Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [70]
"Wrong, amigo," Stella said. She slid the chairs aside with her dainty foot and pushed the door open, just a crack. The room beyond was small, filled with white starched chef and wait staff uniforms hanging on metal racks.
"Why are we here?" Pizarro asked.
"To see her," Stella whispered, pushing the door wider.
Alone in the uniform room, a ten year old girl sat at a metal table, her back to the open door. She did not notice their presence because music from an MP3 filled her ears. Humming along with a tune by Hilary Duff, Pamela Sheridan scribbled in a coloring book, crayons littering the table top.
"What is this about, woman?" Pizarro said doubtfully.
"I told you. My roommate, Lilly, is a waitress at the banquet tonight. She gave me a ride to Bix's garage earlier today, told me some sob story about how she was stuck for a babysitter and planned to stash the kid in this closet for the evening..."
"And this helps us how?" Balboa demanded.
Stella rolled her eyes. "Hold the rug rat hostage, and I guarantee you Lilly Sheridan will do anything you ask. To save that kid, she'll plant those bombs herself if she has to."
* * *
10:28:04 p.m. PDT
The Cha-Cha Lounge, Las Vegas
Morris O'Brian was glued to the television screen. Five minutes before, he'd watched Don Driscoll open the back door to admit the six-man hit team. Once inside, Driscoll led the urban punks down three flights of stairs to the subbasement.
Now Morris watched as Jack Bauer, a Glock cradled in his right hand, slipped through that same door and locked it behind him. Driscoll and the hit team were trapped in the cellar. Morris knew those men wouldn't be leaving, unless it was feet first.
Switching to the security camera in the stairwell, Morris watched as Bauer crept down the steps, paused on a landing. To Morris, Jack seemed to be listening to the whispered words of the hit team as they moved toward the security room.
Bauer glanced up at the camera, then reached around a thick pipe to retrieve the device he'd hidden there earlier. Jack slipped the AN/PVS-14 night vision goggles over his head, adjusted the straps, then fitted the monocular image intensifying unit over his left eye.
When Jack looked up again, his elaborate night vision gear reminded Morris of a half-human cyborg from a science fiction novel.
In his right he still clutched the Glock. Jack raised his left, palm open.
At the prearranged signal, O'Brian cut the electricity. Regretfully, his television screen went dark, too. He reasoned the cameras wouldn't pick up much without the lights anyway. Morris sighed. He might be blind, but so was the hit team.
"Good luck, Jacko," he muttered.
Immediately, Morris felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, blinked in surprise.
A woman loomed over him, her complexion bone white, with a foamy crown of blacker-than-black hair topping her high forehead. Sharp cheekbones accentuated large eyes, but her face was dominated by a wide, scarlet mouth. In her ubiquitous black blouse and slacks, Nina Myers reminded O'Brian of the Angel of Death from the stories about the 1918 influenza epidemic his grand mum told him.
"What are you doing here?" Morris demanded. His tone was sharp — he was still rattled by the drama unfolding in the basement.
"Nice to see you too, Morris," Nina replied, hand on her hip.
"How... How did you get here?"
"Actually, I took a cab from the airport."
"I... I didn't mean to ask how you got here," Morris stammered. "I meant to ask why you're here."
Nina's scarlet lips dipped into a pout. "Alberta Green sent me. She's shutting down the operation. This investigation is over, effective immediately. I'm here to supervise the deactivation..."
Morris slumped in the chair, absorbing the news.
Nina pushed her hair back. "Look, I need to see Jack right away."
"Sorry, love, you'll have to wait," Morris replied with a crooked grin. "I'm afraid Agent Bauer's rather busy right now."
* * *
10:37:30 p.m. PDT
Babylon Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
The desserts were dished up, the coffee served. The second round of after dinner speeches,