“I expect Mr. Hamilton has put Mr. Ishio’s lab to good use in his absence.” Lobec turned to find Francowiak. “You stay here in case they come back. Call us if they do. Capture them, but do not kill them. We have to make sure we have the notebook before that happens.” Lobec opened the front door and turned back to Bern. “Shall we go take a look at Virginia Tech?”
It had been 20 minutes since Kevin left, and Erica was beginning to wonder where he was. The lot was almost devoid of people now, the last few making their way to the game.
The sound of thunder rattled the windows, startling Erica, who peered out at the sunny sky in amazement. Then she remembered something she’d read in the school paper during her long stretches of boredom in this room. A cannon was fired by the corps of cadets every time Virginia Tech scored. They must have just gotten a touchdown.
Erica found herself absently tapping on the desk and stopped. She chuckled, amused that she was starting to pick up Kevin’s bad habits. It was the first time in years she didn’t have to study, and now she didn’t know what to do with herself except stare out of the window, imagining everything that could go wrong in the next two days. What if their appointment got canceled? What if Congressman Sutter didn’t believe them? Would the Washington Post help them? And most of all, what if they were found by Barnett and Kaplan?
As the thunder faded, Erica heard a new sound. It was faint at first, but grew steadily louder. The sound of dress shoes on the linoleum hallway outside the door, two pairs. Both had the slow rhythm of men’s loafers marching in lockstep rather than the quick staccato of women’s heels. They were probably fifty feet away by now.
They suddenly stopped, to her left, just about where the lab would be. Erica pressed her ear against the door. She heard low mumbles. Definitely two men. Odd that someone would be dressed up on a Saturday, especially the Saturday of a big game. One of them knocked on a door.
She thought, What if it’s them? But that was absurd. Nobody knew where they were except Ted and Janice, and they were in Minneapolis. No, she was just being paranoid.
So why don’t you open the door and take a look?
She put her hand on the doorknob. More footsteps. Another knock, this time closer. More mumbling.
She hesitated. You’re just being silly. Just a couple of students trying to find one of their friends.
How many students do you know that wear loafers on a Saturday?
Even if it was them, what was she going to do about it? Her purse was in the lab along with her mace. The gun was in the truck’s glove compartment, although all she’d do with it would be to try and bluff them. No, might as well open the door now while she had a chance to run.
Erica turned the knob as quietly as she could, waiting to pull the door toward her until the latch was totally disengaged. The door was hinged on her right, so she’d have to stick her head out to see who it was. She eased the door inward and peered down the hall to the right. No one was in the field of view. As the door opened wide enough for her body, she yanked the door open, slid to the right and turned in one motion, tensing her muscles for flight.
When she saw the two men, she almost ran, but then she realized they were wearing dark blue maintenance uniforms and both had on tool belts. They turned at the sound of the door hitting her back. One was about Kevin’s height, blond, and had a gap where a tooth should have been. The other was about five inches shorter, with dark hair and a pug nose. Neither of them was the one who had ambushed them in Dallas, the man with the black hair and steely gray eyes. Both smiled when they saw her. The taller one spoke with a heavy Virginia accent.
“Excuse me, Miss. We’re looking for Dr. Haber. He said he was going to be in one of these labs, but we can’t find him.”
Erica let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
“Miss?” the man repeated.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not really familiar with this building.”
“I thought he said 519, but…”
A door opened beyond the two maintenance men, and a pudgy, bald man stepped out.
“Thank god your here,” he said in a thick German accent. “I was in the back of the lab, but I thought I heard knocking. The air conditioning is completely broken now. Come. The equipment will be ruined soon otherwise.”
“I think we found him,” said the blond, and the two men followed Dr. Haber into the lab.
Erica retreated into the office and closed the door, chiding herself for being so foolish. The phone rang. Kevin had told her to answer Ted’s phone in case it was him. If it was somebody else, she could just take a message and let the person think it was an answering service.
“Hello?” she said.
Kevin’s voice answered. “Hey, it’s me. I had a hell of a time just getting some food.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when I get up there.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the truck. Ted’s cell phone was here, so I thought I’d put it to good use. I’ve been looking for a parking spot for the last ten minutes. Can you see one from up there?”
Erica smiled and went to the window, scanning the parking lot for a second. There he was. The huge dualie was slowly turning a corner and heading up the fourth row from the building.
“Yeah, I see one. You’ll have to go up the next row and come over to the other side of the lot. It’s almost at the back. I think you’ll be able to fit.”
“Okay, I’m on my way.”
After a few more instructions, Kevin found the spot.
“Thanks,” he said as he opened the truck door. “This is kind of cool. I’ve never used a cell phone before.” He waved and began walking toward the building.
“Can you see me?” she said, waving back.
“Sure. The fourth window from the right.”
“I’m glad you’re back.”
“Hungry?”
“That’s not the only reason.”
“Oh really?”
“That’s not what I meant. Where were you?”
He held up a white bag and pointed at it. “You’re the reason I’m late.”
“Me?”
“I made sure and checked the order after I came out of the drive-through. They messed yours up and I had to go back in and wait to get it right.” He was about halfway to the building. Another car pulled into the parking lot.
“That was awfully thoughtful of…” Erica froze. The car, a brown Taurus, stopped about seventy-five feet from Kevin and its occupants got out. Both were dressed in suits, the driver a beefy guy with a crew cut, the passenger with jet black hair and sunglasses. They were far away, but she thought of the moment in Dallas when another Taurus had stopped in front of them in that rainy LuminOptics parking lot. Even though it seemed impossible, she had no doubt. It was them.
“Kevin!” she yelled. “Get down!”
His bewildered voice replied. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Oh my god! It’s them! Barnett and Kaplan! Get down before they see you.”
“Shit!” Kevin dropped to his knees behind a blue sports car, but it was too late. They saw him. Barnett and Kaplan crouched down, drew guns from their jackets, and began creeping toward Kevin.
CHAPTER 30
The commuter parking lot had eight rows parallel to the building, with four lanes connecting each row. A hedge-lined central divider split the 1500-foot-long rows, leaving only one way between the two halves. Entrances to the lot were on either side, as well as in front of the building she was in and to the street bordering the far side.
In the fourth row, about 300 feet to Erica’s left, Kevin crouched behind the sports car, the bag of food spilled at his feet. Kaplan, the burly one, edged one row toward the building and continued moving in Kevin’s direction. Barnett circled around the other way with the fluid motions of a practiced hunter.