Daniel nodded, slowing his pace. “Thank you. Sorry to be like this, but we have reasons to be cautious.”
“Yeah. I bet you do,” said the man, pausing in front of room 451. “Stay right there, or security will do more than just walk you out of here.”
Daniel stopped several feet from the room, nodding his understanding. “Hurry.”
The man shook his head and rolled his eyes, stepping into the room. The instant he disappeared, Daniel drew the pistol out of the handbag and slung the bag’s handles over his shoulder, slipping into position right next to the door.
“Son of a bitch,” muttered the attendant, a touch of confusion in his voice.
Leading with the pistol, Daniel entered the room, finding the attendant fumbling with the handheld radio attached to his belt.
“Stop what you’re doing and raise your hands,” said Daniel.
The man let the radio hang half connected to his belt and put his hands up. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“What floor does Kevin take to offload his cart?”
“What?”
“You heard me,” said Daniel.
“S-two. Second subfloor.”
“Can I get there from the stairwell?”
The attendant thought about it for a little too long. “David, I need an answer right away,” said Daniel, shifting his aim to the man’s head.
The guy turned his head and lowered his hands in front of his face, a fairly natural reaction for untrained civilians when a firearm is pointed at their face.
“Jesus! You don’t have to point that at me,” he said, suddenly blurting an answer. “You can get there, but you’ll need an access card to open the door. My card doesn’t open any of the sublevel doors. Swear to God!”
Daniel snatched the radio off his belt with enough force to break the plastic clip barely keeping it in place.
“Sit on the couch and don’t move,” Daniel hissed, sliding next to Vesna’s bed to reach the nightstand.
The gruesome sight didn’t distract him. Daniel was single-mindedly focused on taking the steps necessary to save Jessica, and Vesna Erak’s dead body didn’t weigh into that equation. Every fraction of a second counted now. He ripped the phone on the nightstand out of its connection and tossed it on the other side of the bed. A quick scan of the room on his way out didn’t reveal an intercom system.
“I’m going to shut this door. If it opens and I’m still here, you’re a dead man. Understood?” he said, keeping the pistol aimed at David’s head.
The man nodded emphatically. “Understood.”
Daniel closed the door behind him and took off for the lobby. He could shoot his way through the sublevel door if necessary, or take a card from someone on the way down. One way or the other, he was getting through that door. He hadn’t gone more than a few steps when the service elevator chimed.
Coming to finish me off? Big mistake.
He reversed direction and bolted for the end of the hallway, diving into position on the floor in front of the doors as they started to open. Steadying his aim from a prone position, the doors slowly peeled back, revealing the blue cart.
What the fuck?
“Daniel?” said a familiar voice from the elevator car. “It’s me, Munoz. We don’t have time to fuck around.”
Munoz? Sure as hell sounded like him. Sanderson must have sent a team to keep an eye on them. Fucking Sanderson!
“Show yourself,” said Daniel.
A head slowly appeared from the right side of the elevator, confirming Munoz’s identity. He was dressed in the same type of maroon hospital scrubs the kidnapper had worn. Daniel hopped to his feet and rushed into the elevator, frantically digging through the blood-splattered towels and linens. He looked up at Munoz while still tossing the cart.
“Where is she?”
“She’s out cold in a hidden compartment underneath the towels,” said Munoz, pressing S2 on the elevator panel. “Vitals are strong. She’s fine.”
“How the fuck do you get this open?”
Munoz grabbed his shoulder, forcefully pushing him back. “I need you to focus here. Jessica is going to be unconscious for a while. We’ll make sure she’s safe.”
Daniel knocked Munoz’s arm away and knelt next to the cart, examining the plastic bin as the elevator doors closed.
“There’s a plastic latch on the front right corner,” said Munoz.
He immediately located the latch and pulled it upward, releasing the door. Jessica lay crumpled inside, her head lolling on the base of the container. He placed his hand on her neck and felt for a pulse, finding it quickly. Slow but steady, definitely sedated. The elevator started to descend.
“We need to get her somewhere safe until she’s conscious. Then I’m flying her out of here,” said Daniel. “I assume you’re staying somewhere off the books?”
“We have a bigger problem,” said Munoz.
“I don’t care about your bigger problems,” said Daniel. “I have a plan to get her away from all of these problems. It was a mistake coming here.”
“You definitely fucked up,” said Munoz. “Almost got her killed.”
“Fuck you,” said Daniel, then he muttered, “And thank you.”
“Thank you?” said Munoz with an amused look. “Sanderson was right. You are going soft.”
Daniel rubbed his face and took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. He’d almost lost her. How careless and stupid. To get this close to escaping their previous lives and fuck it up so stunningly. Sanderson was right. He was getting soft, and it was time to walk away for good. Either he’d get them killed, or she’d get them killed, sooner or later. They’d had too many close calls lately. The only way their departure on La Ombra could have been timed better was if it had happened two weeks ago. They’d planned to permanently cut every communications tie to anyone in their past.
“You there?” Munoz prodded.
“Just thinking.”
“Well, here’s something to think about. Srecko Hadzic is alive and well, not too far away from here.”
“Hadzic? He died in a botched rescue attempt. I thought that was confirmed?” said Daniel, closing the hidden door.
“Apparently not,” said Munoz, pausing to listen to his earpiece.
Daniel shut the latch on the cart and stood up, studying the longtime Black Flag operative. Munoz’s face was a storybook of scars, the most recent addition visible on his forehead, just below his dense hairline. They’d both had close calls in Uruguay. Sanderson nearly lost the two remaining graduates of the first Black Flag class in the same operation. The operative responded to whatever message he’d received.
“We’re almost to S-two,” said Munoz, listening again.
“Copy,” he replied, hitting S3.
“Change of plans?”
“Always. Melendez found the van.”
“What are we dealing with here?” said Daniel.
“Our electronic surveillance team picked up some encrypted transmissions piggybacking the in-hospital signal-boosting system. They were able to pinpoint the location to the second subfloor, near this elevator. Melendez and I have been stashed in a closet on S-one for the past hour, waiting for the two of you to arrive.”
“GPS trackers on the cars at the airport?” said Daniel.
“And one sewn into the briefcase,” said Munoz. “We eliminated a two-man team waiting with a stretcher and body bag by the elevator on S-two just as the elevator started its return journey. The guy that pushed the cart onto one of the elevators never saw it coming. We weren’t sure if they had more men roaming around, so I pushed the cart back in and came straight back to you. Melendez located a van with a single driver waiting in the loading bay.”