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.Franken cast his eyes around the room and found what he was looking for.A small brass cartridge rested on top of the pillows at the head of the bed.The officer grimaced.Someone had broken into this house, and killed its occupants, all for one single purpose: to lay on this bed and take advantage of a uniquely clear shot at that spot of ground.And they'd hit somebody who happened to walk there, at least according to Kathy Kelver.But of course, he hadn't just "happened" to walk there, had he? Whoever had picked this spot wouldn't have bothered if they hadn't known they'd be able to get their victim here.Franken had to wait here for the forensic team.But once they arrived, he knew where he'd start his door to door work.***Michael held the door open while Kathy and Colleen walked into the hotel, then followed them in.Ahead of them was a man in a dark suit, wearing dark glasses despite being inside.He had his hand up near his mouth, and his lips were moving.Mike had seen the same thing numerous times before, generally by Secret Service agents when he was at a political function attended by the President.Whoever the man was, he had a radio."Um, Colleen?" He began."Should this guy we’re supposed to meet come looking for us inside the hotel?""No, why?" She asked, not stopping."He’s supposed to meet us in front of the front door.""Then stop and come with me.""Michael, what…"He grabbed Kathy’s shoulder and tugged, manually turning her direction."Colleen, come on!"She turned around to see Michael heading back out the front door, rapidly breaking into a run.She muttered, "What the…?" but then she looked back where she’d been headed.A man in a dark suit was heading rapidly toward her, pushing his way through the small crowd in the lobby and reaching inside his suit coat.Colleen had seen enough movies that that last behavior was inherently threatening to her.She dashed to keep up with Michael.When she reached the other two she panted, "Um, there’s a guy back there who looked like he was pulling a gun."Mike said, "Come on, keep moving.Even if they’re going to shoot us they probably won’t want to do it through a crowd.Let’s try to keep people between us and him."Out on the street, he pushed his way through shoppers and businessmen getting off duty for the day.As the crowd protested in a myriad of voices, Kathy looked over her shoulder and shrieked."Mike, there are more of them!"The Congressman quickened his pace, and the two girls sped up.Colleen looked at her watch and asked, "What are we going to do? We’ve got only five minutes ‘til we’re supposed to meet Jakarta’s people out front!"Over his shoulder, Mike replied, "How do we know these people aren’t Jakarta’s?""Why would he send someone in here when we were coming right out anyway?""Who knows? One way or another we have to lose this crowd before we can meet them."They pushed their way into a restaurant, drawing alarmed cries from the hostess as they scampered back into the dining area without waiting to be seated.Looking over her shoulder, Kathy saw a man in a black suit elbowing his way through the same crowd."Mike! Behind us!""Hope there’s another exit to this place," he replied, and pressed on through the tables and chairs.Kathy felt her heart trying to pound its way out of her chest."Mike! What do we do?""Follow me," he replied."This is going to seem crazy."He elbowed his way to the very back of the room, drawing protests from early diners, and breathed a quick prayer of relief when he saw the door to the kitchen.Mike charged through it, holding Kathy’s hand and pulling her along.The smells of food preparation hit them.Looking back as Colleen came through the door, Kathy saw the man in the black suit scarcely more than ten feet away.A cook shouted at them to get out, but Mike just kept on moving.Kathy and Colleen followed not too far behind.In only moments, Mike reached the back of the kitchen and got lucky a second time.There was a service door leading out to the alley and he took it, leaving behind the loud retorts of the kitchen staff.He extended a hand to pull Kathy the rest of the way through the door.Colleen followed right behind her.Ignoring curious glances from indigents relaxing in the alley, Mike sprinted for the far end, yelling, "Come on, we’ve got to get as far as we can while we’re out of their sight!"They rounded the corner out of the alley and returned to a normal walking pace, trying not to call attention to themselves.Mike led them back toward the street with their hotel on it, panting to regain some of his breath."Come on!" Colleen shouted."We’ve got to get back to the front of the hotel!"She pulled into the lead of their little group, and bolted for the front door.Kathy and Mike ran behind her, and collided with her back when she stopped.In front of them they saw a black limousine parked with the engine running, and a young, fit, man leaning up against the door.His slacks, shoes, and long-sleeve T-shirt were all the same shade of black.He saw them coming, looked at his gold wristwatch, and asked, "Colleen Christina?""Yeah," she replied in between pants."And friends." She reached for the back seat door and yanked it open."We kind of need to step on it," she added."Somebody’s following us."Kathy saw the driver hurry around to his door as Michael followed Colleen into the car.She was watching the door for men in suits when Mike grabbed her and pulled her in after him.Just as she pulled the car door shut, she saw the hotel door open, and one of the men come out.She shrieked, "There they are!" and the driver of their limo stepped on the gas.Kathy fell backward into her seat and gave another yell.Colleen turned backward and stared out the rear window, looking for signs of a tail.Kathy took a moment to collect herself and then said to no one in particular, "Whoa.Hacking must pay pretty well."A leather bench seat wrapped around where the left side door should have been, making the right door the only way in or out.A TV in the back of the partition between the driver’s seat and the passenger compartment showed a local news anchor frowning sadly at some tragic report.The window between the two compartments was down, and the driver looked back in response to Kathy’s observation."Don’t get too comfy back there, folks.If you’re being followed, we’ll need to switch cars before I take you anywhere important.""And we are being followed," Colleen called out, having caught sight of a suburban weaving dangerously in and out of traffic behind them."Roger," the driver said, and stepped on the gas.Kathy screamed again when the limo wormed its way into a gap in traffic that actually looked a few inches shorter than the car.***The NSA wasn't exactly a place that cleared out when the union bell rang.Still, being in on Sunday meant a slightly easier workload.Nathan Jacobs leaned back in his chair and gave himself a few moments of relaxation.His was a fast-paced, hard-working office, and law enforcement wasn't a field with predictable challenges.He could make whatever plan he wanted, but by the close of business his time would have been claimed by a dozen different minor crises he'd never expected.So it had been today, too.Nathan’s numerous cases combined with outside developments to keep his mind going all day.But now a rare free moment surfaced, giving him time to think.What he thought of was the fact that he'd heard nothing from Michael since checking him into that hotel.Nate picked up the phone and gave him a call on the new, temporary phone.True, he'd warned the Congressman and his young friend – about using it too much.But the one thing he could be sure of was that no one had tapped the NSA's phones.He felt safe making the call.He dialed and got no answer.Frowning, he left a voice mail.He busied himself for about an hour, reading reports of new developments in the computer security field
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