Page 8 of Sam's Salvation

Audra crossed the room and set her load atop a short stack of boxes, then flexed her fingers. They’d started to cramp.

Movement outside caught her attention. Two men exited the house and strolled toward the small bar set up poolside. One was Jackson Kimball. She didn’t recognize the other. The way he was dressed, though, struck her as odd. Even in casual clothes, she could tell that Kimball’s outfit was expensive. But the stranger’s didn’t have the same look to it. He looked ordinary.

“Thank you for bringing the tablecloths.”

Audra glanced away to look at the maid. She stood in the doorway, a polite smile on her face. Her eyes darted to the window.

“You’re welcome.” Taking her cue to leave, Audra walked toward her. The maid stepped into the hall and started back the way they came. Again, Audra paid close attention to her surroundings. Nothing stood out to her, but she took mental snapshots of the house’s interior. Smiling at the maid, she exited the house and went back to her car.

As she pulled away, she mentally went over what she’d seen inside as well as the man with Kimball. When she got home, she definitely needed to call Theo. Something about that guy bugged her.

She shook her head. Not your problem, Aud. She needed to leave that one to the FBI. Maybe she’d tell the agent working with her on Brogan’s case about it. Moran could pass along the intel to whoever had Kimball under surveillance.

With the daytime traffic, it took her a little over twenty minutes to reach her condo. Parking in her garage, she went inside and headed upstairs to fetch her secure phone. She sat down on her bed and dialed Theo’s number.

“What’s up?” he asked when he answered.

“I just made a delivery to Jackson Kimball’s house. You’ll probably get a hit on my alias from the FBI or whatever alphabet soup agency is watching him.”

Theo sighed. “What did you deliver?”

“Tablecloths.”

“You’re sure?”

“I didn’t look in the box other than to peek through the flaps to see the top layer was just that. Miles carried it to my car and watched me drive away. If it had anything important, I’m sure he called ahead, so a delay wouldn’t have been wise.”

“Did you talk to Kimball?”

“No. He was there, though. With another man. I didn’t recognize him, but something about him set off my radar.”

“How so?”

“I’m not sure. He just didn’t look like he was in the same class as Kimball. He was dressed nice, but his clothes were more—working class, I guess. Not expensive, like we’d expect of his associates.”

“Maybe it was someone who works for him. An accountant or something.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think so. Even the accountants and other office type people that surround men like Kimball and Liam dress in more expensive clothing. This guy’s looked like he bought them off the rack at Target or something.”

“All right. Well, keep an eye out for him. We can’t do much, because Kimball’s not the focus of our investigation. But if you see this guy with Brogan, I’ll do my best to get an ID.”

Audra sighed. That really was the best she could hope for. Sometimes, it irked her to not have the U.S. agencies looped in on their investigation. Someone, somewhere was aware, she knew that. But the local guys in the field weren’t likely to know, and she couldn’t risk her cover and tell them what she saw. “Fine. Can you let Moran know? He can pass it along within the FBI.”

“Sure.”

“Did you get anything on those files I brought you?”

“We’re still working on it. I’ll let you know if we find anything you need to know.”

Audra rolled her eyes. That was code for she wouldn’t be getting anything unless the circumstances were dire. She was happier more than ever now that she’d made a copy of the pictures. She wasn’t completely useless when it came to information and image analysis. “All right. Thanks, Theo.”

“You’re welcome. What’s your plan for the rest of the day?”

“Nothing until dinner this evening. Liam’s taking me to some new place that opened up at the Bellagio. Thankfully, it’s not just us. We’re meeting some of his associates.”

“Good. I hope you get some good intel.”

“That’s the plan.” That was always the plan. It’s why she was here.