Just as they reached the door, Knox's phone vibrated. He checked the screen. "We need to get to the bar."
"The what?" asked Jason.
"The bar. Near the main dining room downstairs. Allie's there. She says she's got something."
He jogged to the elevator, Jason a step behind him.
Jason caught up and pressed the down button for the elevator. "Did she say she found him?"
"She wasn't specific. But I assume so." He glanced at the blinking numbers broadcasting how fast—more accurately, howslow—the elevator was descending to their floor. "Let's take the stairs."
"Good call."
Two minutes later, they walked into the bar and saw Allie sitting in a booth on the far side. They both slid into the booth across from her.
"What's up?" asked Knox.
"The guy sitting at the bar. At the very end. In the gray jacket."
"What about him?" asked Knox.
"He might be your bomber," she said.
"How did you find him?"
"I saw him on the security cameras in the lobby and then in here. He's nervous, anxious. He has something in his pocket—in his right jacket pocket."
"Why didn't you text us and stay in Room 336? That would have been safer," Knox said before he could will the overprotectiveness out of his voice.
She gave him a funny look. "I needed to locate him. I watched him on the surveillance footage for a while. But then he found that spot. He's obviously scoped this place out. He made a beeline for that seat. It's in a blind spot on the cameras. I watched him come in and walk straight out of the view of the cameras, so I came down to check it out. He's been sitting there for almost ten minutes now."
Knox watched the man. "Okay, it's worth checking out. He's up to something."
Jason surveyed the room. "We can chat him up at the bar, but I don't want him getting too nervous. If he does have a detonator in his pocket, I don't want him setting it off. I don't know how professional this guy really is. He built bombs for Byron because he owed them something. He's not even getting paid for this."
Knox glanced over just in time to see the man stand and leave the bar. "Okay, where's he—"
Allie leaned back in her seat to get a better look. "He just entered the men's restroom."
"Well, that makes things easy," Knox said.
Jason nodded.
Knox placed his hand on Allie's arm. "Stay here. We'll be back."
Allie tried not to stare at the door to the men's restroom while she waited for Knox and Jason. But with nothing to do but wait and wonder what danger they were facing, fear crawled into herstomach and threatened to overwhelm her with anxiety-fueled nausea.
She'd almost worked up the courage to enter the men's room herself when she spotted Knox and Jason walking back toward the table. She glanced back at the restroom door. The man hadn't exited.
Knox looked at her and waved for her to follow. "We're leaving."
She scooted out of the booth and followed them out of the bar.
"What's going on?" she asked Knox when they entered the lobby.
He nodded toward the elevators. "In a minute," he whispered.
They waited for the elevator for a grueling thirty seconds that feltmuchlonger.
