Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Daniel squared his shoulders and strode forward, and the crowd just naturally parted to let him through. Tina strolled along beside him, taking the various admiring glances as her due. Daniel was surprised to find he got a few looks too, and did his best to act as though that was entirely normal. When they reached the elevators at the rear of the lobby, Daniel hit the call button with a flourish. The doors slid open, and he and Tina stepped inside. An elderly couple dressed to the nines went to join them, but Tina gave them a look and they decided to wait for the next one. She hit the button for the floor under the penthouse level, and the doors closed.

Daniel allowed himself to relax a little, and tugged at his bow tie to loosen it.

“Leave it alone,” said Tina, not even looking at him. “It’s fine.”

“I can’t believe we got in so easily,” said Daniel.

“It’s all about looking the part,” said Tina. “Now all we have to do is place the bomb where it needs to be, and it’s good night, sweetheart for the entire Frankenstein Clan.”

“You really think it’s going to be that easy?” said Daniel.

“Edward has been planning this for longer than you and I have been alive,” said Tina. “Trust the man.”

Daniel looked at her. “Trust Edward Hyde?”

“Trust him to know what he’s doing.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “I would have liked to watch the Frankensteins die.”

“You see?” said Tina. “You were born to be a Hyde.”

“No,” said Daniel. “I was made one.”

The elevator doors chimed politely and Daniel braced himself for enemy action, but when the doors slid open the corridor was empty. He gestured for Tina to stay where she was, and stepped cautiously out of the elevator to look around.

“No guards, no security presence,” he said quietly. “Where is everybody?”

“The Frankenstein Clan booked the whole of this level as well as the penthouse, to ensure their privacy,” said Tina, with something very like patience. “It’s off-limits to everyone else. Is it all right for me to come out now? Because I’m going to.”

Daniel scowled up and down the corridor. “There must be some kind of security. Surveillance, armed guards, regular patrols . . . ”

“A hotel like this has all kinds of security,” said Tina. “But it’s been shut down on both of these floors. Because the Frankensteins don’t want the rest of the world to know what they get up to. All the systems have been rerouted to the Clan’s own security center on this floor, so they can keep an eye on things. Thanks to our inside man, the one Edward has been paying off with weakened Elixir, we know where the center is. All we have to do is go there, and put it out of action.”

“So someone is watching us, right now,” said Daniel.

“And probably wondering why we’re standing around,” said Tina, just a bit pointedly. “Let us go and enlighten them, in a sudden and violently overwhelming way, so we can be about our business.”

She started off down the corridor, and Daniel moved quickly to join her.

“How are we supposed to find this center? Do you have a map, or hotel satnav on your phone?”

“Edward showed me a map earlier,” said Tina. “I memorized it.”

Daniel looked at her. “You can do that? Because you’re a Hyde?”

“No, because I’m a woman with enough sense to think ahead. Try to keep up.”

She increased her speed, and Daniel had to hurry after her. He was getting a little tired of always having to play catch-up. Not because he wanted to be in charge, necessarily, but because he didn’t like feeling he was the only one who didn’t know what was going on. He scowled at Tina’s unresponsive back. He couldn’t help remembering that the last time he’d followed someone’s orders blindly, it hadn’t worked out too well.

He also remembered Nigel saying, If you can’t see the patsy in the deal, it’s you.

Two corridors and a sudden left turn later, they were standing outside a door with a surveillance camera set above it, regarding them suspiciously with its unblinking red eye. Tina smiled and waved.

“What are you doing?” said Daniel.

“I’m being intriguing,” said Tina, still smiling at the camera. “I can’t just break the door in because it’s probably alarmed, so I have to fascinate the guards into opening the door for us.”

“You really think they’re going to do that?”

“Of course. They might be Frankensteins, but they’re still men.”

There was the sound of several locks disengaging, and the door started to open. Tina kicked it hard and the door slammed all the way back, knocking the guard off-balance. Tina surged forward, and knocked the man cold before he could react. Daniel saw another guard reaching for an alarm, but he’d started moving the same moment Tina had, and was in the room and upon the guard before he could get anywhere near the switch. He hit the guard once, and he collapsed. Daniel looked quickly around the control room, but there was no one else on duty.

A long row of monitor screens showed what was happening on both floors. Daniel looked for a way to shut them down.