Charles’s next call was to Myra, and it was short and sweet. “Get down to the fifth floor and walk up to six. Keep your cell phone on and do your power walk. The second you get to the sixth floor, call me, and we’ll keep the line open.” He cursed loudly and ripely as he attacked the stack of papers still coming through the fax machine. The e-mail was pinging so loudly he wished he had earplugs.

Murphy let loose with a loud bark, which triggered one from Grady. Both dogs were on their feet before Charles could turn around.

“It’s okay. I know I don’t usually use language like that, but there’s a first time for everything.”

Charles took a moment to wonder if he’d put too many operatives on this particular case. Never one to voice self-doubt, he shook his head to clear it. He needed every single operative and probably should have assigned a dozen more to Bonnie and Clyde. He closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to figure out what the couple’s next move would be.

First and foremost, Charles now realized, the couple was suddenly seeing too many new faces in a short span of time. No operative was perfect, sometimes no matter how they disguised themselves, no matter how nonchalant they appeared, a subject would pick up on it. Maybe they were too close, the clothing didn’t sit right with the subject, or the operative made eye contact. Whatever it was, Charles knew that Bonnie and Clyde were now on the alert.

He also knew that if either Bonnie or Clyde left the Watergate, there was a good chance they could successfully elude his people. It happened all the time, and it didn’t matter how good the operative was. Bonnie and Clyde were pros, and there was too much money at stake for them to suddenly get sloppy. In addition, most criminals had Plan B, C, D, and, if necessary, the rest of the alphabet in place. Right now, he knew, they were kicking Plan B into place. All it took was one little thing to warn the subject that things weren’t quite right. People like Bonnie and Clyde had built-in antennae that were always on alert for possible trouble.

Charles’s cell phone was at his ear the instant it rang. It was Myra announcing she and Annie were on the sixth floor and starting their power walk. “Remember, Myra, only German when you and Annie are walking. Don’t talk loud, keep your voice normal. I’ll be able to hear everything with my earbud. Be careful.”