“No problem, gentlemen. This way, please.”
A few flights of stairs later, the steady droning hum of the ventilation systems was loud enough to make even simple conversation a little difficult. Rick chose not to bother, keen to get in and out as quickly as possible. They reached the lower basement, and Rick pulled out a set of heavy keys.
“Here you go, boys,” he said, voice raised, opening the steel door. “Go on through.”
The two men obliged.
Rick followed behind, switching on the lights. The room was cold, a little damp, most of the space taken up by the two giant machines pumping air through the hotel and convention center next door. He pointed them out. “Since the hotel was built after the convention center, they use separate operating systems and run independently from each other.”
“No problem,” the older man said. “We can take a look.”
Rick watched as they worked with tools, setting up their gear. Some of it was familiar to him, some not. He picked a glass bottle of something from a plastic tub, but it was taken away from him just as quickly.
“You got yourselves some accents.” Rick tried to inject a bit of swagger in his voice. Make it clear who was in charge. “Where you boys from?”
“Ah yes!” The younger service rep removed a business card from his overalls pocket and handed it over using both hands. After Rick took the card, the man pointed to the logo at the top. “LS Coventry Electrical,” he said, still with the accent.
“No, I mean what country are you from?” Rick asked, a bit louder. “What nation?”
“Oh, just a small country, no one knows it. Such a privilege to live in America,” he answered in a practiced voice.
“Yeah, yeah. Guess it is.” Rick ran his fingers through his hair, not sure what to do with himself. “You guys said you’d be an hour?”
The older man looked up. “Yes, unless we need to do an update on the ECU. That might take a little longer.”
Rick glanced at his watch. So much to do.
“You okay, boss?”
Rick frowned. “I’m not supposed to leave you down here, but I’m running late on about a dozen different things…”
“Hey, hey, say no more. We’ll clear up after. You got our number, we’re not going to make any mess. We’ll check in with you on the way out, okay?”
Rick scratched his head. “It’s against policy, but…” He checked his watch again. To Hell with it. “Fine. You run into any problems, call my cell.”
“No problem. We got this.” The man grinned.
“Everything is good!” said the other.
Rick nodded goodbye and stalked off, keen to get back to his desk. With half the nation’s press descending on the hotel, there was too much going on to waste time babysitting.
Closing the heavy door behind him, Rick headed back up the stairs, a full stack of paperwork waiting for him.
Chapter 7
LEOPOLD WATCHED JEROME lug the heavy suitcases into the hallway, racking his brain for anything he might have forgotten. The bodyguard had packed up a case full of surveillance equipment looted from the backups he kept in the storage room, destined to meet them in Seattle when they arrived. More would be shipped direct from the supplier, Jerome had said, sent straight to the hotel for them to pick up when they checked in.
He hadn’t left anything to chance.
A low buzzing noise, and Leopold felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He checked the screen before answering.
“Detective Jordan,” he said, picking up. He felt a smile cross his lips. “Let me guess; you got an ID on your victim?”
“You could say that,” Mary replied, the signal a little fuzzy.
“What time you want dinner?”
“Not so fast, Blake. We got the ID, but you were off base.”
“He wasn’t one of yours?”
“A Fed, from the looks of it.”
Leopold frowned. “But he was undercover, right? Sounds like a win to me.”
“Close, but no cigar,” said Mary. “My contact at the bureau couldn’t confirm anything. Based on the ballistics report, it looks like this was a close range execution. Caught him by surprise. So I guess it’s safe to say his cover got blown.”
“Okay, so I got the wrong department,” Leopold said. “But that’s good enough, right?”
“There is no ‘good enough,’” said Mary. “There’s either right, or there’s wrong. You were wrong.”
“Fine. So I guess that means dinner’s on me.”
Mary laughed. “Nice try.”
“I still need your help.”
“What else is new?”