“Pit Vipersss. Plural. We placed one in each room. They’re good to go, but we still have the problem of positive identification.”
I leaned back and said, “Okay, I hear you. Did you find a place for a single camera? I don’t want to put one in each room.”
“Yeah, we can emplace one in the hallway with a view of each door. Over one cycle of daylight we can PID from that.”
I nodded and said, “We’ll deal with PID later. Go ahead with your assault plan, assuming we know the room.”
He nodded and said, “This is going to sound ridiculous, but it’ll work. We can’t frog-march the Ghost down the hallway at gunpoint, and we can’t carry him through the hotel after we’ve lumped him in the head. So...”
He seemed reluctant to say the next step. I said, “So... what?”
Brett said, “I’ll tell him. It was my idea.” He turned to me and said, “So we thump him in the head, pump him with a sedative, and then lower him to the ground over the balcony on the outside. We evac straight into the jungle at the edge of the property without anyone in the hotel even knowing we’re there.”
Incredulous, I said, “Are you serious? What, like John Wayne inThe Green Berets?”
Brett paused at my words, considered, then said, “Well, yeah, I guess like that. Except we won’t be all bunched up and running around in camo.”
Knuckles said, “I told you it sounded ridiculous, but it’s actually a good plan.”
He put a tablet on the table with a satellite image of the hotel property and began tracing with a finger, saying, “Here’s one of the balconies, but they’re all facing the same way. To the front is a small pond that’ll keep anyone from getting close. A hundred feet away there’s a nature trail that winds through the property right to the gate—the one that’s across the street from where we are right now. You meet us on the nature trail with a wheelbarrow, and we’re home free.”
I had to admit, while it was ridiculously Hollywood, it was doable. I said, “You can get in the room, no issues?”
“Yeah. The Flipper worked like a normal key. When the Pit Viper says he’s in for the night, we go. All we need is the right room.”
“Okay, take the team back and emplace the camera. If we PID the Ghost, we’ll go tonight.”
From a seat near the kitchen window, Veep said, “Might be too late for that. The Pit Viper just triggered. Someone’s back home.”
Chapter 36
Everyone forgot about the satellite image and focused on Veep. Knuckles said, “Viper’s triggered in all rooms?”
“No. Just the one with the trash and the toothpaste in the sink.”
I said, “Okay, okay, get back over there immediately. Try to get the camera in place before the others arrive.”
They left in a rush, piling out and racing back to the hotel, leaving an awkward silence to grow in its place. I glanced at Shoshana and said, “Anything else to add about the follow today?”
“No. Only that you should take down whoever is in that room. He’s in the group, and this group is bad. I could see it all day today, like a fire surrounding them.”
Here we go.
I said, “Shoshana, I’m not smacking some unknown in the head just because you have one of your feelings.”
That ticked her off. She said, “You follow your masters like a puppy. Why do you want the Ghost? Because he embarrassed you by escaping, or because he’s a danger?”
“It’s not as clear-cut as that. I have rules. If we get PID on the Ghost, I’ll take him down. If not, I can’t start swinging a bat, hitting everyone who gives you the willies.”
For some reason, that really set her off. I saw her eyes narrow, and her fist clench like a vise. I could feel the heat coming off her. She said, “What do you mean by ‘willies’? Is that some Israeli slur?”
What the hell is she talking about?
Jennifer chuckled and broke the tension, saying, “It’s not a slur. It’s just American slang. You feel the willies when you’re spooked. Like sliding your hand towards a light switch in the dark and running it through something wet, or stepping on a snake with bare feet. Get it?”
She went from me to Jennifer, then back to me, finally deciding that Jennifer was telling the truth. Mollified, she said, “Well, theydidgive me the willies, but not in the way you mean.”
I said, “Well, yourwilliesnotwithstanding, my team’s only going to hit that room if it’s the Ghost. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
