Hiding in Plain Sight

Chapter One

Chapter One

Mallory Scott spotted the people she was looking for as soon as she walked into the hotel bar. Hell, she hadn’t even needed to search; they were being so loud and obnoxious they were practically screaming for attention.

Stupid, in Mallory’s opinion. If you were running an international diamond scam, surely you’d want to keep a low profile? But no, apparently these guys didn’t give a s**t. Not only were they screaming for attention—and getting it, she noticed, as other patrons of the bar shot them the occasional glare—they were also projecting the fact that they were filthy rich. They were supping on the most expensive champagne money could buy and demanding oysters and caviar be brought in. The overwhelming arrogance made her blood boil, but she consoled herself with the fact that by the time she was done with them, they’d be taken down by more than a peg or two—they’d be at rock bottom.

Heading for a table in a position where she could watch them, but remain partially hidden behind a pillar, she shook her head. She could hardly believe they’d kept their multi-million-pound enterprise going for so long. If they ran their operation as sloppily as their current behaviour indicated they might, it was a miracle indeed.

Not that it mattered. They could be running the tightest ship ever known to man, and she would still find a way to take them down. It was what she did. For years now, she’d been successfully infiltrating illegal operations of varying kinds, then gradually dismantling them from the inside. Before the criminals realised what was happening, it was too late—their wrists were practically in the handcuffs, their arses on their way to jail.

This project was different from the ones she usually handled. Her past takedowns included terrorist plots, kidnappings, drugs, people-trafficking… that kind of thing. She’d been involved because sending in police or military personnel wouldn’t work. Not in those particular circumstances. To be truly effective, Mallory needed to infiltrate the organisations at the top, gain their trust—or at least enough trust to allow her to snoop—and acquire evidence of their involvement to ensure their convictions. Otherwise, rushing in and stopping the terrorists, saving people and so on, important as that was, would only affect a tiny part of the organisation. It was vital to dismantle the whole thing, from the big bosses and the money men, right down to the minions doing the leg work.

An added bonus to this approach was that the victims of these organisations, as well as being saved, would know that justice had been served to those that hurt them, and the knowledge that they’d never get the opportunity to do it again. It was dangerous but fulfilling work, and Mallory couldn’t imagine doing anything else. She loved the adrenaline rush, the challenge.

And the challenge element was precisely why this job was different. In as much as it wasn’t supposed to be particularly challenging. Intel gathered over the past year had pinpointed the what, the who—though they couldn’t yet put faces to names—the where and the how, and that had been done covertly, without the need for an undercover operative. All that remained in this case was to find out the when, so they could be caught in the act. It should have been simple, really. But the group was careful, exceedingly so. One of their number was a hacker, meaning that trying to access their emails, internet search histories and voicemails, or tap their phones without being detected was almost impossible. They were smart.

Which meant the only option remaining was the old-fashioned approach.

A honey trap. It was Mallory’s mission to attract the attention of one of the men in the group—hell, even one of the women if any of them swung that way—and slowly, slowly cultivate and exploit their relationship in order to get the information she needed. Then boom, another international criminal enterprise would bite the dust.

Which brought Mallory to her current position, dressed up in ludicrously expensive designer gear and half-hiding behind a pillar in the bar of Amsterdam’s most exclusive hotel. Someone less experienced than Mallory might have found the idea of staying out of sight ridiculous. The aim was to get the attention of one of the gang members, after all. But Mallory was at the top of her game, the very best of the best, and she knew damn well that putting in a little groundwork early on would pay off in spades. Before she did anything, before she so much as batted an eyelash in the direction of the gang, she needed to identify her target. It was pointless trying to eye-f**k with a bloke from across the room, only to discover he preferred men, or was happily married and the faithful type. That would attract the wrong kind of attention. When she did get noticed by the group, she wanted it to be for the right reasons, and on her terms. If they caught even so much as a whiff of her deception, it would be game over.

So she would watch, and wait. Then as soon as she decided which one of the group was going to be her new boyfriend, she’d move in for the kill. Figuratively speaking, of course. Killing wasn’t her job. She was capable of it, and over the course of her career had ended more than one life in self-defence, or in order to protect others, but she was no cold-blooded murderer.

She was something much more dangerous; something that no one ever saw coming.

Picking up the leather-bound cocktail menu, she used it to further obscure herself as she took in the rest of her surroundings. She’d already done a scan of the place in her peripheral vision as she’d made her way from the door to the table she now sat at, but before she fixed her attentions on her target, she wanted to make absolutely certain there were no other persons of interest in the vicinity. The last thing she wanted was to start eyeballing the group, only to discover they had some covert security bods in the bar, who were eyeballing her. She doubted it—their intel suggested that they only used hired goons when absolutely necessary—but it always paid to be cautious.

After a couple of minutes—luckily it wasn’t a huge area, and therefore she didn’t have to hold the menu in front of her face for too long, making her look suspicious or terribly indecisive—she was satisfied, and slowly lowered the cocktail list to the smoked glass table, then closed it with a slap.

As if by magic, a handsome waiter around her age materialised. “Hello, madam,” he said in Dutch, a language that she was, luckily, fluent in. He’d have switched to English with no issues—the Dutch were well known for their excellent command of English, and in a place such as this, being multilingual would no doubt be in the job description—but she’d blend in more effectively if she spoke the native tongue. “What can I get you?”

She hadn’t actually had time to read the menu, but it didn’t matter. Cocktail selections were almost the same the world over, unless establishments decided to give drinks different names, or put a new spin on an old classic. Even if they did, though, she’d never been refused an old classic when she’d ordered one, whether it was on the list or not. “Hi,” she replied, also in Dutch. “I’ll take a Manhattan, please.”

“Very good, madam. It’ll be with you in a few moments.”

“Thank you.” She treated him to a wide smile, as well as exercising her best manners. It certainly couldn’t hurt to establish a rapport with a member of staff. After all, there was a chance he might be useful at some point.

While she waited for her drink, she pondered her next move. The group was still there, still being loud and obnoxious, and had successfully managed to get their oysters and caviar. She rolled her eyes. That was one benefit to staying in such a high-end hotel, she supposed. There was serious money at stake, and the management would want to do anything possible to keep guests happy, knowing that word of mouth, particularly in circles with such funds at their disposal, was by far the biggest influence in bringing in more people. More people with money. And so it went on. Here, at least, money really did make the world go around.

She watched the group, careful not to seem as though she was staring. She wasn’t yet ready to gain their attention. It was unlikely, she quickly realised. They were so absorbed in their own little bubble that she probably could have stripped naked and walked past their table and they wouldn’t have noticed.

With happy guests and word of mouth on her mind, she came to the conclusion that, although the gang was happy, there were plenty of other people in the bar that weren’t. The more champagne the group quaffed, the more their volume increased. And with that volume increase came plentiful sighs and glares from the bar’s other patrons. But, in their bubble as they were, they didn’t notice.

Mallory smirked as she watched one angry-looking man start to get up from his chair, only to be stopped by the woman he was with, with a hand on his arm and a shake of her head. Mallory didn’t blame her. This hotel might be the most expensive and exclusive in the Netherlands, but it didn’t mean drunken guests wouldn’t turn nasty or even violent if confronted. Really, management should be getting involved at this point. Maybe she could hurry things along in that department and see if it helped her cause any.

Just then, the waiter returned with her drink. “One Manhattan, madam,” he said, placing it on the table with a flourish.

“Great. Thank you.” She deliberately glanced over at the group, then back at the waiter, her eyes wide and innocent. Quietly, she said, “I don’t mean to make a fuss, but would it be possible for something to be done about those people? They’re totally ruining the ambiance in here. Not what you’d expect from such an establishment.”

The waiter—she peeked at his name badge; Erasmus—gave a tight smile. “It is already in hand, madam. We are working to rectify the situation with the absolute minimum of fuss. However, as an apology and gesture of our deep regret, your drink is free of charge. I hope it is to your satisfaction.”

Keeping her eyes wide, she replied, “Oh, thank you, Erasmus. I hope it’s okay to call you that. I really didn’t mean to be a difficult customer, it’s just…” she tailed off with a shrug.

Erasmus gave a quaint bow. “You are not the difficult customer, madam. You have been a pleasure. And of course it’s okay to call me Erasmus. Please, if there is anything else you require, do not hesitate to let me know. I will be pleased to assist you.” He smiled, then turned and walked away.

Admiring the view of his backside until it disappeared out of sight behind the bar, Mallory grinned. Unless she’d been completely mistaken, there’d been a glint in his eye, and emphasis on the anything part. When she’d figured he might come in useful at some point, she’d been thinking along the lines of maybe pumping him for information, or potentially using him to gain access to areas of the hotel she wasn’t supposed to be in. But the more she thought about it, the more she leaned towards him being the perfect candidate for a little extra-curricular fun. Her target, whoever he turned out to be, was off-limits for the time being, at least. It sounded like he and his friends were about to be escorted from the bar, and given the amount of alcohol they’d consumed, they’d all be drunk for the next few hours at least, then hungover for several more hours after that.

Giving Mallory plenty of time to become more familiar with the layout of the hotel and its operations. Not to mention the members of staff.

One in particular.

Her grin grew wider.