Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(77)
Sarah laughed. “Not really,” she said. “Now, shut up about her and show me what you want to do with me.”
They stopped talking.
TWENTY-SIX
The morning sun woke Noah as it always did, and he found himself cuddling Sarah close. He kissed her cheek until she woke, then rolled over and climbed out of bed.
“I could use some breakfast,” he said. “Want some?”
Sarah nodded as she sat up on the edge of the bed and reached down for her clothes. She slipped into them, then said, “I’m gonna run back to my room and get a quick shower, meet you down in the breakfast room.” She blew him a kiss and was out the door.
Noah went to the bathroom and got a quick shower of his own, then shaved before he slipped into clean clothes and left the room. He wasn’t surprised, as he stepped out of the elevator, to see Sarah and Neil at a table. She pointed, and he saw that she already had a waffle and a cup of coffee waiting for him.
“So, today’s the big day, right?” Neil asked. “I got a message that Moose will be landing in about two hours, and everything is in place on my end.”
Noah nodded. “Yep,” he said, “As soon as Moose can get to wherever he’s got to go and confirm what he’s looking at, I’ll signal you to transfer the money. Then, once we get the word that he’s taken possession, I’ll take Pablo down, then grab Felicita and meet Sarah at the rendezvous point.”
Neil cocked his head sideways. “Forgive me for being a party pooper, especially since I won’t even be at this party, but tell me again how you plan to assassinate one of Mexico’s most notorious arms dealers, right in front of several of his cronies, and then walk out unscathed with a pretty girl on your arm. Somehow, I think I missed part of the plan, here, and I’d really like to be able to believe that I’m going to see you again. Just in case you’ve forgotten, the blonde and I are sort of dependent on you for our continued existence and survival.”
Noah smiled. “Ask me a hard one,” he said. “The answer is simple. Pablo won’t know he’s dead yet, and since he won’t know it, neither will his buddies.”
Neil’s eyes went wide, and he put on a sick grin. “Okay, so you’re going to kill him, but he won’t know it. Exactly how is it that he’s not going to notice that?”
“Easy,” Noah said. “Since we’re going to be concluding a very lucrative business transaction today, I expect Pablo to be in a rather friendly mood. He and I will share a drink, a double shot of tequila each from Eduardo’s top shelf. He’s got a bottle of Tres Cuatro Y Cinco up there, and a tequila man like Pablo won’t be able to refuse if I offer to buy it. I’ll have Eduardo pour the drinks from the bottle, and I’ll carry them to the table. I’ll add a specially prepared swizzle stick to each glass, so by the time I get to Pablo, both of them will be laced with campsonol, a poison that acts rather slowly but can’t be counteracted once it’s gotten into the bloodstream. It mimics the symptoms of a heart attack, paralyzing the heart and stopping it, and it’s almost impossible to detect unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. Pablo is old enough, and his lifestyle is crazy enough, that no one will be surprised at a heart attack, so no one will be looking for poisons.”
Neil looked at Sarah. “Excuse me, dear, but did you catch that? He did say that both drinks will be laced with this deadly stuff, right?”
Noah chuckled. “I did, indeed, but what I failed to mention is that I will have a tiny amount of bentonite clay under each of my thumbnails. Bentonite has an amazing property, in that whenever it comes into contact with a liquid, it develops an electrical charge that causes it to bond with any toxins in that liquid, including campsonol. Once it has bonded, it and the toxin it bonds to will simply pass through my digestive system and be expelled the next time I take a dump. All I’ve got to do is allow Pablo to choose the glass he wants, then dip my thumbnail into my glass a couple of seconds before I toss it back.”
Neil shook his head, and Sarah leaned her face in her hands. “Does it ever worry you, the things you know?” Neil asked. “I mean, what if you get this wrong, and use something besides bentonite?”
“That isn’t likely,” Noah said. “Bentonite is harmless, and actually has a number of nutrients in it. I got a snuffbox in my pocket that’s full of the stuff. If I’m searched, all I got to do is take a pinch. Like I said, it’s harmless, and that’s how easy it is to get it under my thumbnails. Just take a pinch, and shove some up in there.”
They finished breakfast, and spent the rest of the morning in Noah’s room. Neil provided him with the fake ID for Felicita, which he left with Sarah. The girl wouldn’t need it until it was time to cross into the United States, so he didn’t want to get caught with it.
At last, it was time to put all the plans into action. Moose was in place in Dubai, and had made contact with his backup team. Everything was set. Neil would remain at the hotel, stationed at his computer and listening to everything that went on in the bar, while Sarah would keep the car as close to Noah as she could. If anything went wrong, all Noah had to do was say, “Jumping Jehoshaphat,” and Neil would tell Sarah to get to the bar as quickly as possible. If that happened, it was likely that Noah would have to fight his way out, so he’d want his escape vehicle to be ready and waiting outside.