'Yes. '
'May I ask who they are?'
'I'll take that key now, ' Quinn said.
Duke handed the key to Quinn. 'How will you get around the guards without causing concern?' 'You don't need to worry about that. ' Quinn raised the binoculars to his eyes again and
took another look at the building. When he was through, he handed them back to Duke.
'You have seen enough?' Duke asked.
Quinn looked at the building a moment longer, then nodded. 'For now. '
Quinn had Duke drop him off in Charlottenburg on the pretense that he had a few things to pick up before visiting the water plant that evening.
Instead, he made his way to the U-bahn station and caught the U7 east. He got off at Berliner Strasse, checking as he did to see if anyone had decided to join him. No one had.
He switched to the U9, taking it north to Kurfurstendamm, where he got off in the same manner. Still there was no one suspicious. He went up to street level and inserted himself into the crowds on Ku'damm for nearly a half hour. He pretended to window-shop, all the while keeping an eye on his back trail. Finally, when he was confident he was alone, he caught a taxi back to the Mitte. He had the driver drop him off two blocks from the Four Seasons, then made the rest of the way to Orlando's suite on foot.
He let himself in with the key he'd kept. As he entered, Nate jumped up from the couch where he'd apparently been watching the TV. Immediately his apprentice grabbed the remote and turned the volume down. Orlando, on the other hand, was hunched over her computer, her attention firmly on the screen.
'How did it go?' she asked without looking up.
Quinn gave them a quick rundown.
'Still no direct connection to the disruption of the Office, though, ' he said. 'Did he have anything else?' Quinn shook his head. 'Not really. He said while
the Office was never mentioned by name, he felt certain it was what all the noise was about. He said he 'had a feeling. ''
'No mention of Borko?' Nate asked.
'Nothing. I didn't ask either. Borko scares a lot of people, and I was afraid Duke might suddenly disappear on us. Like it or not, we need him right now. ' There was a bottle of water on the coffee table near Nate. Quinn pointed at it. 'You drinking that?'
Nate picked it up and tossed it to him.
'So what do you think?' she asked.
Quinn shrugged. 'It's probably better than an even chance this is a dead end. But we don't have much else to go on. ' He opened the bottle and took a sip. 'Learn anything?'
She hit a couple keys on the keyboard. 'Yes. But it's not what I was expecting. '
Quinn waited.
'Word is, the reason Borko was out of touch for the past month and a half was that he was recovering.'
'From what?'
'A bullet in the shoulder and another in his hip. He was doing a job for the Syrians. Apparently it didn't go well. '
'Who shot him?' Quinn asked.
'I don't know. But I do know it took place in Rome. Zeus was on cleanup. He said he barely had time to get Borko out of there before the local cops showed up. '
'You talked to Zeus?' 'Uh-huh. But that's all he'd give me, ' she said. 'He claimed he didn't know who Borko was meeting. '
'It was an exchange?' Quinn wandered over to the window and peered outside. Dark clouds were gathering over the city. Snow was forecast for later that evening. 'You sure it wasn't just an ordinary hit?'
'You mean with Borko as the target?'
'Him or his contact. ' 'Zeus said it was a straight exchange. He doesn't
know why it went bad. ' 'And Borko was working for the Syrians?' 'According to Zeus. ' Quinn looked back at Orlando. 'Do you believe
him?' She hesitated, then shook her head. 'What do you think happened?' he asked. 'Nothing.' 'Nothing?' 'I did a little more checking, ' Orlando said. 'There
are no police reports in Rome even hinting that something like what Zeus described went down that night. If the cops almost caught them, there should have been something. '
'You don't think the operation in Rome ever
happened.' 'No, ' she said. 'I don't. ' Quinn glanced back out the window. 'Interesting.
So Zeus is lying. ' Orlando nodded. 'But why?' Quinn asked. 'To create a smokescreen?' she offered. 'Provide
a way for Borko to get out of the spotlight so he
