Page 71 of Nobody's Hero

‘Nothing’s changed,’ he’d replied. ‘Someone sent a kill squad to that airstrip, and that means your pilot’s flight plan was hacked. And Smerconish was one of a handful of people who knew we were in the UK at all. So, no, we’ll use him only when we have absolutely no choice.’

‘I have an idea then.’

‘I’m not doing it,’ Koenig had replied.

‘I haven’t told you what it is yet.’

‘You don’t have to, you’re smiling.’

‘You are smiling, dear,’ Margaret had chipped in.

Draper explained her idea.

And after much complaining, Koenig eventually sighed and said, ‘Fine.’

He couldn’t see any other way.

Chapter 75

Draper had paid cash for a room in a hotel two blocks away. Nothing flash, but it had twin beds and a hot shower. They would use it as a base. Somewhere to rest.

‘Ready?’ Draper asked.

Koenig scowled at the human billboard leaning against the bathroom door. It was going to be as humiliating as he’d feared. But Draper was right. When it came to hiding in plain sight, it was the perfect disguise. It was absurd, but it would make him invisible. Human-billboard guys were out in the street at all hours. They were never moved on. And no one looked at their faces. You didn’t want to catch their eye. You didn’t want to see their ‘how did it come to this?’ look.

With Chinatown a block over, Koenig had taken a job with Gurkha Spicy, an up-and-coming Nepalese restaurant. Thirty bucks a day, cash in hand. The front board promoted Gurkha Spicy’s lunchtime special; the back board was their full evening menu. Koenig slipped the billboard over his shoulders and adjusted the straps until they fitted tight and snug.

Draper said, ‘I’m hungry.’

‘Funny,’ Koenig said.

‘Quit pouting. We’ll take turns. You take the first shift, then I’ll take over.’

‘You can’t. It pains me to say this, but you’re a good-looking woman. If you wear this, people are going to wonder why. They’re going to stare.’

‘I can do a shift,’ Carlyle said.

‘No,’ Koenig and Draper said together.

‘We need you safe and out of the way,’ Draper explained. ‘Same goes for you, Margaret.’

‘I didn’t offer, dear.’

‘It’s just me then,’ Koenig said.

‘Looks like it,’ Draper said. ‘But there’s a bar on their block. If I can get a window seat, I’ll have a decent view of their apartment and sidewalk. I’ll do the night shift from there. Let you come back here for some rest.’

‘You’ll get hit on all night.’

‘Let me worry about that. Anyway, it’ll help me blend in. We’ll figure something out for the small hours.’

Koenig didn’t like it, but he was out of options. ‘What do we know about their address?’ he said.

‘They have the loft apartment. Registered to an offshore company. My guys will run it down, but it’ll take time.’

‘Schematics?’

‘Four floors. Two apartments on floors one to three. Just the loft on the fourth. There’s an old elevator – a converted manual – and switchback stairs if you prefer the cardio.’