
A weary ex‑soldier drives through a relentless April downpour, the road disappearing into a half‑lit night as he pulls into a lonely motel near Hillston. Inside the cramped rooms he wrestles with a false identity and the weight of a hidden fortune, hoping the rain‑slicked streets will conceal his movements. The uneasy quiet is broken only by the distant hum of a roadside diner, where a striking waitress offers a brief respite before he returns to his thoughts of a dangerous, high‑stakes plan.
At his side is a sharp‑eyed woman whose cool confidence masks a desperate ambition: they intend to flee with the money, dreaming of distant cities like Buenos Aires and Paris. Yet shadows from a grim past—captivity, a broken comrade, and a man who thrives on night‑time murders— loom ever closer. As they prepare to leave the motel, the looming threat forces them to move with caution, knowing any misstep could end in fatal consequences.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (293K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2015-09-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1916–1986
A hugely popular American crime writer, he created the sharp, skeptical Travis McGee and helped shape the modern paperback thriller. His stories mix suspense, wit, and a strong sense of place, especially in Florida.
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