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“Let’s go.” Teo and I headed down a series of corridors through the manager’s office and into a room that only a handful of people had access to. One security guard sat behind a desk of screens, all running different security footage, and he jumped to attention when we walked in.
“Signore Venturi, Signore Morelli, what are you doing here?”
“Besides the fact that I own the hotel?” Teo raised an eyebrow at him, and the man scurried out of his seat.
“Of course. How can I help you?”
“We need to see security footage for the last half hour. Focus on the first floor. The ballroom, and any adjacent rooms or hallways.”
“Yes, don. Of course.” The man sat back down and began typing away on the computer until several videos pulled up in a grid on the monitors. “These cover the ballroom and all the rooms adjacent. I started one hour ago.”
“Good.” Teo studied the screens carefully while I scanned each one for any sign of Aurora.
“Okay, there she is finishing her dance with me,” Teo pointed to the ballroom screen.
“And there, she disappears into the crowd.”
“I lost her.”
“There.” I pointed to the screen as Aurora emerged from the crowd and made her way toward the side exit.
“What’s she doing over there?”
“Shit,” I muttered.
“What?”
“That’s where I was talking with Romano.”
“You think she overheard something?”
“She had to have. Look at how she turns and hurries away. She’s upset, probably looking for a place to be alone for a few minutes.”
“You can tell all that from so far away?”
“It’s the way she’s carrying herself,” I answered without taking my eyes off of Aurora on the screen. I was afraid to blink for fear she would disappear again.
I could feel Teo’s eyes on me and I glanced at him, “what?” I asked curiously before looking back at the screen.
“Nothing. You just really know her well.”
“Yeah,” I muttered.
We tracked Aurora through the ballroom until she darted into the small hallway we’d been in earlier.
“She went outside,” The security guard said, pointing at the outdoor parking area. “She looks really upset. Maybe she went home?”
We watched the screen as a car pulled up. Aurora was talking to someone, but I couldn’t tell who. I wished the camera had sound, so I knew what they were saying.
“Is there any way to zoom up on the driver?”
“Let me try.” The guard typed a few more times as the image froze on the best shot we had of the car. He managed to zoom up some, playing with brightness and contrast until a grainy image appeared.
“That’s Romano,” I growled.
“How do you know? That picture is terrible,” Teo asked.
“I recognize his suit. It’s him.”
