“Couldn’t be. When he called this morning, he was in London.”
“And who is
“Someone at work.”
“I’m looking for a name, Annabel.”
“I don’t know his name,” she said.
“A man whose name you don’t know asked you to do something you probably realized was dangerous, and you just said yes?”
“It wasn’t the kind of request I could say no to.”
“Why not?”
The bathroom door opened, and Nate stepped out.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said.
But before he could go any further, Annabel said, “Please, let me tell you.”
Quinn looked at her, curious. “Tell me what?”
“It’s about my company,” she said.
“Wright Bains Securities?” Quinn asked, recalling the name from the business card.
“It’s not what it seems.”
“Then, what is it?”
“Don’t get me wrong. There
“But?” Quinn said.
She looked at Nate as if she was gauging whether he knew what she was going to say, and could modify her story if his knowledge was lacking. But Quinn had trained Nate well, and his apprentice’s face betrayed nothing.
“I work for MI6,” she blurted out.
Quinn looked at Nate, and Nate nodded.
“Wright Bains is an MI6 front,” Nate said. “Our contact didn’t even need to check. Knew it the moment I said the name.”
That was why the name had been familiar.
“So you’re MI6,” Quinn said.
“I’m a researcher. Strictly office work.”
“Then, what are you doing in New York?”
“We have meetings here sometimes. That’s all.”
“I’m confused. Why were you in the lobby looking for me?”
“No one else was available. I was here, so they used me.”
“Does that happen often?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
Quinn took a deep breath. He was having a hard time believing her story, but had no time to press her. He needed to warn Wills off and move the meeting someplace else.
“Secure her,” he said to Nate.
“What are you going to do?” Annabel asked.
“We’re going to leave you here,” Quinn said.
Nate emptied one of the pillowcases, then used his pocketknife to cut it into long strips like Quinn had taught him.
“Tie her to the desk,” Quinn said.
“What?” Annabel asked.
“We can’t have you leaving at the moment,” Quinn said. “It’s either that or knock you out.”
It took her only a second to make her choice. She moved over to where Nate was waiting and sat on the ground. He tied her hands and feet to the desk. It left her in an awkward position, but she’d be fine for an hour or two.
“Mouth?” Nate asked.
“Yes,” Quinn said. “But not too tight.”
Annabel glared at Nate, but said nothing as he used two of the strips as a gag. While this was going on, Quinn removed the image of the unidentified man from the folder and snapped a photo of it on his camera phone, then put it back with the other two. He emailed the photo to Orlando with a short message:
“All right, Annabel,” Quinn said. “In a while I’ll call the front desk and have them send someone up to release you. Until then, it would be best if you just relax. Understand?”
