“He has lots of friends.”
“Yeah, I saw him playing grab-ass with one of them. But she didn’t seem to mind.”
She shrugged. “He gets what he pays for.”
“Almost a billionaire, huh? Then you’d think they’d be going to some fancy-ass club for high rollers.”
She frowned at this comment. “This isn’t Vegas. And we’re not just a bar, Paul. We cater to lots of different interests and tastes. Some fancier than others. Good night.” She rose to leave.
“What about my money?”
She turned back to him. “Payday is every Friday.”
“The thi
ng is I need some cash now.”
She eyed him closely. Then she walked around the bar, opened the cash register, counted out two fifties, ten twenties, ten tens, and the rest fives and ones. She wrapped a rubber band around the cash and tossed it to him.
He slipped it inside his pocket. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But that’s a one-off. From now on payday is Friday.”
“Understood.”
“And even though you’re not officially on the payroll, we’ll be taking out something for FICA and income taxes. I’m not getting screwed by the IRS.”
“What does that leave me, then?”
“Enough. Unless you want to fill out the paperwork? Full name, Social Security number, all that.”
“No, I don’t want to do that.”
“Fine. Just so you know, I’ve never paid an employee under the table. I’m not a fan.”
“So why me?”
She leaned against the bar. “You looked like somebody who needed a break.”
“I appreciate that. So how’s Karl?”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. And remember, he’s your boss.”
“Never forgot it. See you tomorrow. Boss.”
Rogers rose and left.
It was nearly three in the morning.
It was time for him to go to work.
Chapter
22
ROGERS PARKED THE van well off the grounds of Fort Monroe and finished the trek on foot. This early in the morning, he was the only one out and about.
The salt air hit him from the channel, and far out in the water he could see the white lights of a passing ship. It was cool, quiet, and peaceful.
Depending on how things went, that could all change very quickly.
He knew exactly where he was going and wanted to get there quickly and unobtrusively. There were few who could move with more stealth than Rogers. That had been beaten into him for so long he could think of no other way.
The building was just up ahead.
He had passed it earlier.
Building Q.
He did nothing but watch for an hour.
It was now five minutes past four.
The private security did a sweep on the half hour, he noted. One went left, the other went right, and they crossed in the rear. A third guard remained at the front gate.
His memory had been good. They hadn’t alarmed this door back then either. They imagined that no one could scale a sheer brick wall without the aid of a ladder. They were off by one on that assumption.
He shut the door behind him and moved down the stairs. The interior of the space outlined in his head from thirty-year-old memories, he made his way to the second floor and then out into the main corridor. He looked in the ceiling crevices for motion sensors but saw none. He looked for surveillance cameras but saw none of those either.
They had put all their marbles on the exterior security.
But that wasn’t all. No cameras inside meant that whoever operated this place wanted no record of what was going on in here.
It had been the same when Rogers had been here. Because the