Chapter Sixteen #2
“I haven’t seen the SUV either,” Jim said. “Maybe he is taking a day off or driving a different car.”
“Drive around the strip mall before we take off for the hotel,” Gabriela said to Jim. “It looked like the hallway ended at a back entrance to the office.”
Jim drove around the last building and continued on a narrow service road that was littered with trash and stray cats.
Gabriela counted off units. “Stop here,” she said. “This is the back of Mausud. No exterior light. No obvious security system.” She took a picture of the door. “That’s it for me,” she said. “I have everything I need.”
Jim stopped at the Ritz-Carlton’s entrance, and Rafer and Gabriela got out of the cab.
“I will be at home getting my affairs in order, waiting to hear about our evening activities,” Jim said.
“Great, we’ll be in touch,” Rafer said, waving him away, turning to Gabriela. “He’s sort of a downer on your B & E party.”
“Maybe it won’t be necessary,” Gabriela said, entering the hotel. “I texted Marcella. If she can hack into Mausud, an on-site snoop might not be needed.”
Rafer and Gabriela passed through hotel security and went to the elevators.
“Have you come up with a place to stash Harley?” Rafer asked.
“No,” Gabriela said. “I’ve lost touch with most of my close friends from Scoon, and I have only casual friends and associates in New York.”
“I have a bunch of dive buddies who would take him in,” Rafer said, “but they’re spread across the globe, in remote places that would involve complicated travel. Not a problem if Harley was healthy, but I can’t see him hiking through a lava field to a beach shack with his foot in a cast.”
One more ball in the air, Gabriela thought.
Maybe the solution was to hire a bodyguard for Harley for the next couple days.
Preferably one who spoke English. She let herself into her room, got her MacBook Air out of the small room safe, went to the writing table, and opened her computer.
She didn’t have much hope that Marcella would get anything off the Mausud system, but it didn’t hurt to try, right?
Knock, knock, pause, knock, knock, knock. Rafer was at the door.
“I had an idea about Harley,” Gabriela said, opening the door.
“Is he here?” Rafer said.
“Who?”
“Harley. He isn’t in the room. And some of his clothes are gone.”
“Did he leave a note?”
“I didn’t see a note.”
Gabriela followed Rafer down the hall to his room and did a fast scan.
Two beds. Both had been made but one was rumpled.
Harley’s bed. His laptop and phone were still on the writing table.
His backpack and half of his clothes were gone.
The crutches were on the floor by a club chair.
No note. Gabriela went into the bathroom.
“What’s missing here?” she asked Rafer.
“Nothing at first glance,” Rafer said.
Gabriela’s phone rang.
“You’ll have to excuse my absence today,” the caller said. “I enjoy watching you work but I find the traffic unpleasant.”
Gabriela recognized the voice. Ahmed. She put her phone on speaker mode so Rafer could hear.
“I’ve decided to simplify our arrangement,” Ahmed said. “As you might have already guessed, I have Harley. You can have him back in exchange for the golden coffin.”
“Suppose I don’t want Harley?”
“Then I would find someone more valuable. Your mother perhaps.”
“My mother is far away.”
“Scoon, South Carolina, isn’t far enough away to ensure her safety.”
Gabriela couldn’t breathe. Putting herself in danger wasn’t desirable but she could deal with it.
Putting someone else in danger, especially someone she loved, was painful and unacceptable.
This project was out of control. And walking away from it was no longer an option.
She took a beat to pull herself together and steady her voice.
“I want to talk to Harley,” she said to Ahmed.
“It will be a short conversation.”
Harley came on the phone. “Jeez,” he said.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, they got ice for my foot.”
Ahmed came back on the phone. “We will take good care of your friend for three days.”
“And then?”
“The care will become more creative.”
“How do I get in touch with you? Can I use the number you just called on?”
“Anytime, day or night.”
Gabriela hung up and looked over at Rafer. “I’m not happy.”
“Your new boyfriend plays hardball. How’d they get Harley out of here? There’s a security check at every exit.”
“Maybe they didn’t get him out. Maybe he’s still in the hotel.”
“That’s an interesting idea,” Rafer said.
“Yeah, or not.”
“I’m sure they have security tapes. We could ask to see them.”
“That would start a chain of events that would be time-consuming and complicated. It would bring the police in. It would draw attention to us. If Ahmed found out, and I’m sure he would, he might decide Harley was a liability and needed to be permanently silenced.”
“Cut out his tongue?”
“Cut out his heart,” Gabriela said. Her phone buzzed and she looked at the text message.
“It’s Marcella. She wasn’t able to hack into Mausud.
I know experts who could get in, but it would take time, and after they got in, I’m not convinced they would find anything.
I’m going back to my room. I have work to do.
Call Jim and tell him to pick us up at nine o’clock. ”
“If you find the coffin, will you give it to Ahmed?”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I won’t sacrifice Harley or my mom for the coffin.”
“You would try to take Ahmed out of the picture? Like permanently?”
“Maybe. One way or another.”