Page 62 of Edge of Danger

Abahdi and his daughter got off the shuttle and walked to a nondescript rental car. Piper texted the license plate to the FBI team, then followed Ian over a row of cars to where a white SUV waited for them.

Ian jumped in the passenger seat and Piper piled into the back. The FBI agent pulled into the outbound flow of park traffic smoothly. They traded a few desultory comments about how much space to give Abahdi while they all kept their stares glued on his car. This had to go right. They had to nail Abahdi. Get him to tell them where the virus was going to be released.

It took nearly an hour for Abahdi to turn into a mid-range chain hotel parking lot. The FBI guy drove past the hotel then turned around at the next cross-street while Piper watched in silent panic out the rearview window to make sure their quarry didn’t slip away from them. Not that the Scientist had shown even the slightest hint of evasion or concern about tails in his behavior so far.

Their SUV finally pulled into the hotel parking lot.

“Set up a perimeter,” Ian told the guy. “Very, very quiet. Keep it out of sight. But at all costs, don’t let this guy out of the building without us.”

The agent nodded crisply. He spoke briefly into a cell phone and then reported, “Cordon’s in place.”

Wow. That was fast. The FBI must have had a bunch of vehicles running parallel to them this whole time. She hadn’t spotted any of them. Nice.

“Okay, kid. We’re up,” Ian said as he climbed out of the vehicle.

She followed him into the lobby. Ian waved the front desk attendance to silence as he moved around the front desk and into the office behind it. Piper followed, smiling reassuringly, her hands held out to indicate she was harmless.

Ian flashed his military ID quickly and explained in low tones to the guy, who turned out to be the manager on duty, that he needed to know the room number of the man in the ball cap who had just come in with his daughter.

“You mean Mr. Tariq?” the manager asked.

Ian showed the guy a picture of Salima Abahdi. “This is his daughter.”

“Yes, yes. That’s Salima Tariq. Sweet little girl. Nice man. Is he in trouble?”

“Not at all,” Ian replied. “We need his help with a sensitive government investigation, and it needs to be kept low-key. For his safety, we don’t want to draw any attention to Mr. Tariq. If you’ll just give me his room number and a master key, we’ll have a small chat with him and be out of your hair.”

“I can’t give you a key, Mr. McCloud.”

“I’ve got a dozen FBI agents ringing this building. Do you need me to have them storm the place and freak out your other guests?”

“No, but a warrant would be nice.”

“No time. This is a national security matter. I am, in fact, authorized to take a key by force, but I’d much rather have your cooperation?—“

Piper interjected. Getting into a pissing match with this guy wouldn’t do anyone any good. “I’m a scientist. Mr. Tariq is the leading expert in the world in genetically engineered retro-virus recombination. It’s my fault we’re here. I have to talk to him right away, and these nice men from the FBI have been ordered to make the conversation happen. Because of the sensitivenature of our work, people like Mr. Tariq and I can be a little, umm, paranoid.”

She leaned closer to the manager and smiled a little. “I wouldn’t answer my door if a stranger knocked on it. I might even flee the room. Thing is, I’ve got to talk to him right away. There’s a…problem. A virus has gotten away from us. I desperately need Mr. Tariq’s help regaining control of it.”

The manager looked like his resolve to demand a warrant was starting to waver. She pressed her advantage. “Left to their own devices, these FBI guys would storm the room and scare Salima to death. She’s already had enough bad shocks in her life. I don’t want to traumatize a child. Please help me protect that little girl.” She rested a beseeching hand on the guy’s sleeve and poured on the helplessness and charm.

“I see. Well in that case…” The manager moved over to a machine on a counter to one side of the space. “Let me get you a card for his room. Number 316.” He swiped a plastic card through a magnetizer. “Here you go.”

Ian got on his cell phone and muttered into it while she gifted the manager with her best smile and gushed, “Thanks so much. I owe you huge. Now if you’ll excuse us, time really is of the essence.”

“Of course.”

Piper was surprised when their FBI driver strode into the lobby. He engaged the manager in conversation, thanking the guy for his help and writing down his name for some sort of commendation.

The elevator door closed behind her and Ian. “What’s up with our FBI escort?”

“He’s watching the manager to make sure he doesn’t call up and warn Abahdi that we’re coming.”

Ahh. She wouldn’t have thought of that.

“Nice work, sweet talking the manager. That’s what I was talking about when I said you should use your gender to help you.”

“Don’t piss me off, McCloud.”

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