Page 16 of Elling & Jackie

Chapter 7

Elling's muscles crawled, making him antsy. He walked away from the crack in the partially opened door. Only two hours into watching the hallway for Agent Campbell and he was going crazy with pent-up energy. He wasn't made to stay inside a room doing nothing.

He picked up the bottle of water he'd found in the mini fridge earlier and carried it back to his post. Taking up position, he kept his ear toward the opening, listening for any doors or the ding from the elevator arriving.

There was something about the hotel that reminded him of a hospital. The distinct smell. People walking around in hushed conversations. Multiple floors, the elevator, and generic pictures on the wall trying to force you into believing you were surrounded by meadows and flowers when you weren't home.

He'd only spent a few hours in a hospital when his dad was killed, and the doctor who'd announced his death gave his mom and him the news. It wasn't a safe place. All he'd wanted to do was hear his parents in the other room, laughing and teasing each other, making him feel safe and loved.

Instead, he'd heard hushed voices, pretending to care.

He tipped back the bottle and guzzled the water. If he were back at the clubhouse, everyone would be soothing themselves with alcohol, being loud, and finding a woman to ease the tension they were all under. Instead, he was here staring out into a hallway.

Hell, he'd never stayed in a hotel before. When the idea of staking out Campbell came to him, he hadn't thought about how out of fucking place he'd feel. He was a biker. A Norwegian. He wasn't made to stay indoors.

A ding came from outside his room. He lowered his arm and pressed the side of his head against the wall, peeking out the slit with his right eye.

A hand carrying a bag came into view, followed by the knock-out body of the woman from the front desk. Unaware of him, she reached up and unbound her hair, shaking the strands loose. His cock hardened. She was a sensual woman.

The way she moved.

The way she talked.

The way she looked at him.

She deliberately softened her tone, slowed her movements, and used her eyelashes to communicate. Even when she tried hard to hide her thoughts, her beauty was out there for him to see.

The woman stopped in front of his door. He held his breath, wondering if she could see in his room. See him.

She turned and opened the door straight across from him. As soon as she was out of sight, he inhaled air like a man suffocating.

He'd be lying if part of the reason he came up with the plan to trail Campbell hadn't had to do with the opportunity to see her again. He wanted to prove the evidence of her belonging to Brikken MC wrong.

Low voices reached his ears. He kept his foot behind the door, making sure the opening was obscure from anyone who happened to walk down the hallway.

A man in a suit stood in front of an open door. It wasn't Campbell, but he could spot a Fed a mile away. It was the way they held themselves. Despite wearing a suit, they walked around as if they still wore a duty rig around their waist.

Unable to hear the conversation, he squinted, trying to read the man's lips. Campbell's guest turned. Elling pressed his back against the wall. The elevator was on the other end of the hallway. He'd need to walk past him.

Around six feet tall, the agent moved swiftly and surely, his chin level with the floor. Once he'd gone out of sight, Elling peered out and caught Agent Campbell sticking his head out of the room and scanning the hallway before disappearing inside.

Elling turned the handle on the door, silently closing himself into the room. He walked over to the window. His view of the street in front of the hotel lacked any ability to see who entered or left because of the awning overhanging the entrance.

He lifted the latch on the window and tried to move the glass out of his way. It wouldn't budge.

Sliding his fingers around the edges, he found the two screws securing the pane. He took his knife out of his pocket and worked at removing the safety measures, then slid the window open. It only took him a few seconds to remove the screen and set it inside the room.

He leaned his hip against the casing, removed his pack of smokes from his vest, and lit a cigarette. It was going to be a long night stuck in the room.

Half the problems the club dealt with came from the pressure of having the Feds after them. If he could ease the stress and help put them back into dealing with what they were good at, keeping the chaos going on between the motorcycle clubs of the Pacific Northwest and inner PNW, they would all feel more confident on sending the weapons and money to their Mother Chapter in Norway.

He drew off the cigarette and flicked the ashes out the window. Succeeding at doing his part would make it possible for the Slag Seattle Chapter to confidently get the crates on the ship.

A loud knock interrupted his thoughts. Unaware of how hotels were run, he doubted if it was Campbell coming to discuss why he was staying four doors down from him. The agent hadn't seen him enter the hotel and certainly wasn't expecting him.

He approached the door, squinted through the peephole. It was the woman from the hotel.

She'd probably gotten off work and decided to pay him a visit in private. Too bad she belonged to Brikken, or he would've taken her up on her offer.

---