He couldn’t help but wonder if the guy was a friend or foe and what the hell he was doing there in the first place. The last thing they needed was another unknown, in this case,filled with unpredictable variables. This was his idea of hell, absolute hell.
***
Harris
“What the hell,” Harris growled as he entered the hotel room. “He could have made a move to capture me tonight.”
“Believe me when I say that guy has no moves.” Shaw laughed.
Harris couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fine. What’s going on?”
“Unknown individual is in the mix,” Brick stated.
“Are we sure the guy is even part of this?” Harris asked.
“No. However, if Conor can’t get a read on the guy, something’s up in my book. It’s not worth the risk. Better to regroup with more information.”
Harris couldn’t argue with that and sat down at the table with Brick and turned to look at the monitors. Spence was off to the side working away, and Jennifer, Woodley, Conor, and Gunner sat around the table at the rental with the rest of the crew milling around in the background.
“I’ve hacked into the hotel security cameras,” Spencer stated. “Putting visuals up on screen now.”
Theleft-hand monitor flickered to life as Harris secured the transmission,and the hotel lobby appeared on the screen. People mingled, employees carried on behind the registration counter, and hotel porters wheeled luggagecarts in and out of the building.
“Let’s have a look in the restaurant and bar area,” Spencer said before the picture changed again.
They watched as the camera panned around the empty restaurant and zeroed in on the bar. It was close to eleven in the evening, so only a few people were left scattered around the area.
Joe and the stranger were still sitting at the bar, and another couple was on the opposite side of the room, unable to keep their hands off each other.
The stranger had yet to attempt to approach Joe in the five minutes it took them to return to their room and didn’t appear to be in any hurry to do so.
“Do you think we could be wrong?” Jason asked from the other screen at the rental. “They’re still not looking at each other.”
“Are you getting anything, Conor?” Harris asked.
“Still a blank. I can feel Joe’s disappointment at Harris leaving and the couple’s hormones raging; they’lllikely leave for their room within minutes. However, the stranger is still a mystery.”
As if on cue, the couple stood; the man threw some bills on the bar,and they quickly exited.
“Well, when you’re right, you’re right.” Gunner laughed.
“That didn’t take a lot of power to figure out.” Conor laughed. “I’ll be surprised if they make it to their room with all their clothes on. I feel bad for their respective spouses back at home.”
Cheaters, great. Sometimes, Harris envied Conor’s ability, but then he was reminded how horrible it would be to see into certain people’s depravedminds.
“Big guy’s getting his bill,” Brick said, and everyone turned back to the monitor.
“Maybe he’ll pay with a credit card,” Spencer said.
“I can hack into their accounting system if he does and get his details,” Harris agreed as he changed screens on his second laptop.
They watched in anticipation as the man reached into his wallet, only to deflate when he pulled out cash.
“Shit,” Harris groaned.
He slid the cash under his bill and turned to leave without giving Joe a second glance. Whatever they’d been waiting to see wasn’t going to happen. It was anticlimactic, and Harriscouldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. He’dhoped to have confirmation that the stranger was part of the Noah Group.
“This doesn’t remove him from being a person of interest,” Brick stated. “I want more information on him bydaybreak.”
