"He'll get in touch," John Hannon finished for him. "Yeah, I thought of that.''

They passed a small suburban shopping mall, and Bolan cut across the nearly empty parking lot, his sportster homing on a bank of pay phones next to the corner drugstore.

"This will have to do."

"It's fine. I'll have somebody here inside of five." He hesitated, halfway out the door, a frown carved deep into his honest face. And there was something going on behind his eyes.

"Your hardware... isn't that the new Beretta?"

Bolan felt the short hairs lifting on his neck. He nodded.

Hannon's frown was softening, becoming speculative.

"Fellow I used to know swore by the Luger."

Bolan forced a smile.

"It's got the power, but the toggle's too exposed," he said. "It snags."

"I guess my dope was secondhand. This fellow... well, we never really met.''

There was another pregnant pause, and Bolan waited for the other shoe to drop. When Hannon spoke again, his voice was softer, cautious.

"Guess I'd better make that call," he said. He got out of the car, eyeing the phones, then he turned around to face the Executioner.

Bolan felt himself relaxing as the older man continued, smiling now.

"If I had some idea what you were looking for..."

"I'm not exactly sure myself," the soldier answered truthfully.

"Well, if there's anything...."

"I've got your number," Bolan told him.

"Mmm." No real surprise. "Well, thanks again."

He slammed the door and Bolan took the Firebird out of there, John Hannon swiftly dwindling in the rearview mirror. The P.I. had a telephone receiver in his hand, already speaking into it.

And Hannon held the fate of Bolan's mission in his hand as well. If he revealed what he suspected — what he knew— to the police, Miami could become a write-off. If they were expecting him...

The flash of recognition had been unavoidable, perhaps, but Hannon was a savvy war-horse, all the same. Nothing passed him by unnoticed, unexamined by the keen detective's eye. There was potential danger there, if Hannon's sense of duty forced him to report their close encounter.