Double Cross

Chapter 76

THURSDAY AROUND NOON, I got a call from Bree, and it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, not even in the ballpark. “Alex, don’t hate me for this, but there’s no way I can get away this weekend. I’m going to be working straight through. Sorry. Sorry. I’m really sorry.”

We’d been hoping to make up for our aborted camping trip, but she was right, of course. The timing wasn’t any good. In fact, it probably couldn’t have been much worse, given the uproar over DCAK. Not to mention Kyle Craig being on the loose again and no recent word about where he might be.

“How about I make it up to you over drinks tonight?” she said. “Say, nine o’clock at the Sheraton Suites over in Old Town. You know the place? You remember?”

“I do, of course I do, and I’ll be there. Sheraton Suites. Nine o’clock.”

Everyone was a little frustrated right now, but especially the two of us. We’d been working harder than ever on DCAK, and all we had to show for it were a lot of unanswered questions and some very grisly murders. How had he pulled off the scene in Baltimore -and the Smithsonian hit at the same time? Who was the mystery woman who had helped him in Baltimore? What were those numbers on the side of the mailbag supposed to mean?

And what would happen if he tried to top himself again? That one hung over our heads like a weight about to drop-probably not if but when.

The Sheraton Suites over in Alexandria would be a nice trip down memory lane for Bree and me. It was where the two of us had had one very special evening. The Sheraton was right in the middle of the historic Old Town area and a short walk to the Potomac waterfront. It was a good place to end today, and I couldn’t wait to see Bree.

A little before nine, I took a seat at the Fin and Hoof Bar inside the hotel and ordered a cold beer on tap. The bartender, a burly, friendly young guy with a heavy mustache, looked me over. “You Alex?”

My heart sank a little. Strangers almost never give cops good news. “That’s right,” I said.

“Then I guess this is for you.”

He handed me an envelope with the hotel logo. I recognized Bree’s handwriting and opened the letter at the bar. I read, Alex-Change of plans.-B.

Inside the envelope, I also found a hotel card key.

“Have a nice night, Alex,” said the bartender with a smile that suggested Bree had given him the envelope herself. “I’m pretty sure you will.”