CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Nate
With all of the comings and goings from law enforcement we’d left our suite door ajar. This is how I heard Agent Lopez calling, “Mam, you can’t be here. This floor is an active crime scene, how did you get up here?” And then the ear-splitting response,
“I don’t know who you think you are, young man, but I’m here to see my client, Nate Linden.
I’ve been on a plane for eight hours and if you don’t let me see him right now, there’ll be hell to pay.
” Jack let out a hysterical little laugh and I eased up off the couch and sauntered to the open doorway.
“It’s okay, Agent Lopez,” I pacified, “She’s with us. Good to see you Roz,” I said.
“Nate, oh my gahh’d. I was so worried. What the hell is going on? The place is swarmed with cops…come here, you need a hug,” Roz threw herself against me and even though it seems she was the one in need of a hug I obliged, pulling her in. She eased back and looked at me sternly.
“Are you okay? Your face, your lip,” she fussed.
“Jack got it worst, a few bruises, nothing a little makeup won’t fix.
Come in, come in, we have a room for you for tonight,” I said as I took a hold of the pull handle of Roz’s huge case and dragged it into the suite.
Jack was waiting in the hall and he moved in to greet Roz.
She pulled him in for a squeeze. It surprised me, as my agent was not a hugger.
“Is Luce here too?” Jack asked.
“Lucy’s flight was delayed, last I heard she’ll be here in about an hour,” Roz revealed as we moved together into the lounge.
The taskforce team, Baumann, Delort, Porter, and Deveraux were on the couches. Before the interruption we were being debriefed and getting the story straight between all agencies.
Special Agent Hadley Porter stood and offered her hand,
“Ms Appelbaum, we spoke earlier. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to go to your room. We’re in the middle of a need-to-know conversation and you can’t be here. I’m sure you understand.”
From the scowl on Roz’s face she did not understand. I took her arm and guided her down the hall. “It’s okay, I’ll take you to your room so you can freshen up,” I said, pulling Roz’s case into the first guest room.
“Are you in trouble? Do you need a lawyer? I can make a few calls, find someone here who can represent you,” Roz suggested as we stepped into the lovely en-suite guest room with a view over the square.
“I’m not in trouble. I have to get back to the conversation. I’ll knock when law enforcement has gone.”
“I’m not happy about this, Nate, not one bit. Tell me one thing, why is there a crime scene team up here? Did someone die?”
I pondered for a moment, and then figured it would be best that she heard it from me. “You cannot say a word about this…it will be all over the news soon enough, but…Oliver Roux fell off his balcony,” I revealed.
“Oh,” Roz exclaimed, a hand flying to her mouth. “You didn’t push him, did you? You’ve always hated him.”
“No, he did it to himself,” I stated. I headed toward the door, then I turned and mimed zipping my lips. Roz nodded, understanding now what a messy business this was.
Returning to the lounge I heard Special Agent Porter stating, “The FBI has no jurisdiction to investigate now. It’s up to local law enforcement. As Mr. Roux was a US citizen, we will, of course, assist where we can.”
“What about Dr. Mai and her men?” Jack asked.
“The Chinese agents and Dr. Mai have diplomatic immunity. They’ve been taken to the Chinese embassy.
They will remain there until we get permission to speak with them.
It’s a…delicate situation.” DI Baumann explained.
“We need to get our information straight, because when the death of Mr. Roux is made public, this situation will swiftly be out of our hands.”
“Agreed. What I would like to know is, what happened to these fabled Téng hú chips?” Delort directed the question at Jack and me.
“Did you watch my camera footage?” Jack asked.
“You did well in capturing the event,” Special Agent Porter said reluctantly.
“Roux tried to grab the credit card containing the chips,” the Interpol detective stated.
“Then you saw what happened. Nate had the credit card with the chips inside, Roux tried to grab it and…missed his mark. I’ve no idea where the card is now. Did Dr. Mai take it?”
“This is the thing. We don’t know. As soon as you and Mr. Linden left the room we lost our eyes. None of my officers has found a credit card on the balcony or in the loading bay area where the victim landed,” Baumann revealed.
It would be best if everyone here believed whatever they wanted, so Jack and I were now out of the loop. I wanted to get on with my life, and not be bogged down with the weight of secrets.
“Moving forward,” Special Agent Porter announced.
“You did not witness Mr. Roux’s death; you didn’t even know he was staying at the hotel.
You are shocked, and saddened by this terrible event, and offer thoughts and prayers to his family.
This is the official line. You go about your business, your junket interviews, and your première.
Then you get the hell out of Berlin. Do you understand, gentlemen? ” We both nodded.
Honestly, I like this city and would like, at some point to come back with Jack and truly explore. But, at this moment, the promotions requirements for our film could not be over quickly enough.
****
The following days were a blur of interviews, photo shoots, and, depressingly, separate bedrooms again.
We moved to the rooms originally booked for the Maritime studios party and each evening, when my hotel room door closed, I was alone again.
I hated it, hated being separated from Jack.
I could see he wasn’t happy either. I’d grown comfortable sleeping with him beside me, but we couldn’t let our publicity team know that we were a couple.
The only things keeping me going were thoughts of the future.
My dad was alive and safe, and I was falling in love.
Jack and I both knew we’d have time. We made plans via text messages and calls.
In London I would stay at Jack’s house, and then, we were both free for the summer.
After everything we’d endured, Jack and I would grab life by the balls, together.
****