his room and made his way outside, across the road towards the entrance to the convention centre.
As he entered the convention centre, he had a quick look around, seeing lots of people scampering around carrying boxes. Robert walked up to a large information board and looked at the program. Marcus was scheduled to give his lecture in the Plantation Room at 7-00pm. Robert looked at the map and saw that the Plantation room was on the third floor, directly in the middle.
He rode up the escalator to the third floor and then walked along the long and wide passage until he reached the room. There were three sets of large double doors that opened into a huge hall. The chairs were laid out in rows, all facing a raised podium. There were two large screens on either side of the podium that Robert assumed would be showing a video feed of the speaker.
Robert turned around and walked back to the window, looking across at his hotel. He discovered that his room was at the same level as the Plantation room. He looked back towards to the podium, it was an almost perfect line of site. Robert touched the glass, it was the same type of glass used on the ground floor, “Shit,” he thought to himself, “The same bulletproof glass as downstairs.”
There were two black leather sofa’s positioned against the glass a few yards away. Robert walked over and pushed them to where he was standing. He made sure that he was in the direct line of sight between his room and the podium before sitting down and opening his rucksack. He pulled out a small black box that had some putty on the side.
Robert placed the box against the window and pressed it firmly so the putty stuck. He reached down to a switch on the bottom and turned it on. He heard three small beeps as the device started up. On top of the device was a yellow warning sign with a picture of a rat on. People were always suspicious of packages lying around but if it looked like a rat rap it always passed scrutiny without any problems.
He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and opened an app that was hidden in a folder. Robert kept the app open for a few seconds, just long enough to check that the device was on and responding. He put his phone back in his pocket, closed his rucksack and stood up. As he turned around to walk back towards the escalator he bumped into the same guard he had spoken to the day before. The first thought that went through Robert’s mind was, how much did he see?
“Nice to see you again,” greeted the guard.
“Likewise,” replied Robert, extending his hand to the guard, “A lot busier than yesterday.”
“Yes everybody is getting ready for tonight’s talk,” said the guard.
“It’s at 7-00pm isn’t it?” asked Robert.
“Yes that’s right,” replied the guard.
“Do these things normally start on time?” Robert continued, “I am staying at Hotel 72 and thought I might walk across later and listen to what all the fuss is about.”
“Oh yes, they are usually strict about the starting time. In fact we have instructions to close the doors at exactly 7-10pm,” replied the guard.
“So I’d better be seated before then?” said Robert.
“If you want to listen I would recommend it,” said the guard.
“Ok great. What time are you knocking off?” asked Robert
“I am pulling a double shift, so only after the talk,” replied the guard.
“Then I might see you later?” said Robert.
“Yes possibly,” said the guard, “I will be posted on the west side.”
“Oh okay. Well let me get back to the hotel, I still have a few meetings lined up,” said Robert.
The guard watched as Robert walked down the passage towards the elevators. As Robert dropped out of sight he walked over to the sofa and looked around. He saw a small black box next to the window and walked over to it. He was about to bend down and get a closer look when he saw the yellow picture of the rat on top, “Damn Maintenance sticking their new gadgets all over the place,” he thought to himself, “I must have a word with them to let us know where they are putting them.”
Robert returned to his room and took a small notepad out of his rucksack and started scribbling down some notes. All the information that he had gathered over the last few days he was jotting down. He would erase a section and then add some more writing. He was finalising his plan for his last hit. With a theatrical wave of his hand he wrote down his last word and read through the notes. He had written down his whole plan, step by step with timings on each step. There was no room for error; one slip up and he would be caught.
He memorised the plan, ripped the pages out of the notebook and then went to the bathroom to set them on fire, letting the ashes fall into the toilet bowl. When all the paper was burned he flushed the bowl, washing away any evidence that might remain. Robert took his mobile phone out of his pocket and made sure that his device was still responding. He was worried about the guard after he had left but didn’t dare turn around in case it roused some suspicion.
Robert flopped back against the bed and closed his eyes. In his head he walked through his plan. Every action would need to be rehearsed mentally. He didn’t realise that he had fallen asleep and woke up with a jolt, looking instantly at his watch, it was 5-00pm. His plan needed to start now.
He jumped off the bed and went to the wardrobe and put on an old grey t-shirt. Robert kept on his blue jeans and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the passage. He walked towards the elevator, counting off the steps as he walked. As he climbed into the elevator he set the timer on his watch for the last time.
When the elevator stopped on the ground floor he checked the time, it was 24 seconds. Robert looked around the reception area, seeing if he could spot anything or anybody out of place. Everything looked normal. He walked to the entrance to the bar and went inside.
Wade recognised him instantly and as Robert walked up the bar counter he greeted him, “Good evening Mr Anderson, welcome back. A double Jack as usual?”
“Hello Wade. Yes that would be great. We have a celebration tonight,” he replied.
“What are we celebrating?” asked Wade as he poured the double Jack Daniels on the rocks and put it down in front of Robert.
“I signed two big deals today,” said Robert, raising his glass into the air.
“Cheers to that,” said Wade as he lifted his soft drink and touched it against Robert’s glass.
Robert downed his drink and ordered another, downing that one too. The bar was starting to fill up and already most of the tables had been taken. Wade was getting busy behind the counter, running up and down pouring drinks. Robert went to the bathroom and waited until he was alone before putting his finger down his throat and bringing up the Jack Daniels.
As he made his back to his seat he wobbled slightly on his feet, making sure he gently bumped a few people as he walked past. He sat down on his chair and raised his hand, signalling to Wade to pour him another drink. Robert looked at the time, it was 6-30pm. It was almost time. Robert nursed his drink, running through the plan in his head one more time.
“Wade, one more please,” said Robert, signalling to Wade across the bar.
“Double Jack coming up,” he replied.
As Wade poured the drink and placed it on the bar counter Robert pulled the phone out of pocket and answered it, “Hello Honey,” he said.
He put his hand over microphone and whispered to Wade, “It’s the wife, I better take this outside,” and he walked out of the bar pretending to talk on the phone. As he left the bar he glanced at his watch, it was 6-58pm. Robert walked to the elevator and pushed the button, the phone still placed against his ear as he was pretending to listen to somebody on the other side.
The elevator arrived and Robert jumped inside and pressed the seventh floor button. This time he didn’t start the timer on his watch but rather started counting the seconds until he arrived at his floor. He stepped out of the elevator and walked directly to his room, pausing briefly to insert the Keycard and open the door. As he stepped inside he went straight to work.
Robert first went to the bathroom and unscrewed the mirror, lifting it carefully from the wall and placing it against the bath. He quickly moved to the bedroom and picked up the chair, moving it to the window. He then moved back to the bed and lifted his suitcase onto it and, opening up the secret compartment he removed the pieces of the gun.
He glanced at his watch before he started assembling the pieces, it was 7-06pm, he had four minutes before they closed the doors and his shot would be blocked. Fifteen seconds later Robert had assembled his rifle and he moved over to the chair and placed his rifle against it. He switched off all the lights in the room and opened the curtains.
Robert normally prided himself on his attention to detail but he had not checked one important point - if he could open the window in his room. He reached across and opened the latch and pushed the sliding window. At first it didn’t move, and he had to put some more pressure before it gave in and squeaked open. Robert took his phone out of his pocket, opened up the app and placed it on the chair.
He picked up his rifle and looked at the telescopic sight. He adjusted a few knobs and dials until he was happy with the settings. He lifted the rifle up slowly and rested the barrel on top of the chair. He put his eye against the sight and looked through it. At first it was a blur and he had to adjust the top dial, turning it slowly until the picture came into focus.
The light was bad