“Several reads from different people, and this.”Bryn pulled out the USB drive.
Giles took it, turning it over in his palm.“This was an unexpected bonus.”
“I’m worried about the woman who gave it to me.”
“She must have been desperate for help to take the risk of trusting you.”
“She worked out ‘Bryan’ was faking it.Her intent was to run.I told her she should.”Bryn exhaled, rubbing his temples.His headache had settled into something dull and persistent.“Mira, that was her name, is scared and she’s right to be.”
Gunnar cut a sharp left, taking a less direct route back to their hotel.“We’ve picked up a tail,” he said.
Bryn twisted to look through the rear windshield.“Where?”
“Black sedan, two cars back.”
“The security guy was suspicious of me.It must be him.”
“Lose them,” Giles said.“We won’t be that difficult to trace to the hotel but let’s make them work for it.We’ll go back there anyway.Everything should seem legitimate.”
Gunnar smirked and stepped on the gas.Traffic blurred past as he weaved through afternoon congestion.Bryn gripped the door handle as they narrowly missed clipping the side mirror of a delivery truck.The black sedan kept up.
Bryn swore under his breath.“Persistent.”
“Not for long,” Gunnar muttered.He took a hard right down a side street, then another, slipping into an abandoned lot sprouting random greenery from its cracked asphalt.The sedan didn’t appear and he waited a full minute before reversing out and returning to the main road.“Not my first rodeo.”
“What now?”Bryn asked.
“Back to the hotel as planned,” Giles said.“We left the clinic because I had another engagement to get to and that’s what’s going to happen.In our suite.As soon as we let Warden know we’re back, he’ll come over and we can review everything together.”
Bryn closed his eyes and attempted to relax in his seat while Gunnar drove back to the hotel, taking a circuitous route.Bryn’s headache was painful and he needed to scavenge the room service menu as soon as possible.He opened his eyes again only when Gunnar pulled into the underground parking lot of their hotel, coasting into a spot near the elevator.He shut off the engine and turned in his seat, looking at Bryn.
“You’re wiped.How badareyou feeling?”
Bryn swallowed, forcing himself to straighten.“I’ll manage.I just need food and water.”
Gunnar gave him a look that said he wasn’t buying it.“Let’s get to the room.If what’s on that drive is as bad as I think it could be, we’re about to have a lot more problems.”
Bryn sighed, slumping against the headrest.“Fantastic.”
Gunnar opened the car door and stepped out first, scanning the garage before giving the all-clear.Giles went after him, slipping back into his businessman persona.Bryn took a beat longer before following.The lingering images from his reads filled his head and made him nauseous.
They rode the elevator to their floor in silence and when they reached their suite, Gunnar went in first to check it was secure.Once in the room, Bryn sank onto the couch, pressing his palms to his eyes.Giles got onto his cell, presumably giving a head’s up to Warden.
Bryn groaned, rubbing his eyes.“Before I pass out, are you ordering food, or are we embracing a slow descent into starvation?”
Gunnar grinned.“You’re trusting me with the room service menu?”
“Yes, because starving to death is not my preferred option and I don’t think I can focus on the print.”
“What do you want?”
“Food.I don’t know.Anything that’s bad for me.”
“Just order something before I regret all my recent life choices,” Giles said.“I take my steak very rare.I’m going to freshen up while we wait for Warden.”He sauntered across to the master bedroom.
Bryn waited until Giles was safely out of earshot before slumping back against the couch with a dramatic sigh.“I don’t like him.”
Gunnar snorted.“Really?I’d never have known.”
