“Oh my God!” Marie whispered weakly. “What’s he doing there?”
Olsen turned his head. “You know him? Who is he?”
“It’s him . . . the person it came from. My ex-husband. That’s Roland. . . . He must have come with her, to make sure things went okay.”
Olsen studied the image thoughtfully. “That means we don’t have to listen only to this woman we don’t know. We can get his input too. You’re sure he’s likely to be straight?”
Marie nodded affirmatively. “Oh yes.”
“Then let’s bring him along.” Olsen leaned forward and touched a key. “Watcher?”
“Here.”
“The tail is friendly. In fact, we’re glad he’s here. So include him in the party too.”
* * *?
Rebecca was getting agitated, looking back at Cade and making empty-hands motions. Cade didn’t know what was going on. It had seemed that the cab driver had spotted her and pulled over; then he seemed to change his mind at the last moment. Cade signaled back tersely for Rebecca to stop making it so obvious that they were together. She seemed to get the message, calmed down, and directed her attention back toward the motor lobby entrance. An airport shuttle that had been filling with departing hotel guests started up and departed.
Perhaps the business with the cabbie had been genuinely a case of mistaken identity. Cade checked his watch. Seven minutes past the hour. Was it reasonable to expect people in this kind of line to be punctual—especially with all the trouble that was going on? He opened the newspaper that he’d been carrying under his arm and stared at it. He felt like ham in a spy movie. Well, hell, what was he supposed to know about this kind of business? He found he was looking at the sports section. He didn’t even understand the rules of baseball. A white limo appeared and disgorged a couple both with long hair and in blue jeans. While the driver came around to begin unloading luggage from the trunk, a bellman appeared from inside the hotel, pulling a cart.
And then a cab appeared in the entrance and slowed. Cade wasn’t certain, but it seemed like the same one that had passed through before. This time it drew up directly in front of Rebecca. She stooped to peer inside uncertainly. The nearside window lowered, and the driver leaned across to say something. Rebecca nodded. The cab’s trunk lid popped open, and the cabbie got out to take care of the two bags. Finally, everything seemed to be going well. Rebecca opened the rear door, and climbed in, glancing out from the window to nod quickly. Cade watched the cabbie slam the trunk lid shut, then go forward and get back in. Just a few more seconds now, and the whole business would be out of Cade’s hands. He exhaled a long sigh of relief.
“Take it easy. Don’t turn around. Just get in the cab too.” The voice spoke close to his ear. It was low, little more than a murmur, but had a distinct no-nonsense quality.
Cade tensed reflexively, then forced himself to relax again, realizing that anything else was futile. “What is this?” he breathed.
“I don’t know either. It seems that the people meeting your friend want to talk to you.”
“I’m just a delivery man. I don’t know anything about what goes on.”
“That’s not for me to decide. I’ve just got orders.” There was a pause. Cade hesitated. “Come on,” the voice said. “You don’t want to mess with us. Let’s move.”
Cade sighed and walked over to the cab, the stranger following. Somehow, the cabbie seemed to know they would be coming and was waiting. Cade opened the door, shrugged in response to Rebecca’s bemused look, and got in next to her. The stranger squeezed in beside Cade and closed the door. He was maybe sixtyish, Cade saw as he sat back. Tanned, wrinkled features; hair going white; dark, indecipherable eyes—the kind that never gave away exactly where they were focused. He was wearing a hip-length coat of brown suede over a tan, crew-neck sweater. The cab pulled back out onto Peachtree, negotiated several blocks, and descended an on ramp to a highway that signs said were Interstates 75 and 85 South, which led back toward the airport. But after a few intersections it exited again onto a road leading among industrial premises, where it entered a parking area and stopped beside a black, windowless van. “Here, we change,” the stranger informed them. “Not much of a view from here on, I’m afraid. But I’m sure you understand that these things are necessary.”