hit list, but he listed all of you as kill on sight. That's what KoS means. What are the chances that I can talk you out of playing this time?"
"Oh, are you going to hide upstairs in the suites with me?" she shot back.
"If it means you'll take this seriously? Sure." He reached out to catch her hand, toying with the ring. "Look, I love gaming. I also know that I'm not a cop. I'm not a hacker. I'm a dork who owns a few hotels. You are the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with, and one week isn't nearly enough time to call that forever."
"And what do you think happens if we're not there, Adam?" she asked. "Do you think this asshole is just going to pat himself on the back and leave peacefully? He's going to target someone else. Maybe she's a girlfriend who came to learn about this. Maybe she's a teenage gamer girl who's so excited to see the big times. Doesn't matter, but the difference is that she'll be all alone with no one to watch her back, and us? We have Cynister."
Adam lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them. "Kinda what I figured you'd say, but I had to ask."
"We'll catch this guy," Kate promised. "There's no way he'll sneak past all of them."
"Yeah," he countered, "he will. They've been about to catch him for years. They keep trying to convince themselves that this tournament will be the one. The problem is that if he doesn't hack anything, they can't do anything. I mean, just look at what KoG does? They post comments on video streams that this hotel has no control over. They whisper things online. They're smart, Kate, and these people know when they leave a trail and how to obscure it until they're untraceable again."
"I know," Kate admitted. "I also don't want to leave my gamer sisters alone out there. I'm supposed to help them, and I feel like the best I've done is write some words on the windows and refill coffees."
"But it does help," Adam reminded her. "Just like the nice rooms make them relax and the thousands of dollars in alcohol keep them optimistic. This is our job, Kate. We're the support, remember?"
"We, huh?" she asked.
"I do work in hospitality," he pointed out. "Now, I'm supposed to have a meeting with the hotel staff here in a bit. Want to help me out?"
"What's it about?"
He turned back for the door. "Jason said the local police have been notified of a potential threat to this venue, targeted to specific people. Bradley has notified the emergency dispatchers to send full force if there's a call from this location. We need to make sure the employees know about all of it, and that people complaining about harassment might be very serious. We'll need to detail the types of people they should look out for. You know, the basics."
Kate nodded. "Ok. I'm not sure what help I'll be, but I can definitely stand beside you."
"Other than that, we're ready," he assured her.
Together, the pair took the long way around, slowly heading toward the front desk. Adam kept looking up at the cameras, checking to see how obvious they were. He wanted them to be just noticeable enough that it would discourage any criminals - both KoG and the normal kind. Beside him, Kate kept looking at the doors, including the stairs and elevators.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm just thinking that this is going to be a traffic jam, and if someone tries to burn this place down, how will we get them out without panic?" She shoved her hand over her eyes. "It worked at the Clairmont. The Expo was cancelled. They seem to like repeating things that work. Think we should notify the fire department?"
"Yeah..." He bobbed his head, realizing she had a very good point. "Ok, so I'll add that to the employee meeting, and we'll ask Bradley to contact the fire chief and have him check our emergency preparedness. If the worst does happen, we'll want to divide people into groups that head to each door, keep the elevators working as long as possible, and make sure the front is clear for fire trucks."
"This is insane," Kate breathed.
"Yeah," Adam grumbled. "I feel like I'm making this up as I go along, but you keep hitting the high points." And he stopped, turning her to face him. "Kate? Have you told Nancy?"