The elevator stopped, and they got out. A man in a dark suit holding a clipboard stopped them.
“It’s all right,” Purdue said, “the lady’s with me.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to see her ID, sir,” the guard said.
“No problem,” Marie-Thérèse said, digging out her wallet and her Texas driver’s license.
The man wrote her name down and noted the time, then returned the license to her. “Sorry for the inconvenience, ma’am,” he said.
“Right this way,” Purdue said, taking her elbow. They walked a few steps and he led them into a suite, tossing his keycard onto a table in the entrance hall.
“Very nice,” she said, looking around. It wasn’t big, but it was certainly elegant. “Where’s the bedroom?”
“A woman after my own heart. Right this way.” He led the way into the bedroom.
She unzipped her dress. “I want to hang this up,” she said, “since I’ll be wearing it tomorrow morning.”
“Right over there,” he said, pointing at a closet, then he went into the bathroom. “Excuse me a second.”
Marie-Thérèse opened the closet door to find a small collection of outfits. She plucked one off the rack and held it up to her. “Not bad,” she said aloud.
“Don’t mess with my wife’s things,” he said, coming out of the bathroom. “She’d notice, believe me.”
“Don’t worry, sugar,” she replied, hanging up the dress. “I won’t disturb a thing. Tell me, have you got an early day tomorrow?”
“Nah, the session doesn’t open until after lunch. We can sleep in, if you like.”
“Oh, good,” she said, hanging her dress in the closet and shedding her underwear. “You ready for me, sugar?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She slid into bed with him. This wouldn’t take long, then she could get a good night’s sleep.
Stone’s cell phone vibrated. “Hello?”
“It’s Carpenter.”
“Hi, there.”
“Turns out we’re in the presidential suite, but I’ve managed to get a room with a lock on the door that opens into the hallway. Why don’t you join me?”
“I can’t, but you’re going to like my news.”
“What’s that?”
“She’s staying at the Carlyle. Dino’s people have got her suite staked out now. They’ll wait for her to come home and go to sleep, then take her in the morning.”
“God, that’s a relief,” Carpenter said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather wait her out in the presidential suite?”
“I want to be here. You sleep well, and we’ll talk in the morning.” Stone hung up. “Carpenter’s staying in the presidential suite of the Waldorf Towers, with the director.”
Dino laughed.
“She says there’s a lock on her door.”
Carpenter called Mason.
“Hello,” he panted, on the fourth ring.