Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series

by Laura Charles

  “Is it that easy?”

  “I'm not entirely sure. I think Kellerman is here already. I just need to find him. It shouldn't be hard. Like I've said, guys like him are usually amateurs. He's just an engineer who's pissed at his employer and wants to make a few extra bucks. Well, a lot of extra bucks, actually.”

  “How much?”

  “The Koreans might be willing to pay seven figures for the thing. It's worth a bundle to get that chip to the market first. A couple of million wouldn't be unreasonable.”

  “So are you looking for a guy with a lot of money in a briefcase or something?”

  “Maybe. That's the problem. There's not going to be a shortage of Koreans, American engineers, or briefcases here. That's why I came early. I'm just doing a lot of people watching. I do have a photo of Kellerman, but not Kim.”

  Ryan showed Jessica the photo of Kellerman, which looked like the sort of picture that might be taken for a corporate identification badge.

  “He's not that unusual looking. Do you think they'll meet secretly, or can you catch them somehow?”

  “I don't know. It wouldn't be all that hard to just meet and exchange the money for the chip in plain sight. There are tens of thousands of people here this week and the convention center is going to be crowded. A building full of people might be a great place to simply hand over one briefcase for another one.”

  “Why be that obvious?”

  “Several reasons, among them the fact that Kellerman isn't a spy. He's probably eager to get rid of it in the fastest and easiest way possible. Do you pay attention to every person you see with a briefcase?”

  “No, I guess I don't. Is Kellerman in any danger?”

  “No, Jess. You've been watching too many spy movies. These people are businessmen. Kim just wants the chip. Kellerman just wants money. Mr. Kim will meet Kellerman, pay him, and both of them will go their separate ways. I just need to get to Kellerman and destroy the chip before it changes hands.”

  “That's quite an interesting story. So how can I help?”

  “You can't. You need to go home.”

  “But Ryan...”

  “Look, we had a deal. I was going to tell you what I was doing and you were going to go home. I'll figure out how to get the chip from Kellerman. I'll get it back to my employer. But I don't want you here. You're a distraction. A welcome distraction, but a distraction just the same.”

  “But you're trying to find a needle in a haystack. You could use my help. I can help you find Kellerman. Two pair of eyes are better than one, you know.”

  “Jess, you can stay here tonight if you like. But I need you to go back to Denver tomorrow. Promise me you'll leave.”

  Jessica scowled.

  “Ryan....”

  “No. Promise me you'll leave tomorrow.”

  “OK. I'll leave in the morning.”

  Ryan pulled her close to him and gave her one of those kisses that made her tingle from head to toe. They crawled into bed and turned out the lights.

  Jessica was determined to stick around. Maybe she could help. Perhaps she could learn something. Regardless, she wasn't ready to get on a plane back to Denver.

  I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay here and see what happens. And this time, I'm not going to let Ryan catch me.

  She rolled over and went to sleep.

  Chapter 7

  The following morning, Ryan and Jessica woke up, had an amazing room service breakfast, and bid each other farewell.

  “Take care, Jess. I'll call you when I'm done here. Now go home.”

  “OK, you win. But I wish you'd let me stay and help you.”

  He gave her a hug and a slow, lingering kiss. As their lips met and their tongues danced, Jessica wondered why moments like these couldn't last forever.

  She went to the parking garage, found her car and headed back to her motel. She might be leaving Ryan, but she was determined not to leave town. She spent part of the day back at the Sundown Inn, hanging out by the pool, catching some sun and catching up on some reading. The motel wasn't much, but it was clean and not very crowded. Jessica gave some thought to what she'd be doing over the next few days. The convention was starting the following morning, and she was certain that Kellerman and Mr. Kim would meet to exchange the chip fairly quickly. It didn't make any sense for either of them to hang around; sooner was better than later.

  She just needed to make sure that she could find Ryan and follow him while he pursued his mission.

  After giving it a bit of thought, Jessica realized that she needed a better disguise than just a floppy tourist hat. She decided to purchase a couple of wigs and a new dress or two. This way, she could hide her blond hair and masquerade as a brunette or a redhead. After all, she'd already demonstrated that she was pretty clumsy as a spy when she tripped and fell in the buffet. This way, she'd at least be harder to recognize if something like that happened again.

  Jessica drove back into Las Vegas and spent a couple of hours shopping at several boutiques near Caesar's Palace. She found a couple of attractive but nondescript dresses that looked suitable as business attire. She wanted to to straddle that fine line that would allow her to look attractively professional while not drawing any undue attention to herself.

  She continued shopping and bought a shoulder-length red wig and a brunette one in a shorter, bob cut. Both of them changed her looks dramatically, and she was sure Ryan wouldn't recognize her at a casual glance. She also picked up a matching pair of Steve Madden pumps. They were comfortable and looked nice without breaking her bank. While she'd rather be wearing shoes from Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik, Jessica was finding this Las Vegas adventure to be getting a bit expensive.

  She grabbed a meal at one of the casino buffets and managed to finish her meal without dropping it all over the floor. She spent the rest of the evening at her motel, looking over her notes about Ryan's mission, reading about electromagnetic pulse tools, and doing a bit of research about cell phone technology. She dozed off with her notebook computer still open on her lap.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, Jessica woke up, got dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast at the coffee shop next door and headed to the convention center. She put on a gray dress and the red wig. She might attract attention for the red hair, but she likely wouldn't be recognized by Ryan right away. As she looked in the mirror, Jessica was rather amused at how she looked as a redhead.

  Not bad. Perhaps I should try being a redhead more often.

  On the other hand, her roommate, Amber, was already a redhead, and a natural one, at that. Jessica didn't see any point in trying to duplicate Amber's look, for all the good it would do. Amber pretty much owned the “hot redhead” thing.

  Jessica put on her new pumps. At two and a half inches, the heels would look fashionable without overly hindering her ability to walk. She hoped so, at least. Breaking in a new pair of shoes on a hard convention floor probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

  It took a while to find a suitable parking place, as everyone seemed to be arriving at once at the convention center. Jessica wasn't entirely prepared for the size of the event; the electronics show had several thousand exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors in attendance. The place was simply packed with people from all over the globe, there to show off their latest technology to people who could potentially manufacture, distribute or sell it.

  It could take several days just to look at it all. How was Jessica supposed to find Ryan? Or Mr. Kim? Or Bob Kellerman? Or anyone?

  She didn't know. She did, however, know what Ryan and Kellerman looked like. Not so for Mr. Kim, who could be any one of the hundreds of Koreans in attendance. Not only was he not going to stand out from his appearance, but even his name was pretty ordinary, assuming that “Kim” was even his real name. There had to be a million people in Korea named “Kim.”

  Jessica found herself wishing she had more interest in technology. Sure, she owned a smart phone and a notebook computer and a few other gadgets,
but these were just tools that she needed for everyday life. They weren't anything she was passionate about. Yet here she was in a huge convention center full of demonstrations of stereo systems, huge flat screen televisions, and the smart phones, tablet computers and notebooks of tomorrow. Of course, she wasn't really supposed to be watching the demonstrations; she was supposed to be looking out for Ryan, Bob Kellerman, or the mysterious Mr. Kim.

  The day was wearing on, and Jessica hadn't had any luck. She hadn't seen Ryan, or any mysterious behavior from anyone. She was beginning to wonder if she'd have to repeat this for the remaining three days of the convention. The thought of having to do that wasn't very appealing; she'd already seen everything at the convention that was of interest to her and keeping a constant watch for several different people was tiring. The longer she had to keep this vigil, the less alert she was likely to be.

  In order to stay alert, Jessica decided to find a cup of coffee, preferably something with espresso in it. She stepped out of the main convention area and into the adjacent food court. As she approached the coffee counter, someone standing off to the side caught her attention. He wasn't that unusual looking; he was about of average height with brown hair and thick glasses. What caught her attention was the fact that the man was standing against the wall, holding a briefcase and looking rather nervous.

  Jessica froze.

  She'd found Bob Kellerman, the engineer with the stolen smart phone chip! He appeared to be waiting to meet someone. Jessica kept her eye on him while ordering her latte. He kept checking his watch, as though someone were late to keep an appointment with him. She paid for her coffee and stepped aside, hoping that the crowd around the coffee counter would obscure the fact that she was watching him intently.

  She stood off to the side, drinking her coffee and waiting to see what happened next.

  A few minutes later, another man approached Kellerman. He was tall; at least six foot three. He was also Caucasian, and clearly not Korean. They spoke for a moment, and then the two men proceeded to walk down a long hallway towards an area of the convention center that wasn't in use. They walked about fifty yards and then went through a door at the end of the hallway. Jessica wasn't sure what to do. She looked around to see if Ryan was nearby, but she saw no sight of him. After a few moments, she decided to follow the two men.

  Jessica got about halfway down the hall when the tall man came out of the room at the end of the hall alone. He had a briefcase in his hand and he seemed to be in a hurry as he quickly walked by Jessica. In his hurry, he brushed against her.

  “Get out of my way,” he said brusquely in an eastern European accent. He kept walking.

  Jessica came to the doorway at the end of the hall and opened it. Just inside the door she found Kellerman lying on the floor, stabbed and bleeding. She did what she could to put pressure on the wound to slow down the bleeding and called 911 to get help.

  When the paramedics arrived, she told them that she'd seen the men go into the room and only one had come out. She thought that was odd, so she opened the door out of curiosity. She told them that she didn't know anything else, and she figured that she'd let Kellerman tell the authorities whatever story he wanted to tell them. He was no longer her concern.

  So now it seemed that Kellerman was out of the picture, the chip had been stolen and Ryan was nowhere to be found.

  Worse than that, it appears that Ryan's “boring” job was actually quite dangerous, and Jessica was worried about him. That man bleeding in the hallway could just as easily have been Ryan, she thought.

  What do I do now?

  Chapter 9

  Ryan had spent the day wandering around the convention center, looking for either Kellerman or Mr. Kim. He had actually located Kellerman early in the day, but wasn't able to get close enough to him to activate his pulse device, as he was behind a counter in a trade booth.

  He decided that the best course of action was to wait until Kellerman and Kim had made contact. After all, while they might simply meet in public, it was more likely that they'd step aside and conduct their business in private. That might present a better opportunity for Ryan to get close enough to damage the chip. Once he did that, it didn't matter if the money changed hands or not; the chip was effectively worthless.

  After hours of nothing happening, Ryan saw Kellerman take a phone call. After that, he started walking towards the concession area. Ryan began to follow him, hoping that he'd either lead him to Mr. Kim or at least get far enough out of the main convention area for Ryan to get close enough to him to activate the pulse. Ryan reached into his pocket and turned the device on. Like a camera flash, it took a few seconds to fully charge.

  Kellerman abruptly stopped just past the concession stand and paused to stand by the wall, as if waiting for someone. Ryan had hoped to approach him without being seen, but now he realized that this wasn't going to work. He stopped to observe, stepping into a stairwell near the concession area.

  He watched as a tall man approached Kellerman and the two of them began to walk down the hall. He watched them step into the doorway at the end of the hallway.

  Ryan had to decide whether to approach the two of them or to wait to see what happened next. He opted to wait.

  A few moments later, he saw that tall man come out of the doorway, alone, carrying a briefcase, and seemingly in a hurry. Ryan watched him push a red headed woman aside and he prepared to approach him with the pulse gun.

  Just as Ryan approached the tall man, a man returning from the concession area happened to walk in between them. The tall man grabbed the man by the arm and pushed him into Ryan as he approached with his pulse gun. Ryan fell down a flight of stairs, spraining his ankle in the process.

  As he sat, stunned, at the bottom of the staircase, Ryan knew that Kellerman, and the chip, were likely gone.

  Worse, he knew he would probably be walking on crutches for a while, which is hardly a way for a spy to get anything accomplished.

  After sitting in a daze for a few minutes, he managed to crawl back up the flight of stairs. Just about that time, the paramedics were arriving in response to Jessica's emergency call.

  A few minutes later, a redheaded Jessica walked by. Ryan didn't recognize her, but she couldn't miss him as he sat on the floor at the top of the stairs.

  “Ryan! Are you all right?”

  “Uh...Jessica? What are you doing here? What's with the red hair?”

  “It's a long story. Can you walk?”

  “Not easily. I'm not sure if it's a break or a sprain.”

  “Lets get you to a doctor and find out.”

  She managed to help him get to her car, and they went to the nearest emergency room. Ryan was diagnosed as having a severe sprain and he was given a pair of crutches and told to stay off of his feet for a few days.

  They returned to his hotel room and had a lengthy chat about their day.

  “Jess, I thought you said you were going home. You promised.”

  “Well...I really wanted to watch you work. I needed the research for my book. Besides, if it weren't for me, where would you be now? Who took you to the doctor?”

  “I guess I should thank you for that. Still, I can take care of myself.”

  “Like Kellerman? He's in the hospital now. You told me your job wasn't dangerous. You lied.”

  “It's never been dangerous before. This was supposed to be simple. Get near the guy, set off the pulse, leave. Stabbings, sprained ankles and third parties aren't usually part of the equation.”

  “It seems that somebody has another idea. Any idea who the tall European guy might be?”

  “I don't know. Russian, maybe?. I doubt whoever took it really wants the chip. They probably just wanted to grab it so that they could sell it to the Koreans. Just a quick way to make a huge profit.”

  “What do you do now?”

  “I'll make a few phone calls and see if I can find out something about the European guy. Can you describe him?”

  “Sure. He was about
six feet two; maybe a bit taller. Blond. He was wearing a light gray suit. He had an athletic build. Looked pretty mean.”

  “That's not much to go on. Still, it's better than nothing.”

  Ryan spent the next half hour on the phone, placing calls to several different people.

  “I've got some people looking into it. They'll call when they know something. I”m not sure what we do next.”

  Ryan was lying on the bed with his bandaged foot propped up on a pillow.

  “Is there any chance we can find this guy?”

  “Maybe. If the plan is to sell to the same Koreans that Kellerman was dealing with, then the guy is probably still around. We just need to find him.”

  “I wish I could have done more, Ryan.”