Spy Ski School (20 page)

Dane ushered us through the entry hall and into the living room. The other guards both glanced at me warily, obviously wondering what I was doing there. Dane subtly pointed to Jessica.

If Jessica noticed any of this, she didn't let on. Instead, she was rambling on about her father. “Daddy promised me he wasn't going to work on this trip,” she was saying, “but he's doing it anyhow. He was on the phone doing business all last night. He didn't even stop for dinner with me. I wonder if he's really even been skiing during the day. For all I know, he's been sneaking off to deals. . . .”

“Would you like anything to drink, Ben?” Dane asked. His tone was surprisingly kind, given how standoffish he'd been around me so far. I got the impression he was trying to divert us from talking about Leo Shang's business.

It worked. At least where Jessica was concerned. “Hot chocolate?” she suggested, before I could answer.

“Sure,” I agreed. “If you have it.”

“We have anything we could possibly want,” Jessica told me. “We just have to call the restaurant and they'll bring it up.”

“Then what's the kitchen for?”

“People who like to cook, I guess.” Jessica picked up the room phone and dialed the restaurant. “Hey, this is Jessica. Can you send up two hot chocolates? Oh, and some
graham crackers and chocolate and marshmallows too.” Jessica looked to me excitedly. “We can make s'mores in the fireplace!”

“Cool,” I said supportively, wondering what it was about the mountains that made people want to make s'mores.

“I hate to interrupt this awesome date you're having,” Erica said, inside my ear, “but you need to can the small talk and get some work done. Ask if you can go to the bathroom.”

As usual with the earpiece, the conversation was one-way. I couldn't argue to Erica that I was
trying
to get work done. I had to suck up the criticism, turn to Jessica, and ask, “Is there a bathroom here?”

Jessica laughed. “Only seven of them. There's one in the hall.”

She pointed. So did Dane. He was standing right next to it.

“Thanks,” I said, and slipped inside.

The bathroom was more nicely decorated than my entire house. Every fixture was gold-plated. The toilet was fully automated. The lid rose automatically for me as I entered, which I found kind of disturbing.

“Sit down,” Erica told me. “Let them think you're gonna be in there for a bit. We have a lot to discuss.”

I wasn't exactly sure how to convey that I was going to be a while through the bathroom door, but I did my best. I dropped
my pants to my ankles as loud as I could and sat down on the toilet with a loud sitting-on-the-toilet sort of sigh.

To my surprise, the toilet began to play music. It was probably supposed to be comforting, some sort of melody to soothe you while you pooped, but the whole idea of a musical toilet just weirded me out.

“Okay,” Erica said. “You don't have much time in that suite. Here's the basic gist of that showdown in the lobby: Dane didn't want to let you up there, but Jessica told him that if he didn't, she'd go outside the hotel and make a scene. It might seem like Dane gave in to her, but the whole goon squad definitely has their guard up. The moment you got in the elevator, the guys in the lobby called Leo Shang. I'm watching them right now, and from the way they're behaving, I'll bet Shang is on his way back—and he's not going to be happy when he gets there. So . . . take out the gum I gave you.”

I did. The reason it had looked like a pack of gum was that it
was
a pack of gum. Or at least, it was the pack the gum came in. I opened it to find five small black objects. Each was a disc the size of an M&M.

“Those are bugs,” Erica explained. “There's adhesive coating on them, so they'll stick to anything. Each has a range of only about twenty feet, so you'll need to spread them out through the suite. Place them as centrally as you can. They'll cover more area that way. Understand?”

“Mmm-hmm,” I agreed, trying to make it sound like a toilet-related noise in case Dane was listening through the door.

“Good. And get Jessica back to talking about her father. Fast. Whatever you can find out is crucial. Once Leo catches you up there, he's probably going to flip and block you from ever getting close to his daughter again. So stop sitting around and get to it.”

I wanted to point out that I was only sitting in the first place because Erica had told me to. Instead, I kept quiet and hopped back off the toilet. It flushed automatically, the music stopped, and the lid closed again. I plucked the five bugs out of the gum pack and stuck them to my wrist inside the sleeve of my undershirt. Then I yanked up my ski pants, made a show of washing my hands—again, in case Dane was listening through the door—and exited the bathroom.

Jessica was now seated on a couch by one of the fireplaces. She had removed her parka and was leafing through a glossy magazine. “Hey,” she said. “You can take your jacket off if you want.”

“Thanks.” The heat seemed to be cranked up to the eighties in the room, and with two fires going, I was already starting to sweat under my ski clothes. Although it was very possible that I was sweating due to fear as well. It was incredibly nerve-racking to be in enemy territory with armed
goons scrutinizing my every move. I shrugged off my jacket and looked for a place to hang it.

“Dane, can you take that?” Jessica asked.

Dane dutifully stepped forward and accepted my jacket, though it was clear he didn't appreciate being made into a butler.

“Thanks,” I said again. Luckily, the sleeves of my undershirt were just long enough to keep the bugs hidden.

“So?” Jessica asked, waving around the suite. “What do you think?”

“It's amazing,” I said. “Can I see the rest of it?”

“Sure!” Jessica hopped off the couch and led me back down the hall. Alarmed, Dane instantly moved after us. Jessica didn't appear bothered that he was upset. If anything, she seemed pleased that she was rattling him.

There was a small table in the hallway by the elevator. It served no purpose except to hold an extremely large vase of flowers that had probably been flown in from halfway across the world at tremendous expense. As I passed it, I quickly stuck one of the bugs under the table, where it clung like a piece of gum on the base of a school desk. It was a move I'd practiced plenty of times in my Intro to Enemy Surveillance class, and I did it so fluidly, Dane didn't even notice. Or at least, he didn't
appear
to. I figured the bug would cover any conversation spoken around the elevator.

One down, four to go.

Jessica blew past the first few doors off the hallway. “These are all extra bedrooms. I think this place holds, like, sixteen people. Or maybe it was twenty. Anyhow, there's a lot of rooms we don't need.”

“Not counting the whole rest of the hotel,” I pointed out.

“Well, Dane and the other guards are staying here too.”

“Still, you're renting out
an entire hotel
.” I tried to think of a tactful way to get back to the subject of Leo Shang, then decided I didn't have enough time for subtlety. Instead, I did my best to sound concerned, rather than suspicious. “Why do you need all this space? And all the guards? Is your family in danger?”

Jessica laughed. “No, Daddy just likes his privacy. Here's my room.” She led me into a bedroom that was larger than my entire house. There was a whole other sitting area, a flat-screen TV, and another piano—just in case the one in the living area wasn't enough.

“My father likes privacy too,” I told her, “but he doesn't rent out entire hotels.”

“No offense,” Jessica replied, “but I'll bet your father can't afford entire hotels.”

“
No one
can afford entire hotels. Except your father and maybe a couple sheiks.”

“I guess. Wait until you see
his
room.” Jessica led me back into the hall.

I quickly stuck the second bug underneath the keyboard of the piano and followed Jessica. It wasn't a great location, but I didn't have time to find a better one. Two down, three to go.

Jessica opened the door to her father's room. Given the rest of the suite, I'd prepared for it to be impressive, but even so, the sheer size of it took my breath away. It was bigger than the Ski Haüs motel. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine why anyone would need a bedroom so large—especially when they had the whole rest of the suite.

I plucked another bug off my wrist as I started through the door.

Only, Dane stepped in front of us, blocking our way. “Sorry, Jessica, but your father doesn't want anyone else in here.”

“Oh, lighten up,” Jessica taunted. “I'm just gonna show him the room real fast.”

Dane stepped aside, waved an arm to the master suite, then stepped right back into our path again. “There. Now he's seen it real fast. Please return to the living area.”

Jessica growled in frustration. “This is ridiculous. This is my suite too. What does Daddy think we're gonna do? Steal his shoes?”

Dane's bulk filled the door so well, I could barely see any of the room behind him. Only a sliver of it. I caught
a glimpse of an unmade king-size bed with dirty clothes strewn on it. A silver case the size of a steamer trunk poked out from behind the bed.

The case didn't seem like normal luggage, but it didn't appear I was going to get a closer look. Dane wasn't about to let us in the room. So I quickly stuck a bug on the side of the doorjamb. Since the bedroom was much bigger than the bug's twenty-foot range, I'd just have to hope that, if Shang did discuss anything important, he would do it near the door. Three bugs down, two to go.

Dane spoke to Jessica in Chinese again. He sounded very annoyed.

Jessica heaved an angry sigh, spun on her heel, and stormed back toward the living area. “Looks like the tour's over, Ben. I'm not even allowed to show you my whole suite.”

I followed her. “What'd he say?”

“Nothing,” Jessica muttered.

“Actually,” Erica said in my ear, “he said, ‘You have already tempted fate by bringing this boy up here. If you push it any further, don't be surprised when your father cancels the rest of this vacation.' ”

It occurred to me that even though Jessica's father had given her far more than most people could ever dream of, she was still annoyed by the boundaries he'd set for her. So
I decided to see what I could do with that. “Is your father always like this with your friends?”

“Always,”
Jessica echoed. “He's the world's biggest control freak. If you think this place is big, you should see our house. We have our own movie theater, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a trampoline room . . . But does he ever let me even bring anyone over there? No. I've never been allowed to have a movie night, or a slumber party, or anything. And half the time when I make friends, I swear, he scares them off. I don't know how, but he does it. One day they're nice to me—and the next they act like I've got the plague.”

We arrived back in the living room. Dane resumed his place by the entry hall, staring at me ominously. The other two guards hadn't moved, but they now fixed me with equally intimidating stares. I glanced toward them. “I can see how that'd happen.”

“It makes me angrier than a wet panda,” Jessica seethed.

I didn't have the slightest idea what she was trying to say in English this time, so I didn't even bother trying to correct her. Instead, I did my best to be supportive. “I don't blame you.”

“Ben,” Erica said in my ear. “I just heard from my grandfather. Leo Shang's caravan is en route to the hotel and moving fast. You have five minutes left, max.”

All three guards' hands went to their ears at the same time. Each of them probably had an earpiece as well. And
they were all getting similar information. Only, they were getting it from Shang.

Jessica flopped on the couch, exasperated. “I know it must seem insanely cool to be as rich as I am, but it
sucks
. I mean, I like having a huge house and a private jet and our own island and all the ponies I want, but . . . it'd be nice to be normal for once. To go somewhere without all these jerks . . .” She waved a hand toward the guards.

“Now, that's just mean,” Dane said, sounding hurt once again.

“. . . or to have a friend who likes me for just being
me
,” Jessica continued. “And not the fact that I'm rich.”

“I didn't know you were rich when I met you,” I said supportively. “And I liked you for being you.”

Jessica gave me a shy smile. “Really?”

“Really,” I said, and I meant it. I was actually starting to feel kind of sorry for her. I sat on the couch next to her, shifting another bug to my free hand. “I don't care that you're rich.”

“You'd be the first.” Jessica's eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously. “And you've been asking an awful lot of questions about what my father does.”

This caught me completely by surprise. “Er, yeah,” I stammered, scrambling to come up with an answer. “Because I, um . . . I thought he, uh . . . might be a criminal.”

Which was probably a mistake.

Jessica gaped at me in shock. Dane and the other guards in the room tensed.

“Tell me you didn't just say that,” Erica said in my ear.

But I had. And there was no way to undo it. I held my breath while Jessica and her guards stared at me. The most uncomfortable silence I had ever experienced filled the room.

And then Jessica burst into laughter. “Daddy? A criminal? That's ridiculous!”

Dane and the guards laughed too, like this was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

I did my best to hide my relief, then soldiered on, acting like I'd been joking all along. “Well, he
is
kind of suspicious. He's got, like, a billion dollars. And all these security guys. And when I met him in the lobby the other day, he was, well . . . pretty scary.”