“I wasn’t kidding when I said others were probably jealous.Rest.”He pulled her into his arms.Andrea gave up the fight.There was no sense since it was already said and done.
Andrea closed her eyes and felt her body begin to get heavy.She woke up sometime later.The room was bathed in a soft yellow glow from the bathroom light, but she could tell it was dark out, and the bed next to her was empty.
She spotted Jack standing near the window, peeking through the curtains fully dressed.He seemed to sense she was awake or heard her moving around.A soft smile bloomed on his lips.
“I need to check in with the guys and figure out placement, but I wanted to wait until you were awake to tell you.”
“Can I come with you?”
The smile fell, and Jack shook his head.“No, the less you know about where we are, the better.I don’t want to risk you looking and giving us away.”
That stung but made sense.She would probably be looking around for them.She would just have to be accept she’d only know they were there but not where.“Fine,” she sighed heavily, falling on her back and staring at the ceiling.
“What is it?”Jack asked, coming to sit on the side of the bed next to her.He took her hand in his and kissed the back of her knuckles.
“I’m just getting tired of sitting in this room.”
“I understand, but you have the most important job to do tomorrow.You’re almost done.One more day.”
“Alright, fine, whatever.”She did understand, but Andrea hated being idle.“Are you coming back afterward?”At least hanging out with him made her wait-time more tolerable.If she was left alone, she might go stir crazy.
“I will.”
“Okay, any chance you’ll bring back dinner?”Andrea hated being holed up in the room but didn’t want to risk being seen by someone.She didn’t know where everyone else was and didn’t want to compromise the mission wandering around.
“I can, or you can order room service.”
“Is that safe?”
“It will be fine.The buyer needs a trade not to pose as a server to kill you for it.”It was as if he had plucked that idea straight from her head.Maybe she did watch too many movies.
“Okay.Do you want anything?”
“Sure.”
“What do you want?”
“I’m not picky.Anything you get, just get two.”Jack checked his watch.“I have to go.I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Andrea kissed him goodbye and ordered two cheeseburgers and fries with a Coke.Not her normal fare, but she was on a mini vacation, and this might be her last meal.Might as well enjoy it.She put on some PJs so as not to scare the waiter and flipped on the TV, hoping Jack wouldn’t be too long.
Chapter 40
Jack’s eyes constantly scanned the occupants as he walked through the lobby toward the conference room.No one stood out or seemed to pay him any attention.Just to be safe, he took the long path past the emergency exit to the side entrance to the conference room.
He only opened the door a few inches and slipped inside, closing the door silently behind him.The guys were already here and stood in a circle.Their voices were in a low whisper.The whispering stopped, and everyone turned at his entrance.
“About time you showed up,” Rob chuckled.
“Everything in place?”Jack asked, looking pointedly at Luke.It was Jack’s mission, but since Luke was team lead, Jack was letting him run point.
“The exits are planned out and covered.Now we just need to figure out this room.”The conference room was a few hundred square feet.There were several rows of long banquet tables covered in white tablecloths and red and gold upholstered chairs around them.
“Someone can be in that corner.”Rob pointed to the corner near the front entrance.They walked around it to be sure it would work.There was a DJ booth set up.It was small, but it would have coverage and viewpoints to see the entrance as well as a view into the room.
“That could work,” Luke agreed.
They all stepped up on the stage.It was two feet above the ground.The stage was only about ten feet wide and the same depth.They took a peek behind the curtain.There was nothing behind there but more curtains.“We can cover from here,” Luke said.“It’s not much coverage, but it’s adequate for the short amount of time we need.”
