Chapter 66

 

 

Amber zoomed her phone camera toward the Taurus and snapped several quick shots of Cody and his father. The older man was a skinnier, slighter version of his son with thick gray hair. The thought flashed through her mind that Cody seemed safe from inheriting male pattern baldness. Forget it. Not important, she told herself.

She slid farther down in her seat to look at the photos. She’d only caught Cody in profile, but there was a good face image of his dad while he stood at the door to their room, waiting for Cody to insert the keycard into the lock. She noted other details. A suitcase for the father, only his normal backpack for Cody. Was he planning to stay, or would he leave his father there and go to his own place?

Quickly, she selected the best three pictures and forwarded them to all the Ladies, along with the name and address of the motel. Now, any of them could take over the mission. She debated going back to her condo, but she still needed to know that Cody couldn’t check his bank accounts before she initiated the money movement.

Patience, she coached herself.

Five minutes after they walked into the motel room, Cody and his father emerged. Amber slid even farther down, completely out of sight, until she heard their car start. A peek told her they were backing out, and she quickly started the quiet Prius. When they made a right turn onto Bell Road, she followed.

Bell, one of the busier main arteries through this part of the city, was an easy place for her to remain off their radar. They passed some car dealerships and a Walmart, and then turned right. She saw a sign for Turf Paradise with a running horse on the logo; she knew exactly where they were going. She followed them into the parking lot, staying well behind until Cody pulled the Taurus into a spot near the entrance.

She cruised down a parallel row of parking spaces and watched the two men walk up to the entrance and enter the tan stucco building with its long row of tall windows. There was a lot of open space surrounding the grounds and track, with nice views of the mountains in the distance. It seemed like the type of place that probably once sat out in the middle of nowhere for a long time before the city grew up around it. She pulled into a parking slot at the east end of the lot.

What now? She pulled up the racetrack’s website. The peak times of day were from noon to about six p.m. so they were nearing the end of the racing day now. Amber had no idea how these things worked, but it might be fair to assume the men were here to check out the facility, maybe take a look at tomorrow’s lineup. A diehard race fan, as Cody described his dad, wouldn’t be content to travel all this way just to watch for an hour or so.

She phoned Mary to run her theory by.

“That’s what I would think,” Mary told her. “I’d bet they’ll be back tomorrow. And hey, since we need someone neither man has ever seen, I could do it. I’m not a gambler, but it’s fun to watch the horses and see how wound up people get over their bets.”

“The mission is still for us to get Cody’s phone away from him,” Amber said, admitting she’d failed to do that at lunch.

“Got it. I’ll figure out something.”

“Thanks, Mary.”

Amber ended the call and sat there, staring toward the racetrack entrance, when she remembered the other task she needed to accomplish. Mary would figure out a way to get Cody’s cell phone, but his laptop was still out there somewhere. She thought back to their lunch together and tried to remember whether he’d handled the backpack as if it was heavy enough to contain his computer. She couldn’t say for sure. Laptops were pretty lightweight these days.

She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and thought about it. No time like the present, she decided. Surely the men would stay put for at least an hour. She started her car and sped out of the lot. Despite the fairly heavy late afternoon traffic, she was back at the Skyliner Motel within fifteen minutes. She parked out of sight of the office and walked back to it.

“Hi,” she said to the girl behind the desk, putting on her brightest smile. “My brother and our dad checked in here awhile ago, and Cody was supposed to get me a key to the room. I thought they’d still be here but I guess they went out. I hope to bring us all back some dinner. Anyway, it’s room 16. Can you make me another card real quick?”

“Um, I’m not sure … I may need to check with the manager.”

Another guest had walked in behind Amber, a large man who made an impatient sound. “Hey, would you at least get me and my wife checked in first?”

“Excuse me, but I was here first,” Amber said. “It’s a simple enough request.”

The girl seemed torn between not following protocol or having the rude man cause a scene. Her hands dithered over her keyboard.

“Now,” the man said. “We’ve had a long day and just want to get to our room.”

Amber sent a pleading look toward the girl and mouthed, Sorry.

One minute later she held a plastic key card in her hand. One minute after that she was at the door of room 16, slipping inside.

Obviously, the men had done nothing in the way of settling in. The big suitcase she’d seen earlier sat in the middle of one bed. Cody’s backpack was on the other. She unzipped it and rummaged. No laptop.

Rats!

He’d obviously planned on spending the night, however, since there was a change of clothing and a shaving kit in the pack. That was good to know. She looked for anything else that could be of use. No papers of any kind. What had she expected, a rent receipt with his home address all written out? No cell phone, which made perfect sense. He carried it everywhere, and what would a guy like Cody want with a spare?

A glance at the clock told her the races were ending about now. She could only hope the men had stayed to the end.

The suitcase … would Cody have entrusted his father with anything of value to her mission?

She took a moment to open the bag and look through it. There was a checkbook for the First State Bank of New Jersey—she already knew about that account, but she carefully peeled out one of the deposit slips and tucked it into her jeans pocket.

Otherwise, the suitcase only seemed to contain the things an older man would bring on a trip. Enough clothes to last a week, a shaving kit with a couple of prescription pill bottles inside, two magazines—Playboy and Racing Weekly—not subscriptions, so they’d probably been purchased at the airport.

Amber tried to leave the bag as undisturbed as possible. Something told her Woody would be the kind of man who would know if his stuff had been tampered with. On the other hand, the TSA could always take the blame. She had to get out of here.

She scanned the parking lot through a slice of space at the edge of the drapes. No Taurus yet. She slipped out the door, pocketing the spare keycard. No telling when it might come in handy.

She’d made it halfway to her car when the Taurus pulled into the motel driveway. Amber spun toward the closet labeled Ice Machine.