Darren Priest Mysteries Collection

Chapter 9

April 15

Cascade Bar

My evening ended with the dinner. Although the center of Vienna here at Stephansplatz offered many bars and nightclubs, and I was tempted to find a seat in one of them, I decided instead to return to the Marriott for the night.

This morning, I drew my encrypted flash drive from the safe tucked into the cabinet in my room. It had all my files so I knew that I had not lost everything when the computer went missing; but without the computer, I couldn’t access them. I knew that I couldn’t put the device into a hotel computer; this practice was frowned upon in any sensitive work since the mere act of inserting it into a public computer’s USB port could transfer at least “ghosts” of the files from the flash drive.

I needed a computer, either the old one back or a new one altogether. Not knowing when I might see my computer again, I decided to go out in search of a*****e to buy a new one.

Finding such a convenience was not hard in Vienna, a city that was as modern as any other in Europe. There were Apple stores aplenty, and other small and large shops specializing in tablets, notepads, cell phones, and computers. A few blocks from the hotel I found a*****e that had the things I needed. I bought a laptop, paid to have the clerk upload all the necessary operating systems, and promised to return later in the afternoon to pick it up.

Meanwhile, I returned to the hotel for a midday meal and to review written notes that I would drop into the computer files once I had the opportunity. I sat at the Cascade Bar in the back of the Marriott lobby when I heard a voice from my right.

“Mr. Priest?”

The waitress approached me as I sipped the wine in my glass.

“Yes?”

“There is a phone call for you.”

I instinctively picked up my cell phone, which didn’t make sense since she couldn’t be talking about my own phone.

“Where?”

“At the front desk.”

Anyone who knew that I was at the Parkring Marriott would know my cell phone number. But I followed the finger she pointed in the direction of the broad front desk of the hotel. This was a particularly large lobby, spacious enough to include a substantial lounge area for arriving guests to cool their heels while waiting for their ‘I’m-sorry-not-ready-yet’ rooms, a huge spiral staircase designed by a Hollywood wannabe for staging wedding processions, a sprawling open-space restaurant, and this sweeping cocktail lounge with waterfalls. All in one long, wide space. Champions bar was at the other end, toward the street, and its casual sports-oriented atmosphere was a clear counterpoint to the elegance of this hotel lobby.

I took a quick gulp of the Catena Malbec, then stood and made my way around the restaurant, past the staircase, and up to the desk. Antoine, the tall handsome Austrian youth who had checked me when I arrived, was holding the phone out to me as I approached.

“She sounds nice,” he said with a lilting voice.

“Hello?” I asked after placing the phone to my ear.

“Mr. Priest, this is Inspector Weber. We have found your computer. Or, should I say, it has found us. We’d like to speak with you about its contents.”

That didn’t sound good. It was obvious that the police had already opened my files, or someone’s files left on there.

“I can come by tomorrow,” I said. That even sounded to me like a dodge.

to me“I have sent a car over to the hotel to pick you up.”

I looked to my left, out of the glass revolving door at the entrance of the hotel and saw two uniformed men standing beside a white Volkswagen Passat, staring back at me in the lobby.

“Okay,” I said turning my attention back to Weber on the desk phone. “I guess I’ll see you soon. I’ll just go up to my room and get my jacket.”

Before my words had even left my lips, the two armed men jumped into action and charged into the lobby, stopping quietly by my side. One lifted the receiver from my hand while the other placed a hand gently on my shoulder blade.

“This way, sir,” he said as they guided me out to the Passat.