Reaching for The Moon by ThePekingNoodle
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Chapter Sixty: A Spot of Burglary
In which our heroine realizes that some breaking and entering may be in order…
Max stood outside the door to the penthouse. Her hands were filled with cartons of Chinese food. The ever obliging doorman had opened the elevator for her in the lobby, and pressed the button for her floor, but now she needed help to get in. She couldn't hit the doorbell, so instead she took her foot and kicked on the door.
"Logan." She called out loudly. "Logan, open the door. Unless you plan on eating our dinner off of the hall floor." She stood there for a few minutes, waiting, but there was no response. Drawing her foot back she kicked the door harder and to her surprise it opened.
"Hey, Logan. I know you get lost in the fascinating world of bits and bytes but can't you hear the doorbell, not to mention me banging on the door?" she was saying as she rounded the corner to his computer room. The room was empty and the monitors were blank. "Logan…?" Max called again, louder this time.
A trickle of unease hit her. She hurried to the kitchen where she deposited her load on the counters. Then she hurried to the bedroom. "Logan? Are you in the shower?" There was no telltale sound of water running, but she decided that maybe he was in the middle of toweling off. She walked into the bedroom and through it into an empty bathroom.
Five minutes later she knew that the apartment was empty and she was alone. Her forehead wrinkled in worry. With an exclamation she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and hit the display. It flashed at her ONE MISSED CALL. "Damn." She punched keys and the penthouse number displayed. "Must have been when I was in that garage building. Steel roof blocked the transmission…" she muttered to herself.
Something isn't right here. Why didn't he leave me a note when he couldn't reach me on the cell?
For a minute she stood there not sure what to do. Check the computers, dummy. You know the passwords.
Of course.
Max had the system booted up in minutes. She keyed in Logan's password and waited to see what would come up. Nothing looked out of the ordinary when the screen finally did appear.
Now what?
Email. See if he got any urgent messages, Maybe he had to go meet an informant.
Within seconds she was staring at the email from EyesontheCapitol in horror.
"Lydecker."
How do I find him? I have no clue.
Think, Max. Don't panic.
The phone number. When he called Logan earlier. Run a trace on it.
She picked up the phone and pressed the key that would list all incoming phone numbers. As far as she knew Lydeckers call had been the last one. She looked at the time stamp for the last incoming call and it matched when Lydecker had called.
Max dropped into Logan's desk chair and began to go through his program listings until she found a trace program. She opened it up and entered the phone number. It seemed to her to take forever, but it was only seconds before an address began to flash on the screen.
Steinlitz Hotel
A hotel? Isn't that a bit public?
Maybe the Colonel believes in hiding in plain sight. It's all you've got. Gotta give it a try.
She shut down the computer and started to head for the apartment door.
Don't you think you better change first? You planning on knocking on the door and asking the Colonel if he can please release your husband? I don't think so.
Ten minutes later, dressed in her cat suit and with rappelling gear stowed in her backpack, Max was in the garage revving her bike. She pulled out and headed toward the address she had pulled up for the Steinlitz. When she was halfway there, she suddenly turned her bike and headed down an alleyway. She pulled up outside of a small shabby shop and went inside. She was back out in five minutes, with a small bag in her hand. She climbed back on her bike and resumed her journey.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Logan shook his head as the cloth was pulled off of it. He was seated on a chair with his hands cuffed around its back. His legs were secured to the chair legs. When he took in his surrounding he saw that he was in what appeared to be a luxurious hotel suite. He heard the door close behind him, he assumed after the individual who had just removed his blindfold.
Long minutes passed as Logan thought hard. Something had clearly happened to move up Lydeckers timetable. He wondered if it had been his switching of the Millennium files. If it was, that meant that someone had been deeper into the Millennium database than he had suspected. He wondered if Max was right about an X5 being involved.
"Mr. Cale." Colonel Lydeckers voice broke into his concentration. The door closed with a click and the Colonel strolled around into Logan's line of sight.
"What in hell is going on here, Colonel?" Logan demanded, striving for a suitable air of innocent outrage.
"I believe I mentioned to you that one of your companies has some technology that I want."
"And we were going to discuss it over dinner, as I recall. Or is this how you normally conduct business?" Logan sneered at him.
"Circumstances have changed, son. Someone is playing with your company's records. It appears they are trying to hide the information on the technology I was interested in."
"That's ridiculous. Why would anyone do that? And how would you know about my company records? Those records are confidential. Millennium does sensitive work for the military at times. Their research is not publicly accessible."
"Exactly. This means that someone high up in Millennium had to make those changes. Someone with a high degree of technical expertise." Lydecker gave Logan a hard stare.
Logan stared back at Lydecker refusing to back down. "So instead of giving me a heads up that there may be industrial espionage going down in one of my companies, which is what I believe you're implying, you burst into my apartment and kidnap me at gunpoint? Then you bring me here, wherever here is, and tie me to a chair? Hardly makes me want to do business with you, Colonel."
Lydecker continued to stare at Logan. Finally he shrugged his shoulders. "You have a point. In my line of work I tend to assume the worst. Doing otherwise could get me dead."
Lydecker walked around behind Logan. There was a click and the handcuffs came off of him.
"Untie your legs." Lydecker came back around to face Logan, but he had a gun in his hand now. "You'll excuse the precaution."
Logan didn't say anything but he reached down and quickly undid the ropes fastening his legs to the chair. "Do you mind if I stand?"
Lydecker nodded but kept the gun on Logan. Logan ignored it and stretched. He strolled over to a table and poured himself a glass of brandy from the decanter that was sitting there. Then he turned to face Lydecker.
"So Colonel, as you probably guessed, I'm the one who moved those records."
Lydecker nodded, clearly unsurprised at Logan's words. "The question is why, Mr. Cale."
Logan laughed. "Colonel, that's simple. I'm a businessman. My interest is in the bottom line. Let's just say that I believe in getting top dollar for what I have to sell. Put your gun away and let's talk turkey."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Max pulled her bike into an alley across from the Steinlitz Hotel and watched the entrance for a few minutes. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, so she slipped a leather jacket on over her cat suit and strolled across the street. A doorman held open the entrance for her, and she flashed him an imperious smile as she swept past. Once inside she headed straight for the front desk.
"May I help you?" the desk clerk looked her over with disdain at her apparel.
Max straightened and put on her best Linetta Guevara air, looking down her nose at him with clear hauteur. The clerk suddenly gave her his full attention.
"I'm supposed to meet my husband and an associate for dinner. I was delayed and I don't know the suite number they're in." Max paced her hand on the desk making sure to flash her diamond at the clerk.
"And your husband would be?" He stared at her rings, re-assessing her.
"Logan Cale. I'm sure you know the Seattle Cales."
The clerk's demeanor changed completely at the name of Cale. "Of course, Mrs. Cale. But I'm afraid Mr. Cale isn't registered here."
"Why would he be? We live in Seattle. I said he was meeting a business associate. A Colonel Donald Lydecker."
"Of course. My apologies. I've just come on shift. Let me see what suite the Colonel is registered in…" the clerk muttered as he turned back to his computer screen. Within seconds he smiled triumphantly at Max. "The Colonel is in the penthouse suite. Shall I have someone escort you?"
Max gave him a dazzling smile. "No, I need to slip into my dress. I can hardly meet them for dinner like this. I was late, so I came straight here. Can you help me out?"
"Of course. Let me just…" he placed a keycard on the counter. "This will let you into one of our empty rooms. Please feel free to use what you need to dress for your dinner."
"Thank you." Max smiled at him once more. "I'll be sure to let my husband know what a wonderful help you were, Geoffrey." She picked his name off the tag he wore on his jacket. The clerk beamed at her. "It's my pleasure, Mrs. Cale. The second elevator bank will take you to the room, it's number 2011."
Max walked casually over to the elevator, backpack in hand. She could feel the clerk's eyes on her so she made sure to add an extra sway to her step, hoping to keep his mind from wondering how she had an evening dress in her backpack. No one stopped her and in minutes the elevator doors closed on her and it began its ascent to the 20th floor.
Now what do I do?
I know where he is. Guess I'll have to play the rest by ear.
She took a breath as the elevator doors opened onto an empty hallway. Within moments she was inside of room 2011. She bolted the door behind her and began to make her preparations as she prayed that she wasn't too late and that Logan was still alive.
End of Chapter Sixty…TBC…
AN: So dear readers, here's the dilemma for Max – how in the world can she rescue Logan without blowing her cover to Lydecker? PN laughs gleefully at the fix Max is now in.
