It was a beautiful day to go anywhere you wanted in Baltimore, especially for shopping. Sheryl had enjoyed every minute of this day ─ until now.
She pounded on the top of the steering wheel. Twice. “Why now?” Frustrated, she pulled over to the side of the road, stopped in a marked parking spot and slammed the gearshift into park. She sat there glaring at the dash, breathing hard. “I should have picked the car with the navigation system!”
Reaching over to the side, she grabbed the map off the leather seat. “Humph.” She unfolded it with both hands, pulling so hard it almost ripped. She stared at the map a full half second before she turned it up on its side. She still couldn’t find her road, so she quickly jerked the map sideways in the opposite direction. Still, nothing jumped out at her. With a huge sigh, she turned the map upside down.
The day had started pleasantly enough. She looked forward to the fun of finding some wonderful items in great stores, maybe even on sale. She left the airport with enthusiasm, eager to get started shopping.
She would spend most of the day searching for two items. The first: a wonderful wedding ring set. She had all sorts of possibilities in her head, and she was open to different styles. Stephen had said, “Gold. White or yellow, I don’t care. You choose.” Well, it all depends on how the rings look. Yellow is nice with the color contrast to the diamonds, but white gold blends so well, presenting a rich-looking appearance. Either way was fine with her, as long as it was beautiful and conveyed their feeling of love. She was sure it would.
A lovely solitaire diamond would be nice, maybe even with some smaller diamonds around it. Holding her left hand up to examine it, turning her hand around in the sunlight, she thought, of course, the wedding band has to match somehow. She knew there would be a lot of choices, and more than a few sales people trying to convince her they had the best choice.
The second item of her search was a sexy, cool looking cocktail dress to wear that evening when she and Stephen went to dinner. She wanted the evening to be special for both of them. I want Stephen’s total attention ─ undivided. She wanted him looking at her, smiling at her, romancing her, wanting her ─ all night.
She would prefer the dress to be black. That’s always sexy. But it had to be the right cut, and the right length. Not too tight, but definitely not loose. It had to show off her curves. She knew she had the right curves, she just wanted to be sure he saw them, and that he saw them all evening. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little skin showing either, but just a little to tease. She would know the right dress when she saw it.
Baltimore, the largest city in the state of Maryland and the 26th most populous city in the country, is located on an arm of Chesapeake Bay. It is the second largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic area and is closer to Midwestern markets than any other major seaport on the East Coast.
Inner Harbor, where their hotel was located, and where Sheryl did most of her shopping, was once the second leading seaport for immigrants to the United States. After a decline in manufacturing in the area, Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy. Inner Harbor was now filled with hotels, shopping malls, small quaint retail stores and restaurants of all types. Baltimore had now been nicknamed “Charm City.”
Sheryl visited Harbor Place Mall, Lexington Market, and Towson Town Center Mall before visiting the well-known jewelry stores, including Tiffany’s and Michael Kors. While Tiffany’s had many absolutely beautiful wedding sets, she discovered her favorite at the store “Fire and Ice.”
The engagement ring featured a sparkling Princess cut diamond solitaire flanked by a smaller, round cut diamond about one-third the size mounted on each side. Four oblong diamond accents continued down each side of the 18 carat white gold ring. The matching wedding band had a line of five small, round cut diamonds in the recessed center of the ring. Sheryl thought the set was gorgeous and would certainly meet Stephen’s approval, but she selected two other alternatives just in cast. Knowing Stephen, she understood he wanted to have a choice, even if he did agree with her favorite.
She enjoyed a light lunch at a small restaurant overlooking the harbor. It was fun watching the various boats moving all around in the water. The colorful scene was serene and provided just the relaxing time-out she needed, away from her professional responsibilities and patient concerns. She enjoyed the moment so much, she never thought about the reason Stephen had been asked to come to Baltimore. In her mind, the restaurant bombing, the shooting in Central Park, discovering his brother’s car and the shooting there, all these events were in the past, behind them. Now she only wanted to look forward, to her and Stephen being together, to the day they would be married.
Sheryl found the dress she wanted at Nordstrom’s. It wasn’t on sale, but when she saw it, she knew she had to have it. It was the perfect dress for the evening she had planned for her and Stephen.
The dress was an original double V-neck bandage dress by Herve Leger. All black, the length ended above the knee. The rayon/nylon/spandex dress was designed to provide a snug, body conscious fit. The deep double V-neckline would add an undeniable allure. It was her size and fit perfectly. She had to have it.
After an exhilarating day shopping and with her new dress hanging in the back seat window, Sheryl decided to drive around the harbor area and enjoy the sights. However, after a considerable time driving, now just after five o’clock, the enjoyment had worn off. She threw her hands up in the air and spoke out loud to herself. “Wouldn’t you know it? I’m hopelessly lost. I haven’t a clue where I am.”
Looking out the side window of the car, she scanned the area for a street sign, which was nowhere to be found. Shaking her head, she glanced out the other side, then up and down the street.
Her expression contorted to a scowl as she acknowledged that she still had to find her own way back. No one was going to come and get her, and there was no one on the sidewalk anywhere whom she could ask for help. Nervous, she put the car in gear and pulled back onto the street, slowly moving forward.
Nearing an intersection, she finally discovered a street sign. Covington Street. The other road had no sign. She stopped the car and checked the map, but couldn’t find the street. She put the map down and allowed the car to move forward.
The sign at the next intersection identified both streets: Covington Street and East Clement Street. She was about to reach for the map again when she spotted a storage rental facility just past the intersection. It was surrounded by a six-foot high chain link fence which you could easily see through to the inside. As she drove closer, she spotted a woman on the other side of the fence, loading boxes into a white van. The woman had obviously rented the end unit and was taking boxes and other things out of the storage unit.
Sheryl pulled over next to the fence, got out of the car, and moved around next to the fence. “Hello.” She waved at the woman. “Hi. Can you help me? I’m lost. I need directions, please.”
The woman acted as if she didn’t know what to do. She looked at Sheryl, then turned to look into the storage unit, then back to Sheryl.
“Please. I really need some help.”
The woman took a couple of steps toward Sheryl. “I don’t know this area very well. I’m sorry.”
“Please. Can you just tell me how to get back to the main roads? I want to go to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Do you know where that is?”
The woman shook her head no.
“How about a highway, a main road, anything? How do I get out of this place?”
The woman took another few steps toward Sheryl and stood there. She raised her arm and pointed. “Down this street. Six blocks, then turn left.” Her English was not very good. “You get to highway, I think.”
“Thank you.” Sheryl was relieved. “Thank you very much.” She waved to the woman.
The woman waved back, turned and walked toward the storage unit.
Sheryl got back into the car and started down the street. Still not too sure, she drove the car slowly, watching for any sign that would tell her more about where she was. After six blocks she turned left and continued, advancing very slowly, often stopping to see if anything looked familiar. Nothing did, and she kept driving.
After a couple of minutes she reached a busy intersection with a stop sign. So many cars were moving down this street, it had to be a main thoroughfare. She found the street sign. Light Street. That sounded familiar. She snatched the map and searched. Sitting there, it seemed to take forever. Ah, here it is. She followed it with her finger. Yes, I found it. Light Street was where the Hyatt Regency was located. She pointed to her right and told herself, “It should be just down here, maybe ten blocks or so.” She smiled as relief swept over her. “I’m closer than I realized.” She smiled. She was happy. “I’m almost there!” she shouted, and turned the corner.
Sheryl hadn’t seen the man emerge from the storage unit with a questioning look on his face. “Who was that, Umara?”
“Some woman was lost. She asked for directions.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I said I didn’t know this area. I told her to go six blocks down and turn left. That should get her to a main road.”
Tariq looked at the street outside the fence. They were in a spot where both pedestrian and car traffic were sparse. Everything was quiet. He glance back at Umara. “That may have been totally innocent, but it could have been someone watching us. They want to know what we are doing.” He motioned to her. “Quick. Get in the car.”
He closed and locked the storage unit as fast as he could, then jumped into the front seat of the van and pulled out the gate onto the street. He floored the gas to pick up speed, then made the left turn that Umara had identified. The speeding van covered the next few blocks quickly.
“There, up ahead,” Umara shouted. “The gray car. That’s her.”
They saw the car sitting at the intersection ahead of them, waiting for something. Tariq slowed the van so not to approach too fast. “I don’t want to come up right behind her. I’m going to follow to see where she goes, but I don’t want her to know we are following her.”
“Okay,” Umara nodded.
“There she goes.” The gray Ford turned the corner and started down Light Street. Tariq stopped at the intersection to provide a short distance between the vehicles, then turned and followed Sheryl’s car.
“There,” Umara pointed. “She’s turning into the underground parking for the hotel.”
“I see. We’ll follow her, but park in a different spot. Let’s see what she does, if she meets anyone. Then we’ll know if we need to be careful.”
“Thanks, Randy,” Stephen said. “I hope I’ve been some help.” He smiled. “You’ve got quite a challenge to work on. I wish you luck.”
Agent Osborn offered his hand. “Thank you, Stephen. You’ve been a big help. We have a lot to chew on. And with the conference starting on Monday, we don’t have a lot of time to prepare. We’re shooting in the dark here and we don’t know what to expect. Just have to watch for the worst-case scenario and pray to God that we stop these guys before they act.” He nodded.
“Thanks again, Stephen. You and Sheryl enjoy your stay here. Have a good time.”
“We will. Here comes Sheryl now.” He pointed to the gray Ford Fusion entering the underground parking garage.
“Yeah, and there’s someone else coming in for a good time.” Osborn pointed to a white van following Sheryl’s car into the garage.
The two men turned back to each other. “Say hi to Sheryl for me, will you? You two have a good time.” He started to walk away toward his car parked somewhere in the garage. He turned back. “Bill and Jimmie are in the lounge having a drink. You might want to join them before you get ready for your night out. Tell them the drinks are on me.”
“Okay. Will do.” Stephen waved at Osborn.
He didn’t have to wait long for Sheryl. She walked over to him, almost out of breath. “Hi, darling,” he offered.
She reached up and put her arms around his neck. Still breathing hard, she smiled at him, then gave him a long kiss. “It’s so good to see you. You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Oh? You’ll have to tell me about it.”
They turned to go into the hotel. “I see you got your dress.”
“Yes.” The frustration was going out of her. “Wait till you see it. I told you you’re going to like it.”
They reached the door. “After all the shopping, I got lost, Stephen.”
He looked at her and laughed.
“It’s not funny. I was scared. Well, for a little bit, anyway.”
Stephen put his arm around Sheryl. “Let’s go have a drink in the lounge. A couple of the FBI guys are still there. Osborn said to tell them our drinks are on him. You can unwind and tell me all about your adventure.”
They both turned their heads at the sound of screeching tires. The back of that same white van slid sideways, then gained its footing as it sped out of the parking garage.