Nickel City Storm Warning (Gideon Rimes Book 3) by Gary Ross (100 best novels of all time txt) 📗

breakout meeting rooms, the banquet hall and the kitchen that serves it. I need to inspect the convention hall, all the ways in and out. The suite where Ms. Wingard will stay. It’ll need opaque curtains and must be in your south tower, high enough to make a ground shot impossible and facing the river to minimize locations for a sniper’s nest.”

“Where’s he gonna shoot from, the Skyway?” Randall said. “A pedestrian is going to walk to the top of an elevated highway and shoot at a hotel with cars whizzing by?”

“There are enough places around here for a man who knows what he’s doing,” Mark said. His eyes were the same blue as his brother’s but icier. His gray-threaded black beard underscored the calm authority of his voice. He was someone who had seen and done enough to erase all doubt about his expertise in violence. “Empty factories, other Cobblestone buildings, even the Skyway if he stages a breakdown, has a high-powered rifle, and tinted windows.” He tugged his beard in thought. “A two-man team heading into downtown. The driver turns on flashers and pulls over. The shooter in back gets off a silenced shot. Then the driver turns off his flashers and zips away. Two minutes, tops.”

“He wouldn’t have time to aim,” Randall said.

“He wouldn’t have to if he just wanted to shoot a window to fuck with you.” Mark shrugged. “If he had a spotter with a smartphone on the ground, setting up a target…”

“It’s good business to hire people who know what you don’t and can do what you can’t,” James Torrance said, perhaps to his son, perhaps to us. “If Mark says it can be done, I believe it can be done. So we’ll take steps to prevent it. Anything else?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’d like to select and reserve Ms. Wingard’s suite today, also to guarantee it will be vacant for two days before she checks in so my team can prepare it.”

“Prepare it how?” Matt asked.

“By installing equipment. Small cameras in the corridor paired with laptops so we can monitor who’s outside the door. Our communications equipment so we can remain in contact with each other at all times. Everything we’re using has adhesive backing that won’t damage walls or moldings. Also, we’ll need to rearrange furniture in the suite, except the beds, of course.”

“You need two days for that?” James said. “You do understand this is a business. We could let you have it for the conference rate.”

“It takes time to set up and test a base of operations—battery checks, power supplies, blue tooth connectivity, transmission range, dry runs.” I didn’t tell him we would sweep the room for bugs and traces of explosive materials. “But we can do it in one day if we get the conference rate, and I pay my contractors a little more.” I had asked for two days in the hope settling on one would feel like a compromise, but I knew paying contractors was something he understood.

“All right. Is that it?”

“I’d like to see all three roofs. The center building and both towers.”

Randall shook his head and laughed. “I’ve read about the kind of people threatening this woman. They write their Fs backward and have to be reminded to brush their teeth. Your hi-tech toys should be enough to stop them.”

“Randall,” James said.

“I don’t think they have helicopters, Pop.”

“You don’t need a helicopter if you have a key,” I said.

“I promise you, nobody will have keys but us,” Matt said.

I looked at Mark. “I bet you could get to the roof without a key, couldn’t you?”

Fighting a smile, he nodded.

“Then I’d like to see all three roofs and I’d like a guarantee of roof access when we prep the suite. I’ll put a couple of micro-cams up there too.”

“We already have CCTV cameras up top,” Matt said.

“They won’t be part of our system, and we won’t be part of yours.”

Matt frowned. “Won’t you be communicating with us the whole time?”

“Certainly. But my equipment is custom-made, designed to be overlooked by the person who might spray paint over yours. It’s already compatible with my other hardware. After our client checks out, everything will be packed up and removed in a couple of hours.”

No one spoke for a time, but three of the four men looked at each other as if having a telepathic conversation. Then, his back to me, James cocked his head and whispered something I could not hear. Randall offered a faint scowl as he shrugged. Matt looked from father to son and nodded twice. Mark remained still, hands behind his back, eyes tracking movement in the lobby. Pete was to my left, a step back, a sliver in my peripheral vision. A few more seconds passed. James turned to me and let out a breath. “Impressive, Mr. Rimes. Thorough.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He looked from one Donatello brother to the other. “As I’ve already suggested, you should consider hiring this man.”

Matt looked me up and down. “Something tells me he does just fine on his own.”

“In any case, Randall has several meetings in New York today,” James said to me. “He and Matt must get to the airport soon if they’re going to make their scheduled departure. A canceled private take-off can mean hours for another chance. As for me, I have to prepare for a business dinner with Chinese hotel investors.” He turned to Mark. “I’ll leave the guided tour to you then. Be sure these gentlemen have whatever they need. When you’re finished, take them over to Charmaine’s Table and tell Muriel their lunch is on me. Then get yourself some rest. Tonight’s dinner will probably be a long one.”

“Of course, Mr. Torrance.”

After another round of handshakes and the departure of Matt and the Torrances, Mark remained expressionless as he asked about my time in Iraq.

“You checked me out,” I said, unsurprised. “So you know I was an MP in a combat zone before I was CID. Different from JSOC in Afghanistan, I’ll bet. Were