Ratio: A Leopold Blake Thriller (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers) (12 page)

“You’ve got to be kidding.” 

“Quite the opposite.” 

“Melendez made his choice to use an outside security team. That’s his right. But it doesn’t mean we have to hold his hand every step of the way.” 

“It does, actually. Jack Melendez is entitled to his own protection, but he’s also entitled to reasonable attention from the Secret Service.” He leaned on the desk. “If you’re feeling a little over-stretched, I’m sure we can find someone else to ease your burden. I can make a few calls.” He smiled again. “It shouldn’t take long; Senator Baldwin is an old friend.”

“Are you threatening me, Blake?”

“Me, threaten a federal agent? Of course not. I’m just offering my help, for the greater good of course. We’ve got to put this nation’s security above our own personal issues, Agent Harper. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Harper folded her hands. “You have my permission to tour the building and I’ll make sure copies of the reports are sent to you. I can spare two agents, no more. You’ll have them tonight, but I’ll need them at their posts tomorrow morning. After the speeches, Melendez can have an escort to the airport. That’s all I can offer you.” 

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Leopold heard Johnson shuffle uncomfortably behind him. “Now, where should we start?” 

“Officer Johnson can escort you to the auditorium. I’ll call down and have them let you in.”

“Excellent.” 

Harper opened up her laptop. “Now get the hell out of my office.” 

***

“That went well,” Jerome said, as they took the elevator down to the lower floors. “Maybe you should call the director of the FBI next, throw a few insults his way.” 

Leopold laughed. “Richard Ward and I go way back. He can give as good as he gets, believe me.” 

“How about we try a different approach next time,” Johnson said, as the elevator slowed to a halt and the doors opened. “Otherwise I’m going to end up getting it in the neck if Harper complains.” 

“I’ll do my best,” said Leopold, stepping out into the hallway. “Let’s run the sweep and get back to the hotel. Our guests will be arriving soon.” The auditorium doors were up ahead, heavy double doors. Locked. Leopold knocked. Someone opened up; a man dressed in a dark suit. 

“This is a restricted area, sir.” 

“Harper call down?” Leopold said. 

“Your name please, sir.”

“Leopold Blake. Melendez security detail.” He held up his ID pass, printed out at the hotel. The Agent studied it carefully. 

“You armed?”

Leopold tilted his head at Jerome. “He is.” 

“You’ll have to surrender your weapon once the President arrives, if you want to be anywhere near. You can register it with us later. Come in.” He pushed open the doors and stepped to the side. “We ran the usual sweep for explosives, poisons, fox holes.” 

“I’m sure you won’t mind us taking a quick look. Protocol.”

The agent nodded. “Do what you need to do. Just be quick.” 

Jerome set to work. He checked the podiums and flags for chemical residue, scanned for explosives and RF signals. Next came the closets and equipment rooms, which he inspected for hidden weapons or other contraband. Johnson hung around near the doors while Leopold discussed exit routes and ingress points with the agent before scoping out the balconies for hidden lines of sight to the speaker floor. After thirty minutes of careful searching, Jerome gave the all clear. 

“If something should happen and Melendez is put at risk, do you have an evac plan in place?” the agent asked. 

“We have two unmarked vehicles in the garage, parked near the exit,” Leopold explained. “Evacuation should take less than two minutes from his hotel suite, and even less from here.”

“What vehicles?”

“Escalades. I’ll have the license plate details sent over. Melendez is coming by chartered aircraft, in and out of Boeing Field. Anything goes wrong, that’s where we’ll take him. Better to get him in the air and out of town if something happens.”

“There’s a scheduled protest demonstration this weekend. Traffic might be a nightmare.”

“We have three routes to the airport planned if traffic is a mess,” Leopold said. “But we can’t cover every eventuality. I’m open to suggestions.”  

The agent handed over a business card with the address of a bakery just near downtown Seattle. “Unmarked safe house in Belltown,” he said. “Primary recourse, bring Melendez to us here. Better to have someone with the right resources handle any trouble.” 

Leopold glanced at the card, resisting the urge to tear it to pieces. If Melendez ended up in danger, better to have an ally. Even if they were all assholes.   

“We done here?” the agent said. 

“For now,” Jerome said, stepping forward. “We still need to check the other areas.” 

“Harper sent the word out. You can move freely, just check in with whoever’s covering each section. And try not to touch anything.” He nodded curtly. 

Leopold took the hint. “We’ll see ourselves out.” He turned to address Johnson, who was still in position by the doors. “Lead the way.” 

***

Forty-five minutes later, with most of the preparations complete, Johnson escorted Leopold and Jerome out of the convention center. She mentioned she finished her shift at six, and then disappeared into the security office. With a quick check the exits were secure, Leopold and Jerome returned to the hotel. 

“Glad that’s done,” Leopold said as they walked away. “I don’t think the Secret Service play well with others.”

Jerome smiled. “You and me both.”

Back on the seventh floor, they turned their sights on the suites again, doing one last sweep of each room, once again finding nothing of concern.

 “Jack should be here any minute, and Doctor Kato should be on her way from Sea-Tac,” Leopold said. “It would’ve been nice to have a third as a driver, just to collect and babysit her.”

“No time to find someone qualified.”

“A limo pickup will have to do.”

“This is where a certain NYPD contact would have come in useful.” Jerome said. “Maybe arranged a hook up with Seattle PD.” 

“I already owe Mary enough.”

Jerome changed the subject. “The Kato woman. Did you read her background?” 

“She’s been through a lot these last few years.”

“And she can evidently dish it out too. A decade of Krav Maga training, several Japanese martial arts as a kid, runner, athletic. Fashion model, in a previous life. And with all the injuries she’s suffered in the last couple years, she has still been able to recover and go back to work as though none of it ever happened. Pretty resilient.”

“On the surface, anyway,” Leopold said. “We’ll see how much babysitting she needs.”

Jerome packed up his equipment and stowed it in one of the closets. “Next is the restaurant. I want to get one of the private dining rooms set up. I took a quick look before I came back up here, and didn’t like the arrangement.”

They went to the private elevator and used the key card to access the lower floors. 

“The primary has his one and only presentation tomorrow at noon,” said Leopold, as the elevator began its descent. “It’s a two-hour meeting, with possible refreshments after.”

“No refreshments after,” said Jerome. “We need to stick to his side the whole time to make sure he doesn’t eat anything we haven’t already checked. No snacks or hotel meals.”

“I called in a catering company. You can check the food. Hopefully it’ll be good enough.” 

“If the food is clean and edible, it’s good enough,” Jerome said. “What about the woman?”

“She presents after Jack. She’ll go on her own while we remain in the suite with the primary. Make sure you keep him inside until I’m back though.”

The elevator door opened and they emerged at the lobby level, just off to one side of reception, not far from a side entrance away from the main lobby traffic. It was hidden from general view, for security and anonymity purposes. When a politician or entertainer came to town, they would use the seventh-floor suites, and the secure elevator was dedicated to their safe passage. 

Leopold headed for the restaurant, weaving through the swelling crowds. With the nation’s attention on Seattle this weekend, the hotel had its hands full. It would be easy for a potential threat to hide in plain sight, but total safety wasn’t Leopold’s goal. Even with the best security on the planet, nobody could ever be entirely safe from attack. Not all the time. 

This was a game of averages. A marathon, not a sprint. There would always be holes, always weak spots. The real trick was to make sure nobody ever found out about them, never got close enough to exploit them. 

After several hours of sweeps, Leopold had found almost a dozen potential kill zones. The auditorium would force Melendez to stand out in the open, inviting attack. The hotel was large, sprawling, impossible to search every corner. Traffic routes were mapped out, but largely accessible by anyone, and nobody would notice a rifle or grenade launcher until it was too late. 

Leopold checked out the crowd as he passed through the lobby. A mix of white, black, brown, Asian, Hispanic guests. Nobody stood out. Some dressed in suits, some in casual clothes. Some carried luggage, suitcases, some were empty-handed. Rental cars parked outside the doors, taxis coming and going. No way to single anyone out, nothing to catch his attention. 

If someone were planning an attack he would already be here. Lost in the crowds perhaps, or hiding inside the hotel. Maybe even scoping out a vantage point somewhere outside. It would be impossible to cover all the bases, even with the Secret Service on standby. All Leopold could do was keep Melendez from taking any stupid risks, make sure he took all the necessary precautions. 

The rest, Leopold knew, was up to fate.

Chapter 19

JACK MELENDEZ ARRIVED at the hotel in a black Lincoln Town Car. The driver waited by the curb, engine running, while Jack finished up a telephone call. Leopold spotted him from the lobby and headed out to greet him. 

The driver unloaded Jack’s luggage and Jack tipped him. Leopold thought he saw a fifty change hands. Figured the guy was either feeling generous, or wanted to look like a big shot. Neither would be a surprise. The driver thanked him and drove off, leaving the two of them alone. 

“Leopold,” Jack called, striding forward. “So good to see you again.” He held out a hand and Leopold shook it. 

“Likewise.” 

Jack looked around. “Nice place. Better than the joint they had me in over in Spokane.” 

“Your room’s ready for you. Ms. Kato is on her way, shouldn’t be long. We’ve arranged a private dinner for you later.” 

“I knew I’d made the right choice asking for your help.” 

Leopold frowned. “About that. Listen, this isn’t exactly my area of expertise.” 

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Jack beamed his trademark smile, plenty of white teeth on show. “And I already know Jerome is more than capable. He’s got quite the record.” 

“I only hire the best.”

Jack leveled his gaze. “Me too.” 

Leopold headed back inside. Jack followed. 

“Listen,” Leopold said, “be truthful with me here. What the hell am I doing out in Seattle? And just the two of us keeping you alive? You need a much bigger team.” 

“Nonsense. I’m small potatoes. Maybe when the election campaign heats up a little, sure. But right now? I bet you nobody would recognize me on the street.”

“You’d be surprised,” Leopold said, aiming for the elevators. 

Jack exhaled, letting some of the politician in him fade to the background. “In all seriousness, I’ve had plenty of experience with a large security team. I know it’s inevitable, but, for now, I like my privacy. And I like to think you, of all people, would understand that.”

“How’s that?”

“Your life is hardly simple,” Jack said, smiling again. “And you get by just fine. For once, I want the chance to have a personal life. Even if it’s just for a couple of days.” 

“I guess this is where Dr. Kato comes in.” 

They reached the elevators and Jack hit the call button. “She’s a great partner. The best. I owe her some alone time, and calling in the Secret Service is hardly going to help that happen. They’d be all over us like a bad rash.” 

The elevator arrived and they stepped inside. 

“Speaking of which,” Leopold said, “they’ll be camped out next door for the next few days. If we need any backup, I’m sure they can spare a few men.” 

“I should hope it won’t be necessary,” said Jack. 

“It’s their job,” said Leopold, hitting the button for the seventh floor. “And, apparently, it’s my job now too.” 

“And I can’t thank you enough.” 

Leopold grinned. “I’m sure you can try.” 

“Anything you need.” 

“Really?” 

Jack grinned wryly. “Within reason.” 

“You’ve got contacts at the DOJ.”

He laughed. “You’ve not got yourself into trouble again?” 

“Sort of,” Leopold said. “It’s a long story. I’ll owe you.”

“You already owe me.”

“Not after this weekend.”

Jack paused. “I might know a few people. What do you need?”