Painter raised his arms. "Senator Gorman!" he called out firmly. "I'm General Metcalf's man!"

"The DoD investigator?" Gorman lowered his pistol, his face collapsing with relief.

Painter rushed forward. "We have to get out of here."

"What about Samuels?" The senator glanced back at the door.

Painter guessed that was the bodyguard. "Dead, sir." He motioned the senator toward the stained-glass window at the back of the restroom.

"It's barred shut. I looked."

Painter shoved the window sash open. An ornate set of iron bars did block the way. He punched his palm into them, and the grate popped free and swung open on its hinges. During his earlier canvass of the meeting place, he had removed the bolts.

Never hurt to secure a back door.

"Out!" Painter commanded and offered the senator a knee to climb up.

Gorman took the help and hauled himself into the window.

As Painter pushed the senator, he heard a thunk behind him. A glance revealed a black arrowhead sticking out of the restroom's plank door.

Oh, crap...

Painter sent the senator sailing out the window and followed on the man's heels. Literally-he took an Italian loafer to the left eye. But it was small damage, considering the explosion that followed.

Flames and smoke blasted out the open window.

The heat rolled over them.

Painter shoved off the senator. As the blast of flames died, Painter dashed to the window, tugged the lower sash down, and swung the iron bars back in place.

Let them wonder how they'd escaped a locked room.

The confusion might buy them an extra few minutes as their pursuers continued to search the hotel.

Painter returned to Gorman's side. "I have a car stashed two blocks away."

They hurried off together.

Gorman puffed at his side, cradling a jammed shoulder. After a block, he stared over at Painter and asked an existential question. "Who the hell are you?"

"Just your everyday civil servant," Painter muttered while concentrating on another task. He resecured the throat mike to his neck and activated it. "Monk, how are you doing over there?"

Monk heard a few frazzled words in his ear, but after knocking loose his respirator, he fought a mouthful of foam. He shoved against the door, hoping it would miraculously open. It must have locked down once the foam had been triggered.

Maybe there was another way out.

Before he could move, hot water blasted from above. The foam immediately melted from the top down. The sheer volume of it collapsed in on itself. It took less then thirty seconds.

Monk glanced over at Creed. He stood there like a skinny wet dog waiting to shake. The man's eyes were bright with shock.

"Biohazard foam," Monk explained. "Used as a knockdown agent for airborne pathogens. We should be okay."

Proving that, the lock clicked open at Monk's elbow. It must have been timed to the sterilization cycle. He twisted the handle and exited into the hall.

As he stepped free, voices echoed down the hall. He had a clear view to the elevator lobby. The door stood half open as someone argued in Norwegian out in the lobby. Monk recognized the uniformed arm of a security guard.

The automated safety protocol had summoned security.

Monk froze. He couldn't retreat back into the mushroom lab. That would surely be the first place they'd check. He had only one other option. Stepping into plain view, he hurried across the hall and placed his palm on the reader beside the other door. He held his breath as it scanned, watching the far door, praying that no one turned around.

Finally, the lock freed. With a silent sigh of thanks, he shoved the door open. He and Creed rushed inside.

Monk kept the door cracked open enough to watch the hallway.

A team of security guards, four in total, were led by a technician in a lab coat. The man looked like he had just woken up. Apparently access here required a certain level of clearance.

Monk allowed the door to slip closed, though he remained crouched where he could listen. The other lab door opened and closed. Men remained out in the hall. Monk heard them talking in low voices. He didn't know how many. At least three, he guessed.