She shook her head violently. ‘I don’t. I swear to God, I don’t!’
He sensed she was telling the truth. ‘Last night’s phone call. Why did you call me?’
‘What?’
‘You heard my question. Why in the world did you call me?’
She paused, searching for the words to explain her rationale. ‘I don’t know. I was scared and needed advice from someone who’d been in dangerous situations, and I thought you would be less emotional than David. I figured he might flip out if I told him my life was in danger, and I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t want him to feel that pain. Besides, I didn’t even know if he would answer my call. We haven’t spoken in a very long time.’
Payne rubbed his eyes in thought. After having doubts about her intentions, he realized maybe she wasn’t playing games after all. Maybe she honestly didn’t realize how much damage her phone call had caused. Although slightly naïve, her explanation made a lot of sense. ‘Just so you know, calling the best friend of your ex is never the best thing to do, especially in the middle of the night.’
She glared at him. ‘Sorry if I bothered you. I promise it won’t happen again.’
He shook his head to let her know she’d missed his point. ‘Maria, your call didn’t bother me. It bothered him.’
‘It bothered David?’
‘Of course it bothered him. You were in trouble, and you called me instead of him. How do you think that made him feel?’
She groaned in understanding. ‘Not very good.’
Payne lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘But he was willing to swallow his pride and fly down here to make sure you were OK. If you ask me, that says a hell of a lot about him and his feelings for you. Please keep that in mind over the next few days.’
She nodded. ‘I promise I will.’
‘If not — if you start messing with his heart in any way — I swear to God we’ll be on the next flight out of here, even if I have to kidnap him myself.’
19
Jones returned to the suite a few minutes later, completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place in his absence. Although he sensed some lingering tension in the room, he was too excited about his discovery to ask about it.
‘I think we caught a major break,’ Jones proclaimed. ‘I figured a nice resort like this would have lots of surveillance, and I was right. They have cameras in the hallways, in the stairwells and in the elevators. Unless the bastards jumped out of a plane and landed on your terrace, the odds are pretty good that we’ll be able to see who trashed your suite.’
‘That’s great,’ Maria said. ‘Do you think the hotel will show us the footage?’
Jones shrugged. ‘Only one way to find out.’
Payne nodded. ‘Why don’t you let me handle that? You two have better stuff to do.’
Maria tensed, unsure what he was implying. ‘Such as?’
‘Show DJ where Hamilton parked his car. Maybe you’ll find something useful inside.’
‘Sure, no problem. But I don’t have his keys.’
Jones grinned. ‘We know. That’s why we’re going to the car while Jon is at the security office. He’ll distract the guards while we break in.’
She laughed. ‘Sounds like fun.’
‘It will be if we don’t get caught. Mexican prisons are the worst.’
‘Are you speaking from experience, or …?’
Jones glanced at Payne, then back at her. ‘Let’s just say I’m glad you didn’t call us from Tijuana because we’re no longer welcome there.’
‘You’re banned from Tijuana?’
‘We were,’ Jones said as he opened the door for her. ‘But only for a decade.’
‘A decade?’ she screeched. ‘What did you do?’
Jones temporarily ignored her. ‘You coming?’
Payne shook his head. ‘Not quite yet. I still have to call DC. I’ll text you when the coast is clear.’
‘Remember to grab the briefcase.’
‘Will do.’
‘Oh, and give my best to Randy.’
Payne laughed. ‘I’m sure that will make his day.’
Technically speaking, Randy Raskin didn’t work in Washington, DC. He actually worked across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, inside a windowless office in the sub-basement of the Pentagon, but due to his classified position as a computer researcher for the US military, the data he compiled frequently found its way to the White House and Capitol Hill.
Amazingly, most of his friends thought he was nothing more than a low-level programmer, working a dead-end job in the world’s largest office building — because that’s what he was required to tell them. In reality, though, he was a hi-tech maestro, able to track down just about anything in cyberspace. Thanks to the next-generation technology at his disposal and his high-security clearance, Raskin was privy to many of the government’s biggest secrets, via a mountain of classified data that was there for the taking if only you knew how to access it. His job was to make sure the latest information got into the right hands at the best possible time.
Over the years, Payne and Jones had used his services on many occasions, which had eventually led to a friendship. Raskin often pretended he didn’t have time for them or their bi-monthly favours, but the truth was he admired them greatly and would do just about anything to help them. In fact, one of his biggest joys in life was living vicariously through them, whether that was during their stint with the MANIACs or their other recent adventures around the globe. That included keeping tabs on them at all times.
Raskin answered his phone on the second ring. ‘Research.’
Payne smiled. ‘Señor Raskin. How are you today?’
He leaned back in his chair. ‘I was doing great until I heard your voice. Now I’m worried about how many laws you’re going to ask me to break during our conversation. I hope you know Big Brother is recording this.’
‘Wait a second. I thought you were Big Brother.’
Raskin shook his head. ‘Sadly, I’m more like Big Brother’s little brother. He accumulates all this cool information about the world, then I sneak into his room and play with his toys.’
Payne laughed. ‘That describes you perfectly. You’re such a little pest.’
‘I can’t believe you just called me a pest. You’re not even on active duty, yet you call me more often than Central Command.’
‘That’s because CENTCOM is running a war, and I’m bored at the beach.’
Raskin leaned forward and hit a few keys on his wireless keyboard. Instantly, a map of the world appeared on one of the screens in front of him. A moment later, the camera zoomed in on the east coast of Mexico, revealing a blinking dot in the city of Cancún. The camera kept zooming closer and closer until Raskin was able to see Payne’s precise location on a digital map of the city.
‘How’s the Fiesta Americana? I hear it’s lovely at this time of year.’
Payne grunted his displeasure at being tracked by satellite. To show his annoyance, he looked out the window and flipped off the sky. ‘I thought you were going to stop doing that.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Tracking my mobile signal for your personal pleasure.’
‘And I thought you were going to stop calling me at work.’
‘I would, but you never leave work.’
‘That’s because I don’t want you to call me.’
Payne laughed at the comment. The truth was Raskin never left work because he was a raging workaholic who consumed more caffeine in a single day than Starbucks served in a week. ‘Fine! If you don’t want to talk, I guess I won’t tell you about Maria.’
Raskin’s ears perked up. ‘Maria? Who’s Maria?’
‘You mean you don’t know? I figured that with all of those fancy databases at your disposal, you’d already have her photo and dossier in front of you.’