Working together earlier in the afternoon, Munoz and Melendez borrowed the housekeeping master key from one of the carts left unattended in the hallway and made a copy with a handheld scanner. Within thirty seconds, they had swiped the master key, storing the key card's electronic signature in their scanner, and created four copies with blank key cards. The Hines' were in the middle of unpacking, when two well-dressed Latino gentlemen suddenly appeared in the bedroom doorway holding small metallic tubes. They wouldn't remember anything beyond that.
"How was Daniel taking her little show?" Munoz asked.
"He appeared to be one hundred and ten percent operational," Melendez answered.
"We'll see. I feel bad for the guy."
"Why's that?"
"He's up against the two of them," Munoz stated.
"Yeah. Tough break for the guy. All right, they're in the room. Man, I wish I could see through that door," Melendez said.
"You and me, both. She's probably bitten off one of his ears by now."
Munoz's phone vibrated, and he took the call.
"Got it. We'll take them down when they reach the door," he said into the phone, then cut the call. "Petrovich just hit the stairs. He'll back us up in the hallway."
Several seconds passed before Melendez saw the elevator doors open. Two men walked out, stopping to check the elevator vestibule before proceeding briskly down the hallway toward Suite 1812.
"They're moving fast," Munoz noted.
Melendez stood up and moved over to the door, grabbing his HK USP Compact from the foot of the bed. The pistol was fitted with a suppressor that appeared longer than the pistol itself. Munoz sat his monitor against the wall, on the small table to the right of the door, and gripped the suppressed Steyr TMP submachine gun attached to the sling over his shoulder. Melendez grabbed the doorknob and watched the two men fill the monitor's screen. The dark-haired man standing to the left held a pistol in his right hand and a key card in his left. Melendez nodded quickly and quietly pulled the door open.
Munoz slipped through and stepped to the right, aiming at the light-haired man. Melendez moved straight forward, centering his pistol on the top of the dark-haired man's back. The dark-haired operative managed to turn his head over his shoulder before Munoz hissed a warning.
"Do not fucking move. You each have a weapon pointed at your back. Nod if you understand," he said, and both of them nodded quickly.
Daniel Petrovich appeared in the hallway, near the elevator vestibule. The light-haired man turned his head an inch, and Melendez could tell that the dark-haired operative had seen him. His pistol hand tensed. He probably recognized Daniel from the bar. This had the potential to go south really fast if Munoz didn't take control of the situation.
"That man is one of ours. You've been under surveillance all afternoon. Listen to me very closely. You will drop your weapons to the floor. Simply release them from your grip. On three. You will not get a second chance to do this. One. Two. Three."
One of the guns clattered to the carpeted floor. The other remained in the dark-haired man's grip. Melendez shifted his aim and fired a bullet through the man's right elbow. The bullet passed through his arm and lodged in the door, spraying the soft, salmon-colored paint with bright red arterial spray from his brachial artery. The suppressed gunshot had the desired effects, dropping the second gun to the carpet and stopping a more lethal chain of events.
Melendez kicked the man against the door, further stunning him, and yanked him back. He locked his arm around the man's neck and placed the end of the suppressor behind his ear.
"The next one goes through your skull," he whispered.
Munoz pulled the light-haired operative to the side and pushed him into the wall, giving Daniel room to pass. He turned to room 1812, withdrew another key card from his pocket, and approached the blood-splattered door, glancing down at the pool of blood at his feet.
"Nice mess. A little trigger happy tonight?" Daniel said, inserting the card while furtively glancing in both directions down the hallway.
"He was a fraction of a second from making it a whole lot worse," Melendez replied.
Inserting the key card, Daniel opened the door and stepped inside the vestibule, ready to draw his pistol.
"Is Mr. Young still breathing?" Daniel asked.
"He's fine, but you need to take him off my hands before I start cutting," Jessica replied from another room.
Upon hearing Jessica's comment, Melendez glanced at Munoz and smiled, but his partner didn't look happy. Glancing at the mess on the door and the blood still pumping onto the carpet, he wasn't surprised. There was no way they could wipe this clean enough to avoid unwanted attention. The hallway carpet contained deep red patterns, which helped; however, the carpet pattern was symmetrical and the bloodstains were irregularly spaced. Only the most intoxicated or oblivious hotel guest would walk by without wondering whether Hannibal Lecter was waiting behind the door for them.
Melendez followed Daniel into the room, forcibly shoving the gunman against the wall next to the bathroom doorway, searching him for a second weapon. Munoz followed at a safe distance behind with the second man. Melendez found a small knife strapped to his ankle, along with a wallet, car keys and a cell phone in his trouser pockets. His jacket held two additional magazines for one of the semiautomatic pistols that Munoz had kicked inside of the room when Daniel opened the door. Melendez threw all of these items onto the nearby table while Munoz kicked the door shut with the heel of his shoe.
"Give me a hand here. I need to tie off this arm, or we'll lose him. The bullet hit an artery."
Daniel emerged from the bedroom doorway to help.
"Keep him covered," Munoz said, handing the pistol to Daniel.
Melendez reached into his right pocket and fished out a black plastic zip tie restraint. He placed the zip tie around the wounded man's lower bicep area and connected the plastic coupling. He pulled the tie as tightly as possible, causing the man to scream in agony. The steady stream of blood had slowed, but still poured onto the floor. He braced the man's arm against the wall and yanked on the end of the zip tie again, putting all of his strength into pulling the thick plastic band tighter. The man reached around with his free hand, but Daniel was there to grab it and jam his pistol into the back of his neck. Melendez backed up and examined the blood trickling down the man's hand. The flow had stopped, which would give them some time to extract information, or do whatever Daniel had planned for him.
Daniel grabbed the man's jacket collar and pulled him into the sitting area, throwing him down onto one of the tan couches. He handed Melendez the pistol and pulled his own out of the concealed holster along his waist. Munoz covered the two men while Daniel took a few seconds to screw a short suppressor onto the threaded barrel.
"I hope you brought some cleaning supplies," Daniel said, nodding toward the door.
Munoz tossed the second man onto the same couch and replied, "We have a kit in the other room. We'll do what we can with the mess, and I'll stay in the other suite to keep an eye on the hallway. We have enough neurotoxin to knock out the entire floor if necessary. Shouldn't be an issue."
"Perfect. We'll get things started in here," Daniel said.
Melendez appreciated his partner's calm attitude about the situation. Neither of them said a word as they exited the room, careful not to step in the massive dark red stain in front of Suite 1812. Munoz immediately opened the door to Suite 1811 and disappeared, leaving Melendez to close the door to 1812. When he turned to face the door, he grimaced. What a fucking mess.
"Grab the big towels from the bathroom," he said.