“No, just nod when they come in. They work for an insurance company, they’re harmless, but don’t make it obvious you’re noticing them, okay”

Ten seconds later she gave Nathan a nod.

“Thanks,” he said.

Nathan strolled over to the bank of elevators and pressed the button. At the sixth floor, he hurried to his room and let himself in with the electronic card key. He grabbed his 9-millimeter from the duffel bag and unloaded it. After opening the door on his side of the adjoining room doorway, he placed an ear against the second door. Sure enough, he heard the room’s door open and close. With a smile, he stepped back, raised his foot, and kicked the door with all his strength.

The door splintered away from its jamb, flew open, and smacked the dresser hard.

Nathan burst through. The woman he’d seen in the Hard Rock was just setting her purse and sidearm down on the bed.

She made a move for her gun, but Nathan pointed his Sig at her chest.

She held her hands up. “FBI special agent.”

“I know that. Where’s your partner?”

She hesitated. “In the lobby, watching Mr. Fontana.”

Nathan held his gun up. “Do I need this?”

“No.”

“I’ve got your word on that?”

“Yes.”

“Good, ’cause it’s not loaded.”

“When did you spot us?”

He tucked the gun behind his back. “In the Hard Rock. Your partner kept using the mirror behind the bar to watch us.” He smiled, but it wasn’t returned. He gave her a closer look. She was actually quite attractive. Around the same age as Nathan, she wore jeans and a white silk shirt under a black leather jacket. Her blond hair was cut shoulder-length and she had piercing blue eyes behind a Slavic face.

Nathan looked around the room at all the surveillance equipment. Half-a-dozen black boxes were stacked on the dresser next to the door, all of them connected to a digital recorder.

“Okay, Special Agent…”

“Grangeland.”

“How do you want to play this out? We have a couple of options. The first, I smash every piece of equipment in this room and you’ll have to explain its destruction to whoever you’re reporting to, presumably Lansing. The second, we maintain the status quo. Harvey and I will be careful what we say and no one needs to be the wiser. I’ll tell the hotel staff I lost my footing and fell against the door.”

She crossed her arms. “What makes you think I’d allow you to break all this equipment?”

“Because I outweigh you by a hundred pounds.”

A smile touched her lips. “I have a counterproposal. You and me. Right here. Right now. The winner decides the outcome.” She slipped out of her coat and tossed it on the bed.