Chapter 43

 

 

Sandy nudged Pen and pointed across the street at the bank. Cody Brennan was to have been here at two for his appointment, but they’d seen no sign of him. At 2:01, the blonde girl who’d spoken with them earlier walked out, a portfolio under her arm.

“What do you think?” Sandy asked.

“You follow her. I’ll wait here to see if Cody shows up. It could be his business is with the manager, not with her.”

“Good thinking.” Sandy stayed on the opposite side of the street, crossing only when the banker made a left turn. She stayed back and watched until, one block later, the girl walked up the steps and into the Hilton hotel.

Interesting.

Sandy pulled sunglasses from her purse and a collapsible hat she’d carried as rain protection. Tucking her hair mostly into the hat, she hoped she’d disguised her appearance well enough. She strolled along the front of the hotel, browsing the window displays set up by the retail shops inside. Behind her dark glasses, her eyes were busy looking into the lobby.

The blonde walked up to a man waiting near a pillar in the large space. They shook hands and she held up the portfolio. The man was Cody—Sandy was ninety percent sure of it, although her sunglasses and the reflection from the hotel’s large windows made it difficult to see for sure. The pair moved out of sight.

Sandy felt a moment’s hesitation. What to do? Well, I’m not going to know what he’s doing if I stay out here. She walked up the steps, pausing at a tourist brochure stand just inside the front door. One of the larger publications was some sort of magazine, real estate listings or some such. She picked it up and pretended to give it her attention as she moved into the lobby.

Cody and the woman had moved to the far end of the lobby where groupings of tables and chairs sat outside the formal confines of the bar. They’d taken a table and had their heads together in conversation, as the woman pulled papers from her folder. Neither one looked up as Sandy strolled toward the elevators. She turned and stood behind a huge potted plant, but she was still too far away to hear anything they said.

The best way to stay unnoticed while in plain sight was to be using an electronic device. She tucked the magazine into the side pocket of her bag and pulled out her phone. A quick text let Pen know that Cody was here. No point in waiting for him outside the bank. Careful if you come through the lobby—he could see you.

Thx got it.

Sandy moved to an armchair in the main part of the lobby and checked her email and messages while keeping one eye on the little bar table forty feet away. There seemed to be some flirting, now that the paperwork had been put away. Got to give this guy honors in the department of wooing women quickly, she decided.

Anger flared for a moment. This was becoming less about tracking the money this guy had probably stolen and more about protecting Amber. A thief and a cheater. This Cody guy needed to pay a price for his behavior.

There was a message from Amber. It must be early morning in Arizona by now. Suggested to Cody that we meet up. He asks if I’m back in Paris. Surely he knows I’m not?

Probably testing you to keep up the ruse. String him along.

While she was typing the text message, the couple across the room had moved and Sandy was startled to see them walking in her direction. She turned in her chair, hoping her hat brim concealed her face well enough.

The girl from the bank sent a regretful glance over her shoulder toward Cody just before she walked out the front door. Sandy sneaked a peek and saw him give a little wave, but the moment the girl was out of sight he straightened his shoulders and walked toward the elevators.

All at once, his eyes widened and he went into motion, bypassing the elevators and heading down a corridor that led to a series of meeting rooms. Sandy did a double-take. Pen had just walked into the lobby.

“Pen, over here!” Sandy shouted.

Cody took off at a run.

Sandy nearly tripped over the magazine that had fallen at her feet, but she recovered in time to see Cody yank open the door to a conference room and disappear inside. She followed.

Chairs, set in neat rows, filled the darkened room and there was a man at the front whose PowerPoint presentation was now being ignored as heads turned to see what the commotion was about. Sandy nearly slammed into a table of water glasses before she realized she was still wearing her sunglasses. She pulled them off and saw a Cody-shaped silhouette disappear through another door at the far end of the room.

“Sorry, sorry,” she murmured as she rushed to follow.

Somewhere behind her, she heard the door open, the one she’d just come through, and Pen’s calm reassurance to the crowd that everything was fine. Pen caught up with Sandy and they stepped into a lit service passageway that ran behind the meeting rooms.

“Which way did he go?” Pen asked.

Sandy looked both directions but there was no sign of Cody. Then they heard a metallic crash.

“The kitchen must be that way,” Pen said, pointing left. “There has to be an outside exit there.”

An angry guy dressed in kitchen whites—formerly white, now covered in something shockingly red that must have been a sauce—fumed at the wreckage of a metal serving cart and the spillage from two large kettles that now lay on the floor.

“Sorry,” Pen said. “Did a dark-haired young man come this way?”

The response was a string of unintelligible Gaelic and wild hand gestures that neither of the women wanted to confront. They backed away and returned to the corridor.

“I think we must admit we’ve lost him.”

“Again.” Sandy’s discouragement showed.

“I suppose we could go back to the desk and see if he’s registered here at the hotel. Must admit that’s a thought that never occurred to me,” Pen said.

Sandy could only nod. They made their way back down the corridor, listening for voices, avoiding the room where they had already disrupted someone’s meeting. At the desk, the male clerk said there was no Cody Brennan registered. When they described the young man who had just rushed from the lobby minutes earlier, the young man said he’d been away from his post and hadn’t noticed. Sorry.

As they waited for the elevator, Pen rested a hand on Sandy’s shoulder. “We’ve done our best. Time to let Amber take over, assuming he will agree to meet with her.”