Countermeasure (Countermeasure Series)

by Cecilia Aubrey

  In their rush to catch the earliest train, they had purchased economy seating without taking into account the need for added privacy during the long trip. They were working with fairly sensitive data and economy seating would hinder their freedom to strategize and share information.

  Pulling her laptop out, Cassandra joined Trevor in logging into the train’s Wi-Fi service. Transitioning to operative mode, she began some additional research on the hotel and surrounding area to which they were heading. She would use it to strategize back-up plans. They might not need them, but she always liked to have them in her back pocket. It was how she rolled, always one step ahead.

  The seven-hour trip from Paris to Monte Carlo took them through the beautiful French countryside, but neither of them was in the spirit to enjoy the rustic view. Trevor and George had been thick as thieves for a good portion of the trip.

  “Remind me to book a sleeper cabin for our trip back,” Trevor grumbled from his chair across from hers.

  “Hey, look on the bright side, we’re not driving and you’re online. Thank God by the way—you would probably wither away without it.”

  “‘Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.’ St. Augustine,” Trevor quipped back.

  “Quite a deep thought. I kinda like this Catholic-boy thing you’ve got going on,” she joked. Then, in a more serious tone, added, “I wouldn’t mind not having to watch over my shoulders every time I open a file.”

  “A little privacy would be nice. We can always spend the trip back cuddling in the amazingly tight bed they have in the cabins,” Trevor joked. “Have you seen those things? If it wasn’t for the lock on the door, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

  Cassandra laughed, enjoying her discovery of his softer side. He had wormed his way into her life within a short period of time and was fast becoming a very important part of it.

  The few days since their relationship had developed and flourished had been surprising on many levels. He had exposed his geeky side and, in turn, Cassandra had let loose the reins to her methodical one. Both had done so without fear of being ridiculed. They had worked smoothly together from the start. It was as if they’d known each other and had been doing the same since forever—finishing each other’s thoughts and sentences. To her, the added intimacy had become a natural extension of their friendship.

  Her eyes travelled the length of him and her heart stammered in her chest. Cassandra recalled the moments in his arms—combing her hands through his unruly hair, the scrape of his unshaven chin—and shivers ran across her skin. The nights spent under Trevor’s hands and body had been more than she had bargained for. She felt thoroughly loved, but at the same time raw and exposed. Trevor’s loving attention had debunked her past belief that she was incapable of giving herself to the act. He left her trembling with need, wanting more, and completely whole. She was compelled to give as much as she received. That alone scared her almost as much as the loss of control over her emotions—and the nights spent with Trevor had proved to her that she didn’t have much control over them where he was concerned.

  Even with all that they had shared and experienced, Cassandra’s gut told her Trevor held something back, just as it had on that first day she had confronted him. They had no problems talking about work experiences. It was when things went into the personal arena that Trevor balked.

  While Cassandra shared facts and events of her childhood before her mother’s passing, Trevor avoided the subject of his own family with the skill of a professional dodgeball player. She wondered what kind of life he had lived in Ireland that made him clam up any time she inquired about it.

  Cassandra returned her focus to her laptop and considered writing a resignation letter to her father. She had thought long and hard about the future and about her role within his company. On some level she knew that her father loved her; however, at the end of the day, it came down to the respect he placed on her work. There wasn’t much there. For her to stay with his company, it meant resigning herself to a dead-end job and a boatload of frustration.

  These weeks away had shown her she didn’t want that. She still enjoyed field work and the rush of the hunt. She could no longer settle for a desk job, which was what most likely awaited her when she returned. She had been exploring a few options and would consider them more closely once she’d cleared Kenyon from her plate.

  ****

  Cassandra sprang awake and immediately sat up, searching for Trevor, only to find him exactly where he had been since the start of the trip—typing away on his laptop. She had not even realized she had fallen asleep. The exhaustion from the past few days had caught up with her. She allowed the tension to flow from her body and sat back to watch him work.

  “Are we there yet?” she asked a few minutes later, with a slight curve of a smile.

  Tossing a quick, humorous glance her way, Trevor replied, “Almost, sleepyhead. Another thirty minutes and we should be arriving in Nice.”

  Slowly, Cassandra’s grin faded. Having Kenyon’s location in Monte Carlo only solved one problem. They still needed to verify his possession of the hard drive and retrieve it. The strategic hunt had become a race against time. They knew it was only a matter of time before it changed hands again.

  To add to the list of concerns, Cassandra had to consider her own safety as well as Trevor’s. Kenyon had already proved he’d literally kill for the data on that hard drive. Her hand strayed to her side and to the scar, which had been radiating an achy pain since they’d left Paris. It had been bothering her regularly since their run from Allison’s apartment, and Cassandra couldn’t tell if the pain was directly related to the threat Kenyon represented or to the havoc Trevor had created in her heart and mind.

  Either way, she had to be careful. They both had to be careful. She quickly purged all thoughts of injuries out of her mind for fear of jinxing their mission. Soon the call for Nice came across the intercom, alerting all passengers of their arrival and providing instructions regarding connections to other cities.

  ****

  As the train rode by the shoreline toward Monte Carlo, the Mediterranean Sea welcomed them with sprays of its deep blue water as the waves crashed against the rocky coast. The color brought Trevor’s eyes to mind—deep and, at times, stormy.

  A short thirty-minute train ride later, they arrived in the Principality of Monaco under a beautiful sunset. They caught a cab to the magnificent Hôtel Métropole, their stay a courtesy of Trevor’s platinum Visa. The card was another incongruent part of Trevor’s picture. She knew government agents didn’t make much—at least, that had been her case when she had worked for the CIA.

  “I’ll cover my half once we’re back. You know that, right?” Cassandra felt uncomfortable letting Trevor foot the bill for the entire leg of their trip in addition to the hotel room they had kept in Paris. The stay in Monte Carlo was definitely going to put a dent in his card.

  “We need to be close to Kenyon, and if this is where he is staying, then this is where we are staying also,” Trevor responded, slightly irritated.

  “Yes, but I’ll…”

  “Pay me back. I know. You’re starting to sound like a broken record. I told you to chill and not worry so much about it. Let it go, Cassie girl.” The way his accent drew out her nickname let her know he wasn’t backing down.

  The taxi dropped them at the hotel’s entrance. The lavishness of the place caused her jaw to drop; she was fairly certain she’d seen that same lobby in a number of movies. Trevor took her hand in his and tugged her to the front desk for a quick check-in. She stood next to him and allowed her eyes to absorb every single detail of her surroundings. She was fairly certain she would never be back again. That hotel was way out of her budget.

  A bellboy escorted them to a fourth-floor suite and opened the double doors, allowing Cassandra to enter while Trevor tipped him. The suite was richly decorated in burgundy and gold. The floral fabric on the couch and pillows were a feminine contrast to the boldness of the colors used on t
he huge king-sized headboard and accents throughout the room.

  While Cassandra explored the room and view in awe, she noticed Trevor didn’t show any hint that the extravagant surroundings affected him one way or the other. He set his laptop on the desk and went about his business as it were something he was used to—another red flag to explore later.

  Trevor sat at his laptop, connected to the hotel’s network, and, without missing a beat, hacked into the hotel’s reservation system. Although Kenyon’s signal had triangulated to that immediate area, he could have been there for either business or pleasure. They had to be sure he was staying in the same hotel or they would have to modify the plan they’d hashed on the way there.

  Infiltrating the hotel’s guest list, Trevor pulled up the arrivals from within the last day. “Only three guests were registered since the time Kenyon’s signal reached Monte Carlo.” While checking the information available on the three, Trevor snickered.

  “What now?” Cassandra asked, coming from the bedroom with her laptop. She set it on the coffee table and joined Trevor. Reaching him, she rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. His heart warmed at her unconscious gesture, another sign she was growing more and more comfortable with him.

  “Of the three guests, two are couples.”

  “Well, he could have met and brought someone with him,” Cassandra commented, playing the devil’s advocate.

  “True. But the eejit registered under his own name. He’s either dumb or ballsy. I guess he’s not too concerned about stabbing his own boss in the back, is he?”

  She laughed. “You’re right. He is a dumbass. So, what floor is he on?”

  “Two floors down from us. I have the room number. Let me tap into the surveillance system and see if I can retrieve any videos from last night. We need to know what he looks like so we’ll know who we’re dealing with.”

  With quick commands, Trevor infiltrated the surveillance system and pulled up the videos available for Kenyon’s floor dated from the last twenty-four hours.

  “You are a dangerous man, Mr. Bauer,” Cassandra drawled.

  “Huh?”

  She shook her head humorously. “I’m not beating myself over the head anymore regarding your infiltration into EXClinic’s servers. It seems that no matter what type of system it is or how tight the security is, it is not safe from you.”

  “Admit it. You’re glad I’m on your team,” he joked, hoping she would get his deeper meaning.

  For the first time, Cassandra didn’t shy away. “Yes. I am glad to have you…on my team.”

  The subtle pause caused the rhythm of Trevor’s heart to rev a little faster, but he knew it wasn’t the right time yet to introduce the talk he wanted to have with her. He turned their focus back to the work at hand. “We need to catch Kenyon walking into his room.”

  “Why don’t we split the files? That way we’ll finish faster. Teamwork.” Cassandra walked back, settled on the comfortable couch with her legs propped on a pillow on the coffee table, and jumped into work.

  Several hours later, Cassandra gasped and Trevor snapped his eyes in her direction. “Oh my god…we were so close.” Her eyes were wide and her face white as a sheet.

  Trevor joined her on the couch and looked at the scene frozen on her screen. It showed a fairly large man, slightly taller and heavier than Trevor, walking into the hotel room they knew to be occupied by Kenyon. The video was paused at the point where he’d turned to open the door, and his face was clearly visible. The photos Cassandra had found while researching for his profile differed greatly from the one on the laptop.

  Cassandra’s eyes locked on the man displayed on her monitor. She knew that face and could clearly recall the first time she’d seen it. He was the man they’d crossed paths with at Allison’s apartment entrance on the horrific night they had found her bloodied and beaten. At the time, the hair on the back of Cassandra’s neck had stood on end; she had been strangely affected by him when he had brushed past them without a glance or a word. His face had been burned in her memory ever since—the same face that was now frozen in place on her laptop screen.

  “It’s him! That’s man who came out of Allison’s building.” Cassandra glanced at Trevor, picking up on the tension around his lips, the focused look on his face, and his narrowed eyes as he stared hard at the image.

  “Son of a bitch!” he cursed harshly. “We were so close to saving her…if we had been there a few minutes earlier….”

  Cassandra could see the struggle in his eyes, the guilt over not having arrived there sooner.

  “It was not our fault, Trev. Let it go,” she urged gently. “There’s nothing we could’ve done. She was already dying by the time we got there. It was her time. There’s nothing anybody can do when someone’s time is up,” she said, almost talking to herself.

  Trevor inhaled deeply and became all business. “We know what he looks like, who he is. We need to watch his comings and goings so we can make our plan work,”

  Cassandra pulled out her notes and checked the items she’d listed. “Can we confirm if he signed in any items to be placed in the hotel safe?”

  “I can check that. Not a problem.”

  “While you do, I’m going to check the safe in our closet. Chances are, all rooms have the same model. If I can break into ours, I can break into the one in his room.”

  “Are you sure you want to do it this way? We can always approach him, or even report him to the police linking him to Allison’s murder.”

  “And what proof do we have he did it, besides the fact we heard it from Allison? Once the police hear that we were with her at the time of her death, they’ll consider all three of us suspects. We’d have a hard time explaining what we were doing there, as well as why we left the scene of the crime before the police arrived. We would look more suspicious than Kenyon.” Cassandra shook her head. “This is the easier way to get the hard drive without putting ourselves at risk. No confrontations. We get what we want, we leave unscathed.”

  “You seriously want me to ignore the fact that man killed an innocent woman?” Trevor bit out in disbelief, staring into her eyes with a fierce glint in his.

  “No. I don’t want you to forget. We can’t forget. We’ll find a way to handle that once we have the hard drive. He won’t get away with it, Trev.”

  Trevor frowned heavily but finally accepted the logic in her words and, after some hesitation, backed away to his chair.

  While he tackled another hack into the hotel’s system, she checked their safe for ways to breach it. Thankfully, safe-cracking had been a part of her training at the Farm. It had included the basics on how to open a safe without a key or a combination. Some safes required heavy equipment, advanced tools, others—like the common hotel safe—were as easy as pie. On learning how useless those safes actually were, Cassandra had not made use of them while on trips ever again. So much for hotel security measures.

  She figured out what she would need to breach it and walked back to the living room with a smile on her face. “Well. If that’s all they got, it’ll be a walk in the park.”

  “Okay lass. You’re it. There are no records of items being signed into the safe under his name. He must have it in the room. We can assume he put it in the safe—although, considering how cocky he’s been, he might have left it out in the open on the coffee table for all we know.”

  Cassandra chuckled.

  Trevor became pensive. “First, we need a way to get into his room.”

  Trevor continued with his review of the videos, looking for additional shots of Kenyon, and came across the housekeeping cart on one dated that morning. He rewound the video to nine a.m., when the housekeeper had started her run. He watched as she parked the cart outside one of the rooms, grabbed the keycard hanging from what appeared to be an elastic string attached to the handle, and opened the room’s door. She then proceeded to enter to complete the morning cleaning routine. He fast-forwarded the video and watched her repeat the sa
me routine for every single room on the floor. The only rooms she didn’t touch were those that had Do Not Disturb signs hanging from the handles. Ideas flooded Trevor’s mind. Suddenly he knew exactly what to do to secure Cassandra’s access to the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  What Comes Around

  They’d spent the night watching Kenyon’s every move. Based on his cell signal geolocation, George had tracked him via live satellite feed. Once George had determined Kenyon had entered the Monte Carlo Casino, Trevor had then infiltrated its security systems to follow his movements inside the building. They had observed him having a high time at the tables. Kenyon had spent the whole night gambling, drinking, and laughing with fellow gamblers until the early hours of the morning.

  During the long night, Trevor had also pulled up additional security videos of the typical daily hotel operations and observed that each floor was assigned to one housekeeper. He had studied the housekeeping routine on all floors and selected video sequences of the corridors to be used as loops to override the video feed in preparation for the little stunt he planned to pull to help with Cassandra’s incursion.

  Cassandra had slipped out earlier in the morning to shop for the small items she would need to crack the safe, while Trevor slept in for a little while longer. He got up in time to tap into the security system and catch the housekeeper for Kenyon’s floor arriving for her morning rounds.

  Trevor zoomed in and counted the number of rooms without Do Not Disturb signs hanging on the handles to determine how many rooms she had to clean that morning. Then he watched her go from room to room in an almost automated fashion, spending the same amount of time inside each. When she had only one room left to clean, Trevor overrode the security cameras for both the stairwell and Kenyon’s floor with the video loops he had doctored. He set the timer on his computer, slipped out of the room surreptitiously, and hung the Do Not Disturb sign outside before he made his way down the stairs to Kenyon’s floor.