Batteries Not Included Read online

  The wind stopped dead.

  “Maybe not.” Nick smiled.

  Kirra and Mike stood beside each other, heads bowed, and after a couple of seconds Kirra opened the urn, handed the top to Mike, and slowly poured the ashes into the ocean. She wiped tears from her eyes, put the top back on the urn and returned to the stern.

  “Thanks for coming with us. Andy would really appreciate what you’ve done.”

  “It’s an honour, Kirra. Are you okay?”

  She smiled. “I am. Thanks. Mike’s cooking up some food in the galley. Dinner will be ready shortly. It’d be a shame to waste a day like this.”

  Davie watched her as she walked away. “So, she’s single …”

  Nick laughed. “Not in the same league. Not even close.” He changed the subject. “How’s the systems work going?”

  ‘Trivial. Emailed it to you before we left. I’ve been working on the Bitcoin thing. I think I can track it down.”

  “How? Never mind. I wouldn’t understand. Chance of recovery?”

  Davie waggled his hand. “Probably more than half.”

  “Huh.” He smiled. “I’ll give you 5 percent of anything you recover.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I can do that.”

  “You’ve got a deal.”

  <<<>>>

  About the Author

  Tony McFadden is a displaced Canadian now calling Australia his home. He and his wife and two children live near the beaches where he spends as much of his time as possible writing.

  More about Tony and his writing can be found on the interwebs at

  TonyMcFadden.net/mybooks, Facebook

  and Twitter.

  Also by Tony McFadden

  G’Day LA • G’Day USA

  Matt’s War • Daly Battles: The Fall of Pyongyang • Target: Australia

  Book ‘Em - An Eamonn Shute Mystery • Unprotected Sax • Family Matters

  Have Wormhole, Will Travel • Killing Time

  Mac D: Private Investigator • A Step Too Far (A Mac D Case) • Hunter/Prey (A Mac D Case)

  The Murder of Jeremy Brookes (A McGinnis Investigations Case) • Number Fifteen (A McGinnis Investigations Case)

  And up next…

  Blue Mountain High

  Nick Harding has a new case. Two of them.

  A very rich old dude is about to kick off and is desperate to make amends with his estranged son. And leave him a heap of cash. Nick is contacted by the old guy’s lawyer with a task: Find the son, convince him to get in contact with his father, and help mediate the relationship. Nick hates mediating.

  At nearly the same time, a friend of a friend engages him to track down a serial deadbeat who has bilked a small finance company out of a lot of their money. The fee is lower, but the job is more up Nick’s alley.

  Then the heir’s life is threatened, the deadbeat has a compelling backstory and everything Nick thought he knew was wrong.

  Coming in early 2022.