Chapter One #2
Olivia smiled at him, and the look warmed something in his chest. “I always thought you were better suited for intelligence.”
He managed to leverage his skills with IPS, but there was one ugly truth he couldn’t escape. He was built for war.
“I want to know what’s going on.” Eli took a beat. Removed his driftwood-colored Stetson—a gift from Liv. Raked his hand through his hair. Slipped the hat back on. “With us. Let’s have this talk.”
She reached for his face. Then catching herself, she glanced around and clasped his arm instead. The hope of anything beyond the professional happening between them vanished.
“Later. At dinner.” A flicker of unguarded emotion crossed her face.
For the first time, ever, Eli glimpsed worry in the eyes of this unflappable woman. If he hadn’t been scrutinizing her so closely, he would’ve missed it.
It only bolstered his worst fear. “I’d prefer now.”
“You’re in a foul mood. We’ll talk after you’ve had a steak and a double whiskey,” she said, confirming he’d need a strong drink. “This isn’t the time or the place. I need your head in the game, Pioneer.”
Pioneer and sapper were nicknames for combat engineers. Both rooted in history.
Only Liv ever called him that.
“Can you take my luggage up and I’ll grab it tonight?” Her posture turned rigid, her voice monotone. The pod person was back. “Use a bellhop. We’re supposed to be QA.”
“Where are you going?”
“To meet the manager, Donald Dempsey. I want to start interviewing employees.”
“It’s on the schedule for tomorrow. Might be hard to round up the staff on short notice.”
“I want them caught off guard, so I can rattle those insiders and see what they do.”
“In my experience, if you poke a bear, it doesn’t poke back. It maims you.” Not that she couldn’t handle herself. It was one of the things that drew him to her. She was independent and strong. Downright fierce.
More importantly, she didn’t need him. And that was the way he preferred it.
“We’re not dealing with grizzlies,” she said. “These environmental activists accidentally injured a logger once with tree spiking. They’ve never killed, nor intentionally sought to physically harm anyone. They’re toothless pandas.”
Eli didn’t mention that although people thought of pandas as cute and cuddly furballs, when provoked, they could be downright vicious.
“Nonetheless,” she said, “they can still cause millions in damage. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The largest stakeholder of the hotel, Chip Whitney, who is also here, is an important client of Aegis.
” She hiked the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder.
“There are hundreds of people to interview. It’s best to start screening them ASAP. ”
“Let me know where you’ll be, and I’ll help.”
“No, go do your thing. Circulate and chitchat. Cultivate more sources.”
Divide and conquer. He got it. “Will do.” But he hated feeling as though she simply wanted space from him.
“Find pressure points we can exploit.” She was deadly calm. “I intend to push hard.”
Eli didn’t doubt her. “Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a mock salute.
“We only have three days until the gala.”
“Tick-tock.” Eli nodded. “On it.”
As she walked away, a void of uncertainty opened in the pit of his stomach.
Swallowing the bitter taste filling his mouth, he flagged down a bellhop.
A young man hurried over with a luggage cart. “What room, sir?”
“Three twenty-four.”
In the elevator, Eli struck up a conversation but couldn’t focus. Everything the bellhop said was muted, with white noise roaring in his ears. Inside the spacious room, he gave the guy a generous tip.
“Thank you, sir.”
After the bellhop left, Eli locked the door.
Trudging into the bathroom, he tried to get his bearings. Olivia needed him with every cylinder firing. Too bad he didn’t have an inner pod person he could drag out.
Eli took off his hat and splashed cold water on his face.
Grabbing a towel, he dried off and glanced at his reflection in the mirror.
At thirty-four, he looked past his prime and felt the same.
Joints creaked. Muscles ached. More gray hairs sprouted every week.
Still, he ran five miles most days and hit the gym regularly.
A knock at the door had him tossing the towel on the counter.
“One minute.” Eli finger-combed his hair back. At the door, he looked through the peephole.
Room service. But he hadn’t ordered anything.
He opened the door.
A lanky man stood on the other side. Pale. Hazel eyes. Shaggy sandy-blond hair that was nearly brown pushed back behind his ears. An even shaggier beard covered his jaw. The name tag pinned to his vest read Kevin. “Is this Ms. Lane’s room?” the attendant asked, brow wrinkling as he took him in.
Eli stood at six-one. Most of his two hundred pounds was muscle. Not as much as there used to be but enough to make someone think twice when sizing him up. “Two rooms in her name. This is one of them. What’ve you got there?”
“Fruit platter.” The attendant pointed to the plate covered with a stainless-steel dome on the service cart.
“And champagne.” He gestured to the bottle sitting in a bucket of ice, and Eli noticed a radio clipped on his belt.
“Compliments of management. I can come back later with a fresh platter once she’s in her room. Would that be 326?”
A cold thread of alarm wriggled down Eli’s spine. “Bring it in here.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“I’ll make sure she gets it.” Eli stepped back, holding the door open. “No inconvenience.”
Pulling on a polite yet artificial smile, the attendant pushed the cart inside the room. He wore a white button-down shirt under the vest, black slacks, and gray hiking boots. Nothing odd about his apparel, but one thing stood out to Eli.
Since they arrived, he’d been called sir ad nauseam from the valet to the bellhop. But not this guy. Kevin hadn’t uttered a single “sir.”
“Put it on that side table near the window,” Eli said.
Kevin picked up both items and carried them over to the low table. As he bent over, setting them down, his vest rose in the back, exposing a gun tucked in his waistband.
It wasn’t unusual for folks in Montana to carry a weapon, but it was for hotel staff on duty unless they were security.
The fog clouding Eli’s brain evaporated. All cylinders were now firing hot.
Standing upright and turning around, Kevin tugged his vest down. “Enjoy your stay.”
Eli followed the man to the door. Once Kevin left, Eli waited a few seconds, then he lowered the handle, eased the door open, and peered into the corridor.
Kevin strode down the hall. The man unclipped the radio and clicked the button. “Lane wasn’t in the room.” His voice carried, but if not for the open door, the words would’ve been muffled. “What do I do?”
“She must be with Dempsey,” said a woman on the other end. “I’ll find her and contain her as planned.”
Icy fear slashed through Eli.
“Remember, she’s dangerous,” Kevin said.
“I know. Go down and spread the word, we’re initiating protocol Gloriosa.”
“Are you sure?” Kevin sounded surprised. “I mean, we’re ready to rock and roll, but Gloriosa today?”
“Once the agent from Aegis got here, those were the orders. Do it. We go dark in thirty seconds. No turning back. For a new dawn.”
“A new dawn.” At the end of the hall, Kevin pushed through the door to the stairs and disappeared into the stairwell.
Taking the SIG Sauer P226 from his shoulder holster, Eli hurried away from the door to his duffel bag.
He pulled back the slide around the muzzle, ensuring the first round was loaded in the chamber.
Moving like lightning, he stuffed the pistol back in the holster, grabbed extra loaded magazines, a lock-picking kit with EOD multi-tool inside, and his tactical blade.
He shoved the mags, kit, and knife in various pockets.
Hustled out the door. Bolted down the hall after Kevin.
Eli pressed the push bar and opened the door as slowly and quietly as possible.
No sound of footsteps in the stairwell.
Running down the steps, taking them three at a time, he whipped out his cell phone and dialed Liv to give her a
heads-up.
The line didn’t ring.
He glanced at the screen. No bars. Maybe it was because of the stairwell.
Reaching the main floor, he cracked the door open and listened. Nothing. He stepped into the hall. Looking around for Kevin, he tried Liv again.
But the line wasn’t working. Still no bars. He searched for a security camera. Spotted one. No red light.
We go dark in thirty seconds.
Eli swore as panic clawed free from his chest and tried to pull him down.
The New Dawn Revolution must have been using cell and Wi-Fi jammers to prevent cellular calls, disable the surveillance cameras, and restrict security’s ability to communicate.
Multiple jammers would be needed to cover the resort.
The group was way more organized than expected.
More sophisticated, too. And based on the gun Kevin had, this time the New Dawn Revolution didn’t appear to have a problem using violence.
They also knew Olivia was an Aegis agent and wanted her contained.
Whatever that meant, Eli needed to reach Liv first.