[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

'We have to stay someplace, don't we?' she asked. 'What if someone already made you when you checked in?'

She shook her head. 'No chance. I did it all by phone. Had a messenger pick up the key and bring it to me at Friedrichstrasse Station. As far as he knew, I was just someone's assistant.Yours, I guess.' She reached into her pocket and pulled out an electronic keycard.

As far as hotels went, the Mandola Suites was an excellent choice, especially given their situation. It had been designed with the long-term guest in mind. There were several private entrances, which meant guests never had to pass through the lobby. Each room was also equipped with a kitchen. And, best yet, it was right there in Potsdamer Platz. Their room was on the fifth floor, and had a view of Leipziger Strasse. Unfortunately, Orlando had only been able to secure a one-bedroom suite, so Quinn would have to camp out on the couch.

As they shed themselves of their winter cover, Quinn noticed a bruise near Orlando's ear, high on her cheek.

'Ashtray,' she said after he pointed it out.

'You fell on it, or it fell on you?'

'The guy who threw it was aiming for the back of my head, but I turned at the last moment.' Quinn stared at her, waiting for more. Orlando sat down on the couch. 'They must have

keyed into our signal somehow. They knew where you were. From that they must have got a fix on me. Probably surprised the hell out of them I was right next door to where you were staying.'

'Then why didn't they get you?' Quinn asked.

'When you were in the sphere and our signal got jammed, I knew I only had a few seconds,' she said. 'I grabbed my gun, got behind the couch, and aimed for the door. I think their timing must have been a little off. They probably wanted to cut our communication and break in at the same moment.' She shrugged. 'It's how I would have planned it.'

Quinn nodded in agreement. It's how he would have planned it, too.

'There were three of them,' she went on. 'I got the first one as he came in. The second as he ran toward the bedroom. It was the last who gave me the most problems.'

'He was the one with the ashtray?'

She nodded. 'But he won't be throwing anything else soon. After that, I didn't want to wait to see if anyone else was coming, so I grabbed what I could and got out of there.' She nodded at him. 'Your turn.'

Quinn told her about his escape from the sphere, his conversation with Duke, and his subsequent return to the sphere the previous night.

'So are you intentionally trying to make me look like a slacker?' she asked.

'I wasn't exactly going to point it out.'

'Your sensitivity is touching,' she said. 'What about Nate?'

Quinn's mouth tensed. 'He should have checked in by now.' 'He's not going to.' 'I know.' Orlando looked at him for a moment. 'We'll find

him,' she said. Quinn nodded, but said nothing. He only hoped his apprentice was still alive when they did.

He thought for a moment, then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. 'I think it's time I had a real talk with Peter.'

'Yeah. Have fun with that.' She got up and walked into the bedroom.

As Quinn turned on his phone and dialed Peter's number, he could hear the shower being turned on in the other room.

A moment later, Misty answered. 'It's Quinn,'

he said. Silence on the other end. 'Misty?' he asked. 'Sorry,' she said, sounding shaken. 'It's just. . .

we heard you were dead.' 'When was this supposed to have happened?' 'Two nights ago,' she said. 'In Berlin.' 'I don't feel dead.' 'Thank God for that. I assume you want to speak

to Peter.' 'Please.' Within seconds Peter was on the line. 'Holy

Christ, Quinn. What the hell's going on?' 'You tell me.' 'Borko's bragging that he took you and your

whole team out. He seems to know you were

working for me.' 'Really? Tell me, who are you working for, Peter?' 'What's that supposed to mean?' 'The job with Duke was a setup,' Quinn said.

'Turns out he was in deep with Borko. I know. Shocking, isn't it?' he said, his voice flat. 'But you want to hear something even more interesting? He told me Borko was responsible for the disruption. And that he'd had inside help. You're the one who really wanted me to work with Duke. You begged me. Now it turns out Duke was working for Borko.

And Borko was the one who took out the Office. See where I'm going with this?'

'Fuck you. Fuck you for even thinking what you're thinking,' Peter said. 'You're saying I was in on something that killed several close friends of mine?You think I would have done that?' He paused. 'Fuck you.'

'You're the one who wanted me here.'

'I had nothing to do with what happened. As far as I knew, Duke was just helping us out. How was I supposed to know otherwise? I can't even leave my goddamn office. And I've got no one out there but you.'