Page 20 of Deception

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not a good idea,” Nova said. “It’s a great idea. Now let’s go.”

She started toward the hotel.

A hotel employee stood guard at the front door, only letting firefighters in and out.

Olive and Nova would have to think of another way to get inside.

They cut through the parking lot to a side entrance instead.

At the door, Olive pulled her keycard from her pocket and ran it against the scanner.

The lock clicked open.

If Motorcycle Man had done all this to get Olive and Nova out of the hotel, there was a chance he was still in their room. That they could catch him. Catching him would mean demanding answers—something they could use right now.

She and Nova slipped inside and quietly closed the door behind them.

They headed toward the stairway on their left.

But before they could ascend the steps, footsteps came down.

Instead, they darted beneath the stairwell, quickly ducking out of sight.

A moment later, two firefighters in full gear walked by.

“Looks like a false alarm,” one of them muttered.

“I guess some people don’t have anything better to do than to set off the alarm.”

“I hope we can find whoever wasted our time and slap a nice fine on them.”

“We’ll definitely be checking the security footage.”

False alarm? Maybe Olive’s theory was true.

As soon as they passed, Olive and Nova left their hiding spot and rushed up the stairs.

Olive paused at the doorway to her floor and scanned the hallway for any firefighters who might still be checking out the rooms.

It was clear.

Olive nodded to Nova, indicating she should follow. Then they hurried down the hallway to Olive’s room.

After drawing her gun, she swiped her key card and slipped inside.

She crept forward, looking for any signs that someone might be inside.

It was empty.

But when Olive glanced at the bathroom mirror, she saw a message had been left for her there.

Someone had used her lipstick to scrawl the words,Where is it?

CHAPTER 12

“We were right,” Olive murmured as she stared at the message. “That guy wanted to lure us away. He wants this USB drive.”

---