“You must be Quinn,” an exuberant male voice sounded from the corner of the small intern office.
I turned to find a young man approaching me. Trim, lithe, and well-dressed. A little too well-dressed.
“Hi,” I offered tentatively, unsure who was invading my space.
“I’m Grant,” he gushed. “And I’m your new co-intern. Sooo glad to meet you.”
Okay, now I was certain. Definitely gay. I love gay men.
And then he opened his mouth again. “Well, aren’t you too cute with your plain-Jane shoes and old-lady sweater. You don’t need to be fashionable and smart. I’ll bet you take your brains very seriously. I better watch out.”
Old-lady sweater! It was just a cardigan. A form-fitted, expensive cardigan I found very flattering.
I was still processing when my boss entered the room. “Oh good, I see you two have met.”
“Just getting there.” I forced a smile and reached my hand to the galling newcomer. “Nice to meet you.”
“Grant is your new fellow fourth-year intern,” she continued. “You two will share this office. Grant, you can have that desk.” She pointed to the unused workstation right next to mine.
Grant’s voice was far too enthusiastic for first thing in the morning. “Office mates! It’ll be great.”
Sounds great already.
Dr. Seymore placed a hand on his shoulder. “Grant comes to us from an excellent school in the Midwest, and has a very inspiring story. From troubled adolescent to doctoral candidate in a just a few short years. It’s very impressive. I hope you two will learn a lot from each other.”
“I’m sure we will.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to get settled in. Grant, your orientation starts in 15 minutes.” She turned and headed back to her office.
“I’ll be there with bells on,” he called after her.
I sucked up my initial reservations about the situation and offered some opening friendliness. “So, you’re new to Virginia?”
“Yes, it’s crazy. It’s sooo different here. Very quaint. Nobody cares what the rest of the world is doing. You look like you fit right in, though.”
“Um. Yeah, I guess.”
“Good for you. I’m so glad they take students like you too, not just from the very top-tier schools. Everyone deserves a chance to learn, I say.”
Utterly without words, all I could do was force my lips into a brief smile. Thankfully Grant turned his attention to his new desk, giving a little squeal as he settled into his chair.
How was that even possible? I’m pretty sure every friendly comment was actually a dig—and an unfounded one, at that. This wasn’t exactly the backwoods. And I went to a great school.
Yes, I loved gay men, but they never seemed to love me back. I’m not quite fabulous enough. I bet they just love Sloan. I escaped in search of some coffee. I would need to stock up. Too bad a minibar was frowned upon at the office.
I would be flying solo for our next gig, at least at first. I had agreed to begin some routine surveillance for Sloan after work, while she was busy closing out another case. Our target was frequently known to work late, and I was simply to find out where he goes when he leaves. Sloan would catch up and take over in a bit.
The rest of my workday had flown by in anticipation of a little excitement, despite Sloan’s warnings that not every watch leads somewhere interesting. The prospect had also kept me from musing too long about my new officemate. Luckily, he had been absorbed in his orientation duties the rest of the day, so I got a little break from the charming fellow.
I pulled into the Westbrook parking lot and wedged my car between two others at the back of the lot. Walter Westbrook’s vehicle was indeed sitting in his marked space at the front. Next to it was a car with an oddly-shaped item on the hood. I studied it from afar and decided that the shoots sticking out were flower stems. I picked up the phone to check in with Sloan.
“He’s here. By the way, I know you said the client drives a Porsche. Does Richard also have a silver Mercedes?”
“Don’t think so. Why?”
“One is parked in his reserved space. And it has something sitting against the windshield. Looks like some kind of flower arrangement.”
“I don’t think that’s him. As far as I know, he’s gone for the day. Let me call Richard’s assistant back and find out. Can you go check out whatever it is?”
“Okay.” I disconnected and checked my surroundings. After normal office hours, the campus was quiet. I slipped out of my car and made my way toward the front of the lot, playing with my phone to look occupied. That allowed me to casually snap a photo of the license plate and then the large bouquet I found splayed across the windshield.
But I had to drop the pretense briefly to inspect the item. There was a small card tucked into the arrangement of tropical flowers. Unfortunately, it was sealed.
A quick glance in the car windows also turned up nothing. The car was obsessively clean inside. I returned to my car, once again ensuring that no one else was in sight. A few minutes later my phone rang.
“It’s the CEO of the other company,” Sloan said. “She showed up unexpectedly, supposedly to talk to Walter about their deal. Hannah will keep watch for us, and let us know if anything looks less than businesslike.”
“Great.”
“Just stay put. You might be able to catch the parting if they come out together. If they think they’re alone, we should be able to tell their relationship. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
We ended the call and I returned my attention to the front of the building. It would be dark soon, giving me better cover for my surveillance. The waiting was an odd combination of boring and exciting at the same time. Just the idea that something might turn up somehow made it worth it.
It was nearly an hour later when I perked up. A few stranglers had wandered out in the interim. But I now recognized Walter exiting the building, accompanied by a woman with dark, layered shoulder-length hair. I pulled out the camera Sloan had loaned me. It was smaller than those I had seen PIs use in movies, but still seemed to be pretty powerful. The pictures would certainly be better than those from my cell phone. I used it to zoom in on our targets and watch.
The woman seemed a similar age as her companion, but much more put-together. Her fitted dark suit and heels gave her a commanding presence. And as I focused in on her face, I realized I knew that commanding presence. I grabbed my phone and dialed Sloan again.
I got right to it when she answered. “What is the name of the company doing the deal with Westbrook?”
“Quandom Corp—they’re a tech and fiber-optic company,” she replied. “Why?”
Oh no. “I never knew that was who we were talking about. This is Carolyn Evans.”
“That’s right,” Sloan said. “How did you know?”
I kept an eye on our targets. Their pace had slowed as they neared the cars and spotted the bouquet. My stomach sank as I watched.
“She’s on my dissertation committee,” I said. “My research project will take place at their facility.”
“No way. So you know her?”
“We’ve met. At my proposal meeting. But she was just a high-level manager at the time.”
“That’s right, it’s temporary. She became acting CEO a couple months ago. That’s about all I know so far.”
The woman seemed to hesitate uncertainly as she approached the car. She definitely didn’t look like someone excited to receive a surprise from a loved one. Walter stayed back and watched, seeming only mildly interested. The woman pulled the card from the display and opened it. I snapped some photos of the scene.
“Well, it doesn’t look like our guy has anything to do with the flowers,” I said. “And she doesn’t seem very happy to see them.”
After checking the card, the woman grabbed up the armful of flowers and threw them hastily in her backseat. She then gave a quick wave to Walter and climbed behind the wheel. I returned my attention to Sloan. “She’s l
eaving.”
“Follow her.”
“But I thought we’re watching Walter.”
“We were,” she said. “But if she happens to go see whoever sent her the flowers, we can show evidence to the client that she’s not seeing Walter. Cross one possibility off our list.”
I bit my lip, thinking. “If I get caught, this woman could ruin my study. And thus, my career.”
“You won’t get caught. Just follow her in the car. I’ll head your way now and try to catch up. You won’t even have to get out.”
I watched the woman turn out of the parking lot and knew I only had an instant to decide. Despite my reservations, I started the car and began my first solo tail.
My tail of the woman holding my future in her hands.
Seven
“She’s taking the exit.” My voice sounded unintentionally anxious. “Where are you?”
Sloan was much calmer. “Almost there. Stay on her.”
I kept my distance when the Mercedes exited the interstate, but knew I would have to get closer as we neared the busy shopping area. The woman turned directly into the heart of the town center. A hotel tower loomed overhead. I informed Sloan of our position, and then hesitated when the woman turned into the parking garage next door. Sloan urged me to continue.
I followed the woman to the third level of the public garage. When she began to pull into a parking space, I froze for a moment. How do I continue from here without being seen? I didn’t have any specialized training in this sort of thing.
“She’s going to see me in the parking garage. How do I do this?”
No response.
“Sloan?” I checked my phone when she didn’t answer. I had lost signal in the parking structure. I was on my own.
I drove past my target and continued around the corner, where a spot was open out of sight of the lower level. I quickly parked and slipped out of the car as noiselessly as possible. Peeking around the bend, I saw the woman was heading for the elevator.
I obviously couldn’t ride with her in the elevator. I glanced around the garage for an alternative. There was a stairwell entrance nearby. I would have to take my chances that she was going in the most likely direction. Down.
I watched until the elevator doors opened and then ran for the stairs. When I opened the door at the bottom, I found myself walking into a trendy hotel lobby. I was exposed and needed to find a way to hide. I threw myself onto one of the many clustered sofas and picked up a magazine. I would have to get some advice on disguises in the future.
A ding sounded from my left. I kept my head down, letting my hair hide my face as the woman exited the garage elevator and crossed the lobby behind me. She stopped in front of another bank of elevators that ascended into the hotel tower.
I felt a stab of disappointment that I had come this far, and wouldn’t be able to figure out where she was going. But there was no way I could race the elevator up on foot, especially without knowing the floor.
A quiet but familiar voice sounded behind me. “Which way?”
I turned to see Sloan, her hair hidden under a black fedora. I’m sure the surprise showed on my face. “How did you catch up so fast?”
“Left my car with valet,” she said. “Which way?”
I nodded my head toward the woman across the lobby. Sloan headed her way without another word.
When they both disappeared into the elevator, I mulled what my next move should be. I didn’t want to stay here, exposed for no reason. I could take the opportunity to check the woman’s car again with no chance of being seen. I retraced my steps back to the garage.
I got lucky when I returned to the Mercedes. The flowers were splayed in the back floorboard. On the seat above them lay the accompanying card, the message visible. I couldn’t quite make out the writing, so I fetched the camera from my car and snapped a photo before returning to the safety of my vehicle.
I pulled up the photo while I waited. After zooming in, I could clearly read the note. Whoever sent the flowers missed Carolyn Evans terribly, was dying to see her, and hoped she would forgive them. It ended with a room number at the hotel. The note wasn’t signed. I wondered what Sloan was able to discover on the twenty-second floor.
A few minutes later she appeared, walking up the garage ramp. She spotted my car and hopped in. “Glad she didn’t decide to park at the top,” Sloan said. “It would take forever to find you.”
“So what did you find out?”
She grinned. “I’m starved. Let’s go grab something to eat. I know just the place.”
“Fine.” I couldn’t help my grin back at her. Despite my reservations, I was having a blast.
I laughed at myself as I followed her into the parking lot of Joe’s Diner, recalling my first assumptions about Sloan. Russian spy. But so far the truth was just as exciting, only legal. I hoped.
The waitress from my first visit approached with a wide smile as we settled into the booth at the back. “Welcome back.”
“Oh.” I was surprised she remembered me. “Thanks.”
“This is Dottie,” Sloan said. “She was expecting you the first time you came in. Dottie had strict instructions not to give out any information on that receipt.”
Dottie chuckled lightly. “Yeah, sorry about that. But I see it all got straightened out.”
Sloan turned to the waitress. “This is my new friend Quinn. She’s going to be helping me.”
“Real nice to meet you, Quinn. Any friend of Ms. McKenzie is a friend of ours.” She handed me a menu.
“Good to meet you too.”
Dottie wandered away to let me look over the menu. Not surprisingly, Sloan didn’t seem to need one. I decided on a pot pie and returned my attention to my companion.
“So I take it you come here a lot.”
“You could say that. My office is just down the road, where you dropped me off. I’ve been coming here for years. We help each other out.”
Before I could ask what she meant, Dottie returned with a carafe of coffee and poured each of us a cup.
She sighed. “I know I might as well leave this here with you.” She sat the carafe next to Sloan on the table.
We gave our orders and Dottie again disappeared.
I looked at Sloan expectantly. “So what did you find?”
She pulled out her phone to show me a photo. A man with an unkempt beard and overlong salt-and-pepper hair stood in the hotel room doorway in front of Carolyn Evans. “She’s visiting with this shaggy man in there. But just like the flowers, she didn’t look pleased to see him at first.”
She scrolled to pictures of the woman entering the room. The man was wrapping his arms around her. “But as you can see, she did give in. He was apparently pretty persuasive.”
“Well, it looks like she had reason to not be happy to see him.” I pulled out the camera and showed Sloan the photograph of the note. “He wants forgiveness for something. Any idea who he is?”
“No, I haven’t done any research on her yet. But it may not matter. I assume Walter saw the flowers. Did he react to them?”
I shook my head. “Not at all.”
“Well, that seems unlikely if they had any sort of romantic relationship. So now I can give Richard evidence they aren’t involved. If someone is manipulating Walter to get a deal, it doesn’t look like it’s her.”
“Great.” I glanced at the photos again. They were from fairly close range. “But how did you hang around the room unnoticed?”
“I wasn’t unnoticed, just dismissed. Got lucky. When I got off the elevator first, I saw a couple leaving their room. So once they were out of sight, I banged on their door, hoping no one else was in there. After a few tries, I slid to the floor in obvious frustration, waiting for them.” She grinned. “The targets never paid me a bit of attention.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I don’t think it’s very important who she’s seeing in there, just that it’s not Walter. But just in case, I planted a tiny motion-sensor
camera in front of the room. I’ll get an emailed photo every time someone passes by. And whenever she leaves.”
Planting hidden cameras? I was amazed that this was considered an occupation. I didn’t even want to think about the legality of that right now.
Dottie appeared with our food. Starved, I dug in.
“Nice work today,” Sloan said, cutting up her pancakes. “I’ll set up a meeting with Richard to go over this tomorrow. As one of the contributing photographers, you should be there.” She narrowed her eyes playfully. “But we don’t have to tell him that.”
Eight
I recognized him immediately from the photo. He had the slicked-back dark hair I expected, although the graying temples were now suspiciously missing. His fine dark suit was straining at the seams, and his face was a little shiny with perspiration.
The man looked out of place as he huffed his way through the worn diner. He took a seat facing the front, just as we anticipated. This allowed me a perfect view of Richard Westbrook from across the diner.
Dottie hurried over, pausing to watch him inspect the table with a grimace.
She approached with feigned timidity. “Would you like me to clean it again, sir?”
“No point.” Richard glared at the booth. “You can’t fix old and run down with a rag.” He looked up at her impatiently. “I need coffee.”
Her smiled was perky, in spite of his brusqueness. “Coming right up.”
Dottie winked at me as she passed. I returned my eyes to my book and waited. She was just pouring Richard his cup of coffee when I had a sudden influx of sound in my ears. Sloan had turned on my streaming as she entered.
She strolled quickly to his table and slid opposite him in the booth, facing away from me. With the small remote microphone I had given her clipped to her purse, we would no longer even need her to carry my phone. I would hear everything clearly from my table, streamed into my hearing aids. Gotta love technology.
Impulse Spy (Sonic Sleuths Series) Page 4
