Queen's Gambit

by M. Lorrox

  She takes her hands off her ears and looks at him. “Everything is so loud.”

  He yawns. “What would help?”

  June walks over and sits on his bed. “I dunno. Do you think the front desk has ear plugs?”

  He rubs his eyes. “Maybe.” He yawns again.

  “Go back to sleep, Dad, I’ll go down and check.”

  “You sure?”

  She stands up. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  “Alright, but take your phone, just in case, and don’t leave the hotel. Promise?”

  “Promise, Dad.”

  He lays back down. June grabs her shades, then quietly creeps through the living room and out the door to the hallway. She clicks it closed as quietly as she can, and she can hear her dad’s soft snores again. He’s so lucky.

  At the front desk, the attendant tells her they’re all out of earplugs.

  Of course, the place is filled with vampires. Crap. And I can’t go anywhere to buy any. She looks out toward the courtyard. A sign is stuck to the door that reads, Temporarily Closed. She turns back to the attendant. “Why’s the courtyard closed?”

  “Somebody saw an ant, so they sprayed insecticide.”

  “That seems extreme.”

  The attendant shrugs. “Can’t have bugs near a restaurant.”

  Just then, a bellman pulls a cart filled with luggage through the door. One of the pieces scrapes a zipper against the glass and ticks on the metal frame. She shakes her head. “Is there any place in this hotel that’s quiet and away from people? I need to disappear for a little while.”

  “Actually, there is.” The attendant glances toward the bellman, who heads back outside to grab another cart. “There’s a garden on the roof. I’m supposed to close it at midnight, but I never had a chance to go up there, so it’s still open.” He reaches down below the counter and hands June a sign that says CLOSED. “Maybe you could go up there and close it for me? Feel free to hang out up there, just lock the door behind you when you leave.”

  June smiles. “Alright, I can do that.”

  The attendant notices the bellman turning around to walk back in. “Hide the sign.”

  She rolls it into a loose tube and walks away. “Okay, thanks.”

  The attendant smiles as June leaves. The bellman walks over to the desk and sighs. “So...”

  The attendant holds up a finger and watches June get into the elevator. “Sorry, what’s up?”

  “Think we’ve got time to watch the new episode of The Hammer?”

  “My girl’s gonna swing by later, but I think there’s time. I gotta take a whiz—meet you in the break room in five.”

  June rides the elevator to the top floor of the hotel. She, Eddy, and Minnie hadn’t explored it before, because, well, their suite is pretty high, and there didn’t seem much of a point to go up higher. Nobody said anything about a garden though. She snorts. Right. Vampires and sunlight don’t mix.

  The doors open to a little room with a glass door that leads outside. She places the sign on a tiny hook stuck to the glass, and walks out. Before shutting the door, she checks how it locks. There’s a little tab that spins to lock the door, and she spins it. Then she tests to see if she’ll be able to reopen the door from outside—she can. She smiles and closes the door, locking everyone else inside.

  Being a rooftop garden on a vampire hotel, the pathways are well covered with awnings. Except for a few hours in the morning and evening, there’s always a shaded place to walk. There are some overhead lights attached to the awnings, but they’re off. The ground is covered with paving stones and gravel, and the perimeter of the roof is filled with planter boxes interspersed with benches and large swinging seats. I bet this is pretty during the day.

  She completes a full lap before deciding where she wants to relax. She picks a swinging bench with a very large rhododendron bush on one side, and with a view over the edge of the building to the other. She looks out and sees the Washington Monument across the river. The pair of red lights at its top pulse hypnotically, untroubled by the activity of the city around it.

  She watches the lights flash on and off for what could have been hours. The noise from passing planes and traffic are louder here, and at first it disturbs her, but because now it is steadier and more enveloping—coming from all directions—it somehow grows less distracting. Like a constant breeze during a nap, it washes over her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she thinks she sees something flash. She glances toward it. It’s on top of another building across the street and down a little. The light grows to bright orange, then it arcs down a little bit, and dies to an ember red.

  A cigarette.

  June coughs. No way I can smell that from here. She watches the rhythmic show. Every so often, the person brings the cigarette to their lips and takes a slow drag from it. Is it a man? Yes, that’s a man. It glows brighter. She can just about make out his face. His eyes are closed. He’s savoring it. He opens his eyes and looks at the cigarette. He looks out into the night. He looks at her.

  June startles and almost falls out of the swinging bench. He can’t see me, can he? No, I’m in the dark. She watches him. He’s watching this hotel. He looks down to the street below, then back up, then back down again.

  He turns and flicks the cigarette over the side of the building.

  Another man walks up behind him. “Blackjack?”

  “Hey, T.”

  June jolts in surprise. No way I can hear them. What’s going on?

  “Are we alone?”

  “Yeah. This is big.”

  “You said it’s better than you thought, right?”

  “Yeah. A big opportunity has fallen into our laps, and we’ve got to do it tomorrow night.”

  “What opportunity?”

  “Their president is going to be there, giving a presentation to the other freaks. They’ll all crawl out of their holes to see him.”

  “Wow, but you know I haven’t finished it yet. I probably need another day.”

  “I can help after my shift, but we need to roll at fourteen-hundred.”

  “Wait—today or tomorrow night?”

  “Jesus Christ. We roll in about ten hours, is that specific enough?”

  “Shit. It’s gonna be tight.”

  “I know you can do it.”

  “And we still need a detonator.”

  June gasps.

  “I’ve got that covered. I’m meeting with my contact’s guy in a couple hours. He said he’ll have it ready for us.”

  “Same plan? Cell, right?”

  “Yup. This guy’s giving us the whole package; we won’t have to build the receiver.”

  “That’ll help. How much did it cost?”

  June hears Blackjack clear his throat. “More than I wanted, but it’s a rush job.”

  “Bloodsuckers gonna pay worse than us.”

  “That’s for damned sure… Now you’re sure this thing’s gonna be big enough? We need to take down the whole place.”

  “Should be, even from underground… I’ll need to wire the receiver in. When can I expect it?”

  “I’ll be over straight after my shift. I’ll see you around eleven-hundred.”

  “Alright, I’ll do my best to have everything else ready.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  June watches the man called T walk away, back into the darkness of the night. The other man, Blackjack, slides another cigarette out of his pack and puts it in his mouth. He cups his hands and lights it.

  In the glow, June tries to get a better look at his face, but it’s mostly covered by his hand. She does notice something else; his suit is a dark blue, and on the lapel, a shiny nametag with a symbol engraved into it. She looks down the side of the building he stands on. It’s another hotel, with the same symbol in its logo.

 
June doesn’t dare move. She waits for him to finish his cigarette, and again, he flicks the butt over the side. Then, he walks back across the roof and re-enters the building. June waits another minute.

  To her, that minute feels like a lifetime. When she finally builds up the courage, she slides off the bench and slinks back to the elevator as silently and slowly as possible. She hopes her attempts at ninja-like stealth offsets the vicious pounding of her heart.

  In the living room of the suite, June paces for a few minutes while she decides what to do. She grabs a notepad off the counter and writes down as much of the conversation as she can remember:

  She looks it over and takes a fortifying breath. She walks over to the Costanzas’ bedroom door and taps on it. She doesn’t hear any movement. She taps again, louder, but still doesn’t hear any movement. She opens the door, and a sliver of light shines into the room.

  She tiptoes in, trying not to wake Minnie. She sees Charlie’s arm hanging off the side of the bed and she walks over. She pokes his arm and whispers, “Mr. Costanza.”

  -mmmrrr-

  She shakes his arm. “Charlie?”

  He pulls away and rolls onto his side.

  Come on. She reaches out and pinches his shoulder.

  He jolts awake. “Huh?” He rolls onto his back and opens his eyes a sliver. “June?”

  “I have to talk to you. Get up.”

  Charlie follows her into the living room and squints into the light. He sees that she’s shaking. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  She tells him the whole story and shows him the notes she jotted down. Charlie reads the paper a couple times.

  “June, umm, are you sure this actually happened?”

  She looks at him with a mixture of concern and confusion. “What do you mean?”

  He pours a glass of water. “Well, for one thing, how did you hear them? I mean, you said that building was across the street and down a ways. It’s noisy out there. I don’t think anyone would have been able to hear their conversation.”

  She nods. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but I could hear them. It’s like everything else got quiet.”

  Charlie sighs. Where to begin? “Could you identify them?”

  “If I heard them talk, yeah. But I couldn’t really see their faces.”

  “That makes it hard. Blackjack and T, those aren’t real names.”

  “You can stop them, right? They’re going to try and blow up the building and take out the Prime Minister.”

  Charlie looks at the paper again. “You wrote president. Is that what they said?”

  She nods.

  “Anything about the person they’re getting the detonator from?”

  “No, just that the Blackjack guy was going to meet him in a couple hours.”

  “What’s the meeting at eleven-hundred?”

  “That’s when he was going to meet the other guy, right after his shift.”

  “So, he’s getting the detonator at work. A lot of people walk in and out of hotels in the morning, but at least that’s a start.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  Charlie looks at the sheet again. He reads the hotel’s letterhead. It has numbers for the front desk, the restaurant, and the concierge. “We need to talk to the police, but we need to do it through the right channel. First, we have to talk to Jules.”

  “Wait, umm, what about me?”

  Charlie raises an eyebrow.

  “I don’t think that having miraculous hearing, identifying criminals, and foiling a bomb plot is in line with keeping a low profile.”

  Charlie nods. “Good point… Let me work on that one. First things first though, I’ve got to talk to Jules. You should try and get some rest.”

  She exhales and looks at the empty counter. “I can’t sleep. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Charlie puts his hand on her shoulder. “Try not to worry too much about it. I bet you’ll feel better soon. See if you can relax.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “After overhearing a bomb plot, sure, I’ll relax.”

  He frowns. “Sorry. You know what I mean… I have to go downstairs, but you should stay here. Let the others rest. In the morning, we’ll fill them in.”

  She nods.

  Charlie slips Eddy’s sneakers on and heads out the door.

  When he reaches the lobby, it’s empty. So is the front desk. He looks for one of those dumb bells used to call an attendant, but there isn’t one. “Hey, anybody back there?”

  No response.

  He knocks on the granite counter with his knuckles. “Hello! I need help at the front desk!”

  After a second, Charlie hears some rustling. And then some giggling. Hmm. A guy in his twenties rounds the corner with a smile and a misbuttoned shirt. Charlie clears his throat.

  The attendant smiles as he looks Charlie up and down. “Sorry about the delay, sir, what can I do for you?”

  “Fix your shirt, do your job, and give me Jules’, the concierge’s, emergency number.”

  The attendant looks down at his shirt and chuckles. “Whoops!”

  “I need to speak with Jules immediately. It’s an emergency.”

  The attendant looks at his watch. “She’ll be here in an hour. Can you wait till then?”

  “No. Number. Now.”

  “Okay, okay.” He flips through a notebook, scans through a list, and writes the number down on a business card. “Here you go.”

  “Great. Where’s the house phone?”

  He snorts. “In your room?”

  Charlie allows his frustration to show. He places his hands on the counter and reads the attendant’s nametag; it says Brendon. “I’ll make you a deal, Branton, you dial her for me on the phone in front of you, and then you can go back to your girlfriend.”

  Brendon scowls. “What’s the deal part of that?”

  “Oh, it’s where I talk on the phone instead of breaking shit and making a huge mess and ruining your fucking day.”

  Brendon sighs, picks up the phone, and dials. When he hears it ringing over to the other end, he sets the handset on the counter and walks away.

  Charlie snatches the phone up and presses it to his ear, just in time.

  “This is Jules; what’s the problem?”

  “Hi Jules, it’s Charlie Costanza. I need to speak to a friendly with the police department, immediately.”

  “Concerning what?”

  “A threat to the hotel. Do we have a friendly?”

  “Yes, I—”

  “Are they staying in the hotel? What’s their room number?”

  “You can just call Elian.”

  “Major Schermer?”

  “Yes. Do you have her number?”

  “Not on me, hold on.” He grabs a pen. “Go ahead.”

  She gives him the number and asks what else she can do for him.

  “Expect to have a busy day. Thanks.” He reaches over the counter, hangs up, and dials Schermer.

  “Hello?”

  “Schermer, this is Costanza. There’s an emergency, and I need your help.”

  “What do you need?”

  “You. How long until you can meet me in the equipment room?”

  “Give me five minutes.”

  Charlie meets with her, and they come up with a plan. Well, more accurately, Schermer comes up with a plan that’ll work within Charlie’s odd constraints. Thirty-five minutes after Schermer woke up, she’s making calls to her contacts in the FBI.

  Charlie returns to the suite to wake everyone up and bring them up to speed on the situation. And also to put on clothes; he had rushed out in only a t-shirt and boxers. When he opens the door, June jumps up and is about to say something, but Charlie holds up his hand. “I’ll be right back.”

  He gets dressed, wakes S
adie—Eddy wakes up too—then he brings them into the living room and fills them in.

  Charlie sighs. “The tricky part is keeping a low profile for June, but she’s the only one that can make the ID. I think Schermer and I came up with a solution though; the FBI will send in an undercover agent, who’s wired, June and I can listen in on his audio-feed, and I can relay information to the agent. June and I can do it from this hotel, and we can do it in a way so that nobody ever even knows who the witness was.

  Sadie nods. Eddy is still processing that people are trying to blow up the hotel and kill vampires.

  “After June makes the ID, I’ll radio it to the FBI, and then they’ll tail him and take over.”

  June swallows. “Will I need to testify?”

  Charlie looks at her; she still looks a bit shaken. “No, don’t worry about that. On record, it’ll say that an anonymous person phoned in a tip.”

  “What if they don’t catch him?” June bounces her leg, jostling her whole body up and down. Eddy reaches over and puts his hand on her knee. “Take it easy. They will.”

  Sadie looks at Charlie. “What’s the contingency plan?”

  Charlie sighs. “It seems like they have to bring the bomb in, but just in case, I’ve ordered the entire Guard to conduct a search of the hotel and parking garage. Also, if anything goes wrong, like the FBI loses the bastard or something, then we’ll evacuate the hotel and move everyone to an undisclosed location.”

  Eddy looks at his dad. “Where would that be?”

  Charlie shrugs. “I dunno, I haven’t picked a spot.”

  Sadie nods. “Alright, keep me in the loop. I’ll inform the High Council.”

  Charlie shakes his head. “Not until after the FBI either tails the guy to the bomb or loses him. Until then, we play it tight. I’ll tell Villablino; he’s technically my boss.”

  Skip opens the door from his bedroom and walks into the living room. “June, I was worried about you. What’s everyone doing?”

  Charlie stands up and slides out his chair. “Sit down buddy, things got more complicated.”

  Skip keeps shaking his head and looking back and forth from June to Charlie. “Holy crap.”

  June puts her hand on his. “Charlie says I’ll stay totally anonymous.”