by Peche, Alec
She sensed that the registration desk was eyeing her suspiciously as they directed frequent glances her way. She had been in the lobby for perhaps five minutes when a hotel security guard stopped by and asked her if she was a guest of the hotel. She showed him her hotel room key and he smiled and left. Stopping by the registration desk, the guard let them know that she was legitimate. That told her that the people that were tracking them might be guests of the hotel.
She watched the lobby for another hour but no one else seemed to be conducting surveillance. She decided to go outside to determine if surveillance was happening outside the hotel but again she couldn't find a parked car with someone sitting in it watching the hotel entrance. She spent a little more time outside considering the possibilities and then gave it up to return to the hotel suite.
"Hey, Jill, how did the disguise work?" asked Marie.
"It worked so well that the registration desk had hotel security stop by and ask me if I was a guest. I just showed him my room key and he moved on, but it got me to thinking about this hotel. I don't think they would allow any stranger to wait in their lobby for any length of time.
“I think our assailants are staying in the same hotel. Nick, I wondered if you had the ability to hack into the hotel's cameras to see if someone was stationed in the lobby and watching us as we were leaving the hotel for lunch.”
"Why don't I just ask the nice security person I spoke to last night and see if he'll allow me to view their tapes? That way I won't have to do anything illegal," suggested Nick his voice loaded with sarcasm.
"You do have a point. Let me know if you get access and I’ll view the lobby tapes with you.”
Nick left the suite in search of the security personnel he'd spoken to the previous night. Like Jill, he had been trying to figure out how they were being followed. He needed the equipment that Henrik had used at his home to check their luggage for tracking bugs. Maybe he could convince Jill to invest in such a system for their future safety.
Jo looked over at Jill and asked, "What did Nathan think of our adventures so far?"
"We had a huge fight when I told him about the encounters with the snowmobile and the Hummer," Jill disclosed.
"Fight? What is there to fight over? I don't understand," said a confused Jo.
"He wanted to jump on a plane to Colorado so he could protect me from bad and evil people. I said no. We argued about it a little more and I think we both came close to saying something that we might regret."
"Why don't you want his help with keeping you safe? I think I'm missing the point here,” said a bemused Jo.
"The guy is a world-class artist for wine labels. It feels wrong and inconsiderate of me to have him at my side whenever anyone tries to harm me. It is like I tell him to put his life on hold with careless disregard for what he might be doing at that moment," explained Jill.
"Did he complain to you about dropping everything and having to come to your rescue?" challenged Jo.
"Well. No,” replied Jill.
"Was he mad that you had gone and got yourself in a dangerous situation for the third time this year?” Jo continued to challenge Jill's line of thinking.
"No he wasn't mad and now I'm feeling like a fool. You're correct he's a big boy who can make his own decisions. I think I better call him and apologize," said a chagrined Jill.
"I think perhaps you need to not worry or apologize about putting any of us in danger. We’re here because we love you and enjoy the work you throw our way; you help pad our vacation accounts and it allows us to share in the adventure. We’re all adults in this venture and we can opt out at any time. In my day job I just don’t get attacked by snowmobiles and so at the moment it is a refreshing change,” observed Jo.
Jill walked over to hug Jo. Jo was right; this is what they had all signed on for, Nathan included. After a fabulous hug from her friend she entered her bedroom to call Nathan. She hoped he would take her call.
“Hello,” said Nathan and then added as he squinted at her on Face Time, “You look rather strange. What is wrong with your appearance?”
“Oh, sorry I forgot I was wearing a disguise. Just ignore my looks as I called to apologize.”
“Depends on what the apology is for.”
“For not trusting you to manage your own life.”
“Huh?”
“I was trying to make decisions for you. By banning you from coming I could control your safety.”
“True.”
"Jo reminded me you were an adult capable of making your own decisions and I should stop trying to make them for you."
"Next time I see Jo, I’ll have to give her a hug as I agree with what she says."
"You're not making this easy."
"True. However I was really upset that you were trying to make decisions for me. I know that some of these investigations result in you being in danger and I accept your occupation. I'm proud that you're able to bring justice to families that might not otherwise get it. But I also want to help and maybe the only way I can help is by trying to provide protection for you."
"You don't understand how bad I feel when I pull you away from your world of wine label design. I feel bad that your life is at risk, I feel bad that I'm taking you away from design and you're so brilliant at that. The guilt is killing me."
"You forget my martial arts background. And I don't mean my black belt in hapkido. I have trained for two decades to be a warrior in hapkido, and protecting you allows that warrior to exploit everything I've trained for. So while you feel terrible when I am dragged into dangerous situations, I actually feel fulfilled and master of the universe."
"Really? Master of the universe huh? Well okay. Umm, there is room for you in our hotel suite if you have a desire to take on snowmobiles and other dangerous winter activities."
"That was the lamest invitation to join an exciting murder investigation that I've ever received. Despite its lameness, as soon as I make arrangements for Trixie and Arthur, I'll head your way. Perhaps I can catch the shuttle with Angela."
"You just want to socialize with all my friends. I don't think this has anything to do with being master of the universe master black belt hapkido champion.”
"I do love your friends. Besides I need to add some testosterone balance for Nick against all you women."
"Do you at least have some wineries to visit while you're in the great state of Colorado?"
"I do have clients in Colorado. However many of the wineries are closed now; some close when snow hits the ground as tourists are no longer thinking of visiting wineries. So you will have my full and undivided attention.”
“Let me know your travel plans when they are finalized. Love you.”
“Love you back and see you soon.”
After ending the call, Jill sat for a few moments thinking about Nathan’s desire to be the hapkido warrior of the world. Then she stood up to head to the living room shaking her head. She still didn’t understand the male psyche.
Nick looked up as she entered the living room and motioned her over to his computer.
“Hey Jill take a look at these pictures from the ski resort and from this hotel’s lobby.”
Nick pointed to four pictures. “These are the three ticket booth purchases of one of the two people that spent a lot of time near Joseph. The fourth picture is of our lobby as we walked to lunch earlier today.”
“Wow, looks to me as though it is the same person. In the hotel lobby, you get a better look at his face without the helmet and goggles blocking your view. That is a very distinguishing scar on his lower cheek. It’s very helpful to us for future identification. Did you look for the scar on the faces of the Hummer driver or passenger?"
“Good idea, let’s look at your phone.”
Jill returned to the bedroom to grab her phone, pulling up Nick’s picture of the Hummer from this afternoon. Between the glare of the sun and the tint of the windows, the picture was too fuzzy to be able to tell much about the driver and passenger.
“I don’t think this picture is of any help,” Jill said handing the phone over to Nick.
“You’re right. Oh well. At least we have the guy on two of three locations. I’m emailing the picture to one of Henrik’s engineers to see if their facial recognition software will identify the man. It’s coming up on five in the morning in Germany so we’ll probably have to wait a few hours for an answer.”
“As soon as you get an answer back, forward it to me even if it is the middle of the night. I would like to start my search of this person as soon as possible.”
“Will do,” replied Nick as he stood up and stretched. He was also from that same time zone as Germany and his body clock was confused. With only one night in America, he was more on a European time zone than Colorado. He was crashing hard and fast and couldn’t concentrate on the camera video. “Sorry to be a party pooper, but I am too tired to watch the video footage at this time, so I am heading to bed.”
“Nick, we know what jet lag is like. Go and rest, we’ll see you in the morning. I am sure the altitude is not helping your acclimation to this part of the world,” affirmed Marie.
“Goodnight all,” and he heard their echoed replies as he left the room.
“So is Nathan arriving tomorrow?” asked Jo.
“Yes, he thinks you’re a very wise friend and he owes you a hug. Apparently protecting me satisfies his ninja warrior master black belt hapkido king of the universe urges.”
“Wow, all of that! Far be it for a mere girlfriend to stand in the way of a guy wanting to be a ninja warrior master of the universe and those other titles you bestowed on him,” suggested Jo.
“I think I must have missed an earlier conversation,” declared Marie. “I’m sensing that Nathan wants to be master of the universe? That doesn’t really sound like him.”
“Nathan and I had our worse disagreement earlier and Jo helped me see the light. I called to apologize to Nathan and he admitted that providing me protection during our dangerous cases makes him feel like a master black belt Hapkido warrior. Who am I to stand in the way of such fulfillment?”
“Ok, now I get the picture. Did you really try to block him from being your protector? That should have resulted in a colossal fight, but now you saw his view and he is arriving tomorrow,” voicing the steps Jill had gone through. “Such drama going on under my nose and I missed it all! Darn you’re never a source of relationship drama, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help and I’m glad you have found peace again with Nathan. I really like him.”
“Not to throw a wet blanket on your enjoyment of my idiocy, but have you guys found anything new on this case?”
“It has been a real eventful day between traveling here and our encounter with the snowmobile. I’ve not had the best concentration, but I found a thread that I am teasing out on Rocky Mountain Clinical Trials or RMCT as it says on the company logo,” explained Jo.
“RMCT?” questioned Jill.
“Yeah, it is really too many words to say repeatedly.”
“I like that nomenclature; I’m going to add that to the murder board,” approved Jill. “What is the thread you’re chasing with RMCT?”
“I don’t know yet, it is just a feeling at the moment. I’ll sleep on what I have learned today and start fresh in the morning.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thank you my friends for cheerfully supporting my consulting business, and for putting your lives on the line for a client you have never met. Can I just say thank-you for being here?”
“Of course you can say thank you but it isn’t necessary,” said Jo supportively. “So far we have had an acceptable level of risk. I feel in danger but not like I was lucky to escape with my life. So life around you is scary and exciting and very tolerable. If I get hit with a bullet that might be my line in the sand and I might refuse to help you on-site, but I would still work for you behind the scenes.”
Jill walked over to her friends for a group hug; she was lucky to have such wonderful friends. They said their goodnights and settled in for the night.
Chapter Nine
After breakfast and well fueled with coffee they got to work on their searches. Given Jo’s itchiness over RMCT she wanted to start her FDA search with RMCT rather than Broomfield Pharmaceuticals. Angela and Nathan were due to arrive in the late morning. The rental car company was delayed getting Jill a new car so she would miss Joseph’s funeral. She sent David an update but indicated that he should focus on Joseph and himself today and ignore Jill’s existence.
She had a moment’s thought about what to do for meals.
“Hey what do you all want to do for meals? It seems that leaving the hotel results in the snowmobile from hell chasing us.” Jill speculated. “I bet I could have the concierge deliver groceries to us and since Nathan loves to cook, he could be our chef but then I would think we would all eventually go crazy not getting out of this very nice suite.”
“How about if we eat dinner in if Nathan is willing to cook, but we go out for lunch,” suggested Marie. “I don’t think these guys will be so bold during the daylight. Besides we’re talking a few days before we all go our separate ways. This is not like the twelve days in Belgium.”
“Yeah you’re right about us going our separate ways. I agree with Marie,” said Jo.
“I like to cook so I can help Nathan too,” Marie volunteered.
“Great sounds like a plan. Oh my gosh! I forgot the most important thing. Nick, did Henrik’s engineer identify the guy with the scar?”
“I’ve been checking my email every few minutes and nothing so far.”
“That delay is kind of weird,” stated Marie. “I remember when Henrik demoed the software while we were at his house and it seemed like it took less than ten minutes. Are you sure the guy has opened your email?”
“”Let me check on that. I spoke with the engineer before we left Germany, so he should have been expecting my email. Let me call him.”
They soon heard Nick speaking German and the women listened with envy at Nick’s ability to speak several languages. Shortly he ended the call.
“My email got sent to his spam folder. He pulled up the picture and thought he would have an answer for me in less than half an hour. He was concerned with the scar. It could be the identifying feature or it might throw off the facial recognition software.”
“Did the resort ever get back to us on whether they wanted Henrik’s help with determining the source of the lift failure?”
“Sorry I forgot to mention it to you, but I received an email from Tom last night. The resort’s lawyers drafted a privacy document for Henrik to sign which I forwarded to him and he signed and his engineer was supposed to access the resort’s lift system this morning.”
“Henrik has been a real help, I don’t know what we would have done without him to figure out some of these technology questions. At the very least he has solved them faster and I am not at all sure we would resolve them without his help. Do you have a number I can reach him at? I would really like to thank him for his efforts and for bringing you here on his jet.”
“Henrik feels that he is in your debt for solving his wife’s murder. He’ll likely want to help you the rest of his life.”
“All the more reason for me to personally thank him.”
After Nick supplied Jill with Henrik’s number, she called him to thank him and ended up telling him about the case and everyone staying at the suite. When he heard that the entire gang was there he thought about flying his jet into Vail to join them for dinner one night. He would have to see what he could arrange. It would be good for his soul to spend some time around these people.
With Marie, Jill, and Jo concentrating on RMCT, Nick was going bleary eyed looking at camera footage. He was both looking for the scar faced man and skiers wearing his type and coloring of clothing which was very common. Finally, the email he had been waiting for arrived from Henrik’s engineer.
“Hey, Henrik’s engineer came through. This guy is one of yours - he
is an American on the FBI’s most wanted list. There is a $200,000 reward for information leading directly to his arrest. Wow. His name is Jason Derek Brown wanted for the murder of an armored car guard a decade ago. He only got $56,000 from the guard before shooting him in the head five times. He is known to be a skier, dirt biker, is fluent in French, and he is armed. He is in his early forties, 5’10” tall, blond haired with green eyes. Here is the picture from the FBI.”
“Wow is right. I think I will call Special Agent in Charge Ortiz in the San Francisco office of the FBI. Colorado is not her jurisdiction but she can slice through the bureaucracy for us and validate our research and contribution to a case like this. I’m going to give her a call.”
Jill scrolled through her phone until she found the agent’s number and dialed. Her call went to voicemail so Jill left a message and ended the call. She would give the agent an hour to return her call and after that, she would try her luck with the local office.
Then the suite got the call from the lobby desk that Angela and Nathan had arrived. For their own safety and not wanting to appear with them in public, Jill asked the lobby to give them room keys and send them up. Once they arrived, there were hugs all around; Angela and Nick happy to re-unite, Nathan wanting to thank Jo for knocking some sense into Jill. It was coming up on lunch and so the group planned to eat in town. Before they left the suite, Jill shared the picture of Mr. Brown with everyone. Then the group debated whether they should stay together or split up. In the end they decided to stay together as they would be harder to take on as a group of six.
The group set out planning to stop at whatever restaurant caught their attention.They spotted an Irish Pub down the street and decided to make their way there. Jill's phone rang; the caller ID said "unknown" which made her pause until she remembered that it might be Special Agent Ortiz returning her call. She waved the others into the restaurant as she said “hello.”