“You recognize him,”Vincesaid, not as a question, though.
“Yeah, but not sure who he is,”Itold him. “Hedoesn’t look like anyone from thePaganofiles.”
“I’m gonna go pretend to take a picture of the circus poster behind him so we can look at his face later and haveAxelsee what he can find,”Vincesaid and then walked over toward the man, looking casual as could be.
The man in question dropped his cigarette, stomped it, and then turned to me and stared right at me.Thelook on his face told me he recognized me, too, but there was no fear behind his eyes.Norwas there anything friendly, though, either.
Vince got within five feet of him and pretended to take his picture.Thesmoking man walked over toward him, putting me on alert.
He said something toVinceas he walked by and got into a cab.Vinceturned to say something back to him, but the man just kept walking.BothVinceandIstayed rooted where we were, watching the man enter the cab and drive off.
Vince walked back over to me and got close before speaking. “Hedefinitely knows you.Andhe’s definitely involved.”
“What did he say to you?”Iasked.
“Tell your friend to watch his back and to get that woman of his as far away as possible.Seeyou tomorrow,”Vinceanswered.
“See me tomorrow?”Irepeated.
“Yeah,”Vinceresponded. “AndIdoubt he means to join us for drinks.”
I had a feeling that wasn’t a good thing.
21
ANNA
AfterArcherandVincehad come back up to the room and told everyone about the mystery man smoking by the front doors—along with what he’d toldVince—AgentColeman,CaptainKerrigan,Axel, andSarahad decided to use that information to our benefit.
The mission was simple.Wewould wait untilCreepyFrontDeskMan—that was whatIwas calling him—showed up on the hotel property again, and we would intercept.TwoLVPDofficers posing as bellhops would alert our crew when he arrived.
Originally, the plan was to sendArcherdown alone to bait him, butIfought that plan hard.
“He’s not going alone,”Iargued back. “I’llgo with him.Besides, the hit is on both of us anyway.Itwould make it more enticing if we are both there.”
The wordnowas bellowed out from nearly everyone in the room.
“Anna, that’s exactly why it’s safer to separate you,”Sarapointed out.
“You are not coming with me and putting yourself in more danger,”Archershot back.
“Anna, if the point is to get you both, then putting you both together just allows them to accomplish that goal much faster,”Kerrigansaid.
I knew what he was saying, andIagreed with his logic, but it didn’t meanIhad to like it.
“Fine,”Isaid. “I’llagree not to be right by his side, butI’mnot sitting on the bench for this.”
“WhatIdon’t understand is why he would warn us,”Vinceinterrupted.
“What are you thinking?”Colemanasked.
“If he intended was to kill justArcher, he had his chance,”Vinceexplained. “ThemomentIwalked away from him, he could have taken the shot and left.Atfirst,Ithought he decided to wait sinceAnnawasn’t there and he wanted to make sure he got both of you.”
That made sense because ifArcherwas shot, the feds would immediately stick me in a safe house, seeing that the danger had escalated, thus losing their opportunity to get to me.
“But then he added in a verbal warning,”Vincetacked on. “That’sthe part that makes no sense to me.Youdon’t warn your target away if you intended to kill him.”
“Where’s your head on this?”Archerasked.
