Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
As Sapphire Angel entered the empty hallway connecting the bar to the hotel lobby, she pondered how she might locate the laptop bag. An idea came to her, but it would never work as Sapphire Angel.
She spied a women's restroom ahead, off the hall, and ducked into it. Once inside, she scanned for any security cameras before slipping into a stall. After closing the door behind her, she held a balled fist up to her neck and closed her eyes. A brief flash of light filled the stall, and a moment later her costume was gone, and she was mild-mannered Beth Harper once more.
When Beth exited the restroom, she turned and headed for the hotel lobby. Her phone vibrated in her bag, which had materialized with her clothes during her transformation. As she reached into the bag, she didn't notice the man in black coming through the door behind her, from the bar. She glanced at the screen of the phone and saw Conner had left her a voicemail message. There was no time to check it now, so she returned the phone to her bag.
She paused as she entered the lobby. The front desk sat in one corner, across from three plain brown couches. Off to her right sprawled a deserted breakfast bar. Beyond that, a short hallway extended back toward an elevator.
A young twenty-something woman stood behind the front desk, studying a computer screen. She was cute, with a girl-next-door look. Beth headed right to her. The woman looked up and forced a smile.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm here to surprise my boyfriend," Beth said with her best innocent smile. "Can you tell me you which room Eric Stump is in?"
The woman studied Beth for a split second before a conspiratorial smile came across her face.
"Of course," the woman said, and tapped the keyboard.
Her mouth twisted up at one corner as her eyes scanned the screen. "Hmm, there is nobody here by that name."
Beth's mind raced. The old man in the bar had heard Eric mention stashing the laptop in a room in the hotel. Had the old man lied? Then it hit her. If Eric was keeping his activities secret from his roommates, who were his two best friends, it also stood to reason he wouldn't use his real name here.
"I'm sorry," Beth said with a laugh. "Try Bennie McGavin. A play name we use sometimes." Bennie McGavin was a little-known minor league baseball player. In college, she had seen Eric use the name several times when he didn't want to give his own name, such as when filling out Internet forms. It had become a running joke.
The woman raised an eyebrow, looked at the screen, and said, "Your boyfriend is in room 518. The elevator is over there, down the hall."
Beth smiled, thanked the woman, and marched to the elevator.
Mantis sat on one of the lobby sofas, watching Beth Harper's reflection in a window as she spoke with the hotel clerk. While he waited, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number for his employer.
"Has she learned anything yet?" Mark Devlin asked after answering. Mantis could almost feel the man's tension through the telephone. The presence of this one woman bothered Devlin more than it should.
"Perhaps," Mantis replied. "I'm watching her now. But you have a bigger problem than Beth Harper."
"What do you mean?" Devlin asked.
"Sapphire Angel is here, poking around."
There was silence on the line for several moments.
"Give me all the details," Devlin said after the pause.
Mantis filled him in on spotting Harper at the police station again and then losing her. He talked of Sapphire Angel entering the bar and heading for the hotel. He explained how he had lost the superheroine's trail, but found Harper again.
"Now listen to me, and listen carefully," Devlin, with ice in his voice. "Do not let Harper out of your sight again. She is probably searching for a laptop computer. If she finds it, get it from her. Understand?"
"A laptop? What does that have to do with this?" Mantis pushed more than he otherwise might, sensing Devlin's desperation. And Mantis could do his job better if he understood just how eager Harper might be to recover the laptop. Desperation could affect her behavior.
"The kid you nabbed the other night — it belongs to him. He showed something on it to our contact, but the fool forgot the kid's room number. He thought we could get the room number from the hotel records, but the kid must have registered using another name. And then you grabbed him, and now he isn't talking."
"There are ways to make people talk," Mantis said.
"I'm not a savage," Devlin said. "That will be a last resort. If you get this laptop, it won't be necessary."
"You're sure it's in this hotel?"
"No, but it's likely. We're going to try all the rooms of people who checked in during the last two days, but it will take time to do it secretly. I also had two dipshits try to search the kid's car for it, just in case, but they've disappeared. They probably screwed up somehow and are afraid of the consequences."
"Why would they be afraid?"
"My guy let them think he was with a gang. They probably think he'll bust their kneecaps or something cliché like that. But that's not important. Don't lose Harper. We need that laptop."
"Understood," Mantis replied. "And what about Sapphire Angel?"
"Do nothing to call attention to us. That's the last thing we need. She is very powerful."
Mantis scoffed. While he considered himself more progressive in his views toward women than others from his country, Sapphire Angel was still a woman. She couldn't be too dangerous.
"If she finds the laptop," Devlin continued, "then get it from her, too. The laptop is the first priority. If you can find out why she is here, all the better. I'll have to think about her some more. She won't be an easy target, if it comes to that."
Mantis nodded, frowning over the man's worries about Sapphire Angel. Worse, Devlin seemed to be making up this entire operation as he went. Mantis was accustomed to planning his operations with care, before executing them with precision.
In the reflection of the window, Mantis saw Harper finishing with the clerk and moving toward the elevator.
"I have to go," he said, and jumped to his feet.
Beth Harper didn't notice the man following her as she walked toward the elevator, or his look of annoyance when she entered the elevator and the doors closed before he reached them. As the elevator ascended to the fifth floor, Beth dug around in her bag. Her bag was a disorganized mess, so she didn't find what she needed until the doors opened at the fifth floor.
She pulled out a device resembling a fat pen, and hoped the hotel had the right door for the device to work its magic. If it didn't, she knew of another way to get into the room — as Sapphire Angel — but it would be much less discrete.
Upon exiting the elevator, she followed signs until she stood before room 518. The room sat toward the end of a long hallway, away from the elevator, and just a few doors from the stairwell. She took a quick glance around, before holding her device against the underside of the lock mechanism, which hid the slot for a master key card. She held her breath.
A second later, she heard a satisfying click as the door unlocked. She turned the handle and stepped inside.
The room was a typical hotel room, with a bathroom to her left, a closet to the right, and the rest of the room stretching out ahead of her. The room appeared to be undisturbed. Housekeeping had either cleaned it after Eric had stayed here, or he had only spent a brief amount of time in it.
She moved throughout the room, searching the closet, the bathroom, inside drawers, and under the bed. It was the last location, under the bed, where she struck gold. The laptop bag. She nearly yelped in excitement when she saw its form peaking out from the darkness. She reached under the bed and pulled it out.
The bag wouldn't be winning any fashion awards. Black and bland, it contained a rectangular main compartment, a smaller outside compartment, and a black nylon shoulder strap. Zippers secured both areas. She unzipped each compartment, and found a power cord in the outer pocket and an HP laptop in the main compartment.
Beth zipped both compartments, slung the strap over her shoulder, and hurried to the door. She was tempted to boot it up here, but Eric would have protected the laptop with a password. This was a job for Stanley.
She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. As the door closed behind her, she looked to her right, toward the elevator. A man, clad all in black, lurked near the elevator alcove, looking away from her.
As the door clicked shut behind her, his head swiveled in Beth's direction, and her heart froze. It was the man from the surveillance video, who had followed Eric to the bar. Even though she had never been able to make out his face, she knew it was him. Every sense told her. He was far down the hall, near the elevator alcove.
He saw her and took hurried steps in her direction. Beth backed away, glancing over her shoulder at the stairwell door. The black-clad man saw her do this and hurried his pace. Beth turned and ran for the door.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Great. So now DevIin and Mantis have both Beth Harper AND Sapphire AngeI on their watchIist. We got the Iaptop, but at what cost? Mantis is now after us! And I can't find out what happens next untiI tomorrow!
AIso, that was a neat IittIe trick there, using the fat pen to get past the master Iock on the hoteI room door. Does that actuaIIy work in reaI Iife? I might have to teach myseIf that.