Page 55 of Pied Sniper

“I’m in partial agreement but sometimes drunk people let things slip that they don’t intend to leak.”

“He didn’t seem to know she was missing. Then he mumbled something about all of it being Tiffany’s fault. I assumed he meant the reason for him being so obviously drunk at this time of day.”

“Hmm,” said Solomon. He frowned then turned and jogged into the boardroom. He patted down Jonathan and returned with something in his hand.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“A key card for his hotel. The room number is written on the paper sleeve. Want to check it out?”

“I’m disappointed I didn’t think of that first.”

“We can get lunch on the way.”

“This is why I married you. You’re brimming with brilliant ideas.” Solomon smiled, leaned in and kissed me. “Cool it,” I whispered breathlessly against his lips. “This is my place of employment.”

“I’m the boss.”

“There’s a semi-famous man in an alcoholic stupor in the boardroom, and a raft of employees that could walk in at any moment.”

“Spoilsport.”

I brightened. I could change all that. “Rain check?”

“Nope. You missed your opportunity. Hey,” he said, stepping back and putting a professional amount of space between us as Delgado walked in. “Any problems?”

“None.”

“Good. Lexi and I are going to check out his hotel room. You’re on babysitting duty.” Solomon pointed to the boardroom. Delgado craned his head and let out a breath. “Great,” he said. “I’ll let you know if he stops snoring.”

“We’ll be as fast as we can,” I told him. “Not including lunch. I’m hungry!”

“Bring me back a sandwich,” said Delgado. “Make it a good one. A foot long. Two kinds of meat. All the extra ingredients. Maybe some cheese. Don’t tell your sister.”

“Consider it done,” I agreed. “I’ll order it from that nice deli you like.” After all, the very least Delgado deserved for babysitting the sleeping oaf was a fancy sandwich.

We took off for Solomon’s SUV, jogging down the steps. “Have you heard any news about the delivery of your new car?” he asked as we stepped into the parking lot.

“Not yet but soon, I hope,” I replied, holding up my crossed fingers. We climbed into Solomon’s SUV and I called up the food delivery app on my phone and placed an order. A few minutes later, we drove a few blocks before Solomon pulled up in front of a deli and I ran inside to collect our order. “This smells good,” I said, opening the bag and inhaling the delicious doughy scent of freshly toasted baguette.

Solomon scrunched the top of the bag, stopping me from reaching inside. “Let’s take a look at Brett’s hotel room before we dive in.”

“Good plan. No one wants to be slowed down by the weight of half a baguette.”

“I was feeling bad for Delgado.”

“Sure, that too,” I agreed.

The hotel had valet parking. We hopped out and Solomon handed over the keys. “What if we need a quick getaway?” I asked as we walked inside the lobby.

“What are you planning to do inside? We have a key.”

“Maybe find Tiffany Rose?”

“That seems overly hopeful. Also, it would make Jonathan Brett a very poor kidnapper.”

I shrugged. “True. He’s at the bottom of my list of suspects.”

“His room is on floor three. Stairs or elevator?”

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