Chapter FiveToby tipped the messenger a sixteenth global coin and the girl leapt down the half dozen steps. At the turn, she grabbed the railing and flipped herself over it to land lightly on the paving stone rather than waste time with the last dozen steps. She raced across the narrow courtyard of the small close and shot under the arch into the cold Edinburgh rain, her lank hair streaming behind her like a blond banner. Or maybe it was a boy, it was so hard to tell when they were that young.
He slid the note back and forth between his fingers savoring the moment. It couldn’t be bad news. Not by this channel. The worst it could be was that he’d have to continue on his present course. In which case his seat at the European government in Chartres would take a decade, perhaps two to achieve
