Page 43 of Dead Drift

The man was wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight and low over a baseball cap. He never looked up. He knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them, unfortunately. He wore long sleeves, black pants, and black leather gloves, but he was tall—six feet three, at least—and slender. Not the build of anyone they’d spoken with today.

The man came straight from the stairwell door at the opposite end of the hall, striding quickly down the corridor toward Griffin and Finley’s room. He swiped a key card in front of the lock, which gave them all pause. He let himself in, and after a minute and twenty seconds—Griffin timed it—he exited.

“Any other footage?” Bryson asked the guard.

“I got him coming in the east entrance, taking the east stairwell up, and exiting the same way.”

Bryson winced. “The side doors aren’t locked until after ten for guest convenience.”

How about guest security? Griffin thought.

They had a height and build to go by, but none of the stairwell footage on the way up gave them a better glimpse of the intruder’s face. On the way down, however, the intruder bumped into a woman coming up the stairwell. He quickly maneuvered around her and kept his head down. Within seconds, he’d passed back out the exterior door.

“Who is that woman?” Griffin asked. “We need to question her now.” She’d seen him up close. What details might she be able to provide?

18

Jiffers was part sports bar, part carnival games. It was in the enormous Arundel Mills Mall, and Luke was surprised Hank had picked this place over the casino next door. Hank greeted him with a lift of his chin, and Luke took the invite to join him at the high table as Hank ordered drinks.

Tanya grabbed Kate and pulled her over to the table catty-corner to them for some girl talk.

After introducing Luke to the two men at the table, Hank dismissed them, and didn’t take long to get to the point of the visit. “You said you were interested in making some cash under the table?”

Luke nodded. “Not gonna lie, my current HVAC gig isn’t bringing in the money I hoped it would.”

“You mentioned you had your commercial driver’s license?”

“Yeah. I used to run delivery trucks for FedEx and some off-the-books family-owned businesses.”

Hank chuckled. “This would be a bit different than FedEx, but perhaps not so different from your other gigs.”

“Okay.” He didn’t question. Never question. Let Hank share what he wanted, especially since this was only their second meeting.

“You’d be making deliveries for me from my warehouses to the addresses I provide. Most of the time it’s simply delivering the trucks themselves with a runner to transport you back.”

Luke shrugged. “Sounds easy enough.” He purposely didn’t ask what he’d be transporting.

Hank smiled. “I knew you were my kind of employee.”

“Why’s that?”

“You’re eager to work, I have a feeling you’re a hard worker, and best of all, you don’t ask questions.”

Luke signaled the waitress for another round. “On me.”

Hank laughed and draped his arm across Luke’s shoulder. “I knew I liked you.”

“When do you want me to start?” Luke asked.

“I need drivers now.”

“I’m ready.”

“Unfortunately”—Hank exhaled—“I’m short on trucks. Had to lend some out.”

“Yeah, what does Stallings’ mysterious friend want with delivery trucks anyway?” Tanya asked as she approached, spilling the small amount left in the bottom of her gigantic margarita glass.

Hank growled—actually growled—at her.