Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery) (22 page)

“You both are going to leave with those guys at
the door. You will not tell them anyone is in this room, do you understand? You
get five minutes to get down the hall and out the main entrance. Do not try to
give us the slip because we’re following you.”

He flipped open a cell phone and dialed.
“Ratko?
Send some of the boys to the front entrance right
away. We got two of them, the girl and the big guy, so watch for them. Some
guys are here to escort the girl to the airport. Tell the boys to be in front
to head them off.”

“All right, let’s go,” Onions said to us.

The
only thing Jake and I could do was play along and hope. At the moment my brain
wasn’t working fast enough to formulate an escape plan. Jake managed to stand.
I grabbed my carry on and his
arm,
and we shuffled to
the door.

“Wait,” Onions said. He positioned the knife at
Jake’s throat. Don’t get funny on us. You go with these guys, but if you try
anything funny, the girl gets it in the head.” He made a finger gun and pointed
it at my head.
“Pop, pop.
Get it?”

Jake nodded once. We made it to the door, and I
opened it. Standing across the hall was Hudson and the short, wiry guy with the
buzz cut.

“We’re ready,” I said.

“This way,” said Hudson, pointing to the right,
not acknowledging that he knew me. “We’ll go to the elevator.”

As we cleared the door, the one to the room
across the hall exploded open, and two guys in suits with guns lunged into our
room before the door closed. Hudson shoved us against the wall.

We heard a cry, then another. No shots were
fired. Then everything was quiet.

A typical day at your five star
hotel
.

Hudson herded us in a half run to the elevator.

“Their friends are waiting to meet us at the
main entrance,” I said, trying to catch my breath after we gained the relative
safety of the down elevator. As far as I knew, the two attack guys were still
in the room with Onions and Ivan. No one had been in hot pursuit.

“I’m pleased to hear that more men are coming,”
he said with his usual smile, not even winded, looking very spy in black windbreaker
and gray slacks.

I was having a panic attack myself.

“You are?” I said.

“By all means,” Hudson said. “They are coming
out of the woodwork now, as the saying goes. We will catch them at their game.
You performed your role as bait splendidly. I apologize for the terrible ordeal,
but you helped catch two of the gang we’re targeting.”

“We were bait? Hudson, those guys threatened to
cut body parts off Jake, if we didn’t tell them where the rifles were. They had
knives. Jake got a head chop out of the deal.”

Jake seemed to be coming back to life after the
run down the hall. He was rubbing and rotating his neck.

“It was all in the line of duty,” he said. “No
permanent harm done.”

Hudson examined Jake’s neck. “You have a nasty welt,
but I rather suspect you’ll live. We will need your continued cooperation. Those
fellows think you know where the rifles are. We’re going to pretend to take
them there.”

“I thought we were going to the airport,” I
said. “Alice said we’d be removed from harm’s way. I’m going to Australia. I
have the ticket right here.” I tapped my bag. “Jake and Opal are going back to
Oregon.”

“Right.
But before you
do, we need you to be a decoy of sorts.”

“I don’t like the sound of this.”

The elevator door opened before I had more time
to protest.

Hudson hustled us to the sitting area of the
main lobby done in colors of maroon, yellow and gray with lots of sharp corners
and pointy designs in the carpet. I was trying to look cosmopolitan and
together, but I felt more like a bag lady.

 
“I’m
sorry,” Hudson said, “I didn’t introduce you to my associate. This is Mike.”
Hudson motioned to Mike who didn’t look like he could knock over a flea.

“Mike is going to drive. All four of us will be
going together ostensibly to the airport.”

“Hudson,” I said, “some guys are set to kidnap
us in front of the hotel right now.”

“No, they won’t,” said Hudson. “We will exit
the main entrance so the men can see you. We are trying to force their hand and
get them moving.”

“Hold on,” I said. “Those guys said Cody didn’t
deliver on the
rifles, that
half are missing. They
think we know where the rifles are. They might kill us.”

“Not if I can help it.” Hudson smiled his warm,
comforting smile again.

I was not comforted.

Hudson said, “Cody couldn’t deliver the rifles
because I concealed them so these men would come after the rifles. It was a way
to draw them out in the open, to make a move, so that we can catch them in the
act. We’ll be grateful if you continue to play along. It will be just a matter
of one more car ride.”

“Let me understand,” Jake said, “we draw these
guys out by becoming targets.”

“Not quite. We have people monitoring your
every move who will come to your aid if anything goes wrong. Trust me.”

“That’s asking a lot,” I said.

Hudson took my hand. “I know none of this makes
much sense to you. I may never be able to explain everything, but I am asking
this one last favor.”

I heaved a great suffering sigh and looked at
Jake.
 

He shrugged and said, “Lead the way.”
 

Mike peeled off to get the car. Hudson led us
out the main entrance, and we stood outside under the portico in clear view,
sitting ducks. The morning mist swirled around rush hour traffic already in
full swing along Route Seven, although it was barely light.

“Keep smiling,” said Hudson. “Let’s appear a
joyous group. Not a care in the world.”

Jake said, “I could use a drink. I’d settle for
some strong coffee.”

I said, “I would like to know how you managed
to deceive us for so long, Hudson.”

He smiled. “It was my job.”

“Why did you say you needed an alibi?”

“Opal and Jake thought I needed an alibi so I
played along. Jake especially didn’t want you to leave.”

We both looked at Jake who kept his eyes on the
horizon.

“I had to play along,” said Hudson, “you must
understand. These men set the fire. Cody egged them on, telling them about the
receipts and the incriminating evidence in Albert’s study. They got carried
away and nearly burned the place down. It’s a terrible tragedy to destroy a fine
house like that. I must say, I had some anxious moments with the police till we
got that sorted out.”

A dark gray Suburban pulled in front of the
entrance.

“Here we are.” Hudson said. “Now the fun begins.
Maybe we’ll get into a high-speed chase. I do so love them.”

“High-speed chase?”
I
said, as he helped me into the back seat. Jake got in the other side. “It
didn’t say anything in my contract about a high speed chase.”

Hudson jumped in the front seat, and we pulled
out slowly as if taunting the other guys to follow us in full view of the
bustling world of Tysons Corners. Two cars fell in behind, one a brown Chevy,
the other a dark green SUV. I counted it lucky no one shot at us so far.
 

“Those guys must be confused,” I said. “The
other two were supposed to be with us.”

Mike and Hudson kept moving their heads an inch
or two side to side, monitoring the rear view mirrors.

“Confusion is good,” said Hudson. “What counts
is that they are following us.”

We turned right on Route Seven, heading west
through the surreal world of Tysons Corners strip malls and car dealerships.
Jake’s hand reached over and covered mine on the seat. I looked at him and managed
a weak smile. The gesture calmed my wired tight nerves for a nanosecond.

“What about Opal and the boys?” Jake said.

“Yes,” I said, “Alice is supposed to help Jake and
Opal get to Oregon. We can’t leave Opal behind. Hudson, do you know where she
is?”

“When the boys and I came back from our late
night outing, I arranged for them to pick Opal up and head out to Oregon in
their truck.” He checked his watch. “They’ll have been on the road for hours by
now. We’ll contact them to make sure all is well as soon as we catch a few more
criminals.”

“That’s a relief. Hudson, might I ask for whom you
work?” I said.

“All I can say is that I’m on loan. We are
trying to break an intricate crime organization that spans a number of
countries. This sting operation is one link in the chain. Now that we are on
the move, the dominoes are falling. Everything will turn out just fine, you’ll
see.”

“I wish I could feel as confident.”

Mike set an easy pace through the Tysons area,
stopping at nearly every light. Traffic was bumper to bumper. It was the usual
Northern Virginia snarl. Hudson and Mike checked mirrors and peered about,
exchanging a terse word or two. Apparently, the brown Chevy was behind us.

I glanced at the car beside me. It was a large
truck that looked a lot like the truck Jake’s buddies were driving. I nudged
Jake and pointed. Lo, there sat one of the boys at the wheel, giant cowboy hat
fixed firmly on his head. Opal waved at us through the back window.

Jake said, “Hudson, to your right.”

Hudson glanced over and did a double take. “I
say, there are your friends. And there is Miss Opal. I thought they would be far
afield at this hour. How extraordinary. I thought the Geronimo unit was taking
care of them.”

Mike leaned forward and looked. “Geronimo said
everything was good to go. I guess they got delayed. I hope they don’t follow
us.”

“I don’t want to draw attention to them,” said
Hudson.

Opal rolled down her window and waved, trying
to shout to us. I rolled my window down to hear her.

“Fiona, it is so good to see you. Thanks for
coming back. And there is Hudson. Well, I never. Is Jake with you?”

I could barely hear her over the traffic.

Hudson turned around. “Please, Miss Marlowe,
please. Try not to draw attention to Miss Opal. We don’t want anything to
jeopardize our plans.”

“Opal,” I said, motioning with my hand, “you go
on. We’ll catch up with you later. We’ll be in touch. Go on now.”

She nodded and rolled up the window. They forged
ahead in traffic.

I leaned forward to speak to Hudson. “I hope
this doesn’t mean that plans are going awry.”

“Nothing to worry about Miss Marlowe, we are on
track to wrap this caper up today.”

“Great. That’s really comforting.”

Jake said, “I could use a cup of coffee.”

“Me, too,” I said. “Are they still following?
Maybe we could talk the boys into breakfast and coffee. We could talk rifles.”

 
“Watch
out,” said Mike as he swerved to avoid the car in front that had hit its
brakes. A head-wrenching crunch reverberated through the car. The car behind
smacked into us. The car to the left of us swerved to miss the guy in front of
him and skidded sideways into us. The sound of screeching metal, squealing
brakes and angry shouts swirled around us.

“You all right, Fiona?” Jake said, as we jerked
to a stop.

“I think so.”

We pivoted around surveying the damage. Crumpled
cars and red faces hemmed us in. People got out of their cars. No one was
moving in the westbound lane. The eastbound lane slowed to a crawl as people
rubbernecked to see what kind of fool traffic pile up had happened this time.

Hudson said to Mike, “I say, isn’t that the
people from the Geronimo unit in that late model Ford truck?”

Mike looked and cursed a few choice words under
his breath. “Man, they never follow instructions. They weren’t supposed to be
with us out here. They were supposed to have the other folks on the road. What
are they doing here?”

Hudson shook his head. “They are so very
unreliable. You would think with all their funding they’d be able to have
better trained people.”

He turned to us. “Wait here. We will reconnoiter
and ascertain what is to be done.”

Mike got out with him. Both stuck their hands
in the pockets as only men can do and walked to the Ford truck.

Jake put his arm around me.
“Looks
like we might be here for awhile.
I wonder if these seats recline. Want
to sleep with me, Fiona?”

He kissed me softly on my hair, and I couldn’t
help but snuggle against him.
“Sounds tempting.
We
never did resolve whose room we’d end up in last night. What a night. What happens
next?”

“Haven’t a clue. I’d say we are caught in forces
beyond our control, and the vise is closing. How I got here from a ranch in
beautiful southeast Oregon is beyond me. It all started with Albert croaking.”

“Yes, and you know we still don’t know who murdered
him, or if he opted out himself.”

By this time everyone had gotten out of their
cars and were milling about, looking at damage, talking to other motorists. Hands
waved. Voices rose.

“Look, Jake, the Ford truck guys are talking to
Mike and Hudson. Maybe the confederation of agencies is battling this one out.
I’ve heard of that,
federal agencies fighting over whose
jurisdiction has
the upper hand.”

“Don’t know. What do you say we split and find
some coffee?”

“Do you think we should? What about the guys
following us?”

“We’ll be careful and be back before anyone
misses us.”

We walked through the milling motorists and found
a little dive called the Silver Diner opened on a side street and settled into
a booth. The waitress brought coffee with the menus. I sighed in contentment and
ordered a cinnamon bun to revitalize my soul. Jake ordered steak and eggs.