Maggie pulled her luggage from the trunk of the bright green taxicab and paid the driver. It had been a long day. Her flight had been delayed, and her rental car had blown a tire on the way to the hotel. She had spent an hour waiting for the rental company to get her a cab. The representative had claimed that they would deliver her a new car directly to the hotel, but she suspected that wouldn’t get done without another hour on the phone. And now she would have to face Marcus.
He would be furious that she had disobeyed his orders, but she didn’t care. She was going to assist on this case whether he wanted her help or not. She checked in at the front desk. The lobby was jammed with people and there was a long wait for assistance. Luckily, she had Stan in her corner, and he had already booked her a room just down the hall from Marcus and Andrew.
She made her way upstairs, dropped off her luggage, and then knocked on Marcus’s door. After a short wait, Andrew answered. The top two buttons of his starched white shirt were undone, and his black tie hung loosely around his neck. He held a slice of pizza in his left hand. Judging from the lack of the typical warm pizza aroma, it was a leftover from a previous meal.
“Maggie?” he said, an expression of genuine surprise on his face.
She raised her eyebrows. “You going to invite me in?”
“Umm, yeah. Come on in.”
Maggie entered the outer room of the suite and looked at the display board showing all the evidence that they had gathered so far. The board was truly a marvel. She definitely didn’t miss Allen’s old corkboard, but she did miss his calm and thoughtful leadership.
“What are you doing here, Mags?” Andrew said.
She took a deep breath and ignored the question. “How are things going with the case?”
He sighed. “I actually just got off talking with Stan. He’s dug up a couple new leads for us to follow.”
“Good. Then what are we waiting for? Where’s Marcus?”
Andrew’s gaze darted around the room as if he was searching for something. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Then, after another pause, he finally replied, “He’s having dinner down in the hotel restaurant with an FBI agent who’s also consulting on the case.”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you acting so funny?”
He shrugged his shoulders almost as high as his eyebrows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay. I think I’ll join them.”
“Well, umm, I—”
“What?”
“Nothing. I’m just sure he’ll be thrilled to see you.”