The tender agent would leave on the scheduled dispatch.
Drake had the receipt chain, the remaining condition, and the money from his own share ready. None belonged to the district’s food allocation. The meeting would recover a useful boat and end a private inconvenience that had outlasted several public emergencies.
Merrit read the appointment time.
“You could arrive early.”
“And deprive the man of his suspicion?”
Then the retrieval signal reached the harbor contact.
Drake asked where the group waited, which exit had been watched, and whether the injured worker could walk.
Left knee struck. Weight limited. Supported transfer needed.
