“Enough,” Noah said. “Today’s a big day. We get to actually go to work, finally.” He turned to Jefferson. “You got a suggestion on a hotel for me over there?”
Jefferson nodded. “I did a little research on that last night, and I think the place you want to go is the Hampton Inn. They’ve got good security, and the taxi drivers that are allowed to pick up there aren’t as likely to try to kidnap you as most of them.” He blinked. “Not that I think any of them could actually manage to do it, but you might as well avoid what problems you can, right?”
“Good point,” Noah said. “Okay, I’ll have Sarah drive me over there in a couple of hours and drop me off. Neil, will your little transmitters work there, too?”
“Of course they will, they’ll work anywhere. The way they’re made, they turn on when you peel them off that paper, and then you can stick them anywhere they won’t be noticed. The little micro batteries in them are good for about two, maybe two-and-a-half weeks.”
Sarah started looked at him. “Two weeks? The battery in my cell phone won’t even last all day, how can something that small have a battery that will last two weeks?”
Neil rolled his head onto its side and peeked at her from under his eyelids. “The battery in your cell phone doesn’t cost even a tenth of what one of those little dots is worth. I guess when you’re willing to spend enough money, you can get just about anything you want.”
Jefferson laughed. “He’s not kidding,” he said. “One of those sheets, with only twenty of those dots on it, cost us almost eighteen thousand dollars. Our gadgets department didn’t even know those things existed until now.”
“You’re welcome,” Neil said with a smile. “Gratuities are accepted willingly. Especially if they’re in cash.”
“Okay, okay, the reason I ask is because I’d like to put a couple in the room I’m staying in, over there. Just in case somebody follows me back, or I have a reason to take someone back with me, I want to know somebody can listen in. Neil, can you show Moose how to monitor these things, so you can get some sleep now and then?”
Neil looked at Moose, then turned back to Noah. “I’ve got a tablet I can give him, so he can listen in. I’m not letting him touch my computer. Nobody touches my computer. But, yeah, that way he can sit there and listen to all the boring crap that goes on, so I don’t have to. I can be doing more important things, like analyzing the intelligence that comes in.”
“Okay, just make sure you guys work out a schedule so someone is always listening. You can use Sarah, too, as long as she’s just sitting around here.”
Tina brought out a huge tray and set it on a table beside them, then started passing their plates over. The whole process took only a couple of minutes, and she was gone again. Noah quit talking about business while they ate, but breakfast didn’t take very long. Twenty minutes later, they were finished and headed back to their rooms.
Noah had told Sarah to be ready to go at nine o’clock, then went back to his room and gathered the things he’d be taking with him. He had given Jefferson his genuine ID, and now had John Baker’s wallet in his pocket, as well as the passport. The other items he was taking with him went into one of his suitcases, including everything from the special shopping list. Several of those things were in bottles that looked quite medicinal, and had labels saying they had been prescribed to Mr. Baker. Other items seemed perfectly innocuous, and Noah wasn’t worried about a customs inspector giving him any static about them.
And then it was time to go. Sarah tapped on his door, and stepped inside when he opened it, then flung both arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
“You know,” she said, “you could just take me with you. We can pretend we’re married at the hotel.”
Noah shook his head. “John Baker is a single man, remember? Might be kind of hard to explain a wife, all of a sudden. Let’s just stick to the plan, that’s what I need to do.”
Sarah tried to pout, but Noah simply turned away and started picking up his bags, so she sucked her lip in and glared at his back. “Fine,” she said, “but if you get yourself killed, don’t you come crying to me. Just remember, I tried to go with you.” She waited until he had all of his things ready to go, then turned and opened the door.