Page 108 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

When he exited the bathroom into the corridor, he kept his eyes on his phone, like he was checking messages. Two waiters passed quickly by, but neither paid him any attention.

Teddy stopped at one of the windows that looked onto the outside terrace and spotted Felix Braun and Dieter Wenz at a table along the outer edge.

A few moments later, a waiter walked onto the terrace and headed toward Braun’s table.

Knowing an opportunity when he saw it, Teddy entered the patio acting like he was listening to someone on his phone and sauntered all the way to the empty table next to Braun’s.

While the men were distracted by giving the waiter their orders, Teddy deftly stuck the bug to the underside of the empty table and meandered back to the exit.

Once he was inside, he donned an earbud and checked that the listening device was working.

“I don’t like the fact that she hasn’t been dealt with yet,” one of the men said, annoyed.

“The moment her security detail is pulled off, we’ll take care of her,” the other replied.

As much as Teddy would have liked to hole up in the men’s room and listen in live, the smart move was to get out of there and listen later.

A man brushed past him as he started down the stairs. He was followed by a young woman who was so focused on the tablet computer she was carrying that she nearly collided with Teddy.

Teddy grabbed her arm to keep her from falling, but the tablet wasn’t so lucky. It slipped from her hands and tumbled a few steps down before stopping.

“Are you all right?” Teddy asked in German.

She took several quick breaths. “I think so. Thank you.”

From the top of the stairs, the man said, “Jillian, let’s go. He’s waiting.”

“Sorry, Mr. Lawrence.”

Teddy released her and went down to where the computer had landed. The screen side was up, and on it was an image of the House Dione commercial shoot in Budapest, taken from the fan barrier. It captured a moment not long after Danielle had been shot. She was on the ground, and in the distance Teddy—in his Billy Barnett guise—could be seen hurrying toward her.

He picked up the computer and held it out to the woman. “Probably best to save the Web surfing until you’re on level ground.”

“Thank you,” she said as she took it.

“Now, Jillian,” Lawrence ordered.

She gave Teddy a perfunctory smile, then hurried to the top.

39

Forty minutes later, Teddy enteredthe apartment that served as their safe house to find Vesna on the couch with a washcloth over her eyes, Hans at his chair by the window engrossed in his laptop, and a large red suitcase sitting in the middle of the living room.

“I take it Kevin made it,” he asked.

Vesna lifted one end of the cloth, glanced at him, then dropped it again. “Fifteen minutes ago.”

“Where is he?”

She pointed toward the hallway. “He locked himself in the bathroom.”

“He what?”

“He thinks I killed you and am here to do the same to him.”

“Why would he think that?”

“You will have to ask him that.”

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