‘Hmm.’ DeJute stroked his chin in thought. ‘Something smells fishy.’
‘Fishy? What do you mean?’
He turned back and stared at Payne. ‘I mean, I’m not buying it for a second.’
Jones lingered at the edge of the parking lot, waiting for the all-clear signal from Payne. Just to be safe, he checked the reception on his mobile. Several bars were visible.
‘What’s taking so long?’ Maria wondered.
‘Could be anything. Won’t know for sure until he calls.’
‘You’re sure he’ll remember?’
‘Of course, he’ll remember. He’s the most dependable person I’ve ever met.’
‘Ever?’
‘Ever,’ he proclaimed.
Maria struggled with his statement since she’d never had anyone like that in her life. Not a family member, classmate, or long-term boyfriend. No one that she truly felt she could count on if times got rough. And it wasn’t through lack of trying. Over the years, she had made a number of friends, but it seemed like something bad happened whenever she got close to any of them, whether it was a death, a fight, or a personal betrayal. After a while, she became so sick of the heartbreak, she decided to put up walls to keep everyone out.
She glanced at Jones. ‘I know this is going to sound like a funny question, but I’ve always wondered something about you and Jon.’
He cut her off. ‘We’ve never kissed, and we never will.’
She laughed. ‘Good to know, but that wasn’t the direction I was heading in.’
‘In that case, fire away.’
She gathered her thoughts. ‘When the two of you first met, did you click right away? Or did it take a while to build your friendship?’
Jones grinned. ‘I never told you about this?’
‘You said you met in the military, but you never gave me the specifics. I think I would have remembered because I’ve always wondered.’
‘Trust me, you definitely would have remembered. Because the first time I met Jon, I thought he was the biggest asshole in the world.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
The comment surprised her. ‘What didn’t you like about him?’
‘Just about everything. He was Navy; I was Air Force. He was white; I was black. He was rich; I was broke. He was tall; I wasn’t. Not much common ground to work with.’
‘I guess not.’
‘The worst part? We were up for the same command, and he got the post instead of me. Pissed me off something fierce. I figured he got the unit because of his connections, or his skin colour, or something that shouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference, and I held it against him for the longest time. I’m sure this will come as a huge shock to you, since you hold me in such high esteem, but I can be a royal pain-in-the-ass when I want to be.’
‘Noooooo!’ she said sarcastically.
‘Hard to believe, huh?’ He laughed at himself. ‘Anyway, the military, in their infinite wisdom, made things worse by making me his second-in-command. New unit, new rules, and the two officers in charge couldn’t stand each other. I’m telling you, for the first month or so, I was a prickly S.O.B. I was never technically insubordinate because I didn’t want to get thrown in the stockade, but every chance I got I made his life a living hell.’
‘For a month?’
‘Or three.’
‘How’d he handle it?’
‘Much better than I would have,’ Jones assured her. He paused for a moment as he thought back to his younger days. ‘That’s when I realized he was special, not some pampered rich kid who’d been given a job for the wrong reason, but someone who deserved the command. As hard as this is to admit — and you’ll never get me to admit it in front of Jon — the Pentagon made the right choice. Not only was he the better soldier, he’s also the better man.’
Maria shook her head. ‘I find that hard to believe.’
He shrugged. ‘Believe what you want to believe, but I’m telling you the truth. That’s how I honestly feel. If I didn’t, do you really think I would’ve stayed by his side for so long?’
Years in the trenches had taught Payne to remain calm in the worst circumstances, so he barely blinked an eye when DeJute challenged his story. ‘What aren’t you buying?’
‘The entire thing about the break-in. Something else is going on. Something bigger.’
‘Such as?’
DeJute looked at him. ‘Identity theft.’
‘Identity theft? Why do you think that?’
‘We see it all the time in Mexico. A wealthy gringo comes to town and the locals take advantage. I mean, why else would they steal her passport? They got her name, her photo and her country of origin. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re applying for credit cards as we speak.’
Payne doubted the possibility but didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the one guy who could help him. ‘You might be onto something.’
‘I know I’m onto something.’
‘In that case, we need to see who broke into her room immediately. Maybe we can stop the bastards before they bleed her dry. Maybe even save my job.’
‘You got it, chief. We’ll nail their Mexican asses to the wall.’
Payne ignored the racism and pointed at the control panel. ‘While you’re pulling up the video feed, mind if I call my assistant? I want to see if they grabbed anything else, like her driver’s licence or a credit card.’
‘Good idea. The more they know about her, the more damage they can do.’
Payne hit the speed dial as he walked towards the outer office.
Jones answered on the second ring. ‘How’s it look?’
‘Great. We’re pulling up the feed now. The head honcho is an American who really knows his shit. He wants to nail their Mexican asses to the wall.’
DeJute heard the comment from across the room and gave him a thumbs-up. ‘We’ll get the spics and beat them like piñatas.’
Jones grunted. ‘Sounds like a real winner.’
Payne smiled at the sarcasm. ‘He thinks it might be identity theft because of the stolen passport. Says it happens a lot down here.’
‘Maybe so, but I highly doubt it in this case. Identity thieves wouldn’t trash her room. They’d try to slip away unnoticed because it would give them more time to operate.’
‘I couldn’t agree more.’
Jones glanced across the parking lot. The only person in sight was Maria, who was quickly running out of patience. ‘How much time do I have?’
‘More than you possibly need. There are cameras all over the place, which means tons of footage to examine. Odds are pretty good I’ll get eyes on the incident.’
‘You talking about the break-in or Hamilton’s disappearance?’
‘Both. If something happened here, I’ll definitely get to see it.’
23
DeJute punched a few buttons and pulled up the video from the camera near Maria’s suite. He tapped another key, and the live feed appeared on the centre monitor. The screen was four times as large as the others and would give them a better view of the break-in. ‘Not much going on right now. Just an empty hallway.’
Payne glanced over DeJute’s shoulder and got a feel for the control panel, just in case he needed to pull up some footage on his own. ‘Empty is good.’
‘Unless you’re talking about my glass at happy hour. Then empty is bad.’
‘You got me there.’
‘Of course, I have to be careful when I drink. Don’t want to get a DUI in my wheelchair. No telling who I might run over in this thing.’
Payne pushed his personal feelings aside — he’d lost his parents to a drunk driver — and ignored the comment. ‘The incident took place sometime between four and seven p.m.’
DeJute entered the data on his keyboard, and the video skipped back to 4 p.m. the previous afternoon. From there, he grabbed the joystick on the control panel and tilted it to the right. This sped the video forward. ‘Pretty cool, huh? I control everything with this little lever. I can go backwards or forwards, up or down, in or out. Whatever I want to do.’