Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

“What is he after? If he wants to grab Beth and
     use her against me, he doesn’t need this complicated setup. Why such complexity?”
    “Ruben says patterners work in complex weavings. It’s the natural outgrowth of their
     Gift.”
    Lily drummed her fingers again. When in doubt, look at outcomes. “What does this give
     him that he couldn’t get another way?”
    “Hmm. Well, if the theft of the prototype hadn’t brought us to San Francisco, Beth’s
     cry for help when Sean disappeared would have.”
    Was that it? Did Friar have some reason he needed them in San Francisco? Maybe he
     intended to blow the city up. She shivered. That sounded like something he’d try,
     but he had to have a reason. There were easier ways to kill her and Rule than by destroying
     a city. “Maybe he doesn’t need us here. Maybe he just wants us to not be at Clanhome.”
    “Perhaps.” Rule tipped his head as if listening to his own thoughts. “But I can’t
     fit that in with the demand made by Adam King’s kidnapper.”
    “Yeah.” If Friar wanted Cullen, kidnapping his own brother would be an odd way to
     go about getting him. She sighed. “I feel like I’m swimming in glue.”
    “What if,” Rule said slowly, “he needs Cullen for some reason and wants to eliminate
     the two of us at the same time?”
    Lily’s stomach tightened the way it did when something clicked. “
And
get his hands on the prototype? Becausethat’s part of it. There are simpler ways to get our attention, but…that feels right.
     Or like it’s on the right track, anyway.”
    She reached for her phone. She was late in briefing Ruben—and she had a lot to tell
     him.
    R ULE had booked them into a posh downtown hotel. He hadn’t had time to research less expensive
     spots, and he’d stayed there before so he knew the Childer had decent security. Hardly
     impregnable, he said, but the hotel sometimes hosted visiting heads of state and others
     with security concerns and bodyguards, so they paid more attention to it than the
     average chain.
    The guards who’d gone with them to Jasper’s house had followed in two vehicles. They
     waited for the first one to arrive before letting the attendant have their BMW so
     they could make an entrance worthy of a mafia don, surrounded by men with wary eyes.
     Lily didn’t argue with the necessity. Anyone setting up a hit would consider this
     point a prime opportunity. Once they were inside the danger went down considerably,
     due both to the Childer’s security and to the guard Scott had posted in the lobby.
     Gun oil had a distinctive scent. Rick would have known it if anyone in the lobby were
     armed.
    The lobby was small, the antiques real, the carpet a magnificent Oriental. They were
     met by the manager, who handed them their keys personally and introduced them to the
     security chief, a burly man whose appearance matched his name—Connor Murphy. Murphy
     had a good handshake and a trace of a Find Gift. When he released Lily’s hand he said
     conversationally, “Twenty years with the SFPD.”
    She nodded back, pleased. “Good to know.”
    Rule introduced Scott and asked if Murphy would mind discussing security with him.
     That, of course, was why the manager had arranged the meeting, so Scott peeled off
     after sending two of the guards up ahead of them to make suretheir floor was secure. And she and Rule rode up in the elevator alone. It was the
     most privacy they’d had since she’d sat on his lap last night.
    Lily watched the number lights gradually change. It was a slow elevator. “I hate this.”
    Rule cast her a glance, his brows pulled down over eyes gone anxious. “Lily—”
    “I don’t expect you to fix things. I understand the need for guards. I just wanted
     to point out that I hate it. You said you booked us a suite?”
    His eyes stayed on her face, searching for something. She wasn’t sure what. “Two bedrooms
     and a sitting room. Scott and three of the others will bunk in the second bedroom.
     Cullen will have to put up with the couch in the sitting room. The rest will be in
     a similar suite next to ours. They’ll be crowded, but the hotel brought in extra beds.
     There’s a door between the two suites.”
    All of which made good sense from a security standpoint. You didn’t split your forces
     if you didn’t have to. Lily hadn’t had the FBI’s advanced training in protecting a
     witness or other targets, but she knew the basics. “Is there anything I