Amena was standing near an old concrete block from the original fortification of Charleston, a fence surrounding it and a small brass plaque to the front. It was the only such historical marker on Marion Square and should be easy to find.
The candidate had no idea what she looked like. He only knew the time and place, and had a bona fides phrase to confirm the contact. A phrase I’d made harder than it needed to be, and now wished I hadn’t. It had been all fun and games about an hour ago.
Through Amena’s eyes I saw him approach, looking skittish. He glanced around, trying to find an adult, and then settled on Amena. I thought,That’s right, idiot. She’s at the designated place at the designated time.
She said, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”
The first part of the bona fides.
He stiffened, looked wildly around again, then said, “No, no. I don’t.”
Damn it.
I said, “Amena, just pull him aside and give him the Grail. Don’t worry about the bona fides.”
As one more thing he had to overcome, I’d made the second part of the bona fides something incredibly uncomfortable to say to a child, and was now regretting it.
She ignored me, saying in a stronger tone, “I asked if you have the time. Do. You. Have. The. Time.”
In a rising, halting voice, as if he was asking a question, he said, “Time for you to buy a fucking watch?”
She handed him her backpack and said, “Very good. Power up the Grail and follow me.”
Chapter 6
I saw Bobby’s mouth open, him saying, “What?”
My view shifted, Amena starting across the green space of Marion Square to the front of the Embassy Suites. She looked over her shoulder and through her eyes I saw the guy just standing there holding the bag. She stopped and snapped, “Follow me and put that thing into action. Quickly.”
I was pulled from the monitor by Creed saying, “Pike, they’re leaving the room. Looks like they only took the computer. They left all the other stuff behind.”
I nodded and said into the headset, “They’re on the way down. You need to step it up. I have no idea which way they’re going to go once they leave the elevator.”
She grabbed Bobby’s sleeve and said again, “Follow me. Right now.”
He said, “I have to get the Grail in operation.”
“Do it on the move.”
They took off at a jog, the bouncing of Amena’s glasses making the view look like some sort of crazy first-person shooter video game. They reached the front of the hotel with Bobby still messing around inside the backpack. I made a judgment call, saying, “Amena, leave him in the foyer. He’s moving too slow. Spot the targets, get a direction, then go back and get him.”
She said, “Gladly,” and opened the door.
I said, “Wait, give him your cell phone.”
She did so and I turned to Creed, saying, “Call Amena’s phone and read him onto the mission. Get his ass in play. Tell him Amena’s coming backfor him, they’re going to get within range of the targets, and he’s going to use the Grail. That’s all I want him to do.”
Creed nodded and dialed. I returned to the monitor, seeing Amena scanning around, looking for the elevators.
The Embassy Suites was built onto the bones of the original Citadel military college way back in the nineteenth century. As such, it wasn’t like a modern-day Embassy Suites, with high ceilings and open space, at least at the entrance. It was more like the bastion it once had been, with low ceilings and stairwells everywhere, but I knew the layout from my reconnaissance earlier.
I said, “Amena, go straight. There are two elevators on the left and right in the middle of the hotel about halfway down.”
She jogged through the crowds and reached an atrium with a large fountain in the center, the area lined with rooms going up five floors. I said, “You passed them. Turn around, you’ll see the elevators. They have glass walls.”
She did so, and sure enough, we could see an elevator on the left coming down with a family, and an elevator on the right stopped at the fifth floor. Our floor.
Two guys entered wearing hoodies. I said, “That’s them. If they split up, stick with the one carrying the messenger bag.”
