Six Guardians of the Underworld

Chapter 48

"A guy called John Trent," Gina said. "He's a colonel. If anybody's going to help me, he might. "

" Fort Dix?" Loveth said. "That's in New Jersey, right?"

"It was last time I was there," Gina said.

"OK, smart guy," Loveth said. "We'll call this Colonel Trent,

get it set up. "

Gina nodded. "Make sure you mention my name loud and often. He won't be very interested unless you do. "

Loveth nodded. "That's exactly why we brought you on board. You'll leave with Harper, first thing in the morning. "

Gina nodded, and looked straight at Lorraine Stanley's pretty face.

YES, MAYBE IT'S time to throw them a curve. Maybe tighten the interval, just a little bit. Maybe tighten it a lot. Maybe cancel it altogether. That would really unsettle them. That would show them how little they know. Keep everything else the same, but alter the interval. Make it all a little unpredictable. How about it? You need to think.

Or maybe let a little of the anger show, too. Because anger is what this is about, right? Anger, and justice. Maybe it's time to make that a little clearer, a little more obvious. Maybe it's time to take the gloves off. A little violence never hurt anybody. And a little violence could make the next one a little more interesting. Maybe a lot more interesting. You need to think about that, too.

So what's it to be? A shorter interval? Or more drama at the scene? Or both? How about both? Think, think, think.

LISA HARPER TOOK Gina up to ground level and outside into the chill air just after six in the evening. he led him down an immaculate concrete walkway toward the next building in line. There were knee-high lights set on both sides of the path, a yard apart, already turned on against the gloom of evening. Harper walked with an exaggerated long stride. Gina wasn't sure if he was trying to match his, or if it was something he'd learned in deportment class. Whatever, it made her look pretty good. He found himself wondering what he'd look like if he was running. Or lying down, with nothing on.

"Cafeteria's in here," he said.

he was ahead of him at another double set of glass doors. he pulled one open and waited until he went inside in front of her.

"To the left," he said.

There was a long corridor with the clattering sound and the vegetable smell of a communal dining room at the end of it. He walked ahead of her. It was warm inside the building. He could sense her at his shoulder.

"OK, help yourself," he said. "Bureau's paying. "

The cafeteria was a big double-height room, brightly lit, with molded-plywood chairs at plain tables. There was a service counter along one side. A line of personnel, waiting with trays in their hands. Big groups of trainees in dark blue sweats, separated by senior agents in suits standing in ones and twos. Gina joined the end of the line, with Harper at his side.

The line shuffled up and he was served a filet mignon the size of a paperback book by a cheerful Spanish guy with ID around his neck. He moved on and got vegetables and fries from the next server in line. He filled a cup with coffee from an urn. He took silverware and a napkin and looked around for a table.

"By the window," Harper said.

he led him to a table for four, standing empty by the glass. The bright light in the room made it full dark outside. he put her tray on the table and took her jacket off. Draped it on the back of her chair. he wasn't thin, but her height made her very slender. Her shirt was fine cotton, and he wore nothing underneath it. That was pretty clear. he undid her cuffs and rolled her sleeves to the elbow, one by one. Her forearms were smooth and brown.

"Nice tan," Gina said.

he sighed.

"FAQs again?" he said. "Yes, it's all over, and no, I don't especially want to prove it. "

He smiled.

"Just making conversation," he said.

he looked straight at him.

"I'll talk about the case," he said. "If you want conversation. "

"I don't know much about the case. Do you?"

he nodded. "I know I want this guy caught. Those women were pretty brave, making a stand like that. "

"Sounds like the voice of experience. "

He cut into his steak and tasted it. It was pretty good. He'd paid forty bucks for worse in city restaurants.

"It's the voice of cowardice," he said. "I haven't made a stand. Not yet anyway. "

"You getting harassed?"

he smiled. "Are you kidding?" Then he bluhed. "I mean, can I say that without sounding big-headed or anything?"

He smiled back. "Yes, in your case I think you can. "

"It's nothing real serious," he said. "Just talk, you know, just comments. Loaded questions, and innuendo. Nobody's said I should sleep with them to get promotion or anything. But it still gets to me. That's why I dress like this now. I'm trying to make the point, you know, I'm just the same as them, really. "

He smiled again. "But it's gotten worse, right?"

he nodded, "Right. Much worse. "

He made no reply.

"I don't know why," he said.

He looked at her over the rim of his cup. Egyptian cotton button-down, pure white, maybe a thirteen-inch collar, a blue tie knotted neatly in place and rising gently over her small mobile breasts, men's trousers with big darts taken out of them to curve in around her tiny waist. Tanned face, white teeth, great cheekbones, blue eyes, the long blond hair.

"Is there a camera in my room?" he asked.

"A what?"

"A camera," he said again. "You know, video surveillance. "

"Why?"

"I'm just wondering if this is a backup plan. In case Petrosian doesn't pan out. "

"What do you mean?"

"Why isn't Poulton looking after me? He doesn't seem to have much else to do. "

"I don't follow. "

"Yes you do. That's why Loveth assigned you, right? So you could get real close to me? All this vulnerable little-girl-lost stuff? I don't know why? So maybe if Loveth wants to stop banging on about Petrosian, he's got something else to twist my arm with, like a nice intimate little scene, you and me in my room, on a nice little videocassette he can say he'll send to Lanny. "

he bluhed. "I wouldn't do a thing like that. "

"But he asked you to, right?"

he was quiet for a long time. Gina looked away and drained his coffee, staring at his own reflection in the glass.

"He practically challenged me to try," he said. "Told me you're the b***h from hell, if anybody puts the moves on. "

he was still silent.

"But I wouldn't fall for it, anyway," he said. "Because I'm not stupid. I'm not about to give them any more ammunition. "

he was quiet another minute. Then he looked at him and smiled.

"So can we relax?" he said. "Get past it?"

He nodded. "Sure, let's relax. Let's get past it. You can put your jacket back on now. You can stop showing me your breasts. "

he bluhed again. "I took it off because I was warm. No other reason. "

"OK, I'm not complaining. "

He turned away again and watched the dark through the window.

"You want dessert?" he asked.

He turned back and nodded. "And more coffee. "

"You stay here. I'll get it. "

he walked back to the serving counter. The room seemed to fall silent. Every eye was on her. he came back with a tray bearing two ice cream sundaes and two cups of coffee. A hundred people watched her all the way.

"I apologize," Gina said.

he bent and slid the tray onto the table. "For what?"

He shrugged. "For looking at you the way I've been looking at you, I guess. You must be sick of it. Everybody looking at you all the time. "

he smiled. "Look at me as much as you like, and I'll look at you right back, because you aren't the ugliest thing I ever saw either. But that's as far as it's going to go, OK?"

He smiled back. "Deal. "

The ice cream was excellent. It had hot fudge sauce all over it. The coffee was strong. If he narrowed his eyes and cut out the rest of the room, he could rate this place about as highly as he had rated Mostro's.

"What do people do here in the eveni

ngs?" he asked.

"Mostly they go home," Harper said. "But not you. You go back to your room. Loveth's orders. "

"We're following Loveth's orders now?"

he smiled. "Some of them. "

He nodded. "OK, so let's go. "

he LEFT HIM on the side of the door without the handle. He stood there and heard her footsteps recede across the carpet outside. Then the thump of the elevator door. Then the whine of the car going down. Then the floor fell silent. He walked to the nightstand and dialed Lanny's apartment. The machine cut in. He dialed her office. No answer. He tried her mobile. It was not in service.

He walked to the bathroom. Somebody had supplemented his toothbrush with a tube of toothpaste and a disposable razor and a can of shaving cream. There was a bottle of shampoo on the rim of the tub. There was soap in the dish. Fluffy white towels on the rack. He stripped and hung his clothes on the back of the door. Set the shower to hot and stepped under the water.

He stood there for ten minutes and then shut it off. Toweled himself dry. Walked n***d to the window and pulled the drapes. Lay down on the bed and scanned the ceiling. He found the camera. The lens was a black tube the diameter of a nickel, wedged deep in a c***k in the molding where the wall met the ceiling. He turned back to the phone. Dialed all the same numbers again. Her apartment. He got the machine. Her office. No reply. Her mobile. Switched off.

He reached for the phone and dialed Lanny's apartment. He got the machine. No answer in her office. Her mobile was switched off. He held the phone to his ear for a long time, listening to her cellular company telling him so, over and over again. Then he hung up and rolled out of bed.

He walked to the window and pulled the drapes open. The view faced west and it was still dark night outside. Maybe there was a sunrise behind him on the other side of the building. Maybe it hadn't happened yet. He could hear the distant sound of hard rain on dying leaves. He turned his back on it and walked to the bathroom.

He used the toilet and shaved slowly. Spent fifteen minutes in the shower with the water as hot as he could stand it, getting warm. Then he wahed his hair with the CSI's shampoo and toweled it dry. Carried his clothes out of the steam and dressed standing by the bed. Buttoned his shirt and hung his ID around his neck. He figured room service was unlikely, so he just sat down to wait.

He waited forty-five minutes. There was a polite knock at the door, followed by the sound of a key going into the lock. Then the door opened and Lisa Harper was standing there, backlit by the brightness of the corridor. he was smiling, mischievously. He had no idea why.

"Good morning," he said.

He raised his hand in reply. Said nothing. he was in a different suit. This one was charcoal gray, with a white shirt and a dark red tie. An exact parody of the unofficial Bureau uniform, but a whole lot of cloth had been cut out of it to make it fit. Her hair was loose. There was a wave in it, and it hung front and back of her shoulders, very long. It looked golden in the light from the corridor.

"We've got to go," he said. "Breakfast meeting. "

He took his coat from the closet as he passed. They rode down to the lobby together and paused at the doors. It was raining hard outside. He pulled his collar up and followed her out.