The Mask of Minos, Bruno's Inferno

Chapter 49 - Out of the Pan

            

Harry showered after breakfast while Sara stayed in the kitchen with Martha, afterward, she walked outside. He was obliged to dress in the same clothes he had on, nothing of David's would fit. He walked down the hall and made a call to Romanov's office with a phone in the hallway.

He met David in the main room where they had talked the night before. David had his briefcase in hand and wore a hat and sunglasses.

"Harry, I'm off now to the Island, Are you sure you won't come along?"

"Not now, but thanks. I'd love that. We have things to do yet and I made an appointment with Romanov this afternoon."

David's eyebrows went up, "I'm surprised you got in; such a busy man. Well, I'm off."

Harry and Sara left David's later in the afternoon and found they drove more than they had expected. He let her off at the hotel, late for his appointment with Romanov. He drove off down the street back to Mt Lycabettus and saw Sara in his mirror walk into the hotel.

She opened the door to her room and immediately felt the presence of another person and drew her pistol from her handbag, and slowly entered the room. Light from outside cast dull blue shadows against the near wall. Stu was there waiting for her, drink in hand leaning up against the balcony wall, light from the city coming through the wide windows. A dim light was on at the other end of the apartment. He stood looking out the window. He had changed his clothes from earlier and was wearing a stylishly loose fitting blue suit. He looked at her as if he expected her to know why he was there, and he smiled. "Good evening Sah. You're early."

"You scared the shit outta me Stu. What the hell are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Suddenly she saw the wet towel on the floor of the bathroom, and she jerked back and raised her gun pointing it at the darkness in the corner.

"We're alone," he said. "All I could see is that. And this." He held up a small wire connected to a microphone. "I found this behind that mirror. The bed looks as though it had been slept on by a light sleeper." He winked, not knowing that Carla had done just that. Sara didn't think anything of it knowing she and Harry had played vigorously on it earlier. She smiled.

She looked through the closet which was opened and rummaged through and found things out of place. "My dress is gone," she said. "Shit, I really liked that one too."

"Someone was here waiting for us."

Sara looked at the bed closely and noticed the impression left by Carla's warm damp body. "Someone else has been in this bed"

"Maybe it was too soft."

"Or just right. Whoever she was, she took my dress."

"Yes, and found time to take a nap. Fascinating."

"Who the hell would do that?"

"Romanov."

"I don't think he'd look good in a dress." Sara walked over to the balcony and Stu made a drink.

"It may or not have been him, but one of his people," Stu returned with two drinks and handed one to Sara.

She leaned against the brick border and looked down. She looked up and stretched letting out a low moan of relief.

"How was dinner?"

Sara caught the intonation. "Oh Stu, I'm sorry, but I called and couldn't get you. We stayed the night at the Gennadius."

Stu looked quizzically at her, tilting his head like a curious dog. "I'm not familiar with that one. What kind of food do they have?"

"It's the Library up on Mount Lycabettus. Harry's friends with the curator there, and we had a little something to eat. We spent the night, though I thought we should come back and meet up with you here." That made her think of why he was there, waiting for her in the room like he expected her to come in at that moment. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I came back to see if you'd returned. You were followed, you know."

"Yes, we lost them somewhere in a large roundabout." She was at the bed now picking up the sheets and tossing them on the floor. Filthy shit. She sniffed at the apparent odor of patchouli. "Hippie," she said. She threw the covers back on the bed and sat on the edge. "How did you know we were being followed?"

Stu shrugged his shoulder spilling a bit of his drink. "I waited around the corner until you drove off and saw it pull after you."

Sara turned the lights on next to the bed and walked over and sat on a deck-chair. "The Pinto?"

"Yes, that." Stu looked over the balcony down at the street below. Without turning, he spoke as if to someone below. "What are your plans from here?"

Sara came over next to Stu and looked over at the ground. They were both looking down and talking vacantly to one another. Sara had a lot on her mind and Harry was not the least of those things.

"I hadn't thought of it without Harry. I was going to wait for him here."

"What will he do I wonder?" Stu asked.

"He said he was going to confront Romanov; wants to check him off the list."

Stu winced and leaned back on the balcony's sturdy colonnaded rail. He swirled the ice in his drink and mused. "It isn't safe for you to wait here for him, I wouldn't think. Do you think Harry will come back here?"

"No. He's going to visit a friend on Seprios. I'm to join him there. I thought we could use some time off, besides, his friend there can help us out."

Almost without pausing, she changed direction back to the people who broke into her room. "Who would break into my room, sleep and then change clothes?"

Below, among the muted symphony of the city noises, a car door slammed, barely noticeable, and their eyes drew toward a Pinto parked up the hill.

"Well, we're about to find out. Here they come."

He finished the drink he had and walked over to the door and turned to look at her. She was busy scribbling a note to Harry, and then placed it under the vodka bottle.

Stu opened the door to the hallway and peeked out looking both ways. Half in-and-out, he said over his shoulder; "If you get into an altercation now it would jeopardize the whole operation, and even get someone killed. I'm too young to die."

"You don't carry a gun, do you?"

"Never have." He let Sara out into the hall and closed the door behind. They walked quickly down the hall away from the elevator to the service stairs that would lead to the first floor. Stu pointed the way. The service stairs were hollow and concrete, meant for use during a fire. They echoed gently. Stu walked steadily behind her stopping her from getting off at the wrong floor. When they had reached the bottom floor and could go no further, Sara stopped.

"Well I guess this is the only option now." She smiled and opened the door and turned her eyes from Stu, and the girl was standing there with a gun drawn. Sara turned to run but Stu was in the way smiling dumbly, and she pushed him back inside. She heard Carla swear audibly and felt a sharp pain on the back of her head and remembered no more.