too dangerous. A little fender bender could blow him to Kingdom Come." Kirov shrugged. "I might have to resort to bare-knuckled diplomacy to find out if he knows anything."

"There may be another way."

"How?"

"I think he and I have a date tonight."

"What?"

"I told him I'd meet him at closing time."

"Five minutes alone with him, and you-"

"I didn't really think I'd go. I was flirting with him, trying to keep his eyes off the security monitor, and I said I might drop by at closing time-1:00 A.M. He said he'd be there."

"Sounds like a date to me," he said grimly.

"I'll go back to his place with him, get the lay of the land, and see what kind of booby traps he may have in place. If I get a chance, I'll check his caller ID logs on his home and cell phones. Anything else I should look for?"

"This isn't a good idea. When you decided you wanted to play vamp to distract him, I didn't like it, but I went along. The risk wasn't that great. But this is different."

"Vamp? I wasn't trying to vamp him. You said he liked women, and I knew I could keep his attention for five or ten minutes. If I was Cinderella's ugly stepsister, I could have done that."

"But not as well. I'd bet you bowled Niler over."

"He's not that easy. The beach is crawling with women who want to sample an episode with a passing ship in the night."

"But not one who looks like she thinks as well as she fucks."

The rawness of that curt sentence stunned her for a moment. "I'm going to do it, Kirov. You can be my backup."

"Your support team again?" he said sourly.

"We'll use the speakerphone function on your cell. I'll keep it on me, and you can listen to every word."

"It's still a risk. He may be Mr. Charisma, but I assure you, he's smart, and he can be very dangerous."

"I can do this, Kirov. It might get us one step closer to Pavski."

He was silent. "I'm not going to talk you out of it, am I?"

"No," she repeated. "What else should I look for in there?"

Kirov said curtly, "Computer passwords."

12:55 A.M.

"What do you know? The pretty lady returns." Niler smiled at her, leaning on the counter. "A dream come true."

Hannah stepped off the sand and glanced around the empty bar. "Does anyone but me ever come in here?"

"Slow day, so-so evening. The place pretty much cleared out after midnight. I might have closed early if I hadn't thought you might be back."

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I could but hope." He smiled. "Okay, I'm pretty damned sure of myself."

"I like an honest man."

He started lifting the barstools and placing them on the bar. "How was your day?"

"Nice."

"Now that you've had a chance to check out the competition, you must realize there's no place on the beach better than TNT."

"Well, most had more customers than you. Have you considered ninety-nine-cent chicken wings?"

"This is a real bar. I don't need that stuff. And to be fair, you've only come to my place at odd hours."

"True."

He leaned close to her. "And even if the place is empty, you have to admit that the bartender lends it a certain charm."

"I came back, didn't I?"

He nodded. "I'm glad you did. What do you feel like doing?"

"A drink might be nice. After that, I'll leave it up to you."

"Perfect. Let me close up before some unwelcome straggler wanders in."

He unfastened a coil of nylon rope at a support post and lowered the canvas awning until it covered the front of the bar. He repeated the action on both sides, completely enclosing the seating area. "Alone at last."

The canvas folds of fabric brushed the pocket of her skirt, where Kirov's cell phone transmitted to him on the street outside.

Niler reached behind the bar and picked up something Hannah couldn't see. "A guy came in here tonight selling handmade jewelry. Most of it was seashell-and-bead crap, but he had a necklace that made me think of you."

"Did you get his number?"

"Nah. I bought it for you."

"You are sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He gave her a puckish grin. "Well, if you hadn't shown up I'd probably have just given it to another pretty tourist this weekend."

"I have no doubt."

"It's a necklace. Turn around. Let me put it on you. Though I have to warn you, there's just a chance that I want to get my hands on you."

"You're moving a little fast." But Hannah turned and lifted her hair, allowing him to fasten the necklace around her neck. Niler's hands felt warm and coarse on her skin as he carefully positioned it.

"There. Perfect." He reached over the bar, picked up a small mirror, and handed it to her. "I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will." She angled the mirror toward her throat. She inhaled sharply. "Oh, my God!"

Six paper-covered blocks and a tiny radio receiver.

She turned on him. "What the hell?"

"It's a low-power explosive device." He stepped back and showed her a small remote control. "I push this button, and your goddamn head flies off."

Hannah instinctively reached for the necklace.

"Don't do it!"

She stopped and let her hands fall to her sides. "Are you some kind of psycho?"

"Not at all. I'm just not very good with guns. I'm a rotten shot, and I always have been." He raised the remote. "This is more my speed. You have half a dozen cubes of HMX-based explosives around your neck. In the trade, we call them bullion cubes. It's enough to lop off your head, but light enough to leave me and my bar intact. I'll be open for business tomorrow, no problem. The question is, will you be open for business?"

Hannah felt the perspiration beading her face. "Why in the hell are you doing this?"

"You're the one who needs to explain. Who are you?"

"My name is Hannah Bryson. I'm a marine architect."

"Bullshit."

"It's the truth."

"Who broke into my car while you were chatting me up this morning?"

Hannah stiffened.

"Yeah, I know about that. I have a hard disk recorder hooked up to my security camera. Later in the day I noticed that my car alarm was off, and I never forget to set it when I get here. So I scanned the disk back and caught your friend. You were the only customer during my first hour of business, and my car was broken into during the five minutes you were here. You expect me to believe it was just a coincidence?"

"We didn't take anything."

"I would've been less worried if you had. What were you looking for?"

Hannah didn't reply.

He raised the remote and said with cold precision. "I repeat. What were you looking for?"

Kirov's voice called from outside. "That's enough, Niler. I'll tell you everything you need to know."