is make one phone call and an entire division from D.C will be on their way up to help you all out. You can trust him, Arch. He’s an old friend.’
‘Great. Thank you, sir.’
‘How are you holding up?’
‘Yeah, I’m OK.’
‘The woman and the child?’
Archer looked at Katic. ‘They’re OK too.’
‘Just hang on till morning, son. Sanderson will take it from there. He believed everything I told him, everything that you told me. When he realised who your father was, that was enough to convince him. Seems he had a very good reputation over there.’
There was a pause.
‘I need to go. But call me if the shit hits the fan again. Do you have a gun?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Sleep with it in your hand. Clear?’
‘Yes, sir.’
The call ended. He turned to Katic, who was looking at him, her brown eyes hopeful.
‘We’re in business,’ he said. ‘A guy called Sanderson is on his way from the capital. He’s an Assistant Director. He wants to talk to me first hand, then it looks like he’s going to get us some back up.’
‘Great,’ she said. ‘That’s good news.’
There was a pause. Then she rose and stretched.
‘I’m spent. I’m going to hit the hay,’ she said.
Archer nodded. She walked past him, brushing his shoulder as she passed. He smelt her perfume.
He didn’t move as she continued on past him and re-entered the hotel room, sliding the door shut quietly behind her and leaving him out there alone.
Archer sat out on the balcony for another thirty minutes, thinking things through. Then he quietly entered the room. Katic and the girl were asleep in the bed. There was a couch straight ahead of him that looked inviting. He stacked up two cushions on the end closest to the window and sat on the middle.
Suddenly, he realised that he’d left his cell phone on. Siletti and O’Hara would be prowling the streets down below, but he knew the kind of equipment they would have access to back in their offices at Federal Plaza. He didn’t fancy getting triangulated by the cell phone’s signal. Back in London, he’d seen Nikki do the exact same thing, and she could find someone in less than a minute using the technology. He unclipped the back panel of the phone quietly so as not to wake Katic and the girl, then pulled out the battery. He thought for a moment, then rose and tiptoed across the room and did the same with Katic’s phone, laying it back gently on the table.
Satisfied, he returned to the couch and lay back, closing his eyes, the pistol in his hand with the safety on. He heard the deep breathing of the mother and daughter from the bed. He glanced over and saw Katic fast asleep, her dark brown hair behind her head, her jaw-line and neck sleek and feminine.
He watched her for a few moments longer, then closed his own eyes.
And within a minute he was asleep.
EIGHTEEN
The next morning, Archer was the first to wake. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling, his back flat on the couch, still in his t-shirt, jeans and shoes. In his right hand, the Sig was resting on the couch on its side, but it was aimed straight at the door.
He rose, stretching, and checked the bed. He saw Katic and Jessie still snuggled together, fast asleep amongst the folds of the clean white sheets. He smiled. He figured Katic was the type like himself who would be up at sunrise, getting in a run or a gym session before she started her day, but the events of last night had clearly knocked her body for six. He watched them both for a moment, then glanced at the clock on the bed-side table. The sunlight pouring in through the gap in the curtains already told him it was morning, another beautiful day in the city, and the red digits on the clock told him it was 9:29 am. He realised it was Sunday. He was supposed to be heading back to the UK today. His flight took off in eleven hours. But there was a hell of lot they’d have to face before he could even think about getting on that plane.
Yawning, he moved to the bathroom as quietly as he could and used the facilities, flushing the toilet and brushing his teeth with the complimentary white hotel brush and paste. He laid the pistol on the marble counter as he brushed and rinsed out his mouth. He