Balance (38 page)

Shortly after,
Michael exits
,
wearing
a
custodial
uniform
over his
field jumper
.

Entering the adjacent building,
Michael
walk
s
past the security desk
through the metal detectors
,
headed to
the elevator. 
D
epressing
the button for the
fifty-fifth
floor,
six from the roof, the doors
close, and
the carriage rises swiftly. 
Ten
floors from
his
destination
, he reaches up
through
a
ceiling
panel and removes
a hidden
duffel bag
.
  The
elevator comes to a halt and
the
doors open.
 
Temporarily disabling
the elevator, Michael steps in
to the hall
, checking for unexpected personnel
. 
Walking quickly to the emergency exit, he enters the
stair
well and
climb
s
the last six floors to the roof.

Outside
,
the cool air
whips past the building.  Michael
r
etriev
es
the
rifle
he
hid
earlier in the week.  Moving to the far edge, behind the
parapet
, h
e
position
s
directly across from Fr
ienz’s office
.  Peering in through the windows, he can see the
suite
, dimly lit and vacant
, the only light from
a lamp
on
an
end table next to a
leather couch.

Michael waits.

Rena enters the
RamSteele building and
walk
s
to the security desk. 
Removing
the invitation from her clutch
,
she
hand
s both to the guard
.

He
inspects the invitation fi
rst
,
the
n the content
s
of her bag as s
he
steps
through the metal detectors.  The guard returns the clutch and instruct
s
her to
take
the elevator to the sixti
eth
floor
.

En route
to the elevator, s
he subtly turns
,
catch
ing
the
guard making
a call,
his gaze following
her
. 
Rena
assumes
he just made her
presence
known to Frienz.

The
elevator chimes just before the
doors open
. 
Exiting
the elevator
,
Rena
w
alks to a wide staircase
leading down to the
floor of
a
high ceiling ballroom
that
absorbs the
59
th
and 6
0
th
floors.  She pauses at
the top of the stairs;
providing
Frienz time to
notice
her and
take in the full landscape of the
venue
.

Descending
slowly
,
she
sp
ies
the bar
,
identifying three
poppers;
surreptitious assets employed by Frienz to drop party favors
, drugs,
secretly into guest drinks in order to liven up the crowd.  She has to be careful to keep track of her drinks, accidently
ingesting
a stimulant would jeopardize the operation
.

She watches a waiter pick up a tray of
newly
poured
champagne
. 
Advancing
toward him,
she
get
s
herself a
flute
.  No sooner then she turns
to the party with her glass,
one o
f
the poppers
approaches
with two
more
, offering her
one
. 
S
m
iling
politely
,
she
tak
es
a drink
and
then set
s
her glass
on the
empty tr
a
y of a
passing
waiter
.

R
eaching for
the offered
replacement
,
Rena
drops her clutch
.

O
ffer
ing
to
re
trieve
it
,
he
hand
s
her both
flute
s
.

S
w
itching
glasses as he p
icks up her clutch,
Rena
hand
s
him
the
champagne
,
intended for her
.
 
She
flashes him a warm smile
,
lifting her
champagne
in salute
.
With minimal exchange, b
oth tak
e
sips
of their drinks
, Rena
pretending
to
swallow.

She nods and walks away, turning casu
ally to watch him finish his
c
hampagne
and
proceed
to
another target. 
Abandoning
her glass
to an
empty tray passing by,
she’s cautious
just in case the idiot partook
of
his own
party
favors.
Tracking a
waiter, she retrieves another clean
drink
.

Rena
works her way around the party.  It doesn
’
t take long to
locate
Frienz, who
appears
to have
noticed
her
as well.  She engages his gaze, tipping her glass in acknowledgement
.

Navigating
the party like a pro, he makes his way to
her.  Introducing himself, t
hey chat cordially for several minutes.  Rena
,
careful to track another tray of
champa
gn
e
, finishes hers just in time for Frienz to grab a new one from the waiter as he passes.  The gesture affords him the opportunity to
place
his hand on her waist. 
D
isgusted by his touch,
she
gives no signal to remove it
.

After several minutes
in his
grasp
,
talking about little of interest,
she
inquires about
a pow
d
er
room
, some
where she might freshen up. 
Gentlemanly, h
e offers th
e one in his
office
suite, directing
her to a private elevator
.

Rena notices
th
is particular
elevator services
only
the lobb
y, ballroom and p
enthouse suite
, the floor above
.  She regards this
development as
fortuitous.
 
They proceed to the t
op floor of the building,
exit
ing
the elevator
into his office
.  He turns up the lights
,
just en
ough to illuminate the room,
permit
ting
her to peruse the residence, and
admire its size
and grandeur
, implying his
prominence
. 
Pointing her to the bathroom,
h
e watches
the attractive blonde
walk away, disappearing behind the door.

L
ight
appears at the back of the room
as the elevator door
s
open. 
Michael
watches as Rena and Frienz
step
into the suite, turn up the lights and Rena
disappear
into the bathroom. 
Frienz
walks to the couch and
opens
a chilled bottle of champagn
e waiting on
the coffee table.
Micha
el
murmurs, “
A
predator
,
already prepared to en
tertain.
”
  He worries about Rena
,
but
he understands
that’s why he’
s there
,
and
she can take care of herself.

Slipping
in
to
the bath
room and
turning on the lights
,
Rena
check
s
for other occupants
and
surveillance.  Feeling safe, she pulls the compact from her cl
utch
and
r
emoves the makeup trays
,
revealing
two small
heart shaped knives
hidden underneath.  She
slid
es
one into a sheath in her garter
and the se
cond into a concealed pocket inside
her bustier.
  She
removes two small tablets, the first a fast
acting
counteragent
for stimulants;
just in case Frienz gets to
o
aggressive, the other a stimulant in case he tries to drop her a sleeping pill.  As a precaution,
when combined
,
the tablet
s
counteract each other
while
combining to form
a paralyzing agent.

Exiting
the bathroom
,
Rena
finds
Frienz sitting on the couch with two flute
s
of champagne.  He
stands to offer
her one
.
Looking past him,
she
gazes
out the window.
 
“What a wonderful view
.”
Rena comments,
accepting the glass of
champagne
as she
walk
s
to
the
windows
. 
Standing before the large pane of lightly tinted glass
, s
he
surveys
the roof of the adjacent building
,
identifying
the silhouette of someone
cr
o
uching
behind the
parapet
.

“Thank you, I’m glad y
ou like it, but why don’t you co
me back over here and join me on the couch?”