'Yeah, if you walk downhill and take a left. But frankly you won't see much more than you can from here. More concrete and the top of a window, that's about it. It's a smart design, completely open but totally private. He doesn't even have a fence, but he could be filming hard-core in his pool and none of the neighbours would know.'

'Some of these cult leaders like to initiate new recruits,'

said Bel, who'd done her reading.

Clancy shrugged. 'I don't know if Provost shafts the women in the cult. I mean, with a name like Disciples of Love, and starting off where it did and how it did, it's got to be a good bet. But he's never gone public on humping politics.'

'That sounds like a quote from one of your own stories.'

He grinned. 'It is, only the paper spiked it as defamatory.'

'Okay,' I said, 'I've seen enough. Let's go buy what we need.'

The shop we wanted was on Aurora, way north of Green Lake. It was called Ed's Guns and Sporting Goods and was run by a man named Archie with a trace of a Scots accent. I knew pretty much what we needed: camouflage jackets, overtrousers, boots, a couple of tents, a small stove and pot, plates, mugs and cutlery, binoculars, and a couple of rucksacks to put everything in.

The binoculars he showed me were small but powerful.

'Bird watchers love them,' he said, like this was a recommendation.

I handed them back. 'Got anything with a night vision facility?'

'You're talking major expense.' 8 'So let me talk.'

296.

He went off to find a night-scope. Bel was picking out thick socks to go with her boots. 'We want to look like tourists, right?'

'Right.'

'Then we'd probably have too much gear, all of it brand new.'

'Right again.'

'So I want some new sungla.s.ses.' I nodded and she went to choose some. Meantime I picked out a compa.s.s, and studied a few of the available knives. The survival knives looked good. There was one with a hollow handle, inside which were fishing-line, hooks and a needle, a tiny compa.s.s, stuff like that. Another was so versatile you could turn it from knife into axe or shovel or even a torch. It was big too.

I reckoned it was big enough to scare most people.

'I'll take that,' I said, pointing it out to Archie, who had come back with a plain cardboard box. He was licking his lips, excited at the total sale but nervous about the ease with which we were spending money. Maybe he thought we were going to pull a gun or even one of his own combat knives on him. Instead I pulled out a wad of cash and waved it in his face. He nodded and relaxed a little.

I checked the night-scope. It was perfect. I could use it like a telescope or, with a couple of adjustments, fit it to my sniping rifle.

'How discreet are you, Archie?' I asked.

'That depends.'

'Well, I want to buy all this, and I want to pay cash. But I've a job I'd like to do. Do you have a workshop back there?'

He nodded. 'Could I borrow it for, say, fifteen minutes?'

He shrugged. 'You buy that lot, you can bunk in the back for all I care.'

That won't be necessary.'

Bel was asking Archie about maps when I left the shop.

She'd slid a survival knife into the top other right boot to see how it felt. Clancy stared at the knife for a moment, then 297.

followed me out. Clancy wasn't a country boy or a born- again backwoodsman. Seattle still had something of the frontier town about it, but he was strictly latte and art museum. He told us the only times he'd been out to the Olympic Peninsula had been to visit the hot springs resort.

He'd driven past the Disciples' compound, but only on day trips, and he'd hardly budged from the car.

But a lot of the Olympic Peninsula was wilderness, mountains and first-growth temperate rainforest. I knew there was no such thing as being underprepared. Clancy stood watching as I unlocked the boot and lifted out my bag.

'Come on, Mike, who the f.u.c.k are you, man? You're security, right? I mean, a secret agent or something.

Reporters I know, they wouldn't have the expenses to claim for that hotel you're staying in, never mind leaving the room empty for a night. Even if they could claim it, they'd stay someplace ratty and cream the cash. And they'd never ever have so much cash on them. Strictly plastic, and a receipt every time you spend.'

I locked the boot. 'So I'm not a journalist. All you have to know is, if you stick around I'll give you a story. This is better for you, Sam. See, I don't represent any compet.i.tion.

It's your exclusive.'

He was shaking his head. 'I'm not going.'

'Sam, we don't need you any more. You want to stay here, fine. Maybe it'll take us an hour or two longer to find the compound. But we'll find it. I'm not going to beg you to come with us.'

'I could blow you wide open, man. All it would take is a call to Provost.'

I smiled. 'We're not your enemies, Sam. Why would you do that?'

He thought about this. 'I wouldn't do it. Forget I said it.'

He followed me into the shop. Bel was trying on a red and black check lumberjacket. Archie gestured for me to follow 298.

him. Sam was still on my tail. We entered a back room full of equipment and work benches. There was even a metal- turning lathe. And there were bits and pieces from gun- cleaning kits. I put the bag down on a bench and unzipped it.

T just want to know,' Sam was saying. 'See, people have been trying to kill me, and I can't afford not to be choosy about my friends. Someone comes up to me with a chickens.h.i.t story about being a journalist, and it turns out he's not, then I've got to wonder what he really is.'

The words died in his throat as he saw the Varmint being unwrapped, then the pistol and finally the Colt Commando.

'Sweet Lord Jesus,' he said quietly. I started seeing if I could fit the night-scope to the Varmint.

'Sam,' I said, not looking up, 'you're safe with us.'

'I hear that.'

'I'm a friend of Bel's. I was a friend of her father's. He sold me guns from time to time. I saw what those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds did to him, and I intend finding out just why they did it. That's the whole story, except for one thing.' Now I looked at him. 'I don't care what it takes.'

His mouth was suddenly dry. There was an open can of beer on the bench, and he took a swig from it.

'Why don't you go get us a pack of those things from the grocery?' I suggested. 'Think things out while you're there.

If you want out, we'll get your camera from the car and you can catch a cab back into town.' I made to hand him some money.

'I don't need your money, Mike. I can stretch to a few beers.'

'Okay then.'

And he was gone. Archie put his head round the door.

'Sorry to interrupt, but that lady out there is going to put you in the poorhouse.'

'We'll be the best dressed paupers there.'

He laughed. This was turning into a more interesting day 299.

than usual for him. He looked at what I was doing. 'Nice gun. Give you some help there?'

'I might just need it. The receiver and the sight-mounting are all wrong.'

'Well, let me take a look. No extra charge.'

'It's all yours, Archie.'

It took us a little while, but Archie had a few bits and pieces in the back, and one of them seemed to be what we needed. It made the gun look like something from Man from UNCLE, but it seemed okay.

'I never ask customers what they're planning to shoot,'

said Archie.

'Maybe an animal or two,' I said.

'Yeah, maybe, but that other gun you've got there, that's strictly terror.'

I grinned. 'I hope so, Archie. I really do.'

When we went back out front, there were no new customers and Clancy hadn't come back.

'Where's the nearest place to buy beer?' I asked.

'There's a grocery on the corner,' Archie answered. I nodded to myself. It looked like Clancy had just walked away.

'Better start adding this lot up, Archie.'

'And then maybe I better close for the day for restocking.'

He got to work on his calculator.

Bel was back in her ordinary clothes. She hadn't worn anything on her feet but the cowboy boots since she'd bought them. 'Where's Sam?' she said.

'I think we're on our own.'

'He didn't even say goodbye. Will he tell anyone?'

'I doubt it.' i; 'What did you say to him?'

'I admitted I wasn't a reporter.'

'Did he see the guns?' I nodded. 'No wonder he ran. They have that effect on me, too.'

300.

Archie had paused in his addition so he could fill a few carrier bags with goods already lotted up.

'Just put them straight in the rucksacks, Archie, we'll sort them out later.'

I added another torch to the total.

'Listen,' he said, 'I know you may not need it, but I'm giving you a first aid kit and some mosquito repellent. Plus all my cash customers receive a ten percent discount.'

'Thanks.' I turned back to Bel.

'So we're going on our own?' she said.

'I suppose so. I think we can find the ferry terminal, don't you?'

'We can also save some money.'

'How's that?'

'We don't need two tents now, and one big sleeping bag would do us.'

'You've got a point.' But just then the door opened and Clancy staggered in. I thought he was hurt, and moved forward, but he was only staggering under the weight of the shopping bags he carried.

'A few provisions for the trip,' he said, putting down the bags. 'Beer, potato chips, tinned chilli, tuna, franks, and beans.' He put his hand into one bag. 'Look, I even packed the tin opener.'

We all laughed except Archie, who was too busy on his calculator. When he'd finished, it was his turn to laugh. I counted out the money, and Clancy s.n.a.t.c.hed the receipt.

'If you can't claim, maybe I can.'

'Then you can pay for the boat tickets,' I said, hoisting a rucksack on to my shoulder.

'It's a deal.'

The ferry was busy with families heading off on holidays.

'Where are they all going?' I asked Clancy.

'The same place as us,' he said. 'The Olympic Peninsula's Popular this time of year.'