22

 

Enough was enough.

Enrique paid the bill and stomped out of the diner. Jamie might be calling the shots, but he was still in the game, and he had no intention of playing it from the sidelines.

Jamie’s plan had been to take a nap before showing up at the restaurant. They were both tired from taking the red eye flight. But she was almost two hours late.

He pulled into the motel’s lot. He was staying there, too, but in a different building. Another Jamie idea. Her rental car was parked in the same spot as the last time he’d seen it.

His muscles relaxed a bit.

Maybe, she really was tired and had overslept.

He pulled his car into an empty spot and watched.

They weren’t in that big of a rush.

If Jamie needed her sleep that was fine.

An hour went by as his blood pressure rose.

Not willing to wait any longer, he grabbed his cell phone and hit number one—Jamie’s speed dial on her cover identity’s phone. No answer. He hit speed dial number two. Her real phone. It went directly to voice mail. That phone stayed hidden, but she’d check it for messages whenever she could. He typed her a text—WHERE R U? 911. He sent a text message to the other number and waited. After five minutes he dialed the motel and asked to be connected to her room.

No answer.

He called one of the tech people at his office. “Hey, Penny. Need you to run these numbers for me and find the location.”

She called back a few minutes later. “Both numbers are at the same place. And that’s the same place you’re at.”

“Thanks.”

He stared at the door. It was more than three hours since the scheduled time. He opened the car door and marched towards Jamie’s room. But he didn’t want to blow her cover. He made a U-turn and walked to the motel office.

Five minutes later, he had the keys to the adjoining room. Inside he put an ear to the shared door between the rooms.

Quiet. No voices. No TV. No screaming.

He knocked and waited.

No response.

Using his lock-picking tool, the tumblers clicked into place. He inched the door open and listened. Quiet as a tomb. The room was empty.

He opened the door wider and stepped inside.