Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(61)

Melanie sputtered, reddening. “I could, too!”

“Probably it will just be a matter of breaking into his house and loading the software onto his phone while he sleeps. But if a personal approach is necessary . . .” Zoe’s voice trailed off. “I’ll do it myself. You take care of getting smart tags on all the McCloud vehicles. Bug-sweep proof.” Zoe tapped her long fingernails on the desktop.

“Manfred did that weeks ago,” Melanie said sullenly. “We’ve been logging every last move those people make. Would you like to see the—”

“No. I’m sure you’re being extremely efficient.” Zoe dismissed her with a wave. Melanie looked hurt. Zoe was being harsh, but she had to establish her authority as team leader. Which meant being ruthless.

“We’re lucky that the Ranieri woman put her purse down right in the common room,” Melanie said, trying to draw attention back to her successes, not her shortcomings. “And just in time to hear of Sean McCloud’s travel plans tonight. If it wasn’t for their kids making all that noise, we would barely have needed to filter the recording at all.”

“Speaking of kids.” Zoe glanced at the door to the adjoining room, where Melanie had left the tandem stroller. The toddlers had been asleep, but the boy had just woken up and was exercising his lungs. The sound was irritating. She required a calm environment for optimal concentration. Then the girl woke up, too. The sound redoubled. The operatives stared at the stroller and its shrieking occupants, at a loss.

“What’s wrong with them?” Zoe asked. “Are they hungry? Make them shut up. Do you have food? Bottles?”

“That’s the pod leader’s job.” Melanie sounded defensive. “Not ours. And they’ve got bottles in their strollers if they want them.”

Hobart glanced at his watch. “She was supposed to have been here by now to pick them up. She’s forty minutes late.”

“Call her,” Zoe said. “In the meantime, do something about that noise. Drug them or something. I can’t stand the sound.”

Melanie looked uncertain. “That’s forbidden in the protocols. They’ve had less than optimal results in the past using sedatives.”

“So?” Zoe said impatiently. “Do something else, then. I don’t care what you do, just solve the problem.”

“I can put the stroller into the bathroom,” Nadia suggested. “If we shut the connecting door, we’ll have two doors to block the sound.”

“The tandem won’t fit through the bathroom door,” Hobart said.

“The supply closet, then,” Nadia said. “The door’s wider. It’ll go if we wiggle it in sideways. Come on, Hobart. Help me lift it.”

Zoe watched as Nadia and Hobart wrestled the double stroller with its shrieking cargo into the dark maw of the supply closet. The door swung shut. The volume cut by two-thirds. When the suite door closed, the sound was blocked almost completely. Ah. Much better.

“Good,” Zoe said. “Jeremy, Hal, and Manfred will make up my team tomorrow when we follow Sean McCloud. I’ll hook up with them in Portland, after I take care of Petrie.” She looked at Melanie, then Hobart. “You two stay here. To monitor us.” She glanced at Nadia. “You concentrate on Aaro. Get going.”

Nadia scampered away, eager to get to work as the superslut. Melanie’s mouth tightened, face red. Zoe observed this with satisfaction. It was the stupid bitch’s punishment for not even thinking of including Petrie in the surveillance net. Hers and Hobart’s. They would stay at headquarters, in disgrace. That would teach them. She’d chosen every available agent in the area for her team, except those two. Idiots.

Hobart turned to face the computer screen without comment. Probably relieved to be spared combat duty. Gutless egghead geek.

“I’ve sent a list of supplies to your comms. Add anything else you think would be useful, have it assembled and packed by early this evening. I will brief the team here, at nine P.M.”

“Ah, one small problem.” Hobart was looking at his list.

Zoe spun on him. “I don’t want to hear about problems,” she said.

Hobart looked up, apologetically. “I can’t get an armored SUV for you in that amount of time. I had no idea . . . these things need just a little lead time. Maybe I could get one by tomorrow afternoon—”

“I can’t believe you didn’t anticipate this. We can’t wait. Our window of opportunity will close. Are you too stupid to see that?”

“Um, maybe by midmorning, if I offered them an extra—”

“Just give me a normal SUV,” Zoe snarled. “We’ll have to manage without the armor. Is everything clear? Good. Get to work.”

They got to it.

Finally alone, Zoe placed her long golden legs up on the desk, admiring how graceful they were, right down to her slender feet in the white wedged sandals. She clicked the mouse until she set the recording to run from the beginning. Rosa Ranieri’s triumphal return from the baby supplies store, followed by the phone call from Petrie, which had involved much wailing and carrying on in Italian.

She tried not to let herself get distracted by the thrills of anticipation, thinking about that phone call tonight in the privacy of her room. Lying on her bed, telling King about her excellent progress.