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“I’d like to make sure we’re alive to give our statements. How do we get back inside?”
“The easiest and quickest way,” Miss Walsh said, “is back the way we came. But they took my key card.”
“I have one,” Remi said, holding up her purse. “Borrowed it from another employee.”
“That’s my girl.” He climbed the stairs, then stopped at the top, waited to make sure it was clear, then motioned the others to come up. “Straight to the other door,” he said, bringing up the rear.
They filed in, Sam not relaxing until the door was shut tight behind them.
“We’ll head to the security offices,” Miss Walsh said. “We’ll be safe there until the police arrive.”
“This document they took,” Sam asked her as they walked, “did you happen to get a good look at it?”
“It was a pen-and-ink sketch.”
“Of what?”
“A round object with symbols on it. I must have seen it back when I first started cataloguing the Herbert Collection because I knew right away what he was talking about when he described it.”
“Any chance you might remember any of the symbols on it?”
“Unfortunately, no. Sorry.”
Hours later, Sam and Remi finally returned to their hotel room, exhausted. Side by side on the bed, they stared up at the ceiling. Remi reached over, grasping Sam’s fingers. “I can’t believe we were that close.”
“A good effort. Just not good enough.”
“How is it that he’s been one step ahead of us?”
A good question, Sam thought. They’d stopped the leak. Archer had assured him that Bree had not contacted her cousin since they confirmed she’d been the source. And still
they were constantly behind with every step they took. “They did have several days’ head start.”
“Maybe Selma has some news for us.”
“You want to call or should I?”
When Remi didn’t answer, he looked over at her. She was fast asleep. He watched her for several moments, thinking about the mixed emotions of that night’s events. He knew Fisk never intended to let them walk out of there, and while Sam wasn’t about to simply give up and die without a fight, he’d been okay knowing that Remi was outside and safe. At least until Ivan dragged her into the room.
His lovely wife had risked her own life to rescue him. And she’d had the brains to grab a weapon in the process.
He listened to the sound of her even breathing as she slept next to him and he smiled in the dark, thinking about the way she’d insisted that she be allowed to put on her shoes.
“Good one, Remi,” he whispered.
She stirred slightly but didn’t waken.
When he woke, it was to the sound of the phone ringing. He opened his eyes, surprised to see sunlight through the window, his fog-filled brain trying to remember where they even were. Hotel, he realized as Remi blindly reached for her cell phone, then put it to her ear, her voice hoarse as she said, “Hello . . . ? Wait . . . What?”
“Who is it?” Sam asked.
“Miss Walsh.” She propped herself on one elbow listening, then turned to Sam. “She knows where to find that circle with the symbols.”
Thirty-five
How could we have been so blind?” Remi asked.
“Easy,” Sam said, hitting the gas harder. The long stretch of country road before them was empty, which made the getting there that much faster. He checked his mirrors, even though he was fairly confident that they weren’t being followed. Why would they be? Fisk had gotten what he came for. “It was hidden in plain sight, and we weren’t looking in the right place.”