Chapter 7

7

The elevator dinged as it reached the fourth floor.

“Lobby at six?” Billy asked Stacy as he, Peter, and Hattie exited.

“Yep. See you then.”

The door closed.

Peter looked at the sleeve that held his and Hattie’s key cards. “We’re in four-oh-four. That’s…” He looked at the directional sign on the wall. “To the right. Billy, where are you?”

“Four-oh-one. Same direction.”

Billy dropped Peter and Hattie off at their suite, then continued to his, which was at the end of the hall, next to a set of emergency stairs. This was thanks to Lance, who had used a trusted contact to manipulate the room assignments, giving Billy a quick and discreet way in and out, if needed.

As Billy stepped inside, he stilled. Something felt off.

He crept through the entryway and peered into the living room.

Standing at the window, looking out at the city, was a woman dressed in black skintight pants, a black leather jacket, and a black baseball cap, through which looped her long, dark ponytail.

Sensing him, she turned, a smirk on her lips. But as soon as she caught sight of him, her smile slipped, and her hand moved smoothly under her jacket.

“Hello, Vesna,” Billy said.

Vesna Martic blew out a breath and withdrew her hand from where it had no doubt been resting on a gun in a shoulder holster. “Teddy, Teddy, Teddy. I must say, you’re not looking yourself these days.”

She was an ex–Bosnian intelligence officer and current freelance operative who’d worked with Teddy several times in the past. Most recently, she’d lent a hand in dealing with a particularly nasty Serbian crime boss.

“And you look your same lovely self. Though I wasn’t expecting you to be here waiting for me.”

“ You were the one who asked to meet.”

“Yes, but I assumed you’d knock first.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “I arrived early and got bored. You don’t mind, do you?”

“As long as you don’t make a habit of it. Something to drink?”

“Isn’t it a little early for that?”

“I was thinking coffee.”

“Ah. In that case, I would love a cappuccino.”

Teddy called room service and gave his order. As he hung up, the suite’s doorbell rang.

“Now, that’s what I call fast service,” Vesna said.

“Too fast,” Teddy said. “Perhaps you should step into the bedroom.”

She raised a provocative eyebrow. “I didn’t realize it was one of those kinds of meetings.”

“You know me better than that.”

“True. You are always the gentleman.” She disappeared into the other room.

Teddy answered the door to find a bellboy with his luggage. He had the man set the bags in the entryway, tipped him, then sent him on his way.

“All clear,” he said toward the bedroom.

After he and Vesna were settled in the sitting area—Vesna on the couch and Teddy on a brown Chesterfield chair—she said, “So, this is you as Billy Barnett.”

“You are one of a very select group who knows that.”

“And if I tell anyone else, you’ll put me in a deep, dark cell and do terrible things to me.”

“I’m glad we see eye to eye.”

“I don’t know. It sounds kind of fun.”

“Believe me, you wouldn’t think that if it happened.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Are there any other versions of you?”

“We’ll bridge that topic when needed.”

“So, that’s a yes.”

“You’ve always been one of the smartest people I know.”

“I suppose you want a report?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Not wanting to rely solely on his CIA security detail, Teddy had hired Vesna to both watch his back and help with the investigation. Her contacts in Europe ran much deeper than Teddy’s these days. What he hadn’t done yet was fill her in on any details. That was something better done in person.

“I’ve been watching the hotel since yesterday, and other than the group of fans by the entrance and the team your CIA friends sent, I haven’t seen anything unusual.”

The team she mentioned was made up of the agents Lance had promised to provide, though she was unaware of the director’s personal involvement in the mission.

“How many in the team?”

“Ten. They’ve been here since last night and are based out of five rooms on the third floor.”

“Have they been in this suite?”

“They’re CIA. Of course they’ve been in here. How could they resist?”

She pulled several audio bugs from her jacket pocket and tossed them onto the coffee table.

“Apparently, they were hoping to overhear some Hollywood secrets,” she said. “Don’t worry. These are deactivated.”

“And you’re sure you found all of them.”

She gave him a what-do-you-think look.

“I had to ask,” he said. He picked up one of the bugs, looked it over, then dropped it with the others. “Give me a second.”

He went into the bedroom and called Lance.

“Do you have something for me already?” Lance asked.

“I do. But a request, not an update.”

“And that is?”

“To tell the people you have watching over me that if they try to bug my suite again, I’m off the job.”

“Someone bugged your room?”

“I wouldn’t be telling you this if they didn’t.”

“Are you sure it was my people?”

“One hundred percent.”

“I’ll have a conversation with them. Just so you know, doing that was not part of my instructions.”

“Goodbye, Lance.”

Teddy hung up and returned to the living room.

“In theory, it won’t be happening again,” he said.

“Just in case the theory proves false…” Vesna pulled out a device about the size of a standard smartphone and set it on the table. “I’ll leave the detector with you, and you can scan at will.”

“Much appreciated.”

“I have also left a bag in your room with the items you requested.”

“And I thank you for that, too.”

While he might have been able to smuggle weapons into the country on Centurion’s jet, he hadn’t wanted to take a chance that they’d be discovered. Hopefully, he wouldn’t need to use the ones she brought, but he’d rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

“Can you tell me what this is all about now?” she asked.

“That deep, dark cell you mentioned earlier? There’s an even deeper and darker one waiting for you if you share anything I’m about to tell you without my okay.”

Though he trusted Vesna more than nearly anyone else in the intelligence world, it was best to lay out the consequences of breaking that trust in clear terms.

“What is that phrase you once taught me?” She thought for a second, then her face brightened. “Ah, yes. The bowl of silence.”

“The cone of silence.”

“I understand and accept,” she said.

Teddy laid it out for her, omitting names that she didn’t need to know, the possibility of a mole at the CIA, and the fact that his mission had come down from the director personally.

When he finished, she said, “So, you’re trying to smoke out whoever is behind these murders by using you as bait.”

“Precisely.”

“Bold. I like it.”

“That makes one of us.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “It’s the best plan for the job.”

“But you would rather not be the piece of meat sitting in the trap.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“I’m guessing that in addition to me keeping you safe, you’d like my help in figuring out who these people are.”

“Correct.”

“Well, I do prefer you breathing than in a pine box.”

“Why, thank you.”

“I’ll poke around and see what I can find out. I assume the sooner we figure this out, the better.”

“You assume correct,” Teddy said.

“Understood. I have a question.”

“And that is?”

“If we do draw them out, then what? Do we detain them? Or do we terminate them?”

“Hopefully, neither.”

“Your CIA watchers will handle that?”

“As I said, hopefully.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then we do what needs to be done.”