Storm and Silence (Storm and Silence #1) - Robert Thier Page 0,81

to about half of the hotels on the map, ‘-off the list.’

‘How on earth can you check the guest lists of more than fifty hotels with just one message?’ I demanded.

He fixed me with his dark glare.

‘Because I own them.’

‘You own fifty per cent of all the hotels in London?’

‘No. I own seventy per cent of all the hotels in London. But the remaining twenty per cent are too expensive even for an escaped criminal with a bag full of ready cash to afford.’

Of course. I should have guessed.

‘Well,’ I asked sweetly, gesturing to the remaining hotels on the map, ‘do you plan on buying the rest of them to make things easier for us?’

‘That would not be making things easier, Mr Linton. Unfortunately, such things take time - time which we do not have.’

‘You could always bribe someone in the hotels,’ I suggested, raising an eyebrow. ‘You have enough cash, don't you? And you don’t seem to be above bending the law a little.’

The room went deadly quiet.

Before I knew it, Mr Ambrose was at my side, and his hard hand was gripping my arm. Slowly, he leaned down towards my ear until I could feel his breath there, tickling me in a delicious threat.

‘I am perfectly well aware that you are no real lady, Mr Linton. There is no need to prove the fact further by impugning my honour in front of my associates. I will let you be a part of this only if you can behave yourself properly. For a start, when you speak to me, you will show me proper respect. You are to address me as 'Mister Ambrose' or 'Sir'. Is that clear?’

I smiled at him as sweetly as I could manage.

‘Sir! Yes, Sir, Mister Ambrose, Sir!’

His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but he didn’t say anything. He just stepped back and looked down at the map again.

‘So how do we deal with the remaining hotels and determine whether or not he is there?’

‘We could simply ask,’ suggested one of Warren’s men. But Warren shook his head.

‘No, Jim. We could if we knew the alias Simmons is using; that wouldn’t appear too suspicious. But we can’t if we only know his description.’

I nodded. ‘That’s right. I mean… How do you think a receptionist is going to react if you come marching into his hotel demanding to know if a man with long blonde hair is staying there, without offering any explanation as to why you’re looking for him. He would throw you out.’

‘He would not throw me out,’ stated Mr Ambrose darkly.

‘Err… probably, Sir. But he wouldn’t answer the question either, would he?’

He shot me a look that was a shade darker than the one before.

‘Do you have a better idea?’

Suddenly I smiled. Inspiration had struck. Yes!

‘Actually,’ I told him, ‘I do. I know exactly how we can find him. Or more precisely, how I can. It’ll be easy. I just need a beautiful dress and a sack full of onions.’

I Go Dress-Shopping

‘A what and a what?’ Mr Ambrose stared at me as if I had lost my mind, and my job was soon to follow.

I smiled at him innocently. ‘Is your hearing not as good as it used to be, Sir?’

‘How,’ he asked very slowly and deliberately, ‘are you going to track a thief with… with a dress and a sack full of vegetables?’

‘Onions. They have to be onions. And the how,’ I said, tapping my nose knowingly, ‘you’ll just have to leave that to me. Secrets of the trade.’

‘How do I know this is going to work?’

I gave him my most sweetest smile.

‘Easy. You’ll have to trust me.’

*~*~**~*~*

For nearly half an hour he tried to worm my plan out of me, but I wouldn’t budge. At one point he declared that, fine, we were going to try something else. When I asked him what exactly, he didn’t look very pleased. Finally, Warren and a few of the others joined my side, arguing for him to let me have a go.

‘We don't even know whether Simmons is still in town,’ Mr Ambrose pointed out, stubbornly shaking his head.

The door to my office chose this moment to open and admit the monumental form of Karim, who bowed and with what I thought was perfect timing said: ‘Nobody has seen Simmons at the train station, Sahib. It is safe to assume that he is still within the city.’

There was one moment more of hesitation - then Mr Ambrose grabbed his top hat from the coat stand and