“Don’t stare, keep moving,” Sydney murmured to Winter, her eyes downcast as she took one more sip of her water. “Now that Seah’s here, the clock’s ticking.”
He did as Sydney said, his eyes skimming right past where the president now stopped to smile and shake hands with the Singaporean prime minister. He was about to take his seat. Beside him, Seah had already settled into his own chair.
Just like a performance,Winter recited to himself. Then they rose from their table in unison, Sydney falling into step right behind him as his bodyguard, and headed down the hall.
As they arrived back at the coat check, the clerk saw Winter, and thelight of recognition went off in her eyes. Winter saw her lips quiver slightly as she smiled, then offered him a polite nod.
“Back again, Mr. Young?” she said.
He smiled at her, his nerves now hidden behind a veil of charisma. Beside him, Sydney put her hands together and waited quietly. “I’m heading out onto the deck for the sunset,” he told the clerk conspiratorially, rubbing one of his sleeves for emphasis. “Thought I’d get my hat back.”
She nodded in hurried agreement. “Code, sir?”
“Forty-two sixty-two,” he said, handing her the ticket from Sydney.
She took it, then hurried off to the back room. A moment later, she returned with the deep blue top hat that belonged to Seah.
Winter’s heart hammered in his chest, but on the surface, he gave her a thoughtful frown. “Ah,” he said. “I don’t think that’s mine.”
Her eager face transformed into one of mortification. She looked at the hat again, as if willing it to change. “Oh! I’m terribly sorry about the mix-up. The correct ticket must have been handed to another patron.”
“It’s okay,” Winter said, holding his hand out for the hat. “I recognize it—it belongs to Mr. Seah. He probably has my ticket.”
“I’m so sorry,” the clerk said again, her cheeks flushed. She handed the hat to Winter, and Winter flipped it around his hand with a flourish before grabbing it.
“No worries,” he said, winking at her. “I saw him in the dining hall.”
Then he turned and went back the way he came. Sydney walked beside him, her position tight now against him. Her sleeve brushed against his purposefully, as if she were offering him encouragement.
So far, so good,he thought.
As he headed back into the dining hall, he saw that the president was now seated at his table. Odd. The president should have moved out of the dining hall by now. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sydney’s slight frown too as she noticed the same thing.
Winter let his eyes rove around the room, as if he weren’t sure where Seah was, until settling on where the man was ordering a drink at the bar.
“Mr. Seah?” Winter said as he approached him.
The man turned calmly to him, but something stiff about his movements and the brief widening of his eyes told Winter that he’d probably been startled by the approach. He quickly masked it with a smile, his eyes darting from Winter to Sydney. “Mr. Young!” he exclaimed, holding a hand out in greeting. “I thought I saw you coming in. What a wonderful concert you put on yesterday.”
Will I survive you?Winter thought grimly, but he flashed an easy smile and shook his hand warmly. As he did, he saw Seah’s eyes jump to the hat in his hand.
“Always glad to have impressed a fan,” Winter replied with a wink. Then he gestured at the hat and gave Seah an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry to bother you right before the dinner starts, but I think the attendant may have mixed up our tickets. Is this yours?”
He nodded and took the hat. “That’s the one.”
“I thought I recognized it from when you headed inside,” Winter said. “Would you mind if we…?” He nodded back toward the coat check hall.
Seah glanced once at the bartender, who held up his finished drink to let him know he’d save it for him. There was the slightest hint of hesitation, and Winter noticed the man’s eyes dart briefly to his table, where the president sat. “No worries,” he finally said. Then he headed for the corridor with Winter at his side.
“I didn’t know the sun set so early here,” Winter remarked, trying to keep Seah distracted with small talk as they went.
Winter noticed how the man’s eyes skipped around the hall, searching. “Everyone thinks that,” Seah answered. “As if the heat means sunshine around the clock, eh?”
Now every muscle in his body seemed tense. Winter’s own gaze hopped to the end of the corridor, where Tems should be readying the agents to pounce.
“One can hope,” Winter said with a light shrug, and Seah laughed.
But as they reached the coat check, Seah seemed to hesitate. He nodded at the clerk and brushed a nervous hand across his forehead. “It seems like we’ve switched tickets,” he said, fumbling around in his pocket for a ticket. “And I don’t know where mine’s gone. I got this one.”
