Manny shook his head. "Not in this older building.
Would make too much of something people could see.
There's one elevator and two sets of fire stairs. These old office buildings don't leave much room for overt technology."
That was all Josh was going to get from Manny, who leaned back against the elevator wall and closed his eyes. He was only about five-nine, pushing five-ten, but he was lithe and muscled. He had dark hair that was spiked and artfully styled in a messy mop with bangs that threatened to fall into his eyes. Talking of eyes, when they were open Manny's were dark. Very pretty package indeed.
There was a glimpse of tattoos under his shirt that climbed up to almost under his ear. Tribal patterns, the edge of circles, a lot of black ink. He looked tired and Josh wondered if Manny had done the same all-nighter he had just pulled. Of course, the guy had been the one to pull him out of the ex's house but still, they were back at the office by three am.
"Did you sleep last night?" he asked solicitously.
Manny cracked open one eye and then shut it again with a huff of exasperation. Plainly that was a no.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a wide and dark corridor. Manny pressed a switch just outside the elevator and lights flickered to life to reveal more detail. There were five doors on this floor. One at each end that were, Josh assumed, for the stairs. That left three.
"We have the whole floor," Manny explained as he crossed to the nearest door and peered into the peephole.
The door clicked and slid open with a puff of air. "Iris recognition to get in here."
"We'll need to program me in," Josh said helpfully.
Manny simply raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
"Two weeks lockdown," Manny muttered. Then he stood to one side and gestured Josh into the darkness beyond the door. As soon as he stepped in lights began to turn on one by one and foot by foot Josh saw where the other doors led to. The large area gave the impression as if the apartments had been knocked into one and from the darkness around the corner there appeared to be an awful lot more to see. Kind of like a loft. A small kitchen was at one side; gleaming stainless steel appliances and ice white cabinets lent the impression of smart practicality. The place didn't smell of disuse and there were boxes on the kitchen counter. Manny pulled the door closed behind him and Josh spun on his heel. Manny was standing at a familiar keypad—the same type that Josh had seen at the safe house. The one that was easy to crack.
Manny hesitated and then turned to Josh.
"I'm locking us down. The code you need is Alpha Gamma Four Nine Tango."
"A-G-four-nine-T," Josh repeated. He had a good head for figures and recalling sequences. That particular sequence was an easy one to remember.
"I'm telling you because I want to trust that you won't leave. Knowing the code doesn't mean you will use it."
Josh looked at Manny properly for the first time.
Not spread and built with muscles like that Nik guy or Jake who ran this whole thing. It was more a swimmer's body.
Slim and tapered to the waist. He looked young, but from the way he talked to Josh he was clearly older than his own twenty-five. How the hell he was some kind of operative like Adam who had driven them to the safe house, Josh couldn't understand. Adam was built like a brick outhouse but Manny was wiry. Manny pulled his weapon from the place he had it at the base of his spine and with a practiced twist of his fingers he twirled it in one hand and then slid open the door of a small safe. Placing the weapon inside he pushed the safe closed. It hissed and Josh assumed that too, given the evidence of yet another keypad, was secured with a code of some sort.
"Same code. Okay?"
"I don't use guns," Josh said quickly.
Manny looked at him steadily. "Same code. Okay?"
he repeated. Manny was looking for agreement to what he had just said.
"Same code," Josh said in response. "Got it."
"We have maybe five or six hours until my introductions are filtered to the senator or the brother or whoever is controlling the family concerns." Manny rummaged in the boxes in the kitchen and pulled out a box of multi-colored cereal. He ripped open the top and then emptied some of the contents into his hand. Picking at the colorful rings he sighed around the crunch. "If he's looking for a weapons guy then there'll be a hit."
"That's the persona you're creating. Someone who supplies weapons?"
"I'm looking more at a merger of two families, but yeah, I know guns," Manny said simply. Like that was enough explanation.
"Okay." Josh slid onto one of the barstools that sat by the counter. His stomach rumbled and Manny must have heard because he offered the cereal box. Josh wrinkled his nose. He wouldn't even eat those with milk, let alone raw and so sweet his teeth would ache.
"There's other stuff in the fridge." Manny gestured behind him to where Josh assumed a fridge sat. "I'm hitting the sack for some sleep. There're three bedrooms. Take your pick." Grabbing another handful of cereal and a can of Pepsi from the box, he toed off his boots and walked across the thick cream carpet towards the shadows. As he walked he yawned and stretched taller. The inviting glimpse of skin was a welcome sight and definitely something Josh wanted to focus on.
He wasn't entirely sure Manny swung his way, but he hadn't seemed fazed by having to pretend to be one half of a gay couple if they ever needed to defend who they were.
"Night," he called before he disappeared around the corner.
"Night," Josh returned. Then he bit his tongue. It
