Two hours passed. Between Jason, Knox, and Leland, they’d identified four other people on Drakos’ suspect list, discreetly tagged them with listening devices, and Knox put a GPS tracker on Frederick’s car.
Jason signaled Knox, who drifted through the crowd to Leland. He and Tayla joined them a minute later near a table laden with trays of shrimp and tropical fruit.
“Okay,” Jason said. “Phase two. You guys head upstairs and help Rowan listen in on the men we tagged. Hopefully, we’ll hear something useful.”
Knox picked up a shrimp, dipped it in something, and popped it in his mouth. “Will do,” he said, while chewing. “And we’re ordering room service.” He swallowed and pointed to the elaborate display of seafood. “I hope they have that creamy white sauce on the room service menu. It’s amazing.”
Jason kept his voice low. “Tayla and I will tag Frederick, then we’ll join you.”
The conversation paused as they all watched Knox pile shrimp on an hors d’oeuvres plate. He looked up. “What?”
“You and Leland need to get going,” Jason said.
“I know. This is my to-go plate. I need a snack while I’m waiting for room service.”
Leland rolled his eyes, nodded to Jason, and left Knox drowning his little mountain of shrimp with the cream sauce.
Knox, clearly enjoying Leland’s reaction, gave Jason a wink, and followed the senior agent out of the ballroom.
Tayla smiled. “You and Knox seem to be good friends.”
Jason nodded. “Yes. And please don’t misinterpret his attitude.” He tilted his head to the spot where Knox stood a second ago. “We both respect your uncle. But Knox is going to give him a hard time. It’s just the way he is. He’s going to joke around. Especially when an op is running smoothly.”
“You seem to trust Knox—professionally, I mean.”
“Definitely. He’s very good. I trust him with my life.”
“Good to know.” Something behind him caught her attention. She opened her mouth and shut it without a word.
“What’s up?”
“There’s a guy standing near the last set of doors. I know I’ve seen him before. I can’t place him, though.”
“You saw him on the island? Or could he be one of the men who broke into Leland’s house?” He casually rotated to look at the man she described.
She waved off his suggestions. “No, no. Nothing recent. I feel like I should know him from a long time ago. I just can’t remember.” She shrugged. “Hopefully he won’t walk over and expect me to remember him.”
Her casual tone didn’t match the concern on her face.
“You okay?”
Her features relaxed a little, but she still stared at the mystery man. “Yes. It’s just frustrating.” She squeezed his arm and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry.” She smiled. “It’s not important. We need to focus on Frederick, right?”
“Yes, but if you figure out who that guy is, let me know.” Because the concern on her face worried him.
She smiled at him again. “It’s fine, really. Sorry I got distracted. Let’s focus on Frederick.”
Her expression relaxed more. Maybe his worries were unwarranted. He might be paranoid because they were in the middle of a mission. And because he was starting to feel overly protective of Tayla.
She still hadn’t mentioned Knox’s comment about Jason “making a pass” at her. Maybe she thought Knox was joking. And maybe that was for the best. As tempting as she was, on so many levels, pursuing Tayla Faraday was probably a bad idea. He felt they had a connection a couple of times since they’d met, but once she thought about what she wanted, she’d likely prefer a relationship with someone who didn’t get shot at on a regular basis. Most women did. Besides, Leland might kill him.
He angled back to the chattering crowd and forced his attention on Frederick Kost.
Tagging Frederick had proved challenging. He’d been the center of a lot of attention all evening. His entourage, and the new friends he’d made over the last two hours, kept him cocooned in their mob of merriment. Jason needed him away from that group.
“Is something wrong?” asked Tayla.
“No. Why?”
