Grange moved with sparse traffic into the center of the city. It was the weekend, it was after dark, and there weren’t many people interested in going where Grange was headed. Most people who worked in DC lived miles away in cookie-cutter bedroom communities, unique only in the various creative names chosen by developers to evoke images of opulence and prosperity. Downtown DC was nothing but congestion and hassle during the week, but it was eerily deserted on the weekend.
Grange had a delivery to make and a showdown to engineer. It was well past time to end the game, one way or another. He had worked hard to arrange things in a way that favored an agreeable finish, but he knew enough to avoid overconfidence. It would be a narrow thing, and he still had an uncomfortably large number of loose ends to handle. If he pulled it off, it would be one hell of a grand finale.
He slowed, turned on the blinker, and steered the van into a belowground parking garage. He drove carefully. There was the cargo in the back of the van to think of. It was both fragile and volatile.
Grange drove through the first parking level. In the building above him were hundreds of cubicles, most with no access to daylight and outfitted with the cheapest modular office furniture available. The building was deserted, as was the first level of the parking garage, but he continued to the next level below, driving slowly down the ramp, concerned for a moment with the vertical clearance. The top of the van cleared the concrete supports with inches to spare.
Grange found an agreeable spot on the third and lowest level and parked next to the elevator. There was work to be done before he could unload the cargo, and he set about it with grim determination. He checked both handguns in his possession—loaded, cocked, and ready. The building was empty, but it certainly wouldn’t stay that way.
Grange pulled a dark ball cap low over his brow and donned sunglasses. He zipped up his winter parka. It added twenty pounds to his silhouette. It wouldn’t fool anyone for long, but it might be good for half a second’s hesitation. An eternity, depending on the situation.
He checked again on the cargo. Satisfied it wasn’t going anywhere, he opened the door and got out of the van. He walked to the elevator and pushed the button. When it arrived, he inserted a magnetic access card into a slot. The card contained electronic credentials that gave him access to the building above, but the credentials didn’t belong to him. The elevator doors closed and the car lurched upward. Grange looked at his watch. It wouldn’t be long now.