Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series (17 page)

“Well, you can't stay here with me.  I have a job to do.  I can't have you following me around.”

“Well...maybe you could tell me a bit about what you're here for.  I can take some notes - just vague ones, and write a story based on that.”

“You know I can't talk about what I'm doing in the middle of an assignment.  It's confidential.  Besides, someone might hear me or find out what it is I'm doing.”

“No one's going to hear you up here in the room.  Just give me the basics of the job.  I'll change the details for the book.  Promise.”

Ryan was a bit skeptical, but at the same time, he didn't want Jessica's presence to be a distraction.  If he needed to give her a few details about this job in order to get her to go home and stay out of his way, then that's what he needed to do.  The job had to come first.

“OK.  I'll fill you in on what I'm doing here.”

Jessica found a notepad and pen in the nightstand to take notes.

“Go ahead.”

“I've been hired by a company that manufactures microprocessors for smart phones.  You know - the chips that actually make them run.”

“OK...”

“They've developed a prototype chip that runs twice as fast as anything on the market right now.  But here's the best part - it also uses only a quarter of the power of current chips.”

“So it's faster
and
lets you use it longer without recharging it?”

“Exactly.  But here's the deal.  It hasn't gone into production yet; it's still in the testing stage.  But it's so far ahead of the competition that nobody is likely to duplicate it for at least two years.”

“Sounds great.  What's the problem?”
“The problem is that one of the engineers for the company has stolen one of the samples.  It looks like he's going to bring it here to sell it to some Koreans.”

“Koreans?”
 

“They're into manufacturing cell phones in a big way.  There's a buyer coming here that represents one or more of the companies; I don't know which ones.  They want to acquire the chip as a group so that their country can effectively own the industry for a while.”

“Who is the buyer?”
“It's a guy I know only as Mr. Kim.  I don't know his real name. I'm not even all that sure what he looks like.  I know more about the seller.”

“And he is...”

“His name is Bob Kellerman.  He's about five foot eight, with short brown hair and glasses like Woody Allen.  He'd stand out just about anywhere - except at a convention of engineers.”

Jessica laughed.  Yes, looking for a nerd in a convention center full of nerds might be a difficult task.

“So what do you do?”

“I thought about just grabbing the briefcase, but I came up with something easier.  Have you ever heard of an electromagnetic pulse?

“No.”

“It's a surge of electrical energy that is produced when a nuclear weapon goes off.  It destroys all electronics that are nearby.”

“You're going to set off a nuclear weapon?” she asked with a giggle.

“Wouldn't that be overkill?”  He smiled at her.  “No, I've got a small handheld device that puts out a similar, smaller pulse. It's only effective within a range of four feet or so, but it will destroy the chip or any nearby electronics if I activate it within a couple of feet.”

He showed her the small, pistol-sized device.

“Wow.  Where did you get that?”

“I wish I could say something clever, like I got it from the spy gadget department, but I found it on the Internet.”

“So what's your plan?”

“In short, find the chip and set off the pulse near it and go home.”

“Is it that easy?”

“I'm not entirely sure.  I think Kellerman is here already.  I just need to find him.  It shouldn't be hard.  Like I've said, guys like him are usually amateurs.  He's just an engineer who's pissed at his employer and wants to make a few extra bucks.  Well, a lot of extra bucks, actually.”

“How much?”
 

“The Koreans might be willing to pay seven figures for the thing.  It's worth a bundle to get that chip to the market first.  A couple of million wouldn't be unreasonable.”

“So are you looking for a guy with a lot of money in a briefcase or something?”

“Maybe.  That's the problem.  There's not going to be a shortage of Koreans, American engineers, or briefcases here.  That's why I came early.  I'm just doing a lot of people watching.  I do have a photo of Kellerman, but not Kim.”

Ryan showed Jessica the photo of Kellerman, which looked like the sort of picture that might be taken for a corporate identification badge.

“He's not that unusual looking.  Do you think they'll meet secretly, or can you catch them somehow?”
 

“I don't know.  It wouldn't be all that hard to just meet and exchange the money for the chip in plain sight.  There are tens of thousands of people here this week and the convention center is going to be crowded.  A building full of people might be a great place to simply hand over one briefcase for another one.”

“Why be that obvious?”
 

“Several reasons, among them the fact that Kellerman isn't a spy.  He's probably eager to get rid of it in the fastest and easiest way possible.  Do you pay attention to every person you see with a briefcase?”

“No, I guess I don't.  Is Kellerman in any danger?”

“No, Jess. You've been watching too many spy movies.  These people are businessmen.  Kim just wants the chip.  Kellerman just wants money.  Mr. Kim will meet Kellerman, pay him, and both of them will go their separate ways.  I just need to get to Kellerman and destroy the chip before it changes hands.”

“That's quite an interesting story.  So how can I help?”

“You can't.  You need to go home.”
 

“But Ryan...”

“Look, we had a deal. I was going to tell you what I was doing and you were going to go home.  I'll figure out how to get the chip from Kellerman.  I'll get it back to my employer.  But I don't want you here.  You're a distraction.  A welcome distraction, but a distraction just the same.”

“But you're trying to find a needle in a haystack.  You could use my help.  I can help you find Kellerman.  Two pair of eyes are better than one, you know.”

“Jess, you can stay here tonight if you like.  But I need you to go back to Denver tomorrow.  Promise me you'll leave.”

Jessica scowled.

“Ryan....”

“No.  Promise me you'll leave tomorrow.”

“OK.  I'll leave in the morning.”

Ryan pulled her close to him and gave her one of those kisses that made her tingle from head to toe.   They crawled into bed and turned out the lights.

Jessica was determined to stick around.  Maybe she could help.  Perhaps she could learn something.  Regardless, she wasn't ready to get on a plane back to Denver.

I'm not leaving.  I'm going to stay here and see what happens.  And this time, I'm not going to let Ryan catch me.

She rolled over and went to sleep.

Chapter 7

The following morning, Ryan and Jessica woke up, had an amazing room service breakfast, and bid each other farewell.

“Take care, Jess.  I'll call you when I'm done here.  Now go home.”

“OK, you win.  But I wish you'd let me stay and help you.”

He gave her a hug and a slow, lingering kiss.  As their lips met and their tongues danced, Jessica wondered why moments like these couldn't last forever.

She went to the parking garage, found her car and headed back to her motel.  She might be leaving Ryan, but she was determined not to leave town.  She spent part of the day back at the Sundown Inn, hanging out by the pool, catching some sun and catching up on some reading.  The motel wasn't much, but it was clean and not very crowded. Jessica gave some thought to what she'd be doing over the next few days.  The convention was starting the following morning, and she was certain that Kellerman and Mr. Kim would meet to exchange the chip fairly quickly.  It didn't make any sense for either of them to hang around; sooner was better than later.

She just needed to make sure that she could find Ryan and follow him while he pursued his mission.

After giving it a bit of thought, Jessica realized that she needed a better disguise than just a floppy tourist hat.  She decided to purchase a couple of wigs and a new dress or two.  This way, she could hide her blond hair and masquerade as a brunette or a redhead.  After all, she'd already demonstrated that she was pretty clumsy as a spy when she tripped and fell in the buffet.  This way, she'd at least be harder to recognize if something like that happened again.

Jessica drove back into Las Vegas and spent a couple of hours shopping at several boutiques near Caesar's Palace.  She found a couple of attractive but nondescript dresses that looked suitable as business attire.  She wanted to to straddle that fine line that would allow her to look attractively professional while not drawing any undue attention to herself.  

She continued shopping and bought a shoulder-length red wig and a brunette one in a shorter, bob cut.  Both of them changed her looks dramatically, and she was sure Ryan wouldn't recognize her at a casual glance.  She also picked up a matching pair of Steve Madden pumps.  They were comfortable and looked nice without breaking her bank.  While she'd rather be wearing shoes from Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik, Jessica was finding this Las Vegas adventure to be getting a bit expensive.

She grabbed a meal at one of the casino buffets and managed to finish her meal without dropping it all over the floor.  She spent the rest of the evening at her motel, looking over her notes about Ryan's mission, reading about electromagnetic pulse tools, and doing a bit of research about cell phone technology.  She dozed off with her notebook computer still open on her lap.

Chapter 8
             

The next morning, Jessica woke up, got dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast at the coffee shop next door and headed to the convention center.  She put on a gray dress and the red wig.  She might attract attention for the red hair, but she likely wouldn't be recognized by Ryan right away.  As she looked in the mirror, Jessica was rather amused at how she looked as a redhead.

Not bad.  Perhaps I should try being a redhead more often.

On the other hand, her roommate, Amber, was already a redhead, and a natural one, at that.  Jessica didn't see any point in trying to duplicate Amber's look, for all the good it would do. Amber pretty much owned the “hot redhead” thing.

Jessica put on her new pumps.   At two and a half inches, the heels would look fashionable without overly hindering her ability to walk.  She hoped so, at least.  Breaking in a new pair of shoes on a hard convention floor probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

It took a while to find a suitable parking place, as everyone seemed to be arriving at once at the convention center.  Jessica wasn't entirely prepared for the size of the event; the electronics show had several thousand exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors in attendance.  The place was simply packed with people from all over the globe, there to show off their latest technology to people who could potentially manufacture, distribute or sell it.

It could take several days just to look at it all. How was Jessica supposed to find Ryan?  Or Mr. Kim?  Or Bob Kellerman?  Or anyone?

She didn't know.  She did, however, know what Ryan and Kellerman looked like.  Not so for Mr. Kim, who could be any one of the hundreds of Koreans in attendance.  Not only was he not going to stand out from his appearance, but even his name was pretty ordinary, assuming that “Kim” was even his real name.  There had to be a million people in Korea named “Kim.”