Page 56 of Explosive Vengeance

The odds were against her. Dubois had his personal security detail with him at all times, and he had countless dirty resources in his pocket. There was a good chance she would either be captured or killed, but that was a risk she was prepared to take. All she had to do was think of Fleur, of everything her friend had selflessly done to help protect others, and the memory of her body being thrown over the side of the ship.

A fresh burst of rage exploded through Chloe, burning away the searing grief and the heavy weight of exhaustion trying to dull her mind. She hadn’t slept in too long. Soon she would hit a wall. It was looming ahead of her, just out of sight.

No. Stay sharp. You have to stay sharp.

She had to do this now, or she might not get another chance. Amber’s technological wizardry gave her a huge advantage. But Chloe was here on the ground, and determined to find Dubois first.

Thankfully, her list of potential places to hunt for him was blessedly short. A man with his ego and wealth only stayed at the best places money could afford. Enquiring at the front desk of the InterContinental Marseille, she hit pay dirt.

“May I help you?” the man at the front desk asked her with a smile.

Chloe adjusted the non-prescription reading glasses she’d found in the satchel. “Yes, I’m checking to see if a guest might still be here,” she replied in flawless French. “We had a business meeting earlier and he forgot some important legal documents. If he hasn’t checked out yet, may I leave them here for him?”

“Of course. The name?”

“Guillaume Dubois.”

The man checked the system and gave her a smile. “I’ll have them delivered to his room first thing in the morning.”

Hiding her reaction, she smiled back and handed over a legal envelope with blank paper in it. “Thank you so much.”

She exited the hotel, paused in an alley a half block over to change once more, this time into a police uniform she’d taken from the drycleaner. It was a few sizes too big, and too long in the legs and sleeves, but it would do, and she didn’t have to worry about hiding her weapon. After plaiting her hair into a braid at the back of her head, she doubled back and chose a different entrance into the hotel.

The lobby was practically deserted as she passed by it and walked down the hallway to a service staircase. Security rooms were usually located in the basement of these places, and she found it easily enough. One man and one woman looked up as she entered the room. She introduced herself and asked if there had been any disturbances on the top two floors where the most expensive suites were located.

Both of them looked surprised and told her nothing had been reported.

“We got a call from Mr. Dubois’ head of security that someone had been lurking around in the hallway outside his suite just over an hour ago, unauthorized. Can you check the surveillance footage?”

“No one alerted us, and I didn’t see anything.” Frowning in concern, the man pulled up the requested footage.

“Start it at ninety minutes ago,” she told him.

Chloe watched over his shoulder as he rewound the video. Her heart rate picked up when she spotted Dubois’ head of security on camera. He and another man walked to the end of the hall and entered two adjoining rooms, checking to make sure they were safe. The head of security exited the room and headed back down the hall for the elevator.

The security guard fast-forwarded the video, stopping when someone else appeared on screen. Dubois and his head of security. Dubois went first, his bodyguard letting him in the suite at the far end.

Gotcha, you son of a bitch.

No one else came or went during the rest of the video. “There’s no one else,” the guard said. “Want me to go back earlier?”

“No need. Just another rich asshole being paranoid. Thanks for your time.”

She left the security room, stopped by the hotel laundry to grab a change of clothes, and headed back to where she’d stashed her satchel. The weight of her weapon pressed against the holster in her waistband, the urge to act beating at her. She might know where Dubois was, but going after him now was too dangerous. She could call in a bomb threat to evacuate the building and force him out that way, but with so much chaos and that many people in the way, it would be harder to isolate him.

She’d have to wait, try to catch him and his security off guard.

A light drizzle began to fall just after midnight. Chloe huddled in a doorway off a deserted side street and allowed herself to doze off and on. By the time dawn broke she was half-frozen and stiff from the cold. She changed into the hotel uniform she’d taken from the laundry, wound her hair up in a bun at the back of her head, then walked back to the hotel and entered a door in the back with other staff arriving for their morning shift.

She positioned herself by the front lobby doors, moving from place to place, doing various tasks to appear occupied, finally ending up outside where the valet crew was busy bringing up patrons’ cars.

Her chance came far more quickly than she’d anticipated.

Chloe dropped the cloth she was using to wipe the windows down when she spotted Dubois’ head of security striding through the lobby for the front doors. She ducked out of sight, chose her position with care as the man came out. He scanned around him, his gaze pausing on her only for a moment before sliding past, and spoke to the valet attendant. He stayed put until a black Mercedes pulled up to the curb minutes later, then pulled out his phone and called someone, presumably Dubois.

Her pulse pounded dully in her ears as she waited, standing beside a tall topiary that gave her concealment. Watching through the slim gap between it and the window, she spotted Dubois the moment he appeared in the lobby. He was dressed casually in khakis and a button-down shirt, freshly shaved, striding across the marble floor with the air of a man who thought he owned everything and everyone. A wealthy businessman who looked anything but the cold-blooded murderer who had shot Fleur down yesterday.

He exited through the front doors, heading for his car where the head of security held the back door open for him.

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