by Kylie Brant
Vincent rose, smoothing the creases from his trousers with his free hand. “We don’t want to disturb Father if he’s already resting. We’ll come back tomorrow. After work, depending of course on Nancy’s schedule.”
Leslie seemed less convinced but she rose as well, turning to collect her purse. “I’ll be speaking to the hospital board about ways they can improve communication with the patients’ families. But yes, it would be best to return tomorrow. I know Frank has a late day planned, but perhaps we can do some rearranging. Or find a sitter.” Nancy and Frank would be spouses, Declan deduced. He wondered briefly if they were any more interesting than Vincent and Leslie.
“Mother will leave messages for us as information becomes available.” Was it Declan’s imagination, or was Eve slowly guiding them in the direction of the hospital entrance? “You know how it is with test results. A lot of hurry up and wait. The doctor said he appears in no immediate danger of a heart attack, but of course he will be monitored closely.”
They’d moved outside the waiting room. Leslie looked down the hallway, appearing torn. “Perhaps I should go and speak to the head nurse on his floor. It wouldn’t hurt for them to be made aware of whom they’re taking care of.”
“The doctor appeared to be fully apprised.” No one else seemed to recognize the wryness in Eve’s tone. “But of course you should do as you think best.”
“We should go. Mother would likely be asleep before you even find the room.” Vincent switched his attention to Eve. “Savvy, I certainly hope you’ll stay available tomorrow. We should probably arrange a schedule where we visit one at a time, so as not to overwhelm Father with visitors.”
“I’ll keep my phone close,” Eve promised. “Where did you leave your cars?” And with an ease that spoke of practice she dispatched her siblings toward their vehicles with an inexorable good cheer. While she was saying her goodbyes Declan summoned one of the cabs parked at the curb near the entrance and waited for her to rejoin him.
He waited until she slid into the vehicle. Noted the way she slumped against the seat, her head back, eyes closed. “Go ahead. Fire away.”
Not for the life of him would Declan admit just how piqued his curiosity was. “Your brother called you something a couple of times. Savvy? Is that a nickname?”
The evasion in her expression was as easy to read as neon. “They were both quite upset. My family isn’t known for managing well in a crisis.”
“Then you must be the exception.” He turned to more fully face in her in the shadowy back seat. “Because you managed them. It was a thing of beauty. A marvel in psychological warfare. I should have been taking notes. I thought I was adept at detonating potential family explosions. You…” He shook his head in admiration. “Your talents would come in handy as a battle strategist for the military.”
Her eyes popped open then and she looked at him, a slight frown on her face. “What are you talking about? There were no battles.”
Surer of himself now, he countered, “Only because you headed them off at every turn. How much younger are you?”
She blew out a breath. “Twelve years Vincent’s junior. Ten years younger than Leslie. I was likely the only thing in my parents’ lives that they hadn’t planned out to a tee.”
He was silent for a moment. “They’re nothing like you. Or you, them, I should say.”
Eve’s voice went flat. “No. Vincent is staggeringly intelligent, a mathematician with multiple PhDs and works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Leslie is on staff at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda. She’s focused solely on research for the past decade. They are both clones of my parents, who are similarly brilliant. I’m the mutant in the family, disappointingly average.”
He snorted before he saw from her expression that she was deadly serious. “Fluent in over sixty languages is average? C’mon.”
She looked out the window beside her. “I’m not curing cancer and devising ways to get astronauts into space faster and more safely. I haven’t discovered genes associated with risks of Alzheimer’s, nor been a leading researcher on the human genome project. Believe me, in my family, anything short of brilliance is a disappointment.”
Brilliance? Declan considered the word doubtfully. Certainly when her siblings had been talking about their jobs he’d understood only the occasional word or phrase. But the two had seem completely inept at dealing with a situation that, while stressful shouldn’t have turned two adults into bickering incompetents. Comprehension dawned. “You’re the peacemaker.”
“That seems a bit of a demotion from battle strategist, but whatever.”
“The best strategist is one who can defuse the battle, hence the term.” The more he considered it the more certain he became. “Brilliance doesn’t necessarily equate to social acumen, or dealing with life’s ups and downs.”
“My family hires people to limit the ups and downs life might deal them,” she said dryly. “But, yes, okay. I’m the smoother when we’re together. I find the lost items that threaten to start a minor catastrophe. I divert the conversation when things grow heated and listen impartially when one sibling needs to vent about the other. Every family has roles. We’ve already ascertained that yours is the bossy one.”
He grunted. “Believe it or not, I find myself playing peacekeeper every time my family gets together, so that’s something you and I have in common.”
Nestling her head against the back of the seat again, her eyes fluttered closed. “Something else we have in common is lack of sleep. When do we have to be at the hotel tomorrow?”
The negotiation between him and Shuang had been drawn out. She’d eventually agreed to his demand for a quarter of a million dollars for his assistance, but would only wire half of it up front to the account number Adam had provided for just this purpose. Ostensibly the final half would be paid at the end of his services. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe she had any intention of following through with it. “She expects us at eight.”
He grinned at the whimper he got in response. “Maybe you can order up breakfast from the hotel restaurant. It would give you a chance to wander around a bit.” She didn’t answer. It occurred to him that while he was immersed in the deception that got them invited into Shuang’s ranks, it would be Eve who would be free to do the actual poking around in the workings of the hotel. The thought brought a frown to his face. They needed to discuss what to look for and where. Not to mention the caution that would be necessary to avoid alerting suspicions.
Glancing her way he swallowed the words. If she wasn’t already dozing she was damn close, and she’d earned a bit of rest after dealing with her family. Tomorrow would be soon enough to discuss strategy.
He was silent until the driver pulled up in front of their apartment building. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew some bills, adding a hefty tip as compensation for entering a neighborhood the man probably normally avoided. Getting out of the cab, he rounded the trunk and opened Eve’s door.
She was sound asleep. Declan considered her for a moment. Not surprising. He could feel weariness creeping in, regardless of the caffeine he’d consumed. Without conscious thought he reached down and lifted her out of the cab, cradling her body against his chest as he nudged the door shut with his hip. Eve woke only enough to slide her arms around his neck and to cuddle closer. She didn’t move when he jostled her to reach for the door. Nor on the three sets of stairs, or when he was juggling his keys to unlock both the door and deadbolt.
In fact she was motionless for the entire time it took him to resecure the door and stride to the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching up to unlock her arms from his neck. When he settled her onto the mattress she was still out like a light. He should follow her example because in less than three hours they’d have to be up again. But still he lingered, taking the opportunity to study her as she slept.
His hand reached
out absent volition from his brain to brush a strand of her hair from the curve of her cheek. A curl wrapped around his forefinger, a silky golden ring. He rubbed it lightly with his thumb. Declan didn’t think it was his imagination that her hair grew curlier as the day went on. While she could subdue the curls into waves in the morning, they began to take on a life of their own toward evening. A smile tilted his lips. Somehow he knew she’d despise the observation.
Odd that he’d learned more about her personal life by accompanying her to the hospital tonight than she’d willingly revealed over the past several days. Odder still to find so many similarities between her family life and his own.
Not that he came from a family of intellectual eggheads. Far from it. But after his parents divorced he’d been bounced between his mom’s and dad’s homes like a Ping-Pong ball, with stints spent at his gran and grandda’s for good measure. He knew what it was like to feel like you didn’t belong, and likely Eve had grown up well-acquainted with the emotion. Ridiculous to feel an odd empathy with her for that alone.
Even more so to feel this urge to learn more about her. To push aside the evasions and smash through the half-truths to discover what else she hid from the world. Even from her own family.
She made a small sound then and rolled to her side, and Declan leaped from the side of the bed as if his ass were on fire. There was something a bit creepy and more than a little out of character for him to hang over the woman watching her sleep. It smacked of an emotional relationship that the two of them didn’t have. Didn’t want.
He remembered to unblock the listening device so anyone checking the receiver would have a clear signal again. Then he crossed to the couch and dropped down on it fully clothed, attempting to fold his long frame into a semi-comfortable position. Tomorrow—make that today—marked the beginning of this mission. He needed to minimize distractions, not multiply them. The last conscious thought he had before he fell asleep was that if he let her, Eve Larrison could become one hell of a distraction.
_______
“I’m still not exactly sure what was so important that you had to wake both me and Mr. Baltes up for an early trip to the bank.” Eve fished into the bakery sack to draw out a chocolate filled pastry.
Declan didn’t look up from the computer. He needed to work fast if they were going to get to the hotel on time, and the success of this particular task was completely dependent on Hotel Latifma’s Internet security. Or the lack thereof. “I needed the blueprints of the compound.” He nodded at the circular mailing containers on the table between them. “I did feed you,” he pointed out. Baltes had proven to be much more amenable to their before hours visit than Eve had been. Declan had collected the laptop from the security box and then found a bakery across the street from the hotel, where they were now sitting.
“The promise of which is the only thing that saved you from serious physical harm.”
He glanced up to see her delicately licking chocolate frosting from one finger. There was no reason, none at all, for the sight to lodge in his skull like a brand. With supreme effort, he forced his attention back to the computer screen before him and waited for the software to download. “Make sure you save me one of those.”
“I will. If you tell me what you’re doing.”
“Getting us an edge, hopefully.” He reached out and took the bag from her, dug around for a glazed donut. As pastries went, he wasn’t all that adventurous. “I can see the hotel’s router online, and of course it’s locked. I have software that will help guess the password. If I can get in it, I can take a look and see if their security is online, as well, which would be very very fortunate for us.”
Her eyes were wide. “You know how to hack into their router?”
“Hacking has such a negative connotation.” He took a bite of the donut and waited impatiently for the download to complete. Negative was the exact reaction he’d get from Raiker if the man learned of his tactics. The agency worked consultatively, partnering with law enforcement on a request basis. As such, Raiker Forensics had to be above reproach.
But there was a lot riding on the success of their assignment. And Declan would like to go in armed with more intel on the workings of the hotel than a hotel diagram and knowledge of the exits.
“Where’d you learn those skills?”
A quiet ding alerted him that the download was ready. He put down the pastry and took another napkin from the bag to wipe his hands. “I actually started at DCPD in the cyber crimes unit. Switched to vice after six months.”
His fingers flew over the keys, as he tried first one suggested password and then another. If the router security had been set to shut down after a set number of password tries, he was screwed before he really got started.
“Why did you switch?”
He made the third try with bated breath. It wasn’t correct, but neither was he shut out of the system. “Vice was more exciting. Give me a minute here.” It was just under that, on the eighth suggested password that he was accessing the hotel router. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.” Minimal security, he saw at a glance. Encryption that wouldn’t deter a twelve-year-old. He didn’t care about the server, wasn’t interested in the workings of the front desk or reservations log. He just wanted to see if…“Bingo.”
Her chair scraped on the floor as she moved it over to sit beside him. “They’ve got digital hotel security cameras and they’re accessible on the router.” He shook his head. Sometimes when people made it too easy it took the fun right out of it. He did a quick online search for the camera model’s user manual and looked up the default username and password. Tried it and failed. He thought a minute and did a few variations of the router access ID and succeeded on the third try. “So they’ve got eighteen cameras. That’s weird.”
Eve peered more closely at the screen. “Having eighteen cameras is weird?”
“No, using fourteen of them on hotel floors is strange.” He sent her a sideways glance. “I’m going to be unhappy if you drop any of that filling on the keyboard.”
She leaned back a little. “Not as unhappy as I’d be. That’d be wasteful.”
He stifled a smile and studied the screen. “Most hotels would have their cameras on the exits and the public areas. Some also have one on each floor, occasionally at every elevator, but discretion is key. They’ve got only the lobby exits covered, the front desk and another camera for the lobby itself. Which makes me wonder if management is more concerned with monitoring their employees than they are with guest security.”
“The usefulness of cameras depends on how often they’re monitored and by whom,” she observed before finishing off the pastry.
“True enough. The bad news is that if these were installed to monitor employee productiveness, they are likely to be watched more regularly than cameras mounted for safety reasons.” He changed the password on the cameras and—with a quick glance at the time on the computer—pulled up a full screen grid showing each of the devices. The only way anyone would know a camera wasn’t behaving properly was if they tried to change an alteration he made to one of them. Hopefully he’d have it back before IT was alerted.
He scrolled through his emails and brought up a photo of Raiker’s compound. It was more than one would see from the road, but the people who would see this weren’t going to get close enough to the property for it to make a difference. He layered the picture over the camera display and stood, closing the lid and shoving the computer in the laptop sleeve and tucking it under his arm.
“Ready?” Eve rose and wadded the bag up in her palm.
“We are.” Grabbing the donut he hadn’t finished, he ushered her to the door of the bakery while he ate it. “We have to take precautions because we don’t know how closely the cameras are watched. If you leave my side, text me the floor you’re heading to. Spell out the number.”
“You can read Scottish Gaelic?” Her tone s
ounded surprised as they walked outside into the single degree temps.
“Not really. But I can handle numbers. I’m serious, Eve.” When they reached the curb he halted her progress with a hand on her elbow. “I want to know where you are in the hotel at all times. I can turn off the cameras or at least change the angle to give you protection.”
“We’re walking into enemy territory without a clear idea of what we’re getting into.” She pulled her gloves from her pocket, drew them on. “Don’t worry. I’m all for taking any edge we can get.”
They proceeded across the street toward the hotel, adrenaline firing through his veins. He’d gotten them some advantages. Only time would tell if they would be enough.
_______
“I think we need to agree to a no weapons policy for the duration of our business relationship.” Xie Shuang gave them a thin smile as she unlocked a hotel room door and ushered them inside. “We must be able to trust each other.”
Declan didn’t return her smile. “Trust has to be reciprocated. If I’m unarmed then so must your people be.”
After a moment’s thought she shrugged. “But of course.” She turned to the three dark haired men lounging in the room. It had been divested of the bed and dresser, and was furnished instead with two long tables, a desk and a laptop. “I will collect all weapons. Now.”
No one moved to obey. One of the men Declan recognized as the driver of the car during their botched kidnapping attempt. The one who had followed them from the dining room yesterday. He glowered at Eve and fingered a visible scab on the side of his neck. Apparently he wasn’t the forgiving sort.
The woman snapped out an order in another language. There was a general shuffling of feet, but one by one each of the men gave up a weapon. Set it on a table with a clatter. Which was bullshit, of course. Declan took his time setting the computer in its sleeve on one end of a table and placing the blueprints next to it. Removing his coat, he hung it on the back of the chair and withdrew his gun from his shoulder harness. Any of them could have another weapon concealed somewhere on his body. He certainly did.
