Taylor rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how difficult those things made walking, let alone running the stairs."
Paul chuckled, then sobered. "You go. I'll help Officer Jones secure the scene and start looking for evidence."
"We need to know what was taken. The computer was smashed, but I'm hoping that I can get enough off the hard drive."
"If anyone can do it, I know you can." Paul shoved her shoulder playfully. "Now go get yourself put back together. We've got a crime scene to process."
Halfway down the stairs, the lights came back on. Taylor had failed tonight, but she needed to push that aside and figure out who broke into the senator's room. Heading towards the bathroom, she scanned the hall for McNite. He wasn't there. Another mystery she would need to solve, but first, shoes and some pants.
CHAPTER 2
Taylor rubbed the grit from her eyes. She had been working through the files on the smashed computer all night. There would be no rest until they knew if anything was stolen from the computer. According to Senator Schulz, nothing else in the room was missing. It took some convincing, but the Senator agreed to move to a different hotel until they could confirm if anything was missing from the device. The man did not take lightly to being told what to do. When Davin finally got on a video call, Senator Schulz reluctantly took his things to a safe location.
Taylor blew a stray hair out of her face. The blonde color was growing on her, but this style was driving her crazy. She pushed away from the desk and stretched her arms above her head. "I need to get some caffeine."
"I'll come with you. My eyes need a break from combing through security footage." To his credit, Paul didn't sleep last night either. Even though they didn't know if anything was taken, he was determined to make sure whomever did this would be caught. He was a good agent. And friend. Someone she could trust.
The smells of coffee filled her senses as soon as she walked into the lobby of the hotel. The line wasn't long yet. Most people on vacation weren't up at this hour in the morning.
Taylor and Paul ordered their drinks. Taylor looked at Paul, wondering whether to ask him to track McNite's movements last night.
"You should just ask me whatever has you all flustered."
Taylor sighed. "The man that followed me into the hall last night right before the lights went out, could you track his movements?"
Paul picked up their order and nodded to a small table in the corner. "Are you going to tell me why you want me to find him? The comms cut out as he approached you and I couldn't hear your conversation. That's why I was yelling your name."
Taylor took a sip of her double macchiato. This was exactly what she needed to lift the brain fog. "The man said his name was Ryan McNite, but I'm not sure."
"You think he was lying? Do you think he had something to do with what happened?"
Should Taylor tell Paul everything McNite told her last night? She had been turning it over and over in her head, and she still wasn't sure exactly what to make of the whole thing. She looked at Paul.
"You're going to think I'm crazy, but I think that McNite may have been Kam King, my dead fiancé."
"Walk me through it. Start at the beginning."
Relief washed through her that Paul didn't outright dismiss her crazy notion. "Three years ago my fiancé died while serving overseas. Everyone told me that I should let it go, but the story that we got from the powers that be didn't add up to me. Call it grief or denial, but I couldn't bring myself to fully believe that Kam died that day."
When Paul didn't say a thing, Taylor continued. "In my spare time, I've been looking into his death. Mostly hitting red tape and brick walls. Until last month, when you and Nalani gave the sketch of Gregor."
Paul's eyes darkened. "You mean to tell me that you think your dead fiancé was working with Spartak?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure. All I know is that this Gregor character looks similar to Kam." Taylor took another sip of her drink to calm herself before continuing. "Last night, this McNite person knew things that only Kam would know. I don't know for sure if it was him, but whoever he was, he'll have answers that I need."
Paul drank from his cup, but remained quiet. "Gregor is the only reason that we got to Nalani as fast as we did. He probably saved her life."
Paul shifted in his seat and leaned forward. "I'll comb through the footage, but if he is a ghost, then he probably isn't going to appear on many cameras. I'll start with the hall that he confronted you in and trace his steps backward."
Paul laid his hand on hers. "Taylor, do you think he has something to do with all of this?"
She pulled her hand away. She had told him her crazy theory, and he didn't doubt her; she could trust him with the message McNite gave her last night, too. "He warned me that whatever was going to happen, they were going to blame me for it, and then he insisted on coming with me. I told him to stay there and that I had questions for him. When the lights went out, I lost track of him."
"I'll see what I can find, but Taylor, be careful. This guy could be Kam, or he could be someone placed here to keep you distracted from finding the truth."
Taylor was going to respond, but Davin chose that moment to walk through the door. He waved at them and went to thecounter to order a coffee. Paul gathered up their empty drink containers and headed towards their boss.
"Good to see you two up."
