Page 77 of Ruthless Cross

"Unfortunately, that individual was able to avoid showing his face to the camera. Lucas is working on blowing up different angles and checking other cameras, but so far, no luck."

"Wouldn't the hotel know who the waiter was?"

"It wasn't a hotel employee. The man who was supposed to deliver the food was found unconscious in the hallway near the freight elevator. He's awake now, but he never saw who hit him, which is where the trail goes cold."

She poured maple syrup on her pancakes, thinking she needed to eat after that story. "A lot happened while I was asleep. The bad news seems to outweigh the good."

"Not necessarily. The trail may be cold, but at least there's something to follow. Are your pancakes all right?"

She swallowed her first bite. "They're delicious, Flynn. It's nice to have someone cook for me. It doesn't happen very often."

"I was happy to do it. I still feel badly about you getting hurt yesterday."

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say that will change that, but I don't hold you responsible. I made some mistakes, too. I'm going to try to do better."

"You don't have to do better. Finding Arthur's killer is my job. I've already involved you way too much."

"I still want to help, so don't shut me out completely." She could see by the look in his eyes that that was exactly what he intended to do, but she wasn't going to let that happen. However, she needed to think about what he'd told her and to eat, so she concentrated on her breakfast for the next few minutes, as a myriad of thoughts raced through her head. When she was done eating, she said, "If the man who attacked us is dead, and we no longer have the painting, then does that mean we're not in danger anymore?"

"I never like to get too comfortable or overconfident," he replied.

She frowned at his very careful response. "I was hoping for a different answer."

"I think the danger has diminished, but I still want to keep an eye on you, Callie."

"I don't mind that, but I need to go to the hospital this morning to see my mom."

"I'll take you there."

"I'm planning on staying for a while. It could be hours. If she's sleeping, I'm going to wait for her to wake up. I need to talk to her."

"That's fine. I'll drop you off on my way to the office."

"Is it really on the way?"

"It's a short detour. You can call me when you're ready to leave. It doesn't matter when."

"Or I can just call a car and go home."

"That would prevent me from keeping an eye on you," he returned. "Let's play it by ear. There are a lot of balls in the air at the moment. I'd like to see where some of them are landing before I let you out of my sight completely."

She didn’t know if Flynn's protectiveness was just due to his strong sense of responsibility or if it was more personal, but it was nice to have someone worry about her for a change. "I guess we can see how the morning goes," she said. "Where's the painting now?"

"It's in a secure room at my office."

"The killer seems to have a way of getting in and out of secure places."

"The painting isn't going anywhere. Don't worry about that."

"What do you think the person will do without his calling card?"

"I don't know. Maybe he'll paint another one—start the game over."

"It is odd that they would deliver the painting, then steal it back. You said they also left a photo when they took the painting, so they wanted credit for the crime."

"It could just be part of their twisted game. Or there could be something identifiable in the painting. I have an art expert coming by later today to take a look."

"I hope they can find some way to identify the artist."

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