We made our way through the streets, me taking a complexer route than was necessary because the habit of checking for—and foiling—tails was too deeply ingrained. Not sure how long it took to get there. Hadn’t looked at the car’s digital clock. That worried me, because it meant that, although some safety habits were working, others were not. I’d have to watch that.

I parked four blocks from the hotel and walked the rest of the way, carrying the bags, with Ghost beside me. I’d taken a few minutes to thoroughly wipe down the car before abandoning it. Kept the keys, though, just in case I needed to make a fast exit. If things were cool, I’d toss the keys into a culvert. Wasn’t sure how quickly the deaths at the lab would be discovered or how fast things would be investigated. A scientist with his pants missing would logically and ultimately lead the cops to check the cars in the lot. There would be one missing, and it would eventually be found. If I had time later, maybe I’d go out and swap the plates. But not now.

At the hotel, I went straight to the elevator, which was located between the twin reception desks, and rode up to the tenth floor. I had a room with two queen beds. One for me, one for Ghost. All I could think about was getting out of dead men’s clothes and taking another shower. Maybe order some room service and upload the information I got from De Vries and send it via a rerouting system to Church.

In my more lucid moments, that’s what I’d been doing.

My brain was still sorting through what De Vries had said about the American Operation. It seemed improbable. Definitely ambitious, even grandiose. Which made me wonder if it was legit. Had the terrified scientist lied to me?

No, whispered a dark and ugly voice from way down deep inside my head.

We reached my room, and I swiped the key card.

Suddenly, Ghost went tense, sniffing at the door before I even opened it. He’s trained to give me clear signals so that I immediately understood if there was a threat, and if so, what level of threat.

But he just stood there, sniffing. Damned near frowning. He looked up at me with quizzical brown dog eyes.

I had no weapons except in the bag, and they were covered with drying blood. If I got one out, it would leave bloodstains on the carpet right outside my room.

I began to back away. There was still time to run, to get to one of my other rooms here in the hotel. There were weapons in each, hidden where even room maids wouldn’t find them.

Before I got very far, the door opened.