Page 34 of Shadowed Agenda
Pavlo swore under his breath and released her hand. “Nicholas is an ass.”
“There’s one thing we agree on,” Regan said and tried to smile. Tomorrow morning, she’d be embarrassed about the mistake she’d almost made, but she’d survive. “One-night stands aren’t my style. I need to trust the person I’m with.”
An emotion Regan couldn’t read crossed Pavlo’s face. It was replaced by sadness. “Babe, a one-night stand is all I can promise anyone. I’m not relationship material.”
Pavlo came from a loving family. Why would he believe he’s not relationship material? Before she could ask, Pavlo slipped on his suit jacket and walked to the suite’s door.
A ding came from his pocket before his hand reached for the doorknob. He fished his cell phone out and read the text. “Do you mind staying here? Drake is reviewing the security video. He wants to show me a couple of things. It could be a lead on the people who attacked you in the elevator. I’d feel better if you let me clear your suite before you went in.”
“No problem,” Regan said. She would welcome Pavlo checking for boogie men under her bed before she went to sleep. The thought of someone breaking into her hotel room again terrified her.
“Thanks,” he said and left.
Regan returned to the couch. She was exhausted. Hopefully, she’d sleep tonight. Another night without sleep would make her prickly.
Regan leaned her head against the couch and touched her pendant. Agreeing to the book signing was the only way to protect her daughter and Pavlo.
Chapter sixteen
“PavloBarislov.”Pavloreachedout to the security guard in the hotel’s surveillance room and shook his hand. “Thanks for helping us out, Walker.”
Drake’s text had mentioned Walker was an off-duty NYPD cop. Some hotels preferred to hire off-duty or retired police officers.
“My pleasure,” the young man replied. “All the cops at the station say you’re one of the good guys. The assistant security manager said to give you anything you need. He’d like to keep this as low key as possible.”
“We’d like to keep it off the media’s radar as well,” Pavlo said.
“You’re not going to like this,” Drake grumbled as Walker turned back to the six monitors hung on one wall of the small room. He was working at a desk in the corner equipped with a large monitor hooked up to a computer. “I’ve been tracking the guy’s movements.”
Pavlo grunted and stood behind his friend where Drake was rewinding the tape. Pavlo watched as the guy in the red cap knocked on the door to Regan’s suite.Shit.No telling what he’d have done had Regan been in.
“He checks out the ballroom next.” Drake switched camera feeds. “The hallway surveillance cameras track his movement. The ballroom camera caught him here.” Drake tapped the small image just inside the ballroom’s entrance and then zoomed in. “He’s looking for her.” The guy’s eyes scanned the room, stopped, and then he turned away from the camera. “He spotted her and moved into the ballroom’s foyer.” Drake cut to another camera feed, which showed him seated at the end of one of the long padded benches along the far wall.
Drake fast-forwarded the tape, and Pavlo saw the man get up. He nodded to a second man, whose hair was pulled up in a man bun, who got up from a bench closer to the elevator. Other people mingling in the foyer slowly headed to the elevator. “Those other people arrived in small groups,” Drake said as he switched cameras.
Pavlo’s gut clenched as he watched himself head to the stairwell and Man Bun hurry to catch the elevator. The doors were sliding shut, and he stuck out his hand, pushing them open. People piled into the elevator, including the guy in the red ball cap.
She would have been safe if Pavlo had just waited for the elevator doors to close or looked back to check on Regan. He’d let his emotions get in the way of protecting Regan.
“What about the motorcycles?” Pavlo asked. “Did the street cameras pick up anything useful?”
“They were of no help.” Drake shook his head. “The drivers wore helmets with the face shields pulled down. The people from the elevator knew where the cameras were located. They kept their backs to them until they secured their motorcycle helmets. They used the old-fashioned way of making sure the plates couldn’t be tracked—smeared them with mud.”
Pavlo scrubbed his face with his hands. They had nothing.
“Ah, guys. You need to see this,” Walker said, pointing to a monitor on the wall as he reached for his walkie-talkie.
“Shit,” Drake said. The guy with the red ball cap was walking out of Regan’s suite. “That’s a real-time feed.”
Walker beat them out of the room, talking to his team as he ran to the elevators. “Man seen walking out of Room 819. Higgins, go directly to the room and see if you can follow the guy. Jacobs, do a sweep of the north stairwell. Anderson, sweep the south. Clark, check out the parking garage. Do not engage if he’s armed. I’m taking the elevator up.”
Pavlo and Drake headed to the stairs.
“Elevator,” Walker shouted. “I don’t want Jacobs or Anderson thinking you’re the suspect.”
Pavlo was impressed. Walker was quick, able to think on his feet, and was a team player. He was the kind of guy that would mesh with their team.
Pavlo would ask Hector Nocito about him. The NYPD detective had been integral in identifying the person stalking Keira a month ago. Last week, Javier had found information that had blown Hector’s case wide open. He couldn’t legally use what Javier had found, but the savvy detective would work around that.