Chapter Eight

Once back in the hotel, Barbara rode the elevator to Costa's floor. She had to know if there were surveillance cameras in the hallway. Not wanting to make herself suspicious by openly looking for cameras, she pretended to search for her own room. The charade was unnecessary, though, because there were no cameras. In fact, the only cameras she could find were in the elevators.

With this information stored in her head, she took the elevator down again, getting off at the fifth floor for the entertainment of the people watching the elevator cameras. Once on the fifth floor, she realized that she was relieved to be off the Costa's floor and out of the elevator, because in the back of her mind, she had been waiting to encounter Costa again. He hadn't recognized her the first time, but she did not want to test his memory a second time.

Now she knew everything necessary. It was about 2:00. She headed to the phone booth to await Marianne's call. After buying a soda, Barbara found a place on a bench right next to the phone, sat, and waited.

While she waited, she assessed her mission so far. She felt that things were going well. The next part was up to her young German colleague. She hoped Marianne would not be hurt by helping her, but if Barbara got caught by the FBI or the police—unlikely as that was—she would have bigger things to worry about than Marianne Jaspers' career. The other possibility, if her plan for killing Costa went awry, and Costa caught her; that notion she ignored. She had to focus on the mission, not on possibilities.

As she sat in the mild warmth of the winter's afternoon, another thought crept unbidden into her mind. This was her first operation since marrying Robert. What was he doing right now, she wondered? Once she let him into her consciousness, he filled spaces she hadn't known existed. She missed him. She wanted to see him. Did he miss her? Was he unhappy that she had left without talking to him, just leaving that note? Probably…., she acknowledged. Had he tried to find her? No, she told herself, because if he had tried, he would have found her. But why hadn't he tried? What could that mean?

Suddenly she realized that the phone was ringing. Shit, she thought, how long has it been ringing? She jumped up, strode quickly to the booth and answered.

"Hello."

"Barbara, it's Marianne. I was worried that you weren't there." She did sound worried.

"I'm here. What did you find out?" Barbara asked evenly. She had to settle Marianne down.

"His room is 710."

"Good. Thank you. I'll be in the lobby when the meeting starts."

"Fine. Goodbye." Marianne hung up.

Barbara sat on the bench again. How foolish she had been, letting her thoughts drift when she needed complete concentration. She resolved to put Robert out of her mind until the job was over.

She had a little over an hour until the meeting. Strolling toward the hotel, she skirted the lobby, going instead to her car. Making sure nobody was paying attention, she opened the trunk and retrieved the pistol and a silencer Syd had provided. She put both in her purse.

Using the rear entrance, she walked into the hotel lobby. She seated herself so the people going into the security meeting could not see her, but she could see them. After a few minutes, security types began filing into the meeting room. She was glad to see that Marianne was one of them. Did she look nervous, Barbara asked herself? She couldn't tell. She had to trust the young woman.

The hit was getting close. Barbara was beginning to feel the tremor of excitement, as well as the touch of fear, that always accompanied her work. She knew she enjoyed these sensations, but as usual, she focused on the job.

Ah, there was Marianne, making her way to the restrooms: the signal. Costa was at the meeting, Barbara knew.

It was time.