The gray Brix suitcase was o Caldwell』s left leg, sandwiched between him and the same old couple he had opehe elevator doors for earlier. The old man had a glassy look, while the old lady appeared to be as sharp as they came. Her hair was jet black, suggesting some kind of dye job or medical procedure that held gray hairs in check. Caldwell could just about see the tiny touch s on the suitcase. The green light that indicated that the case was locked onto its owner was blinking. There was a toggle button on the Brix』 touch s that read: MANUAL. Caldwell prayed that his left hand was not visible from where the biker girl was standing. He pressed the button on the s gently with minimal movement in his shoulder.
The elevator stopped at B2. The old couple walked slowly out into an underground parking lot. The old lady ushing the luggage cart. She turned round and gave Caldwell a look that said she hoped he could get himself out of his current predit. The old boy looked as though he had fottehey parked the car. Caldwell realized that B3 was the and last basement floor. He had to move fast.
The light on the Brix was now red, the toggle button read AUTOMATIC. Caldwell thanked God for simple user interfaces and the fact that the Brix』s camera and its sing device were fag the other way, towards the family. He pressed the AUTOMATIC button. The camera popped up quietly. It took a snapshot and the laser did the swipe thing of the little ese boy.
「Look dad,」 the boy said in tonese, pointing at the suitcase. The biker girl whipped her head around, the muzzle of the gun still pressing painfully into Caldwell』s rib cage. The laser had disappeared and it looked like she couldn』t see the camera.
「What, son? Mat ye a?」 the father asked in tonese.
「Oh nothing,」 the boy replied. Caldwell thanked God for limited attention spans. As soon as the laser disappeared the boy had lost i. The green light was on again. The Brix had a lo the boy.
The lift stopped at B3. The doors opehe girl grabbed Caldwell』s arm, signaling to him to let the ese family go out first. They stepped out of the lift one by ohe boy was last. As he stepped out, the Brix started following him. The biker girl』s eyes opened wide with surprise. She lunged out of the elevator, trying to grab the handle of the Brix. She had no way of knowing if the sole was in his knapsack or in the suitcase. That was her biggest mistake.
Caldwell twisted his body and violently slammed the impostor』s arm against the side of the elevator doors. She screamed in agony as her elbow made tact with the metallic edge of the doors. Her gun slid to the floor. The elevator doors were closing again. Before she could turn around Caldwell』s leg was already in motion. It made tact with her leather-padded mid-riff and she went flying out into the parking lot. The family stood there transfixed, looking at the gun on the floor as Caldwell made a grab for it. The stunned girl was getting up. There was a sound of running footsteps ing from the left of the car park but he was safe. The lift doors closed.
Caldwell jabbed nervously at the B2 button and all the other buttht up to the departure louhe impostor』s instincts would be to guess that he would head for the departure lounge and try to mih the crowds, find the HYDRA agents or head out to the taxi stands outside the arrivals area. Her instincts would be wrong. He was already trying to sed-guess the moves of the irl iher, ostensibl