Munich would ever be connected to a bank robbery in California. No one would make the connection. No one would compare the prints.â
She pulled the robe closer around herself, as if she was cold. âExcept that thereâs some kind of terrorist attack going on at the same time weâre killing people in their hotel rooms. And how many witnesses saw us come out of that door?â
âWe canât just go back there,â I said. âThereâs no way we can get them back. Weâre screwed, Kat.â
âYeah,â she agreed. âWe need to talk to John and Walter. Theyâre all coming here, after Mary gets done with Tyson.â
âWhy here?â
âItâs kind of a central location. Weâre all going to meet up and try some new tactics.â
I nodded. âGood. Because Raakel was totally unswayed by our arguments.â
Kat stood, but she was a little unsteady on her feet. âYou okay?â I asked. Kat was stronger than most people I knew, but everyone had a limit. I couldnât believe I hadnât reached mine yet.
âLetâs get to a more concealed part of the park.â
âRight. And you need to get out of that bathrobe.â
âEveryone else is in robes,â she said, gesturing to the hotel guests who had filled the street after the alarms went off. âYou wear it.â
âBut we donât want to look like we came out of that place.â
Kat set her face in a grimace. âYou need to get in there, fast,â Kat said, with a slight slur. âGo now, while everyone is outside and the police havenât arrived yet. Iâd go with you, but I think Iâm not fit for service right now.â
I helped her down on a park bench, farther from the street now that it was getting light.
âStay here,â I said.
I took another look at the slice in her arm and my poor, uneven stitching. She was definitely going to have a scarâbut hopefully sheâd regain the use of her fingers. At least the bleeding had stopped.
She took a pouch of something out of the first aid kidâsome kind of antibacterial somethingâand squirted it all along the cut.
âCan you help me with the bandage?â she said, pulling two-inch squares of gauze from the first aid kit.
She held the cotton down with her left hand, and I taped it on. I was no surgeonâI wrapped a strip of tape all the way around her arm twice.
I took the robe from her and put it on myself. I left her gun withher, in the backpack. The robe was snug, but no one else looked particularly well dressed. Theyâd been awakened by a fire alarm early in the morning. The fact that my robe had blood on it seemed to go unnoticed by anyone in the crowd. There was a lot, but it mostly stained the inside of the fluffy material, not soaking through.
Despite the fire alarm and the noise of bullets, there were only two fire trucksâno police at all yet.
âAbsurd,â a man next to me said in a proper English accent. âTo be awakened at this hour is absurd. They donât even know what theyâre looking for. I donât see any smoke. Do you?â
âNo,â I said. âAnd I have to get inside. If there is a fire, I have documents in there that canât be destroyed.â
âGood luck. The concierge is turning everyone away at the door.â
I hadnât had a good look at the entrance, so I bade good morning to the man, and walked around a fire truck, the word FEUERWEHR emblazoned on the front. There was a single man at the top of the stairsâa balding man in a suit and tie, who was giving his assurances in English and German to the guests that everything would be fine. He said it was likely a false alarm.
âWait to go in,â a voice behind me said.
I startled and looked back. It was John.
âHow did you get here so fast?â
âI was only down the street at the Staatlich hotel. Say good-bye to the La
Daven Hiskey, Today I Found Out.com