Chapter 14: Continued Pursuit

Jimmy slept later than normal on Saturday morning after his excess the previous night. Even so, the day passed very slowly. He wished they had put an earlier time for the drop off, but knew that 9:00 PM was probably good. It was late enough to have most of the family traffic out of the casino, but not so late that there may be a problem with an inebriated guest.

His one respite was his mid-afternoon mission to find a place to put a camera without being seen. William scouted the area after breakfast and found what he thought may be a perfect spot. Jimmy went to confirm the idea and find the specific hidey-hole. The hallway in question had alcoves about eight feet off the ground. In each one sat a large potted plant on a recessed shelf. Their camera could either sit behind the planter, or even on a mono-pod in the planter and be aimed through the leaves. The device was self-contained so they did not need to worry about power or a WiFi signal.

Jimmy strolled down the hallway and found the planters just as William described. Also, like William said, there was a chair situated directly under a planter that faced the intersection of hallways that was the dead-drop. A knight with golden armor stood on an elevated platform. On his belt were several small pockets, almost like miniature medieval fanny packs. According to Leonard, the one at the back of the knight’s left side was operational and could be opened. That was where Jimmy would leave the thumb drive.

The only hitch in the plan was that an older gentleman was sitting on the chair under the alcove facing the knight. He had his phone out and was staring intently at the screen. Jimmy assumed he was playing a game. Twenty minutes later his phone rang. He answered, then put it in a pocket and ambled toward the casino floor. Jimmy still assumed it was a game, but maybe he was playing just to kill time while waiting on his wife?

With the seat clear, Jimmy quickly walked to where the man sat, stepped onto it, then put a foot on the back and reached upward. He had already attached the camera to a mono-pod and pushed it into the pot. The plant was fake, but there was a malleable material used to simulate dirt in the pot. The camera slid into place. Jimmy took one last look to make sure it had a clear view of the knight and was not obscured by leaves. Satisfied, he jumped down and causally walked away from the area.

William spent the day with his nose in his laptop. He was able to keep up with most of his work from the hotel room, but did receive a surprise when Richard called him directly.

“William,” Richard said, “it’s been too long. What’s going on? Did that info we gave Heidi work?”

“Yes, sir,” William said. “It started to unravel threads. Can we talk on Monday? I am currently out of town following a lead. I promise to have a trove of meaningful information next week.”

Richard paused. He hated being told what to do, or even being told a suggestion, but from Richard, he knew he wouldn’t’ get anything from him by playing the heavy.

“OK. I’ll call a president’s meeting for Monday night. You’ll call me Monday morning.”

“If I may make an additional suggestion,” said Richard, “Can you call the meeting for Vegas? Say it is because you want to personally talk to the hotel staff that was on strike and thank them for coming back so quickly.”

Richard started to say something then stopped. Instead he said, “I’ll bet that is where you are now, and by next week my visit won’t be to talk to the staff.”

“See you Monday,” was all Richard said before hanging up.

A few minutes after 8:00 PM found Jimmy walking down the hallway with the knight. He was wearing a baggy sweatshirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. When he reached the knight, he paused, put his foot on the elevated platform, and made a show of tying his laces. He looked from one side to the other, then subtly dropped the thumb drive into the knight’s pouch.

The chair he observed the older man in earlier in the day was empty. Inspired by him, Jimmy took a seat and pulled out his phone. He texted William.

“Package delivered.”

A few seconds later he got a thumbs-up to his message.

Jimmy browsed the web, played solitaire, and tried to keep his mind occupied, but time seemed to have stopped. Only three people passed his seat between eight and nine. At nine he was fully alert and scanning the area from the top of eyes while he tried to appear like he was looking down at his phone.

At nine-thirty a woman wearing a dark blazer, glasses, and hat approached the knight from a different direction. She did not pause, but walked directly to the knight’s left side, opened the pouch, retrieved the drive, and spun and returned the same way she approached.

Throwing caution aside, Jimmy jumped up and ran down the hallway. When he turned the corner he saw the woman remove her hat and melt into the crowd on the casino floor. Jimmy ran after her and thought he found her rounding a far corner. He kept his pursuit and finally saw her pause when she got to reception. He took out his phone and snapped several photos.

The next thing Jimmy saw was the woman walking behind the counter to speak with the young man working the late shift. He was nodding and pointing to his computer screen. She patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

Suddenly, both the woman and young man looked up. A man was standing at the counter and demanded their attention. Jimmy recognized the man. It was Evan Poulter. The manager of The Five Peaks. The woman left the counter and gestured for Evan to follow. Jimmy ran across the lobby to a location where he could get a good view of the two as they passed. He turned on the video recorder on his camera.

When they passed and rounded the corner, Jimmy followed as closely as possible. Evan thought they were out of sight so he grabbed the woman’s butt. She yelped in surprise, but was clearly not offended by the move. Around the next corner Evan upped his game and stroked the back of his hand across her breast. She spun and walked backwards a few steps while forcefully grabbing his crotch and laughing.

Jimmy had his camera clicking away and got most of the touching between the two before he texted William.

“West-side Tower. Elevator Bank Two. Floor TBD.”

They entered an empty elevator. Jimmy watched the floor indicator stop at the thirty-fourth floor. He texted William a second message, “F34.”

Jimmy took the next available ride and had to share it with a slobbering drunk and his wife.

“Whyyy’dd wee hafta bring the kiiids,” he slurred. “I wanna ravaage you in da room.”

The woman patted the man’s shoulder. She saw Jimmy looking at them and she rolled her eyes as if to say sorry. At the twenty-second floor they got out.

Jimmy said, “Good luck, ma’am.” She sighed and reached her arm around her husband’s waist to help him navigate to their room.

At the thirty-fourth floor Jimmy cautiously looked out of the elevator. He scanned up and down the hall and did not see any clear indication where Evan and the woman went. He randomly chose the left hallway and slowly walked it, pausing in front of each door to listen. At the end of the hall his search paid off. He heard a shriek.

“Oh, Evan! You shouldn’t have!”

Jimmy retreated a few doors and slipped into the small room with a vending machine and the ice maker. He texted William, “Room 3401.”

Twenty minutes later the door to the vending machine room opened and William stepped inside.

“You sure?” was all he said.

“Woman shrieked, ‘Oh, Evan,’ so unless there’s a second couple with the man’s name of Evan, yeah, we have ‘em.”

“Get your phone out and record video,” commanded William.

They approached the door to Room 3401 and paused. They could hear the sounds of passion from inside the room.

William pulled a key card from his pocket and slid it into the lock. The small light turned from red to green. He pushed open the door silently and strolled into the room. Jimmy was right behind him with his camera recording ever second.

When they were fully in the room they saw a naked woman astride a man in a reverse cowgirl position. She was bouncing on his hips while holding her large breasts against her chest. She wore a gold necklace with a shining pendant around her neck. When she saw the William and Jimmy she screamed and froze.

“Hello,” William said in a friendly tone.

Hearing a man’s voice, Evan started to move, but was pinned under the woman.

“Ma’am,” William continued, “why don’t you let Evan up, and then the two of you put on some clothes. Nobody do anything stupid and this will be over in a few minutes.”

The woman rolled off Evan while holding her hands over her breasts. She was oblivious that her thick, mottled, pubic hair was on full display. Evan’s dick had quickly deflated and he grunted loudly as he rolled his heavyset body to the edge of the bed.

Seeing that the sheet was free, the woman grabbed it and wrapped it around her body. Evan found and slipped on his boxers, then his shirt followed and he started to button the top few buttons.

“Who are you? How the fuck did you get a key? And most importantly, what the fuck do you want?” Evan demanded.

Sarah and Joseph both called their spouses and told them they were staying in the city for the weekend. They said that all of the problems that were facing Argonne seemed to be coming to a resolution and Richard demanded everyone be ready at a moments notice to react to new leads.

It was Sunday morning. Sarah was laying quietly in bed without moving. She didn’t know what time it was, but could see daylight starting to poke through the edges of the light-darkening curtains. Neither Sarah nor Joseph had been out of the room since they arrived on Friday after lunch. Other than a robe or towel to let in a bellhop, neither had put on any clothes since Friday.

Joseph was still asleep and sprawled out on top of the sheet and comforter. Sarah smiled as she studied his member. She loved his dick. The size, the color, the taste. She loved it all. She loved the feeling he gave her as he penetrated her pussy, or more recently, her ass. She was getting wet looking at his inert member.

She moved slightly and opened her mouth. She took him fully into her mouth and began to swirl her tongue over his little head. She flicked the tip of her tongue into the hole at the tip. Joseph stirred and moaned.