Chapter 8
"What's all this?" Starsky said. The chalk room was filled with television monitors, cables, receivers, and speakers.
Dobey stood nearby with his hands folded in front of him, powerless. Jones answered, "We set up cameras all around the West End Hotel. We even got some inside. We plan on monitoring your partner's progress."
"What in the hell do you think he's gonna do?"
Miller took the opportunity to answer this one, "He'd better successfully steal that file. We plan on seeing to it that he completes the assignment."
"Or what? You'll go in and pick up the pieces?"
"Hardly," Miller sneered. "But we will make sure the attempt doesn't get traced to the US Government."
"Great. Some thanks. Hutch puts his life on the line to recover something that the C.I.A. no doubt should never have lost to begin with, and his reward is a big fat 'Don't know ya, never saw ya'."
Deflecting the comment, Jones asked, "Speaking of your partner, where is he?"
Dobey answered, "Why don't you ask your men? Or did they get tired of following him?"
Phillips and Green hedged some before Green admitted, "We lost him."
Starsky snickered. The great federal agents couldn't hold onto a city cop.
Jones ignored it and flicked on monitors. Slowly, each came into focus. There was a shot of the front and rear entrances, a shot of the exterior walls, a shot of the lobby, the elevator and several floor corridors.
"How do you know which floor to watch?"
"We took a guess."
Starsky didn't like the feel of it.