by David Archer
“Just talking, from what I can see. Boss man looks relaxed. I’ve got about thirty-five minutes of battery life left; want me to keep an eye on him?”
Moose was quiet for a few seconds. “Nobody inside can see that thing, right?”
“No,” Neil said. “It’s painted black, so without the navigation lights it’s absolutely invisible. There’s a couple of guys standing at the window looking out, but there’s no way they would notice it unless I cut across something brightly lit in the background. Most of the skyline is too low for that to happen, and I’m not going to be zipping around, anyway.”
“No, I don’t think you need to watch all the time. If you pull it back in and turn it off, will that extend the battery life any?”
“Of course,” Neil said.
“Then I think you should. Remember, you’re supposed to try to see where the Council people go when this meeting is over. Better save it for that.”
“Roger Wilco,” Neil said. “Bringing the baby home now.”
Back at the Land Rover, Neil watched as the drone came into view and settled into the back of the pickup, then turned off both the drone and the camera. “And now the waiting begins,” he said.
Sarah leaned her head back against the headrest. “We should have bought more batteries for that thing,” she said. “I’d feel a lot better if you could keep it up there watching over him.”
Neil nodded. “You’re probably right. I’m sorry, I should’ve thought of that.”
“Not your fault. None of us was thinking about trying to watch what went on in the meeting. Besides, it’s not like we can hear what they’re talking about.”
Neil reached up and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Sarah, come on, relax and have faith in the boss. He’s the best, you know that. He’ll come through this okay, just wait and you’ll see.”
Sarah chuckled mirthlessly. “Wait? Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Just waiting.”
SIXTEEN
Gerald nodded and turned to open the door. Noah and Broussard followed him through it and into the elevator across the hall. As he entered, Noah instinctively looked up and down the hall, and so only he noticed the closet door was open about an inch.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Moose took out his phone again. “Okay, he’s out of there. He and Broussard and their shadow are headed down to the garage. He didn’t seem to be under any kind of duress, so I’m going to stay here and watch for the others. I’ll let you know when they get into the elevator. They’ll probably be headed for the garage, but God only knows what cars they might be in. There’s quite a few down there.”
“Watch yourself,” Neil said in reply. “Like I told you, some of the other rooms on that floor look like living quarters. Those people might be staying there tonight, so be careful they don’t spot you.”
The conference room door open suddenly, and Moose ended the call instantly. A woman stepped out followed by five men.
“I’ll see you all in the morning,” the woman said. “We’re due at the plane just before noon, so will have time to stop for breakfast somewhere along the way.” She turned and walked into the room that was closest to the conference room and closed the door behind her. The men moved along the hallway, each of them entering one of the other rooms.
Moose waited until they were all inside and then slowly pulled the closet door open. He listened for any sound but heard nothing, then slipped out and went to the elevator. He pushed the down button and wasn’t surprised when the elevator he’d ridden up in opened instantly.
He pressed the button for the garage level and breathed a sigh of relief when the doors closed. A moment later, he stepped out into the garage and made his way toward the exit, staying in darkness whenever possible. When he came into view of the attendant’s booth, he froze. The security guard was standing just outside the booth smoking a cigarette.
Moose stayed in the shadows and watched silently as the man puffed away. He still had the cell phone in his hand, and seemed to be engrossed in whatever he was watching. From the weak sounds that reached Moose’s ears, he guessed the man was watching a pornographic video.
Finally the guard dropped the cigarette and ground it under his foot, then stepped back into the booth. He sat down in a chair and leaned back, his eyes still fixed on the screen in his hand. Moose moved slowly toward the exit, but whatever the guard was watching had claimed all of his attention. He never even noticed the man in dark clothing who stepped out onto the sidewalk just a few feet from where he sat. Moose shoved his hands in his pockets and walked calmly back toward the Land Rover.
Sarah looked over at him as he climbed inside. “So what now?”
“Neil was right, those are guestrooms up there. These must be bigwigs with the company that owns the building. I heard the woman say they’re headed back to the airport before noon, but they want to stop and get some breakfast somewhere on the way.”
“So we know where they’re going to be for the rest of the night,” Neil said. “That’s what the boss wants to know. What should we do now?”
“Noah’s supposed to ride back to the Elizabeth,” Moose said, “and then make his own way back to the Cavendish. I guess we should go back and wait for him there.”
Sarah looked at him for a moment, then started the truck and put it in gear. She pulled out around the UPS delivery truck and headed toward the Cavendish Hotel once again. “He looked okay when he left?”
“He looked fine. No sign of stress that I could see. If I had to guess, he probably left everybody else in that room more stressed than he was.”
Sarah didn’t respond and they rode the rest of the way back to the hotel in silence. She parked the truck and led the two guys up to her room, with a couple of people pointing at the drone that Neil carried. She unlocked the door and they stepped into the room, then she turned on the television and flopped onto the bed.
“So, we know where Broussard is staying, and now we know where the rest of this council will be. Maybe Noah can finish this thing tonight.”
* * * * *
“You are troubled,” Broussard said in the backseat of the limousine. “You are annoyed that no one told you about the Executive Director.”
Noah turned and looked at him. “When we spoke on the phone the night before last, I told you that I do not deal with middlemen. Tonight, it seems I did so anyway. Am I annoyed? Yes. However, what I said earlier is still true. This organization can offer me opportunities to achieve my financial goals very quickly, so I have decided that I must be ready to bend at least slightly. I will reserve judgment on this matter for now, and wait to see how this arrangement concludes.”
Broussard let out a long, ragged breath. “I was afraid,” he said softly. “I feared that you might feel that I had misled you and decide to punish me. I swear to you that was not my intent. If I had known that they had not cleared this arrangement before our meeting, I would have told you.”
“We need not speak of it again,” Noah said. “We are now in business together, so put your fears at rest.” He turned his head and looked at the black glass beside him, watching Broussard in the reflection.
The limousine arrived at the Elizabeth a short time later, and Gerald stepped out to open the back door. Noah slid out of the car as Broussard followed.
“If you need a ride somewhere else, mate,” Gerald said, “we’d be happy to take you wherever you need to go.”
Noah smiled at him. “No, I prefer to make my own way. I thank you, but it will not be necessary.”
Gerald grinned and chuckled. “Thought you might feel that way, but I was told to ask. Cheerio, then, mate.” He closed the door and got back into the front passenger seat. The car drove away only a few seconds later.
Broussard stood there looking at Noah. “Is there anything more I can do for you tonight?” he asked.
“No,” Noah said. “I’m certain we will meet again at some point, but not tonight. I shall go back to my own accommodations, so that you might go
and get some sleep.” He turned and began walking down the street as Broussard he doesn't leave alive.stared after him.
Three blocks later, certain that he was not being followed, Noah caught a passing tram and slid onto a bench inside. His route would take him to the Cavendish, and so he sat back to think about who this unknown Executive Director might be, and how to find and kill him.
The ride took almost an hour, but finally he stepped off a block from his hotel and strolled briskly up the street. The night desk clerks were bending over some paperwork as he entered, and paid no attention to him walking through. He pressed the button for the elevator and rode it up to his floor, then bypassed his own room and tapped on the door to Sarah’s.
Moose opened the door carefully, then stepped aside to let him into the room. Sarah bounced up off of the bed, where she had been sitting, and threw both arms around his neck. She kissed him once, quickly, then let go and looked up at him. “Took you long enough to get back here,” she said. “Everything okay?”
“Not particularly,” Noah said. “I went into this meeting expecting to come out with a clear idea of who the targets are, but things just got a little screwy. This so-called ‘Executive Council’ had to call somebody higher up to authorize the fee I demanded.” He looked at Neil. “Deanna made the call and she used a sat phone. Any chance you can find out who it was she called?”
Neil’s mouth fell open. “Oh, shit,” he said. “Noah, I’m sorry, it never occurred to me to keep the system on. I thought we were done with sat phones for now.”
Noah laid a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, I thought so too. This messes me up, though, because I’m not supposed to make any further contact until I pull off the assignment. If I go back to them now, the best I can hope for is to take out the Council itself. Problem with that is that it leaves the Executive Director in place, and he can probably replace them with a couple of phone calls. I don’t think it would do a lot of good.” He pulled the extra chair from the table in the room and sat down. “What about the Council? Do we know where they’re at?”
“Right where you left them,” Moose said. “I was hiding in the closet down the hall from the room you were in, and I saw them come out before I could slip away. They’re all staying in guestrooms right there on that same floor. I had to wait until they all went into their rooms before I could get out, and by that time you were already gone and out of sight.”
“There were guestrooms on that floor? Neil, can you find out who owns that building?”
“I already thought of that,” Sarah said. “It belongs to a company called Florentine Global Export. Why?”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Noah said. “Allison called me earlier and told me that Deanna DiPrizio is the CEO of Florentine. She actually set up a meeting with a professional assassin in one of her own office buildings. If she’s using the company as a front for the IAR, that could explain why there would be guestrooms in an office building.”
“No kidding,” Moose said, “but don’t get too cocky yet. I heard her say that they’re flying out again around noon, so they aren’t planning to stay in town.”
“That’s okay. I know who they are, now, and we can put somebody back in Rome on tailing them. I can reach out and touch them whenever I need to, but what I’ve got to do is have a really good reason to contact them again.”
“Well, they wanted you to kill Prince Charles, right?” Sarah asked. “What if you call them up and say it’s too difficult, you can’t get to him.”
Noah shook his head. “I already assured them that I can get the job done,” he said. “If I go back now and say I can’t, they’ll probably cut me off and might even go into hiding. They’ve seen what they believe is Adrian’s face; saying I couldn’t complete the mission would make them nervous about whether I might want to eliminate them for my own protection.”
“Then what do you do?” Neil asked.
Noah sighed. “I start making preparations to kill the Prince of Wales.”
“Boss,” Moose said, “you’re not serious, are you? You’re not really going to do it?”
“Of course not, but the preparations I’m referring to are things they would hear about. They’ll be able to convince themselves I’m really working on carrying out the assignment they gave me, and that will buy me time to come up with a reason I need to speak with them again. When I do, I’ll make sure I demand something they’ll need approval for, and then Neil can work his magic when she calls the big guy.”
Moose, Neil and Sarah looked at each other, then all three of them turned their eyes to Noah.
“So what’s next?” Moose asked.
Noah pointed at Neil. “First thing in the morning, I want you to get on your computer and track some things down for me. Number one, I need a place to work out of, somewhere I can hold a prisoner if I need to. Then, I need to locate a local member of the IRA, someone with definite connections who’s living in England, and preferably single. You can probably find an MI6 watch list you can hack into, that would probably be the easiest way to find the guy I’m looking for. Then, I need to know about every appearance Prince Charles is going to make between seven and fifteen days from now. I need to leave a trail those people can follow, so they’re convinced I’m going through with it.”
He turned to Moose. “I think you should go ahead and check out of the Elizabeth and come on over here for tonight. It’ll be easier for us to work on this if we're all together, and there’s no telling what we may have to do suddenly. Get the keys from Sarah, and you guys can go on and get checked out now and bring all your stuff over here. You can use Sarah’s room for tonight, and she can sleep with me.”
Sarah broke into a big smile. Moose nodded, and accepted the keys that Sarah passed to him. “You got it, Boss.” He and Neil got up and walked out the door, leaving Noah and Sarah alone.
“So you’ve got to keep looking like him for a while, yet, right?” Sarah asked.
Noah looked at her and shrugged. “I guess so,” he said.
She shook her head. “Okay. I guess if I have to put up with it, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just be so glad when this is over and I can have the real Noah back.”
* * * * *
The brown-haired man in the Derby hat and wire-rimmed spectacles sat down at the table in his flat and pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. He quickly dialed the number without looking at the keypad and put the phone to his ear, keeping one eye on the other patrons and staff as he did so. He listened to the ringing on the other hand and smiled when a man’s half-awake voice came on the line.
“It is three o’clock in the morning,” the voice said crisply.
“You recently contracted my services,” he said softly. “Were you aware that I was taken into custody?”
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, but then the man sounded wide awake. “There were rumors, yes,” he said. “I trust you kept our names out of it?”
“Of course I did, or you would have undoubtedly joined me in my cell. They know nothing of the contract, nor of who had employed me. The frustrating thing was that I had all of my preparations in place when I was taken. One day more and the contract would have been fulfilled. I am calling to determine whether you would like me to proceed.”
“Is that even possible?” the other man asked. “Are you not compromised?”
“Not at all. They now know the face I was wearing when I was arrested, but I have many faces. They have nothing that can lead them to me again. In this case, an old and trusted source of materials in London had apparently been turned into an informant. The case officer was kind enough to let his name slip, so I have already rewarded him for his faithlessness. I have other sources, and will take all necessary precautions when I use them.”
The man on the other end cleared his throat. “I’m concerned,” he said. “The fact that you were caught at all suggests that you may be losing your touch, as it were. I had contacted you because I was assured that you could handle a task
of this magnitude, but now I’m in doubt as to whether that is true.”
“There are perhaps three of us in all the world who would be capable of assassinating your Prime Minister. I am the only one who would be willing to do so. You’ve already paid the required deposit. While I’m aware that your timeframe has been inconvenienced by my untimely detention, I think the outcome you desire can still be manifested if I proceed.”
The hesitation on the other end lasted a few seconds longer this time. “I’ll need a little time to think about this. Can you call me again tomorrow, preferably during the day?”
The man in the Derby smiled. “Of course,” he said. “Shall we say two o’clock?”
“Yes, that will be fine. I will have an answer for you by then.” The line went dead.
The man in the Derby put a finger to his chin as he thought through the conversation. He had been honest in the call, insofar as his claim that preparations for the PM’s assassination were all in place. He hoped to be able to complete the assignment, simply because he was going to need the money, but he would never presume to proceed with an assassination if the client disapproved for any reason. The man he had just spoken to was not actually the client, but could almost certainly make the decision in this case without having to seek the approval of the Baroness.
Oh, well, he would know in a few hours. Now, however, he had another call to make. He dialed a number and put the phone back to his ear. The line rang twice, and a woman answered.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, this time with a Western American accent. “Are you keeping dinner for me?”
The woman on the other end of the line was silent for just a moment, and then she took a deep breath. “Henry? Is it really you?”
“Sure is. I got a little tangled up over here for a while, hope you weren’t too worried.”
“I’ve been a wreck,” she said. “I kept checking all the news websites, looking for anything that might explain why you disappeared. I haven’t been sleeping, that’s why I was sitting here awake when you called. Are you all right?”
