Rather than dick around with hacking through firewalls, which neither of them specialized in, they’d been tasked with stealing Setyeyiva’s laptop to get the passwords and access the company databases. They were to eliminate him to buy themselves time with the computer before it could be reported as missing.

Given Setyeyiva’s sturdiness and physical prowess, this would be challenging. Attaining a gun in this climate would be conspicuous. So they’d come up with another plan.

Jaggers let the camera drop from around his neck. “He’s leaving now.” He checked his watch, jotted down the time in his notepad with a skinny silver pen.

Candy pictured the route Refat Setyeyiva would likely trace on his way out—through the rear door and across the narrow alley to the parking structure next door. There were specifics to lock down, angles to consider, sight lines to account for. It would be a complex, sticky business, and success rested on timing and preparation.

As her junior-high shop teacher used to say, Measure twice, cut once.

25. Not Very Nice

25

Not Very Nice

Back in his luxurious cell, Evan checked his phone to see if the boy had called back, but the shattered screen showed no missed calls. He slid the RoamZone between mattress and box spring again and went into the bathroom. Getting down on his hands and knees by the sink in the hidden camera’s blind spot, he stared at the J-plug outlet placed beneath the floating counter. Then he rolled onto his back and smashed the plastic cover with the heel of his boot. It took only a few kicks for it to chip and fall away.

Beneath it was nothing but an empty hole in the drywall. Wires stubbed out of the socket, connected to nothing. It was a prop, inserted in the space where a functional outlet had been.

He broke the cover into smaller pieces and flushed them down the toilet.

In the bedroom again, he crawled beneath the built-in desk. The Type C outlet was there in the darkness behind the back panel and the wall. He slipped his hand into the gap and managed to slide the edge of his thumbnail into the groove of one of the tiny screws. After five minutes of cramped machinations, the screw pinged loose, the outlet cover swinging down to reveal the blank wall beneath.

Evan sat back on his heels and marveled at René’s attention to detail. So many fakes and misdirects. Impeccable tradecraft.

When he crawled out, Despi was once more standing by the fireplace. She wore lipstick and a hair tie.

“Wanna not have sex again?” Her full lips shaped the words, a hoarse whisper to thwart the surveillance.

He drew himself upright. “Don’t you get cold?”