Karla Raven was humming to herself as she pushed the luggage cart down the quiet halls of the St. Regis. The great thing about robbing sporting goods stores was that they had an ample supply of shopping bags. The chore of carting out the loot was thus made considerably easier.
The good thing about the St. Regis was that they had handy bellmen to help unload the loot, and really nice polished-brass luggage carts to wheel it all up to the rooms—even if the anxious bellmen had to be dissuaded from helping. She’d left them both with a good tip, and the assurance that they could snag the two carts from the hallway in ten minutes.
“So?” Karla asked over her shoulder, “Is this trip all that I promised?”
Swink chuckled as she pushed her cart. “First a Jet Ranger, then that cute little Gulfstream? Not to mention burglary, breaking and entering, stolen cars, hijacking sporting goods stores? What’s not to like?” A pause. “Well, there’s you, of course.”
“Maybe one of these days we can settle that, just the two of us. But in the meantime, we’re making a pretty good team.”
“I might have forgiven you a little if you’d let me really fly that Gulfstream.”
“Just ‘feeling her out,’ as you put it, almost had Falcon catatonic and Edwin hurling his lunch. The barrel rolls and other shit you wanted to do? Maybe some other time when we really need it.”
Karla stopped at the suite door, used her keycard, and with Cat’s help rolled the cart inside.
“Everything turn out all right?” Cat asked.
“Clockwork.” Karla glanced at Falcon where he sat at the desk staring at Edwin’s computer screen. “How’s Falcon?”
Cat narrowed her dark eyes. “Rocky.”
“Explain.”
“Falcon functions best in a stable and familiar environment, one he can control. The past forty-eight hours have been anything but that. I caught him on the verge of what’s called a psychotic break. Think of it as a descent into catatonic paranoia. That’s the bad news.”
“And the good news?”
Cat ran nervous fingers through her thick hair. “The good news is that he recognizes it and is willing to accept help. I called the Skipper, did some research, and I think I’ve got his meds balanced. But I’m no psychiatrist.”
“But he’ll get better, right?” Swink’s pensive gaze fixed on Falcon.
“Schizo-DID isn’t something that just goes away. It’s a physical reality. Like your red hair, Major, you can’t will it to grow out black no matter how hard you try. Our problem is that if we overtreat Falcon’s symptoms, it dulls those creative parts of his brain that we’re depending on.”
“So?” Karla asked, “What’s the solution?”
“The solution is that he needs just enough medication to keep his brain chemistry from crashing into paranoia and depression, but not enough to dull his creativity.”
“How’s that working?”
“I think we’re okay. I’m keeping a constant watch on the movement of his hands and feet. Earlier, when he was on the edge, he was twitching like an electrified rabbit.”
“And Edwin?” she asked. “How’s his—”
“He’s got them by the balls.” Cat’s midnight eyes twinkled. “Chief, he’s downloaded the complete architectural designs for that big hacienda up on the hill. Lifted them right out of the architect’s mainframe in Vancouver. Falcon’s looking at them on the monitor right now.”
Karla glanced at Winny. “Well, let’s go take a look.”
She padded over and bent over Falcon’s shoulder. “Heard you had a rough one.”
Falcon barely glanced up. “Cat helped. Then that asshole Rudy showed up and started ragging all over me.” He pointed to a basement room on the diagram. “There, Chief. That’s my call. At least for the two mummies they stole. According to Edwin’s investigation of recent contractors and medical suppliers in the Aspen area, that’s the only place they could have built a lab. It had the necessary water, power, and sewer, as well as an evacuation hood, you know, for noxious gases and stuff, installed in the original construction. This door leads to a dressing room, and here’s the sterile-environment room with a completely contained atmosphere.”
Edwin look up, his dark eyes weary. “They put in an X-ray machine, autoclave, and bought a really expensive microscope two months ago.”
“What about Gray and the missing archaeologists?”
Falcon tapped the screen. “If they are lucky, this whole hallway is bedrooms, ten of them. Each with a full bath.” He paused. “If they are unlucky, they could be anywhere down here on this basement level in one of these small concrete-lined rooms.”
Karla studied the layout and rubbed the back of her neck. Whoever designed the place had an eye for security. “I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“The major doesn’t think you should go in there alone, Chief.”
She glanced down into Falcon’s worried eyes. “Tell him he’s welcome to come with me.”
Falcon’s gaze darted to the couch across from the TV. “You know, she doesn’t make those offers to just anyone.” Then after listening for a moment, he returned his attention to Raven. “The major thinks you’d be better off taking Winny with you. She’s at least combat trained.”
“Whoa-up there!” Swink gave them a startled look from where she was laying out climbing ropes, carabineers, boots, and other gear. “Sure, I’m combat trained. In Strike Eagles, not ground ops. You want the place bombed and strafed, I’m your gal.”
“You did fulfill the requirements for survival and evasion training, didn’t you, Major?” Falcon asked.
“You betcha. I can eat worms and crawl through drainages and brush with the best of them. That’s not climbing walls, slipping down corridors, and silencing armed guards.”
Karla made a cutting motion with her hand. “It’s my show. Period.” She paused. “Now, what have you got from Google Earth? I want to see the place. How it sits in the topography, what the best approach is.”
Ten minutes later, she was anything but happy. “The thing’s built like a friggin’ medieval castle. Sheer walls perched on rock outcrops, small windows on the lower floors, and those top-floor windows are solid plateglass. Even as rocky and steep as the terrain is, they’ve fenced the entire perimeter. My guess is the fence is wired, and they’ve got remote cameras and motion detectors all over the approaches to the house.”
“How ’bout that heliport next to the tennis court?” Edwin asked.
“Even if we could steal a stealth bird, they’ve got enough eyes and ears that they’d have their arms out to catch me if I tried to insert on a fast line. Same if I dropped in with a parachute. Too much movement.”
“According to Skientia’s payroll,” Edwin told her, “they keep thirty security guys on staff. All of them hired through this Talon Group. You ever heard of them?”
“Military contractors.” Karla had a cold feeling in her gut. “Even other contractors are suspicious of them. They go for hard cases—the kind who get dishonorable discharges. These guys are definitely not your standard-issue rent-a-cops.”
“Even the best succumb to a routine,” Falcon noted. “Take longer coffee breaks, that sort of thing.”
“Not if they’ve got Gray, archaeologists, and high-value sarcophagi recently stolen from a two-star like Grazier. Whoever’s in charge up there will have them frosty.” She sipped at the cup of coffee Cat had made her. “I mean, I can do it, but it’s going to be messy.”
Edwin looked up. “Messy how?”
“Like killing people messy,” she told him. “And I don’t have a silenced pistol.”
“Thought you’d just sneak up and do Ninja shit,” Edwin countered.
“Like in the movies?”
“Yeah. That generally come out okay for the good guys.”
She gave him a playful smack on the head. “Keep dreaming, ET. You’re sure you can take down their security?”
“Piece of cake, Chief. But they’re going to know ’cause I gotta crash it. Less’n I was in there. But we been all over that. Getting my skinny black ass into that central control?” He shook his head. “Not even Falcon can figure a way to do that. Not in the week we got.”
Karla chewed her thumb as she studied the building schematics. “There.” She pointed. “Once we’re on the grounds, that’s the weak spot. The kitchen entrance. Do you agree, Falcon?”
“The major thinks it’s feasible. The kitchen has a dedicated driveway, entrance, and delivery door, but it’s essentially isolated in the basement. The only access to the house is either up these stairs next to the stoves, or by means of the dumbwaiter; with a choke point like that, you can bet they’ll have cameras and some of those guards posted. It wouldn’t surprise me if the kitchen staff has to use pass keys to travel back and forth.”
“You’re not exactly blowing my skirt up, Falcon.”
“Didn’t know you owned one,” Edwin muttered.
“I don’t. Outside of my dress uniforms. Wherever in the hell they are.”
“The major and I agree it would take two people,” Falcon said softly. “Chief, however you do it—” he shook his head, “—someone’s got to watch your back.”
Cat stunned them all when she cried, “I’m an idiot!”
“Nothing new there,” Swink muttered where she was loading .45 ACP into a pistol magazine.
Karla turned. “What are you thinking, Cat?”
Cat bent over Falcon’s shoulder and stared at the diagram. “Where is the HVAC accessed?”
He pointed. “The physical plant’s accessed through the kitchen here. From there, air is ducted through the entire structure.”
Cat frowned at the display. “How hard is it to get from the kitchen to the physical plant? I mean, for one person?”
“Through this door. But that’s as far as you go.” Falcon pointed. “See? To get to the rest of the house you have to backtrack to the stairs or dumbwaiter.”
Cat asked, “Could you get me into that room?”
“Sure. But from there I still have to get past the stairway choke-point.”
“Then, I think I know how to make this work.” Cat straightened. “I need the keys to the SUV and all of our cash. Surely there’s a grocery open, but I might need Edwin to break me into a welding supply, or a hardware store.”
“What are you up to?”
Cat gave her an enigmatic curl of the lips. “Trust me, Chief. It’s about time I started pulling my weight.”
After she was gone, Falcon was smiling in subtle satisfaction. Karla asked, “What are you gloating about?”
“The statistical probability of success just rose significantly, Chief. And the major has some suggestions, but it’s still going to take two on the inside.”