Page 45 of Shadowed Agenda
“Hector’s partner is ready to leave and wants to speak with me. I sent everything on the burner phone to Javier and then locked the phone. I gave it to the police. Tell Hector we’ll share what we find.”
“Will do,” Pavlo said and tapped the end button. He walked back to the living room.
Hector stood up and slipped his notebook and pen into his jacket pocket. “I have everything I need. I can contact Javier if I have questions.”
“Drake unlocked the burner cell before you showed up. He sent everything to Javier,” Pavlo told their friend. “Drake doesn’t think anything is important, but Javier will sift through it.”
“Thanks for your help, Hector,” Regan said. “I appreciate you trying to keep this out of the media.”
“I’ll do my best,” he said.
“It’s been good to see you, Hector,” Pavlo said, shaking his friend’s hand. “When you tire of the Big Apple, you can always join us in Ridgeton. We’d love to have you as part of the team.”
“I may take you up on that offer at some point,” Hector replied. “I was born and raised in New York City, but, like Bree, I feel I may need a change.”
“You let us know before you check out anything else,” Pavlo said. Bree Stone had partnered with Hector for several years when she’d worked for the NYPD.
“It’s been a pleasure, Regan, despite the circumstances,” Hector said and shook her hand. “I’ll let Javier know if we find anything else.”
Pavlo closed and bolted the door shut. He walked over to Regan and pulled her close.
“Don’t even think about it,” Regan said, pushing him away. “We have less than an hour before the convention book signing. I need to shower and figure out what I’m going to wear.”
“I could help you,” Pavlo grinned.
“We’d be late. Terribly late.” A blush spread across Regan’s cheeks, and Pavlo chuckled.
He ran his knuckles over the patch of soft pink on one cheek and said, “You’re probably right. I’ll walk you to your room, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to clear it.”
Pavlo opened the door and followed Regan into the hallway.
Drake had seen to the room’s cleaning.
Regan opened the suite’s door and Pavlo followed.
“You know the drill,” he teased. “Stay here until I’m satisfied the six-inch space under your bed isn’t hiding the boogie man.”
Pavlo’s smile disappeared when he spied the teddy bear sitting on the couch in the suite’s living area. It hadn’t been there when he’d met Regan at her suite for breakfast.
He expected whoever put it there was gone, but he couldn’t take chances.
“It’s all clear,” he told her a couple of minutes later. “Whoever left the bear is gone.”
“It’s Emmeline’s. I packed it in her suitcase. She can’t sleep at night without Fuzzy Bear.” Regan’s voice wavered on the last word, and her eyes darted to the suite’s door. Pavlo knew she was struggling against the urge to go to her daughter and hide.
“Call your sister. Make sure Emmeline’s okay and see if they noticed the bear was missing,” he said as he pulled out his cell phone. Regan needed to know her daughter was okay, and Pavlo needed to find out when Fuzzy Bear went missing.
Regan nodded and took a seat in the dining room. She dug her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her sister. Pavlo listened to the conversation as he texted Javier.
“I know you’re heading out the door to the beach, Mackenzie, but it’s been a rough couple of days, and I need to hear my daughter’s voice. Surely you can understand that?” Regan’s voice rose, its sharpness revealing her exasperation. Pavlo had a feeling Mackenzie wasn’t about to do anything that inconvenienced her—that included breaking her routine so Emmeline could speak with her mom.
A minute later, Javier responded to his text.
The cameras show a person dressed in the hotel’s standard black pants and jacket entering Regan’s suite while you were at breakfast. The black ski mask and gloves aren’t part of the hotel uniform. It’s impossible to tell who it is. He’s only in the suite for thirty seconds.
Pavlo texted back. They wouldn’t have known Regan was doing the book signing. It was an incentive in case Baldy didn’t have the opportunity to deliver the message personally.
That’d be my take.