CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
THE BARN
Even before she disconnected the call with Liam, Melanka had removed her pipe from its holder and replaced it with one that she kept in the desk’s lower right drawer. As Cubra approached she repeated, “Yeah, it seems we have quite a problem.”
Cubra halted directly in front of her and replied, “I think you have even more of a problem than I do.”
Melanka reached over and picked up the pipe and looked down thoughtfully as she tapped it lightly on the desktop. Heartbroken, she looked up into Cubra’s grey eyes; normally calm pools of intelligence and humility but now salted with arrogance. The lump in her throat felt like a fist. “Oh Cubra, I don’t know about that.” As swiftly as a viper strike, Melanka whipped the pipe up and squeezed the bowl. A compressed ga
