10
‘You can’t be serious,’ Logan said to Cahill, sitting in the back of a taxi heading for their hotel.
‘Why not?’
‘Your life isn’t exciting enough already?’
‘Look, he said he’d think about it but he wasn’t really serious.’
‘Why not?’
‘I haven’t been in the States for a while and I’ve been out of any recognised agency for even longer. They don’t want someone like me. Someone they can’t control.’
‘So what was that all about? I mean, him saying he’d think about it.’
‘He was humouring me.’
‘But we’re done here, right?’
‘We’re booked in the hotel for three nights. Why don’t we make the most of it?’
‘You want to do something about this, don’t you? I can see it in your face. Even if Webb wasn’t serious about taking you on in some official capacity. You want to be involved.’
Cahill shrugged.
‘Christ. You are unbelievable, Alex. You know that?’
‘Calm down. I mean, Bruce still has to get back to us on the “D. Hunter” thing that Melanie found, so why don’t we at least check on that while we’re here?’
‘And we can feed whatever we find out into Webb, right?’
‘Sure.’
‘That was the single most unconvincing thing you have ever said to me. And that’s saying a lot.’
They got to the hotel after six. It was a modern four-star affair with a restaurant on the ground floor and a spacious reception and bar area on the next level. They checked in quickly and went to the room – a decent-sized space with two double beds.
‘Cosy,’ Cahill said when they walked in.
Logan found a TV concealed behind doors in a unit opposite the beds and turned to a local news channel. They unpacked their gear in a few minutes, storing the bags in the unit beneath the TV.
‘You going to call Melanie Stark?’ Logan asked.
Cahill looked at his watch. ‘Yeah, I guess I should.’
‘At least it’s good news.’
Cahill stared at him.
‘I mean, sort of.’
‘I suppose.’
‘I’ll go explore the hotel. Give you some time to make the call alone. Then we can grab some dinner.’
Logan went down to the ground floor and got a coffee to go from an outlet there. After that, he went to the reception level and saw signs for a shopping mall which he followed to a set of double doors that led directly on to the first floor of the mall. He wasn’t sure if the mall or the hotel was there first.
He wandered along looking at the shops and went down to the ground level where he found a rent-a-car desk. He figured they would be better off with a car than taking taxis or being on foot.
He sat on a bench outside a fast-food outlet and felt the nausea that Cahill had warned him about. It was low level, but still unpleasant. He couldn’t stand sitting there with the smell wafting out of the place so he walked back up the stairs, following the signs for the hotel. He pulled out his phone and saw that he had a voicemail message.
Ellie had left a short message telling him that she was fine and not to worry. That he could call her any time anyway. He smiled when he heard her voice.
Back in the room, Cahill was sombre.
‘Tough call?’ Logan asked, sitting on his bed.
Cahill nodded. ‘How did you get on?’ he asked.
‘Other than feeling sick …’
‘What did I tell you?’
‘… I found a car rental place. I figured we should get a car while we’re here.’
‘Good idea. You can do that tomorrow after breakfast.’
‘You mean we can do it?’
‘No.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’ve got an errand to run.’
‘Alex …’
‘It’s nothing. Just personal.’
Logan squinted at him, unsure if he was being lied to. He decided to leave it for now.
‘Oh, and Bruce sent me an e-mail.’
‘Anything interesting?’
‘Only four D. Hunters in the metro Denver area.’
‘Bruce get backgrounds on them?’
‘Of course. All pretty bland.’
‘We’re still going to give them to the FBI to check them out, though. Right?’
‘Not right now. I mean, we can do some preliminary digging around now that we’re here.’
Logan didn’t have the energy to argue with him any more.
‘Whatever. Look, I’m going to watch some TV and then get to sleep.’
Cahill looked at his watch.
‘It’s only gone seven. What about dinner?’
‘If I make it to nine I’ll be doing well enough. And I’m not in the mood to eat.’
‘Suit yourself. I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll grab a burger or something.’
Logan couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to ask him if that was a casual walk or something else altogether.
Cahill saw the look on his face.
‘Jesus, it’s just a walk.’