Livia Lone (Livia Lone #1)(92)

But she didn’t think she was wrong. Lone was in the suite directly above her.

She returned the Gossamer to her purse, blew out a long breath, and headed back down the corridor.





61—NOW

Livia came out of the elevators and made an immediate right. The fourth floor was a repeat of the third—the lighting, the thick carpeting, the hush. With one difference—the man in the dark suit seated outside the suite at the end of the corridor.

Livia recognized him instantly—the blond crew cut had some gray in it now, but the protruding ears were the same, and so was the solid build. Matthias Redcroft. World’s most versatile “legislative aide.”

She’d already worked out how she would handle this eventuality, and didn’t hesitate or otherwise show any sign of concern. She just walked slowly in his direction, checking room numbers left and right as though searching for one in particular. She wasn’t worried Redcroft would recognize her. They’d only spoken once, and the last time he had seen her, she had been a skinny teenager. She was a different person now, and disguised on top of it.

Still, as she got closer, her heart began to pound. Redcroft looked up from his chair, watching closely. She kept one hand on the strap of her handbag and the other loose at her side, sauntering along like a high-end call girl dispatched to service some rich guest of the hotel.

When she reached the suite, she stopped and looked at Redcroft.

He raised his eyebrows. “Can I help you?”

“Are you the one who called?” she said, releasing a trace of Lahu into her accent.

“I’m sorry?”

She pointed to the number alongside the door to the suite. “Room 428.”

“I don’t think anybody called you from that room.”

“This is where I was told to go.”

“Told by whom?”

“My boss.”

“Who’s your boss?”

“The service.”

“Look, I don’t know what service you’re talking about, but it sounds like there’s been a mistake. Why don’t you check with your boss and get it straightened out?”

“I can’t reach him now. Anyway, his information is always good.”

“Yeah? How’d you get past the guy checking keys in front of the elevators?”

“They know who I am. Now, could you please excuse me? It took over an hour to get here and I’m already late.”

He looked her up and down. “What do you charge?”

Shit, was he going to try to just pay her fee to get rid of her? She shook her head. “Too much for you, I think.”

“Ha. Try me.”

She thought of a ridiculous number. “I charge fifty thousand baht,” she said. That was close to fifteen hundred dollars. Doubtful he’d cough up that much just to get rid of a Thai hooker.

He leaned back in the chair and looked her up and down again. “You know what?” he said. “It’s about time for my break anyway.” He inclined his head toward the room to the left of the suite. “Tell you what, that’s my room right there. Why don’t we make me your appointment. We’ll fix the mistake that way, okay? And everyone goes home happy.”

She thought quickly. She’d been hoping she could persuade him to knock and get Lone to open the door. But adjacent rooms, one of them a suite—probably there was an interior connecting door. She could make that work, too. And if she was wrong, she’d just keep improvising.

“You seem like a nice guy,” she said, making sure not to play it too eager. “But I have a client. How about you in two hours?”

“I am a nice guy. And two hours from now won’t work. So I’ll tell you what. Because you’re already here, I’ll give you an extra ten thousand for blowing off your other client. Okay?”

She frowned. “My boss . . . he won’t be happy.”

“Well, he’s the one who sent you to the wrong place to begin with, right?”

She gave him an uncertain smile. “I guess so.”

“All right,” he said, coming easily to his feet. He pulled a room key from his jacket pocket, walked over to his door, opened it, then held it for her. “Please.”

She had hoped he would go first. That would have allowed her to slip the pepper spray from her purse while his back was turned. Beyond which, after that near miss in San Jose, she didn’t like turning her back on a man when she walked into a room. But it would look strange if she objected. Anyway, the main thing was, she would be able to get out the pepper spray easily enough while he was behind her.

She walked in. The lights were already on. A long, wood-paneled, marble-floored corridor, the room itself visible at the end of it. The purse strap was over her shoulder, the bag itself below her elbow, and she slipped her hand unobtrusively inside and curled her fingers around the canister, her thumb on the trigger.

She kept moving. She heard the door close behind her, the bolt closing into place with a dull mechanical clack. She heard his footsteps, about ten feet behind her. She’d walk into the room, stop, and let him move in just a little closer. Then she’d turn and spray him. Follow up with the Kubotan until he was down and disabled. Finish him. See if he had a key to the senator’s suite. If he didn’t, kick down the adjoining door. If there was no adjoining door, go back into character and return to the main door of the suite.