Page 36 of Lost Without You
“Just don’t look at me right now. Or come anywhere near me. Dalton is waiting outside, and I sure as hell don’t want to answer the door like this,” he pointed to his tented pants.
“You started it,” she winked at him as she got up, straightened her clothes out and went over to the door.
“How was I to know he’d show up early? Overeager FBI investigator,” Ethan grumbled as he got up and headed to the bathroom.
Rachel stifled a chuckle and checked the peephole before opening the door.
“Come on in, Dalton,” Rachel murmured as Dalton stalked into the room, a black duffle bag in one hand.
“Where’s Ethan?” he asked bluntly.
“Bathroom—he’ll be right out.” She pointed to the club chair in the corner of the room. “Make yourself comfortable. Do you want water or anything?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” he said as he sat down, his penetrating stare forcing her to make small talk. She fought the urge to fidget.
Why not start with the obvious. “How come you’re early?”
“After you left, I talked to my boss right away. He’s worked with Lane, so he had a tech review the disk analysis. With that and the details you provided, I got the green light to start a formal missing persons case for your father. I want to search your room as soon as possible and I’ve brought along a bug sweeper. Then I’m going to see if I can access hotel security cam footage. I’ll have to come back with a warrant.”
Ethan exited the bathroom at that moment and nodded at Dalton.
“Sorry to arrive early,” Dalton said with a knowing smirk, as he glanced between Ethan and Rachel.
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror above the desk. Mussed hair, swollen lips, and beard burn. Oops.
“That’s fine,” Ethan waved him off and leaned back against the desk.
“I was telling Rachel I got the go ahead to launch Walter’s missing persons case,” Dalton remarked as Rachel sat down in the desk chair opposite him.
Ethan motioned to the door. “Let’s head downstairs then. There’s no time to waste.”
“Does this mean we should stay in New York?” Rachel asked Dalton.
Dalton shook his head. “It’s still a good idea for you to head home. Let me get the case underway and you can fly back when I have more to report on.”
Dalton got up and grabbed his duffle bag as he walked to the door. Rachel and Ethan followed and five minutes later they found themselves back in her room.
Rachel stood off to the side near the door, as Dalton put on plastic gloves and took out a piece of equipment that looked like a flat iron and waved it over various hard surfaces, lamps, the dresser, the desk, the nightstand, the headboard.
A loud beep interrupted the silence of the room. Dalton moved his hand behind the edge of the headboard, reaching down, then held up a tiny black coin, the size of a contact lens. He pulled out a container from his pocket, opened the lid and added the coin, sealing it inside. Rachel shivered at the thought of someone listening in to her private moments.
“We’ll dust behind the headboard for prints, but I doubt there’s anything there. This,” he held up the container “is an expensive and sophisticated bug, so thin you can barely feel it on hard surfaces. Only a pro would know where to get something like that.”
Ethan began to pace in front of the bed. “We need that security footage. And then we need to talk to the hotel staff to see if they saw anyone in the hallway, then…”
Dalton held his hand up and gave Ethan a glare that had Rachel standing still. “I’ll get to that, Ethan. Remember, you’re consulting, you’re not in charge.”
“Sorry, old habits,” Ethan glanced at Rachel, non-plussed. “What do you need from us?”
“I’ll need to talk to Rachel’s mother and to look through her dad’s belongings.”
“Anything you need,” Rachel replied. “Can I start packing up my stuff while you continue your scan of the room? Our flight leaves early tomorrow.”
“Let me do a quick run through first. I’ll be another ten minutes then I’ll head down to speak to the security on staff.”
Once Dalton was done, she checked out of her room and stayed with Ethan. She called her brother and mom to let them know what was happening and that they were headed back to the west coast.
She was leaving with more questions than answers. But each piece of information they uncovered gave her hope that they were one step closer to the truth.