The Silenced

Chapter 14

Quinn donned a pair of thin, transparent gloves, then silently counted down from twenty. When he hit zero, he stepped out of the restroom.

The woman was ten feet away, heading toward the shops, her back to him. He walked up behind her, not hiding the sound of his steps. When she turned, her eyes went wide.

There was no question now. She’d definitely been looking for him.

“Hi,” he said.

She turned her head and started walking away.

Quinn reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Hold on.”

“Please, leave me alone,” she said, not even looking back. Her accent was British.

“Sorry. Not an option.”

“I’ll scream.”

“And I’ll kill you where you’re standing.”

He could feel her tense under his palm. “What do you want?” she asked.

He turned her around to face him. “I believe you’re the one looking for me. So what do you want?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I need to—”

She tried to push past him, but he stopped her.

“I wouldn’t do that.” He let his hand hover near the opening of his jacket. Sometimes the threat of a gun was all it took.

For several seconds she didn’t move, then a barely perceptible nod.

“Great. We shouldn’t have any problems.”

Quinn’s phone vibrated in his pocket. With his other hand he retrieved it from his pocket, and glanced at the screen.

Putting a hand on her arm, he said, “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Some place we can have a chat.”

“We can have a chat right here.”

“If we do, it’ll be over very quickly, and you won’t like the results.”

Her eyes moved side to side. “Okay,” she whispered.

Quinn led the woman back to the elevators. While they waited for one to open, he said, “If you cooperate, you’ll be fine.”

“I won’t give you any problems.”

Quinn smiled. “Perfect.”

Over her shoulder, he could see Wills’s man, still sitting in his chair, but now openly looking at him. Quinn gave him a quick nod, and the man returned the gesture.

One of the elevator doors opened, and Quinn ushered the woman inside, then pushed the button for 24.

As soon as the doors closed, he said, “Give me your phone.”

She hesitated, then pulled a phone out of her suit pocket and handed it to him. It was a cheap pay-as-you-go model.

“Thank you,” he said, slipping it into his pocket. “Now the briefcase.”

“I need this for work,” she said.

“Don’t make me ask twice.”

She handed it to him.

“Do you have ID?” he asked.

“It’s in the briefcase.”

“What should I call you?”

Another pause. “Ann.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Well, Ann, you’re doing fine so far. You keep cooperating and you’ll be okay.”

When they reached the twenty-fourth floor, Quinn led her down the hall and around the corner to room 2467.

“This is it,” he said. He could feel her tense again. “Relax. If you cooperate like you said you would, then I promise I won’t hurt you. And I always keep my promises.”

He rapped twice on the door. A second later Nate opened it and moved to the side so they could enter.

Quinn pointed at the bed. “Why don’t you sit there?” he said.

She walked over to the bed, but didn’t sit down.

“You’ll be more comfortable,” Quinn told her.

“I prefer to stand,” she replied.

He stared at her until she looked away. A moment later she sat.

Quinn placed her briefcase on the desk. It was the kind that had combination locks on each hasp. He pushed the release tabs, but the hinges didn’t move.

“What’s the combo?” he asked.

“You don’t need to open it,” she said. “There’s nothing important inside.”

“What’s the combo?”

Her lips pressed together for a moment, then she said, “Zero-six-one.”

“For both sides?”

“Yes.”

He moved the case onto the bed beside her. “Open it.”

If the briefcase was booby-trapped, she would either disarm it before opening the case or not open the case at all. And if she didn’t know it, she’d soon find out.

She dialed in the combo and pushed on the tabs. With a click each latch popped open.

Quinn put the case back on the desk. “Check it,” he said to Nate.

He then pulled out the cell phone the woman had given him. The call logs were empty. As was the contact list. There were no text messages, sent or received, and no pictures had been taken. Either she’d been deleting things as she was going along, or the phones had yet to be used.

He slipped it back into his pocket.

“Why were you following me?” he asked.

“I wasn’t following you,” she said.

“Can I give you a piece of advice?”

She looked at him.

“Remember what I said about cooperating.” He smiled. “Why were you following me?”

A pause, then, “I made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“I should have said no.” The words were whispered, more to herself than to him.

Quinn felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Here,” Nate said, handing him a small booklet with a red cover, one very familiar to Quinn. In fact, he had a couple of them himself. A British passport.

He opened it to the information page. It had been issued a year earlier. The picture inside was of the woman sitting on the bed in front of him. The name listed was Annabel Taplin.

“Annabel or Ann?” he asked.

She looked at him, then away. “Annabel.”

The corner of his mouth turned up as he looked back at the booklet. Her birth date put her age at thirty-two. Her birthplace was listed as Waltham Abbey. He checked for arrival and departure stamps. She’d made two round-trips from London to New York. First in May, and a second in August. Each time she stayed for less than two weeks before returning to the U.K. The final stamp denoted entry into the United States the previous evening.

“You’ll want to see this, too,” Nate said.

He gave Quinn a business card.

There was an address in London and a phone number.

The name of the company tugged at Quinn’s mind. Familiar, yet he couldn’t place why.

He handed the card back to Nate, then leaned over. “See what our contact can find out about this place. I think I’ve heard of it before.”

Nate nodded, then went into the bathroom to call Orlando, shutting the door behind him.

“Okay, Annabel. Why don’t you tell me why you’re in New York?”

“I’m here on business.”

“I’m your business?”

She took a second, then said, “No. Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? That answer falls into the ‘not cooperating’ category. We had an agreement. But if you’re going to break your end, I’m going to have to break mine.”

Her face was tense, her lips pressed tightly together. Then, as if someone had flicked an off switch, she slumped forward, her head falling into her hands.

“Oh, God,” she said as she began to cry.

It lasted only a few moments, then she wiped her eyes and looked up. Her mascara was smeared, creating a thick black outline on her lids.

“I was doing a favor, okay?” she said. “Someone at work. They knew I was in New York and called me this morning. I was told to get that stupid phone.” She waved in the direction of Quinn’s pocket. “Then to come here and wait for you.”

“Only me?”

“Another man, too. They emailed me pictures of each of you.”

“The pictures weren’t on your phone. Where are they?”

“On my computer,” she said, trying hard not to look at her briefcase. “At my hotel.”

Quinn stepped over and looked inside the case. Besides a small stack of business cards, some pens, and two unused legal pads, there were also several folders. He picked them up.

“Those are confidential,” Annabel said.

Ignoring her, Quinn looked inside the first: letters, an unlabeled graph, and a report that looked of little interest. Most of the other folders contained similar documents. The second to last, though, contained printouts of three photos. The first was of David Wills, and the second of Quinn. The third was of a man Quinn didn’t recognize. It was a headshot, the kind used not by actors, but by businessmen and politicians for PR purposes. The picture itself looked dated.

“Who is this?” Quinn said, holding up the man’s photo.

“I don’t know,” she said. “They didn’t give me any names. Just said that there was a chance that man might show up, too.”

“This shot’s from at least twenty years ago. He’d be an old man now.”

She shrugged. “I guess it was the only one they had.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I can tell you only what I know.”

Quinn returned the files to the briefcase, all but the one with the three pictures in it. That one he set on the dresser by itself.

“Once you spotted us, what were you supposed to do?” he asked.

“I was to wait until you were both here, then make a phone call.”

“And after that?”

“After that I could leave.”

“What number were you supposed to call?”

She looked at him, then looked down, resigned. She took a clip out of her hair and handed it to him. On its back side was a local New York number. From the area code, he could tell it was a cell phone. Probably another disposable.

“Do you know whose number this is?” Quinn asked.

“I have no idea.”

“Not the person who asked you to do this?”

“Couldn’t be. When he called this morning, he was in London.”

“And who is he?”

“Someone at work.”

“I’m looking for a name, Annabel.”

“I don’t know his name,” she said.

“A man whose name you don’t know asked you to do something you probably realized was dangerous, and you just said yes?”

“It wasn’t the kind of request I could say no to.”

“Why not?”

The bathroom door opened, and Nate stepped out.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he said.

But before he could go any further, Annabel said, “Please, let me tell you.”

Quinn looked at her, curious. “Tell me what?”

“It’s about my company,” she said.

“Wright Bains Securities?” Quinn asked, recalling the name from the business card.

“It’s not what it seems.”

“Then, what is it?”

“Don’t get me wrong. There are people there who do financial work.”

“But?” Quinn said.

She looked at Nate as if she was gauging whether he knew what she was going to say, and could modify her story if his knowledge was lacking. But Quinn had trained Nate well, and his apprentice’s face betrayed nothing.

“I work for MI6,” she blurted out.

Quinn looked at Nate, and Nate nodded.

“Wright Bains is an MI6 front,” Nate said. “Our contact didn’t even need to check. Knew it the moment I said the name.”

That was why the name had been familiar.

“So you’re MI6,” Quinn said.

“I’m a researcher. Strictly office work.”

“Then, what are you doing in New York?”

“We have meetings here sometimes. That’s all.”

“I’m confused. Why were you in the lobby looking for me?”

“No one else was available. I was here, so they used me.”

“Does that happen often?”

She shook her head. “Never.”

Quinn took a deep breath. He was having a hard time believing her story, but had no time to press her. He needed to warn Wills off and move the meeting someplace else.

“Secure her,” he said to Nate.

“What are you going to do?” Annabel asked.

“We’re going to leave you here,” Quinn said.

Nate emptied one of the pillowcases, then used his pocketknife to cut it into long strips like Quinn had taught him.

“Tie her to the desk,” Quinn said.

“What?” Annabel asked.

“We can’t have you leaving at the moment,” Quinn said. “It’s either that or knock you out.”

It took her only a second to make her choice. She moved over to where Nate was waiting and sat on the ground. He tied her hands and feet to the desk. It left her in an awkward position, but she’d be fine for an hour or two.

“Mouth?” Nate asked.

“Yes,” Quinn said. “But not too tight.”

Annabel glared at Nate, but said nothing as he used two of the strips as a gag. While this was going on, Quinn removed the image of the unidentified man from the folder and snapped a photo of it on his camera phone, then put it back with the other two. He emailed the photo to Orlando with a short message: Need ID.

“All right, Annabel,” Quinn said. “In a while I’ll call the front desk and have them send someone up to release you. Until then, it would be best if you just relax. Understand?”

She nodded.

Quinn stood up and grabbed the folder with the pictures off the dresser. “Next time someone asks you to do an errand like this, I’d advise you to say no.”