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Gwen stared down at her phone and then looked at Will. “We’ve warned him, but I really hope he doesn’t see anything.”
“Me, too.” Will lifted the carafe. “Want a refill?”
She nodded and extended her cup. “What did your FBI friend say?”
“I haven’t heard back yet.” His cell chimed. Will read the caller ID. “It’s him.”
Will listened for a few minutes and glanced at his watch. “We’ll be there,” he said and set down his cell.
“Where are we going?” Gwen asked.
“Clay’s in town for a training seminar at a hotel here in Manhattan.” He checked the time “We need to meet him for lunch.”
9
“The hotel café’s off the lobby upstairs.” Will pushed open the street door. The hotel contained a Broadway theatre as well, and shoppers, guests, and people attending the matinee streamed through the doors with them. Will steered her toward the elevators.
Upstairs, Will’s friend, Clay LeBlanc, tanned with short dark hair waited for them where the restaurant merged with the lobby in the open plan layout. He shook her hand, his dark eyes serious. “Nice to meet you, Gwen. I’m expecting a call back from a colleague with more information about who you saw. Let’s grab a sandwich while we wait.”
They took a table with a view of the lobby, and Gwen stowed her shopping bags at her feet. Delicious smells drifted from the buffet at the end of the room. Guests filled other tables, the low murmur of their voices a steady background soundtrack.
After giving the waitress their order, Will leaned toward his friend, lowering his voice. “Were you able to discover his name?”
“He’s used several, but the one that’s lasted the longest is Evan Winston. The guy’s elusive. He’s never turned up in New York, but we’re pretty sure that’s the identity of the guy in your photos.”
The waitress returned with their drinks. Clay sipped his coffee and set the cup aside. “He’s a former soldier and now does special jobs for anyone who will pay him.”
“Sounds like a mercenary,” Will added, his voice equally low.
“That’s exactly what he is.”
Gwen shuddered. She’d been followed by a soldier of fortune, a man hired to kill, who would always carry a gun. That probably explained his wearing a jacket during the worst heat of the summer.
“We don’t know who he’s working for right now, unfortunately,” Clay said.
Gwen told him about the businessman she’d seen with Evan at the university seminar.
Will’s friend leaned forward. “You have a photo.”
“No, sorry.” She shook her head, and the conversation drifted to different topic.
She looked around. Was that alcove beyond the nearby circular bar a bathroom? Probably. Drinkers would want a restroom close. “Excuse me for a few minutes, please.”
Will jerked his gaze her way. “Do you want me to go with you?” Clay rubbed a finger under his nose and looked away. Will pushed back his chair. “I can wait outside.”
“You said no one followed us when we were shopping this morning.” Gwen moved to the edge of her seat. They’d stopped by a drug store and a sporting goods store to buy an extra set of clothes for her, and Will had hung around on the sidewalk both times to keep watch. “We know what Winston looks like now, but you told me you hadn’t seen him.”
“I didn’t.”
“The restrooms look like they’re over there. You can see that from here, right?” Will frowned in the direction she pointed. She stood. So did the men. “I won’t be long. Stay and visit with your friend.”
Gwen made a beeline around the circular bar. What she found was a service area for waiters, not a restroom entrance. She looked over her shoulder, but Will and his friend had their heads close together. No one was looking her way. She still quickened her pace, passing a gift shop, before finally finding the women’s restroom. From here, she couldn’t see their table, but she’d hurry.
A few minutes later, she washed and dried her hands and returned to the hall, ready to head back to the restaurant.
A large hand locked around her arm. She tried to tug free, but the grip tightened like an inflating blood pressure cuff. Her pulse spiked. “Let go, pleas?—”
She glimpsed the face of the hand’s owner, and her heart stuttered.