Actual Stop (29 page)

“Mark been beating you up?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. You?”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“How’d that report work out for you the other day?” Or had it been last week? I wasn’t sure. Jesus, I was tired.

“Good. Thanks. You were a big help.”

I waved my free hand dismissively. “No problem.”

“I gotta tell you, I was really looking forward to this assignment.”

“Why’s that?”

“I like to take a break from investigations every once in a while, you know? The change of pace is good for me.”

“It is that.” I didn’t even have the energy to converse. The remainder of my day wasn’t looking good.

“So, what’s the schedule like today, anyway?”

The president of Iran had arrived on time, and we were shuttling him from the airport to New York City, where we had days upon days of meetings and appointments and dinners to look forward to. It wouldn’t be very interesting for us, nor would it be much fun. But all our visits couldn’t consist of live performances by Jon Bon Jovi or the Edge.

I consulted the mini survey I’d received from the lead advance agent while we’d killed time at the airport waiting for the delegation to land. “Down time at the hotel until seventeen-hundred. Then meetings at the UN for the remainder of the day. Dinner at Nobu at twenty-one hundred. TBD after that.”

I groaned as the words left my mouth. TBD was never a good sign. That could mean we were going back to the hotel for the night—and I’d be able to get some much-needed sleep—or it could mean we were going out on the town. We wouldn’t know until the president or one of the members of his delegation told us. I frowned at my coffee cup. How much caffeine could the human body effectively consume? I must’ve conducted that experiment before, but I couldn’t remember what I’d come up with.

“You gonna make it?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m good.” I rolled my head from side to side to crack my neck and opened the window a bit, hoping some cool air would enliven me.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Shoot.”

Michael hesitated. “I’ve never driven in a motorcade before.”

I blinked at him and sat up straighter. Holy shit. I must’ve been really out of it to not have asked him that question. I was a fairly senior agent in the PI Squad and as a result almost always had someone my junior drive. I always reviewed the rules of motorcade driving with my counterpart if I hadn’t worked with them before. How could I have dropped the ball on that?

“In a PI capacity or ever?” I asked, just to clarify.

“Ever. Well, except in training. But it’s been a while, and I’m a little rusty.”

“Oh, Michael, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I forgot to ask.”

“It’s my fault. I should’ve said something earlier. I just don’t want to do anything wrong, you know?”

“No. I flubbed it. I normally go over that while we’re waiting on the tarmac for wheels down. PI driving is easy and actually a lot of fun. While we’re here in the city, NYPD will assist us with intersection control. Just follow the pace of the rest of the motorcade. Stick close enough to Follow-Up so no one can get between us, but allow them enough room to maneuver. Help them clear the merges when you can. And if someone who doesn’t belong breaks into the motorcade, use your lights and sirens to encourage them to leave. If they don’t take the hint, either pit them or ram them, whichever is easier and whichever keeps the rest of the motorcade out of danger.”

After a click on the car radio, I heard the lead inform the hotel security room agents that we’d cleared a particular checkpoint, which cued them, and everyone else, that we were about five minutes out. The hotel agent responded and gave a preliminary situation report.

Michael chuckled—presumably at my last statement, as I saw nothing amusing in what’d just come out over the air—and then he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be waiting for me to laugh with him, and when I didn’t, his eyes widened. “You’re serious.”

“Yup.” I shifted my attention from him to the passing scenery, so I could scrutinize folks on the street.

“You want me to ram a car if it gets into our motorcade.”

“Yup. Like I said, we’ll have intersection control here in the city. If someone gets into our motorcade who isn’t us, they already went through a police checkpoint to do it. Which, to me, says ill intent. I have no idea what that could possibly mean, but whatever they’re trying to do, we need to make sure it doesn’t happen to or near the limo. And if we can take care of it and keep the working shift out of it so they can continue to attend to the protectee, well, then we’ve done our job.”

Silence for a long moment. “You are hard-core, Ryan.”

I grinned before resuming my inspection of the people and buildings scattered along the New York City streets. “Thanks.”

“And a little crazy.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“This is going to be an interesting week, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you can pretty much count on that.” My cell phone vibrated on my belt, and my heart leapt. Could it be Allison? My hand was trembling as I retrieved it and checked the caller ID. It was a blocked number, but that didn’t mean anything. If she called me from her work cell phone, the number would show up as blocked. Tendrils of hope wound their way around my heart as I answered. “O’Connor.”

“Hey, Ryan. It’s Sarah.”

Those fragile tendrils immediately turned to ash, and disappointment flared inside my chest. I tried to tamp down my violently eddying emotions. “Hey, kiddo. What’s up?”

“I got a mysterious email that you had a few requests for me. I’m not sending you pictures of my boobs, so stop asking.”

I grinned. “Fine. I’ll just do what everyone else does and get them from your website. How about this? When you have a minute, I need you to email me the cell-phone number you have for Akbari, as well as .pdf copies of the source where you got that number from. And I’d like to look at that bill he passed, also.”

I broke off to allow the radio chatter between the lead, the Follow-Up, the hotel agent, and the detail leader in the limo to subside. We were less than two minutes out, and apparently the situation over at the hotel was relatively clear.

“Sounds like you’re busy,” Sarah commented.

“I told you before, we actually earn our paychecks up here.”

“Why work harder when you can work smarter? Who’ve you got?”

“Iran.”

“Ugh. Have fun with that.”

“You know something I don’t?”

“Only that you’re not going to be getting much sleep. The guy likes to stay out late.”

“Of course he does.” I massaged one temple with my fingertips. “Fantastic.”

Sarah laughed. “I’ll fire that info to you ASAP. Give ’em hell for me.”

“Will do.” I hung up the phone and slid it back into its holster as I unbuckled my seat belt. As the motorcade rolled to a stop, I hopped out and began my 360-degree perusal of the street and all its occupants. The flurry of activity I could hear behind me gradually tapered off, indicating the delegation had made it safely inside. Only then did I wander back over to Michael in the PI car.

He rolled his window down at my approach. “What’s up?”

I glanced past the arrival area toward the front of the motorcade to where I could see the guy in charge of the cars pointing and gesturing as he tried to get everyone lined up for our departure in a few hours. I tapped the doorframe with my palm.

“Hang here until Charlie tells you where he wants you. After that, you can pop inside to hit the head or around the corner to grab something to eat at the deli if you want. Just make sure you leave the keys either with me, if I’m down here, or with the Follow-Up driver.”

Michael nodded. “No problem. I probably will hit the deli. You want anything?”

“A bottle of water would be great, thanks.” I dipped my hand into my pocket to pull out some cash, but Michael waved me away.

“We have a long trip ahead of us. I’m sure you’ll get me back at some point.”

“Thanks.”

I shifted my attention to the street again. Iran had chosen to stay at the Waldorf Astoria, which took up the entire city block between 49th and 50th Streets and Park and Lexington Avenues. Personally, I loved it when our protectees stayed there. The Waldorf had a covered arrival area that made arrivals and departures relatively drama-free, and they were so used to us being in and out with all of our delegations that working with the staff there was like using a well-oiled machine.

It also happened to be located just across the street from The W Hotel, where Allison and I had recently spent an incredible couple of hours together wrapped up in one another’s arms. The thought sparked a myriad of conflicting emotions within me, and a slight flush crept into my cheeks as memories from that night flitted through my mind. I forcibly pushed them away.

“Yo, Ryan?” I felt a tap on my shoulder in time with the greeting and turned to face the speaker. It was Charlie Parker, the agent in charge of transportation security for the visit.

“Hi, Charlie. What’s up?”

“I’m gonna back the PI car out onto five-oh, and then I’m gonna park you guys on Lex between four-eight and four-nine, right by the side entrance to the Intercon. Okay?” His stereotypical New York accent and wildly gesticulating hands made me want to smile.

I shrugged and glanced at Michael to make sure he’d heard the instructions before I nodded. “It’s your motorcade, Charlie. I’ll go wherever you tell me to go.”

Charlie nodded once. “Yeah, the well gets crowded, ya know what I mean? Gotta save some space for the guests or the Waldorf gets pissed.” I barely managed to dodge a punctuating hand as he said that. “So, we’re gonna stage most of the cars out on four-nine goin’ counterflow cuz the next movement is to the UN. But I want a presence out on Lex, too. Someone we have coms with. That’ll be you.” A forceful finger jab in my direction. “And you guys just merge into the motorcade when we make the right on Lex.”

I tamped down a smile and fought the urge to point right back at him. “Whatever you need, Charlie.”

“Great.” He clapped me on the shoulder and strode off.

I turned to Michael and rested my arm on the open windowsill of the driver-side door. “You heard the man. Back this beast out onto five-oh, and then square the block and stage on Lex. I’ll have the guys behind you back up so you can get out.”

“You want me to block a lane of traffic on Lex?”

I nodded. “That’s the only way to do this. Put your hazards on and tell the cops at the checkpoint at the end of the block what you’re up to so they know not to give you a hard time.”

“The general public won’t like that.”

“Trust me, I know. And they won’t be even a little bit shy about making their displeasure heard.”

Michael grinned widely. “It’s gonna be one helluva visit, isn’t it?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yeah.”

Most people I’ve talked to seem to think my job is glamorous. And I guess it sort of is. Sometimes. I’ve met some really cool people in my line of work, and I’ve seen a lot of things I never would’ve had the chance to witness if I worked for someone else.

But those times are the exception rather than the rule. More often than not, especially when I’m on protection, I spend my day in a holding pattern, waiting for someone to move or something to happen. I’ve often said I get paid not for what I do, but for what I might have to do.

That was true on this visit. We had long days of meeting after meeting and even longer nights of basically waiting for the delegation to finish their endless dinners. Sarah had been right; the guy did like to stay out late, and he started moving way too early. I wasn’t getting any closer to catching up on sleep than I’d been several days ago, and I was really beginning to become petulant. As far as I was concerned, the visit couldn’t end fast enough. Too bad we were only in the middle of it.

That I still hadn’t heard from Allison wasn’t helping my disposition. All the sitting around gave me ample time to check and recheck my phone and become more and more agitated because she hadn’t reached out to me since I’d left her hotel room. And the more days that passed without word from her, the more unlikely the prospect looked.

Of course, I kept reminding myself that I hadn’t reached out to her either, and then I wondered whether I should just put on my big-girl pants and call her. I was obviously still undecided. And the longer I delayed, the harder it became to rationalize that calling would be appropriate. Then I became even more despondent.

I sighed and looked at my watch. Only three minutes had passed since the last time I’d checked it. The day wasn’t even half over, and already I wanted to put the protectee in his hotel suite and barricade the door so he couldn’t come out. Maybe then I’d be able to get some rest. Or at least I could worry myself into a tizzy over Allison in private. This was going to be a long freaking day.

A tap on my car window startled me out of my fog, and I blinked. God, I was really losing it. I scowled as I rolled down the window. Where the hell was Michael with my coffee? I could use a serious jolt of caffeine. Or maybe an adrenaline shot.

“Agent O’Connor,” the auburn-haired woman standing there said, almost shyly.

“Oh. Hey, Anna. It’s Ryan, please. I’ve told you that before.”

Anna Strom had been out of the academy and on the job for only a couple of months, and no matter how many times I saw her, she insisted on calling me Agent O’Connor. It was as cute as it was unnecessary. For one thing, I was only a regular hump agent. I may’ve had a few grades on her, but the gap would close quickly, and it didn’t matter enough for her to show me that sort of deference. It wasn’t like I was a boss or anything. For another, I’d counted Anna’s push-ups for her during the PT test I’d just administered and was convinced that feeling another woman’s breasts, regardless of the circumstances, at least put you on a first-name basis.

Anna flushed and nodded. “Right. Sorry. Anyway, I was asked to tell you that the president is going to have a quick meeting at the Intercon before our next move to the UN.”

I nodded wearily. I’d really been looking forward to the change of scenery the trip to the UN would provide, which said a whole lot about my mental state, as sitting at the UN kind of sucks. A lot. Now it looked like my reprieve from Lexington Avenue would be delayed.