CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Queen Anne’s County, Maryland
Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay
“Stone.”
Luke’s eyes opened slowly. He had trouble focusing. It was daytime now. He was sideways on the couch.
He took a deep breath. It seemed like someone had spoken his name.
“Stone. Are you awake?”
He pushed himself to a sitting position. He was tired. He glanced at the old grandfather clock, still ticking away, its gold-plated pendulum swinging back and forth. The arms pointed to 3:15. That couldn’t be the time, could it? He shook his head. No. That thing was never right.
“Good morning, Stone.”
A man sat in the flowered print chair across from him. He was dressed in a sort of business casual style, with khaki pants, a blue dress shirt with a pink collar, and brown
