Olivia walked around the car and dropped into the passenger seat, exhausted. Sleep took her even before Jack pulled away from the curb.
Chapter 14
Jack strode across the hotel parking lot rolling a large black suitcase behind him and with a backpack slung over his shoulder. His fashionably ripped jeans and nostalgic t-shirt displaying the album cover of an ancient metal band seemed out of place in the bleached white fountain stone, trimmed hedges, and gilded columns of the hotel.
The thrum of the tiny wheels on the asphalt changed to heavy vibration as he rolled the luggage across a cobblestone drive and up to the front of the hotel. A doorman opened the gold and glass entryway for him and smiled politely as he stepped through.
Adjusting his knit cap, Jack looked at the reception counter for a moment before checking the room for threats. The lobby was full of well-dressed guests coming and going. The midafternoon was a rush of people checking in checking out. A short line had formed but was being rapidly dissolved by the handiwork of three quick front desk staff.
Queuing up, Jack let his luggage stand for a moment as he fished out his wallet. Looking around the lobby, he could see why Olivia was concerned about checking in on her own. The crowd was large enough that if one of the Black Anvil mercs were to be standing even ten feet away, he would never know it. A sense of vulnerability washed over him.
“I can help the next person, please,” came a pleasant voice, snapping him back to reality.
Moving toward the safety of the counter, he smiled back at the clerk. A middle-aged woman with her hair up, wearing a white buttoned shirt and vest eyed him suspiciously.
“Do you have a reservation?” she asked.
Jack nodded. “Don Stratford.”
“ID please.” She reached forward.
Jack handed over an ID he had printed that morning. She scanned the faked identity into her computer and handed it back, smiling. “Thank you. I have you in our system as having booked your room online. Do you still prefer room 510? It’s next to the elevator and somewhat loud. I can move you if you would like. That floor is relatively empty.”
Jack thought about how rare getting an upgrade was, but Olivia was very specific about having him book that specific room when he hacked into the hotel’s computer system earlier that day.
“No, I like 510 just fine. Thank you.” He wondered if she was going to press the matter.
She placed the key card on the top of the counter, holding it there for a moment as she studied the T-shirt. “Checkout is at 11:00 a.m., and any damages will be put on the credit card, which we have on file.”
“Thanks. I don’t think I have wrecked a hotel room in a while,” he said, reading between the lines.
“Elevators are to your left.” She pointed in the direction with a raised eyebrow.
Taking the key card, he smiled at her, knowing that he was not one of their normal high-society clients, and it was obviously under her skin. He wheeled away with his luggage, past the security guards to the bank of elevators.
Stepping inside, he placed the heavy black suitcase against the wall. Other temporary residents of the hotel stepped on. Jack eyed them suspiciously. None seemed threatening. An elderly woman and her tall, thin husband laughed and cavorted. He had just enough time to tap the button for floor five before stepping aside. Standing silently, Jack watched the couple in the mirror as they looked in their multitude of bags, discussing the treasures they had found.
The area around the Quarantine Zone had become a mecca for tourists from around the world. Viewing areas on floors of buildings tall enough and near enough to the zone raked in cash from tourists. They flocked to the high rises to eat expensive lunches and observe the massive destruction that had brought the world so close to its end.
Very few people ever came close to the quarantine wall. Jack mused that many of the rich, well-dressed people would likely have been robbed, mugged, or outright murdered for their shoes in the northern slums.
Inversely, the areas to the west of the Quarantine Zone had expanded exponentially with research companies moving in to be closer to the assets they were cataloging. This brought a new wave of tech companies looking to support them and a wave of young, tech-savvy employees, each looking to carve out a place to live in the cheap rent of the neighborhoods.
In a single year, many of the city blocks had gone from abandoned structures to fully renovated or rebuilt. Gated communities near affluent technology businesses thrived. The malls and entertainment districts catering to the wealthy followed. And so did the tourism.
The elevator dinged at the fifth floor, and the couple politely stepped aside to allow him to exit. Jack shuffled off the elevator and stepped quickly down the hallway, knowing that in one of the rooms nearby was a malevolent ex-Yakuza.
Stopping outside of room 510, Jack resisted the urge to look back at the doorway on the direct opposite side. The key card passed over the door handle, and he pushed inside quickly. The interior of the room didn’t surprise him, but he was still impressed by the level of opulence.
A small kitchen sat next to the doorway, extending into a sitting area with couches and an overstuffed chair. The bedroom was separate and offered a lush duvet covered with an en suite bathroom.
The large suitcase wriggled slightly in his hands. Inside he was sure he could hear muffled cursing.
Lowering the oversized suitcase flat on the floor, he unzipped it. Olivia, crammed into the fetal position, extended one leg out of the luggage. “Oh, I’ve got a frigging cramp. What took you so damn long?” she whispered.
“I was moving quickly like you told me to,” Jack stated. He was keeping his voice low as well, despite feeling hurt by her comments.
“Really? It didn’t feel like it.”
“I can put back in the suitcase and wheel you back outside if you want to try again.” He smiled, ignoring her, and started walking around the room. “This is awesome, by the way. Really nice place. Sure you don’t want me to stay and hang for a while?”
“Don’t get any ideas, Romeo.” Olivia massaged her right calf. She was still sitting inside the suitcase, her arms and legs unfolded as circulation returned.
“This is why you’re single, Olivia. You just can’t stop and smell the flowers.” Jack returned from the bedroom and flopped down on the overstuffed chair.
“First off, I don’t like boys. I hate how you smell.” Olivia rolled out of the suitcase and staggered to her feet. “And second, you’re a bit nerdy for my tastes.”
“What are your tastes, Olivia?”
“Not your skinny ass. I’ll tell you that much.” She flexed backward, reaching for the ceiling. She paused and retracted, eying him hungrily. “You mind ordering room service before you go?”
“Just another woman who uses me for my wallet and casts me aside,” Jack said, smiling.
“You wish. I want a hamburger and a big salad.” Olivia wandered to the door, taking a look through the peephole. Jack dialed room service while she moved the empty luggage container out of the middle of the floor and propped it against the far wall.
From the small backpack Jack had brought with him she pulled out a bundle of cables and a square panel before returning to the door.
“Careful with that, it's expensive,” Jack cautioned.
She nodded. “I’ll be careful. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” She stepped up to the door and fiddled with an optical cup, placing it over the peephole. Suction mounts locked it into place, and she knelt just underneath. Peeling the adhesive backing on a large one foot by one foot panel, she then pressed it onto the surface of the door. She plugged both of the panel and the peephole optic into a battery pack that she taped in place.
Stepping away from her handiwork, she pulled a tablet from the bag, clicking it on. Half of the screen was taken up by the view through the peephole showing the entrance to 509. Nothing stirred.
On the right side of the screen, a transparent image of the room across the hall was
starting to form. “How’s this work again?” she whispered.
“One sec,” Jack said, finishing his conversation with the concierge for Olivia’s hamburger. Hanging up the phone, he turned to her. “The image on the right is a composite of ambient noise. Because it’s stable, it's using a similar sort of acoustics a bat might use to determine the shape of the room.”
“It’s not X-ray or anything. We're not giving this guy cancer, are we?”
“No. He’s safe. It’s completely passive.”
“Damn. I was kind of hoping,” she said. Olivia propped the tablet up on the coffee table and leaned back.
“So how long do you think you're going to have to wait?”
“I don’t know, you’re the one who ordered the burger,” she said.
“I mean for the buyer to show up,” Jack said.
“Not sure. It will probably be later tonight, I suspect.”
Jack reached for the remote control on the nearby coffee table and flicked on the television. Picking up the tablet, Olivia walked into the bedroom and tossed it onto the bed before closing the door to block out the noise from the television.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Gabe. It rang three times before he picked up.
“Gabriel here,” came the familiar voice.
“Hey, Gabe it’s Olivia. Wanted to touch base regarding my case with the little girl. It looks like the Yakuza I handed you is back out on the street. How the hell did that happen? I wrapped him up in a bow for you.”
Gabe paused. “Yeah. Well, sadly, he has money and a lawyer. They said that there was no direct evidence and no admission of guilt, so we had to let him go.”
“No direct evidence? Really?” Olivia switched ears and restrained her voice. “I handed you a video with him in the same house as a bunch of those gang members. He was there, and the girl was there. They were trying to kill us when we rescued her and her friend.”
“Yeah, but what links him to the kidnapping? The girl isn’t talking. She’s frightened and will likely be in therapy for a decade. Your intel came from some street kid who could have just seen the little girl there. He never saw the guy actually kidnap her.”
“Dammit.” Olivia sat on the edge of the bed and eyed the image. On the tablet she could see an eerie silhouette of a person sitting on the couch across the hall watching TV. She gritted her teeth in anger as she watched her prey enjoying himself, oblivious to the pain he had caused.
Gabe continued, “Olivia, you and I both know that this isn’t a perfect system, but it’s the one we have to use to catch bad guys.”
“Next time I’ll just kill him,” she stated.
“I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that.”
“You know I wouldn’t,” she admitted.
“Other than to tell me about stuff I already knew, what were you calling about?”
“Well, I’m doing some surveillance on him for a client right now.” Olivia hesitated at telling him more.
“Can I ask who the client is?”
“Nope. But I can tell you that I found out this guy was hired by either Neotech or Black Anvil to do the kidnapping. Remember the box that was attached to the girl?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I did a bit of poking around and found out that it's Neotech property. Sort of. My client claims that it is also his as well, but he is playing all of his cards close to his vest. Either way, while I did some poking around, Neotech turns out to be the initial instigator in all of this. A Doctor Sanders at Neotech had years ago figured out a way to hook up to a person have people work on it to decode some sort of computer puzzle. The problem is that she got stumped and hit some sort of a roadblock. To protect their investment, Neotech decided to take things to the next level and threw out their code of ethics. A Doctor Adam Gerrard took over the Neotech project and is probably the one who ordered the kidnapping. I don't have any evidence, but he did try to have me killed. He hired Black Anvil and/or Mr. Kimura. I don’t have any link to the assassin at the hospital, but she was likely sent by Black Anvil to clean up a botched kidnapping job.”
“Neotech has been under investigation in the past for illegal research. It wouldn’t be hard to get a federal warrant to search the company.”
“Well, you might want to add to it the fact that they tried to kill me last night and dump me in the river. The Neotech guards might be a mix of Black Anvil contractors as well. Some military guys at a checkpoint helped me out of a bad jam but ended up turning me over to the municipal police near Hamilton. My client's lawyer got me released. No charges or anything, but they wrote the whole ordeal off as an attempted rape. Ignored the whole Neotech thing.”
“Probably some dirty cops on their payroll,” Gabe stated. “Best stay away from that end of town. I’m going to try to wrangle up a warrant for Neotech. Considering the link, I suspect that the RCMP are going to be more inclined to investigate than the locals will. The Black Anvil case files are federal. That should push things in the right direction.”
“I hope so. If not, it’s likely that this Dr. Gerrard is just going to continue his work.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, Olivia,” Gabe said.
“No problem. One last thing, though,” she added.
“Yeah?”
“My client stated that they had Black Anvil under surveillance. I’m not sure how, but I’ll try to get more info and pass it your way when I talk to them. What worries me is that he stated they were mobilizing for something. I’m not sure what. Just be careful you don’t kick over a hornet's nest.”
“Will do. I’ll call you later to tell you how it works out.”
“Thanks, Gabe.” Olivia hung up and took another look at the pad. Blurred motion near the door made her tense.
She stood quickly and moved into the living room as the knock on the door sounded, plucking her pistol and pulling it out of the holster before gently chambering a round.
A muffled voice came from the other side of the door. “Room service.”
Jack stared at her for a moment, and she pointed to the door for him to open it. Ducking out of sight back into the bedroom, she watched the view on the peephole camera swing wide. She could see the distorted fisheye image of Jack and the bellboy. The tray was handed over, and Jack just smiled and closed the door when the man boldly held out a hand for the tip. Olivia could hear the deadbolt lock into place almost as soon as she could smell the beef.
Stepping quickly around the corner, she watched Jack pop a cherry tomato into his mouth.
“No problems?” Olivia asked, carrying the tablet back into the living room.
“Who was that on the phone? Your client?” he said quietly.
“No, the cops.”
“You're going to keep my name off the record, right?”
Olivia nodded. “You’re an asset, and as long as you’re not accused of doing anything illegal, you're protected by law.”
“I used a fake ID, hacked a hotel’s server to get us this room, and aided you in breaking and entering a company that holds government secrets. A lot of those things are illegal.”
“Let's call it a gray area. But to answer your question, I don’t give away names of my assets or my clients. It’s just bad for business.”
“Speaking of business, I have to get back to my own.”
“Yeah. Sure thing.” Olivia sat down on the couch with the uncovered hamburger in front of her. “I need some alone time anyhow.” She smiled.
AFTER JACK HAD LEFT, Olivia inhaled the hamburger, reveling in its savory goodness before picking at the salad. Most of the afternoon she had spent sitting on the couch, alternating between watching people walk by in the hallway outside her door and daytime television.
Occasionally she would entertain herself by walking to the window to check on the view outside. The room’s view was to the west, and the setting sun had altered the view from urban sprawl to the moving lights of highway traffic far below.
Her stomach rumbled telling her it was dinner
time. She paced around the room, munching on a protein bar. The scene wasn’t much different in the room opposite hers. The ghostly form of Takeo Kimura was alternating between sitting and watching TV and eating a room service dinner. Each time he moved, the image blurred and washed out until he was somewhat stationary again.
The routine continued until late into the evening, when Olivia’s bladder interrupted for more pressing matters. Carrying the tablet to the bathroom, she placed it on the counter while she lowered her jeans and sat down to relieve herself.
She watched on the tablet as he moved to the bathroom and turned on the shower faucets. The image brightened for a moment with the extra noise. Olivia almost felt for the man as she watched him begin to pace, checking the door. She wondered for a moment if his buyer had fallen through. His behavior certainly seemed to indicate that no one was coming to visit at the appointed time.
Afterward, she pulled up her jeans and proceeded to wash her hands. The mirror’s image of her reflected back how haggard she felt. The split lip, a goose egg on her forehead, and black eye did nothing for her. She looked over the wrapped stitches on her forearm arm and wondered if she should take time to change it and the bandage on her shoulder. The bullet from last night had luckily only grazed her, but the mud that she had marinated it in was more of a concern.
Midway through the thought she caught movement on the screen. A large man wearing a hooded sweatshirt stood with his back to the peephole camera, but the image from the acoustic panel showed almost nothing. A simple blur. Nothing more. She couldn’t see the face because of the hood.
Olivia pulled the gun from her holster and charged for the front door. Slowing her movement, she took the time to pull the peephole camera off the door. She peered through the tiny opening. The large man easily shouldered the door on the opposite side of the hallway. On the second try, it splintered in two with the crackle of broken wood.
Pulling back the deadbolt, she threw open her door. The man had already disappeared into the opposite room. The broken door was hanging open slightly.
Dark Crypto (Thorne Inc. Book 1) Page 15