She fished a couple of dog treats out of her pocket. Nutmeg hadn't taken his eyes off their ice cream cones for one single second, and his jealous whimpers bordered on pathetic. "You're not starving, Nutmeg. And you don't need ice cream. But here you go." She fed him the treats.
Nash had grown quiet. He was probably calculating how many ways his mission could go wrong. She hoped he didn't regret helping her. If she could help him somehow—
She grabbed his arm when the thought hit her. "Hey, I want to show you something."
Shefumbled in her purse one-handed, with the ice cream cone in the other. She withdrew her phone.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Well, to be honest, it might be nothing. But since you said you worked for the CIA—"
"Emphasis on the past tense."
"I know, but when you first told me you worked for a private security firm, I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know if you were just some sort of bodyguard or . . . anyway, you have an intelligence background. And you work with a team from this security company—"
"And that's why you want to show me . . ." He pointed to the phone. "What exactly?"
"Like I said, it might be nothing, but,"—she drew in a deep breath—"a day before the party, Cassidy had mentioned to me that Emil was supposed to be playing golf all day. She was kind of annoyed about it. Anyway, his building is only half a block from my family's business. I was going to get coffee at a coffee shop I like near his building that afternoon. And I saw him enter a hotel lobbynear his building."
"Since he lied to Cassidy about playing golf and was going into a hotel, you thought he was having an affair." Nash finished her sentence.
"Yes, well, as terrible as it sounds, I hoped that was the case. Because I'd been trying to talk Cassidy into breaking up with him, but I couldn't give her solid reasons. But this, this is something she couldn't ignore."
Nash's eyebrows lift. "You followed him?"
Lena nodded. "He never saw me. And, like I told you, he wouldn't recognize me. But I kept my distance, so he wouldn't realize anyone was watching."
Lena wasn't sure if Nash's expression meant he was impressed or thought she was reckless.
"I followed him through the hotel lobby, but he didn't go upstairs. He walked all the way through to the back of the hotel and went through an employee exit to a loading zone area. I realized at that point that it probably wasn't a romantic rendezvous, but he was acting so secretive, he, well, he just looked plain guilty. So when a man walked up to him, I started videoing with my phone."
A new intensity flashed in his eyes. "They didn't see you?"
"No, I didn't get very close. I hid behind some crates and videoed through the crack between two of the crates. I'll show you the video. It's not that great. The traffic noise was so loud, and I was so far away. The video doesn't pick up a single word of what they said."
She scrolled through her pictures while she explained. "They look serious, and it was certainly a covert meeting. In the moment, I was hoping I was getting a recording of him doing something terribly illegal to use against him."
That sounded terrible. She flicked her gaze to his. "Not like blackmail. I wouldn't—I didn't mean like that. I just wanted Cassidy to realize he wasn't the man she thought he was. And if he was doing something illegal, I would let the police know. I wasn't going to blackmail him."
"I believe you. So, what's in the video?"
Her shoulders sagged. "I can't tell much from it. And maybe it's pointless, but I thought maybe you could see something I missed. You know how to read lips?"
"Not very well. But we have software that can."
Oh. Of course they do. "I was kidding, but um . . . She handed him the phone. "Good luck."
He played the ninety-second video, studying it like Emil could be planning world domination. At least Nash was taking her seriously.
"Well?" she asked when the video ended. "Is it helpful?"
"Not yet," he said. "But if you will send it to me, I can get it to someone who can take it apart. Analyze it. Besides reading lips, we can dissect the sound, take out the traffic noise. We can also work with some facial recognition software to see who this person is. Have you ever seen them before?"
"No, never."
He handed the phone back to her. "Don't send me the video now. I don't want you to use the boat's Wi-Fi. Wait until we're back at my apartment. It's more secure."
She slid the phone into her purse. "I hope it can help you. I didn't think I could use it for anything."
