Pia got back from her run before dawn and checked in with George’s night crew in Bethesda. She reminded them to let anyone using the word “Morpheus” get through to her directly. They patiently replied they’d been made aware—several times over. She showered and put on fresh leggings and athletic top. She picked up a copy of Death and Deception and sat in the bay window. After losing her concentration, she went to the suite’s oval-shaped foyer.
Sabel Agent Cody Jefferson leaned his chair against the wall, reading. When she entered his peripheral vision, he dropped the chair to the floor and stood at attention. He’d been with Sabel Security over a year and still reacted like he was back in the 101st Airborne. He was short and built like a bantamweight fighter. He kept a picture on his office desk of the two of them that looked like the famous picture of Maria Sharapova standing next to Floyd Mayweather.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
“Um.” He glanced at his book’s cover. “The Geneva Decision. Pretty good. The heroine reminds me of you.”
“I’ll trade you when you’re done.” She held up her book. “Tania up yet?”
“Ma’am?” He glanced at his watch.
“Sorry, bored and waiting for a call.” She tracked back down the hall and found her page.
Not long after, the call came in.
“Heard you’re an early riser,” the voice said. “Most who seek help from the Morpheus Institute are. We’ll meet at half six.”
He gave an address off the beaten path in Camden Town, near Roundhouse, a famous music venue. He said nothing else and clicked off.
Tania came in from her room still in PJs, scratching her wild hair. “Is the morning butler in yet? Starving. I couldn’t eat that stuff last night. Too fancy.”
“Get dressed,” Pia said. “We’re meeting the money man in half an hour.”
“That’s moving fast. I don’t like it.”
“What do we have for self-contained recordings?”
“You wearing that?” Tania’s face contorted while she thought. “I got a button camera, would clip on a zipper. What is that brand, Alala? They don’t do much in the way of zippers. What else you got?”
Tania followed her to the bedroom where she dug through the suitcase. Tania reached around her and pulled something out and held it up. “Dude, a lace sports bra? Since when do they make … oh, hold up. You was planning on going home with Mr. Liam? About time you did something proactive. What happened?”
“He didn’t invite me.” Pia shrugged.
“Ain’t that a shame. You all ready and waiting for—”
“How about this one?” Pia held up a zippered jacket from Unbridled Apparel.
“That’ll work.” Tania took it back to her room and returned a minute later. Attached to the zipper pull was a camera the size of a small button. “Just don’t unzip halfway. Guys always check out your boobs.”
“Men don’t stare at mine.” Like many athletes, her A cups didn’t hold a lot of attention.
“Men always check anyway. He’ll see it. Keep it zipped up. They don’t care about necks.”
They holstered their pistols and checked their looks and headed for the door. Cody fell in at the back.