Takedown

CHAPTER 12

Warlock may have been a rude punk, but once the clock started ticking, his ability to abandon all distractions and stay focused on his task impressed Alex.

After checking the CCTV cams on those strange, futuristic glasses, and telling Cooper where Frederic Favreau had gotten to, he returned his attention to the case on the sofa and continued picking through the gear. He inspected each piece, setting several micro video cameras and a handful of audio transmitters to the side.

“These should do the trick,” he said, then looked up at Alex. “Are you ready?”

“Just waiting on you.”

“You aren’t going to try to strangle me again, are you?”

“Stop making me want to,” she said.

A few seconds later they poked their head out the door, checked to make sure the hallway was clear, and headed for Favreau’s corner suite.

“Keep an eye on the elevator,” Warlock told her. “I’ve put a loop on the security cams up here, but we wouldn’t want anyone to catch us breaking into Freddy’s room.”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

He smiled and held up a fat felt pen. “My secret weapon.”

“A permanent marker?”

“This isn’t just any marker.” He removed the cap to reveal what looked like the cylindrical connector for an AC adaptor in place of the usual felt tip. “My sonic screwdriver.”

“Your what?”

“I take it you’re not a fan of The Doctor?”

Alex had no idea what he was talking about, and was starting to feel the urge to hurt him again. “Just get it done and explain it to me later, all right?”

He smiled. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” She gave him a look and he raised his hands. “Sorry, sorry. My ex-girlfriend always said I’m a shameless prat who doesn’t know when to keep my mouth shut.”

“I have nothing but sympathy for her. Now are we gonna do this, or wait until Favreau gets back and ask him to open it?”

“Consider it done,” he said, and stepped up to the door. He was about to use his so-called sonic screwdriver when he froze. “Hmmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Looks like Freddy’s a belt-and-braces man.”

“Belt and braces?”

“Overly cautious. Not that I can blame him.” Warlock got closer to the door and studied the frame, top to bottom. “Unless I’m mistaken, and the likelihood of that is zero to none, he has an inexpensive but crudely effective wireless perimeter alarm hooked up to this door.”

“How do you know?”

“My glasses rarely lie.”

She looked at the door and saw nothing, but was willing to take his word for it. “Okay, so can’t you use your fancy pen?”

He eyed her with disdain. “This is for locks, not cheap counter-espionage devices. If we try to breach this entrance, Freddy’ll likely get a notification on his cell phone that someone has invaded his space, and we’ll never see him again.”

“So we fly blind? That’s not gonna work at all. We need eyes in that suite.”

Warlock nodded. “I really do wish I could have procured the room right next to this one. ” He looked across at the rock star’s door. “They’re bound to share a ventilation system.”

“So maybe he’ll let us in,” Alex said. “I can distract him while you do your thing.”

“Who? Bellamy?”

“Is that his name?”

Warlock nodded again. “Liam Bellamy. A Liverpudlian git who thinks playing a single chord and howling like a strangled cat is music.”

“I take it you’re not a fan?”

“Hardly. Considering where he comes from, you’d hope that some of the influence would have rubbed off, but this twat makes millions proving there’s no direct relationship between talent and environment.”

“You think you could pretend to be one? A fan?”

“Of Bellamy’s?” He looked as if she’d asked him to clean out a septic tank. “I suppose I could, but I’d have to seriously consider suicide afterwards.”

“Works for me,” Alex said. “Hopefully you’ll wait until this op is done.”

“Anything for Stonewell. What do you have in mind?”

“Just follow my lead.”

Alex moved to the rock star’s door and knocked. Loudly. She waited a few seconds, got no answer, and knocked again.

Still no answer.

She turned to Warlock. “Apparently he isn’t a hermit after all. Looks like you’re off the hook.” She gestured to the marker in his hand. “So show me some magic.”

“With pleasure.”

He stepped up to Bellamy’s door. “This hotel, like many around the world, is equipped with a key-card lock with a particular flaw that anyone with a little talent in electronics and a connection to the Internet can exploit. I discovered this trick online.”

“And here I thought you were an evil genius.”

“Genius? Yes. Evil? Only when necessary. But I’m afraid I can’t take credit for this one.” He uncapped the pen again and held it under the door’s lock mechanism. “There’s a small hole under here and all I have to do is poke the tip of my wand into it, and as my dear departed grandmother used to say…Bob’s your uncle.”

A green light came on and Warlock turned the knob, opening the door.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Alex said. “Thank God for insolent punks who know how to use the Internet.”

Warlock arched a brow. “If you aren’t careful, sooner or later you’re going to hurt my feelings. Wasn’t throttling me enough?”

“Somehow I don’t think so. Shall we?”

She pushed the door wide and they stepped into a foyer and a living room very similar to theirs, except for three significant differences: It was a corner suite, had only one bedroom, and was a complete dump. Furniture was overturned, room service trays held piles of dirty dishes, empty beer and liquor bottles were strewn about, clothing hung off barstools and lamps, a broken acoustic guitar stuck out from under the sofa, the wall-mounted television monitor had cracked glass, bath towels were piled in a corner, and the overall stink rivaled the Quarantine Road landfill back in Baltimore.

Warlock sniffed. “Tell me that isn’t dead body I’m smelling.”

They heard a very loud snore coming from beyond the bedroom doorway.

“Not dead yet,” Alex said, “but definitely circling the drain.”

They crossed to the bedroom, peered inside, and saw a very naked rock star sprawled faceup across a king-sized bed, clutching a half-empty bottle of Chivas Regal.

Warlock gestured, keeping his voice low. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Liam Bellamy in its natural habitat. Don’t get too close or it’s liable to impregnate you.”

Alex eyed him flatly. “You do know you’re not nearly as clever as you think you are, right?”

“Now you’re just being cruel.”

“Uh-huh. So what’s the plan, here?”

Warlock gestured to the wall behind the bed. “Freddy’s suite is beyond that wall.” He indicated an air-conditioning duct up near the ceiling. “Looks as if I was right about the ventilation system, which means I’ll need to find the crawl space into the ducts, which I assume is somewhere around here.” He nodded toward an open doorway. “Maybe the loo.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “Go do your thing. I’ll stay here and babysit in case our boy from Liverpool beats the odds and wakes up.”

“And if he does?”

“I guess I’ll have to improvise.”