The Shadow Friends

Ingrid and her circle of friends, who called themselves the Martini Club, had repeatedly inserted themselves into that investigation, turning up at crime scenes, piecing together evidence before the police did. As Ingrid leaned into the mattress, her finger poised to fire, she thought about all the pleasures she would never live to enjoy, the breaths she would never take, the sunsets she would never witness. As a civilian, Maggie couldn’t bring a weapon on an international flight, so she’d come to Amsterdam unarmed. She watched as the vehicle approached, its shape finally materializing out of the predawn gloom.