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“She can indicate on gun oil and explosives, yes, sir. That would include bullets or gunpowder residue.”
“Good, we’ll put the guests to the sniffer test on the way in, then Jay will check their invitations inside.” He turned to Gator and Jack. “You bring your stun guns?”
“No, sir, Iniquus doesn’t carry stun guns in such environments, and that wouldn’t be advisable with the ages of the guests tonight,” Jack said.
Tom grunted.
“Should I check the invitations on the sidewalk?” Ethan asked. He noticed that Jay had tightened his stance throughout the brief. But when Ethan asked his question, Jay’s blink rate increased. Ethan wondered if he was stepping on the man’s toes. Maybe that was a job that he liked to perform, for whatever reason.
“No,” Tom said. “You’ll have your hands full dealing with Tango.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Now for the schedule. I’m texting it to you now, so you have it on hand. They’ll be moving as a group except for the journalists and the special guests, who will go down to the lab at eight o’clock to hear Dr. Piper Phillips tell them about her project and show them around.” Tom looked over at Jack and Gator. “That’ll make things easier on you lads.”
“Sir,” they said.
“If you have any problems tonight, I’m meeting some friends just down the street. You can give me a call. But we expect it to be an easy night. Bunch of old folks drinking scotch, then home to their beds. We’ll test comms, then, Ethan, you and Tango can go do a perimeter check. Everyone ready?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Piper
The only good part of this evening so far was seeing Ethan and Tango on the sidewalk on the way in.
His smile helped settle her nerves. “Seafoam,” she’d said, twirling in the Grecian-styled dress. “Much more subtle than the pink one.” Truthfully, her dress was the color of snot when she had a sinus infection.
She was hideous.
“You would look beautiful no matter what you’re wearing,” Ethan said. “But this one looks like it allows you to breathe.”
She’d snuck a little dog magic by surreptitiously giving Tango a rub.
“Working,” Ethan said, pretending to scold.
Piper felt lighter walking toward the Alabaster doors, standing wide and welcoming. In the clement night air, her skirt billowed in the breeze. And if it had been a more flattering color, Piper might have even felt pretty.
Jay was in reception and ticked her name off his list.
A friendly face and his wishing her luck with her speech were morale boosters. “What time are you going to the lab?” he’d asked.
“I think right around eight. I can run through my speech one more time and be on hand if people come down early. I can’t have anyone touching my lab equipment.”
“I think eight is the perfect time,” Jay said. “I have to be here in the reception hall, and I wasn’t sure how to handle the lab security. I’ve noticed that our London guests like to be early. Perhaps it’s their age, and they want to be in the front so they can see and hear more easily.”
Tonight might not be so bad.
She’d wait until eight, go down, insert the USB. Piper patted her hip. One good thing about this dress was that it had pockets. The USB light would turn green; she’d go to her lab. After her speech, she’d thank everyone, usher them out of her lab, lock the door, and go home.
Piper’s brain was crowded.
There was so much to process.
So much to think about.
But Chanti was right to counsel her to take sips at the information.
She walked into a ballroom buzzing with conversation.
Groups stood in clusters under an opulent ceiling with gilded plasterwork and an oil painting of a bacchanalia.
The men wore tuxedos; the women were very sparkly. The jewels these women flaunted made Piper think about how she would have spent that money. Think of all the science that could have advanced the human experience if those London tiaras were lab salaries instead.
