Page 43 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)
DESMOND
G abriel and I trudged down to the shore and heaved the guard’s body out into the lake. Given his heavy winter clothes and boots, Floyd sank like a stone. The water rippled for a few seconds, then smoothed out.
“We can hope no one will find him until spring,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Gabriel and I hiked through the woods, around the golf course, and back to the hotel.
We hunkered down behind the same evergreen hedges I’d used earlier and waited for the guards to stroll past us.
The ballroom lights were still burning brightly, but the conversation, laughter, and music had died down.
It was a few minutes before midnight, and the casino party was wrapping up.
Given the gusty wind and continued snowfall, I didn’t feel like climbing back up the side of the hotel, even with my spiked gloves and boots, so I tugged my winter hat off my head and stuffed it into my pocket.
I also took off my jacket and turned it inside out, so that the light blue interior showed, then put it back on.
The left sleeve was ripped, and blood stained the fabric from where the bullet had grazed my arm earlier, but I was hoping no one would notice the imperfections.
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “A reversible jacket? What good is that going to do you?”
“Make it look a little less like I was dressed in black from head to toe and skulking around places I wasn’t supposed to be.” I gestured at his outfit. “Unlike some people.”
“I don’t care if Bryce and his goons realize I was skulking around.” Gabriel popped up the collar on his black leather jacket. “Besides, I look amazing in this jacket.”
I snorted, but the two of us slipped out from behind the hedges, crossed the terrace, and stepped inside the hotel.
Lots of partygoers were still clustered in the lobby, doing a final bit of drinking and socializing before retiring to their rooms. Gabriel and I attached ourselves to the back of a large group of people and walked past the guards stationed close to the ballroom.
The guards gave the guests bored looks, and their gazes passed right over Gabriel and me.
None of the men looked upset, which meant they hadn’t realized their buddy Floyd was missing yet. Good.
Gabriel and I were about halfway across the lobby when a flutter of movement caught my eye. Joan was hovering beside a column, pretending to check her phone. She tilted her head to the side, then walked into a corridor.
Gabriel spotted her too. “Looks like your friend wants to chat.”
We followed Joan down the corridor and into the same public library Charlotte and I had ducked into earlier. A faint hum of magic crackled around Joan’s body, and her head swiveled back and forth as though she was searching for something.
A few seconds later, she stopped in the back of the library. Joan glanced around, then nodded in satisfaction. With her transmuter power, she could sense the energy emanating off cameras and listening devices just like I could, and she knew this area was a security dead zone.
Joan spun around on her heel, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at Gabriel. “What is he doing here?”
“Gabriel decided to tag along on my reconnaissance mission,” I replied.
The former cleaner grinned at Joan. “What can I say? I just can’t quit the spy business no matter how hard I try.”
She scoffed and turned to me. “Did you find Henrika’s lab?”
I shook my head. “No. If the lab is in the woods, it’s too well hidden for me to detect, even with my galvanism. How is Charlotte?”
“She’s fine,” Joan replied. “Diego was finally able to hack into the hotel’s security cameras. Charlotte left Henrika’s penthouse about fifteen minutes ago and went back to your suite.”
Relief coursed through me. Charlotte was a skilled spy, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to worry about her.
I quickly filled Joan in on Gabriel’s and my search, my killing the guard, and the two of us dumping the body in the lake. “What’s been happening here?”
Joan shrugged. “I’ve been trailing the other paramortals around the hotel.
Steig hit on one woman after another before finally giving up and returning to his room, bitter, drunk, and alone.
Oriana and Niles have both been roaming around the lobby, the common areas, and the terraces with various gadgets.
They’re obviously searching for Henrika’s lab, although they haven’t had any more luck than you two had in the woods. ”
“Maybe the resort is just a giant smokescreen,” Gabriel chimed in. “Maybe Henrika’s lab isn’t here at all. Maybe it’s back in D.C.”
Joan nodded. “I had a similar thought, so I asked Diego to check topographical maps of the area around the resort, as well as thermal imaging, although he hasn’t found anything unusual yet.”
Gabriel gave her an appreciative look. “Smart and beautiful. If you’d been my liaison, I might have stayed on as a Section cleaner.”
He winked at Joan, who rolled her eyes. But the most curious thing was that both their auras flickered, his with obvious interest and hers with something I couldn’t quite decipher.
Gabriel clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, Slick, this is where I leave you. I’ve got my own missions to check on. Try not to get yourself and Charlotte killed before morning. Okay?”
Gabriel strutted around a bookshelf and vanished from view.
“All the reports about him were right,” Joan muttered. “Gabriel Chase is one of the most arrogant cleaners I’ve ever met.”
She glared at the spot where he had disappeared, then focused on me again.
“Gia texted me right before you entered the lobby. General Percy wants an update. Apparently, he’s frustrated with our lack of progress and wants to send the strike teams in tonight in hopes of catching Henrika and the other paramortals off guard. ”
I shook my head. “He can’t send strike teams into a hotel full of innocent guests and workers.
Henrika has probably rigged the whole structure with explosives, just like she and Adrian Anatoly rigged the lawn at the Halstead Hotel to blow up Charlotte and me.
If she has enough Redburn on-site, Henrika could kill everyone in the hotel and turn the entire mountain into a giant smoking crater.
We can’t risk creating a mass-casualty event. ”
Joan nodded. “That’s what Gia told Percy, but she doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to wait. He outranks her, so he can assume tactical control anytime he wants.”
It wasn’t a question of if the General would take control but when . My father wasn’t known for his patience, and sooner or later, he would decide that eliminating Henrika was worth any risk, even endangering civilian lives.
“We’re still supposed to meet Henrika at eight a.m. in the lobby. Supposedly, that’s when we’ll get down to business, and she’ll finally show us a sample of Redburn. After that, maybe we’ll at least know where the lab is.”
Joan nodded again. “I’ll tell Gia and the others. Be careful, Dez.”
“You too.”
She slipped out of the library. I had started to follow her when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and grimaced. The General was demanding a video call.
I sighed and accepted the call, and my father’s face appeared on the screen.
“Mission update,” he barked.
I told him everything that had happened, from our first meeting with Henrika and the other paramortals in the penthouse to the poker game in the ballroom to my searching the woods.
I edited out a lot of details, though, including Charlotte using the Grunglass Necklace as a bargaining chip and Gabriel accompanying me into the woods.
When I finished, my father shook his head in a slow, disappointed motion I knew all too well.
“How hard can it be to find a weapons lab?” the General said, fixing his steely blue gaze on me. “It has to be on that mountain somewhere.”
“Well, wherever it is, it’s extremely well hidden. I’m hoping the Redburn demonstration tomorrow morning will give Charlotte and me some more hints about where the lab might be.”
My father’s lips puckered, and I could hear the steady drumming of his fingers. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe Henrika will take you to the lab in the morning. Surely she won’t risk demonstrating the explosive out in the open where all the guests could see it.”
I didn’t think there was anything Henrika Hyde wouldn’t risk, especially if it meant keeping herself out of a Section black site, but I held my tongue.
“We have made some progress,” I said, trying to put a positive spin on things. “Charlotte got Henrika to gamble away the UC list.”
Instead of being pleased, the General let out a derisive snort.
“I don’t care about the list. We can always pull our undercover agents out of harm’s way if needed.
Getting our hands on the Redburn formula and eliminating Henrika are the two most important things.
Those are still your primary objectives, Desmond. Everything else is secondary.”
“I know that,” I snapped.
“Then get it done ,” the General snapped right back. “Or I’ll send in the strike teams and take care of matters myself just like I should have years ago.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
My father hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Henrika has been a thorn in Section’s side for far too long. She needs to be eliminated, no matter what. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.” I’d learned a long time ago there was no use arguing with the General when he was in one of his moods.
My father cleared his throat again. “Be careful, and stay safe, son.”
“Yes, sir.” Once again, that was all I could say.
My father hit a button and ended the video call. I stared at my phone, wondering at the General’s cryptic words—and exactly why he wanted Henrika Hyde dead so badly.