Lamont’s hound growled low in his mind, hackles raised.
Someone’s watching us.
Lamont scanned the lobby again, but saw nothing obvious. Staff were busy going about their work, there was a couple with a mound of suitcases in the middle of the lobby checking a brochure and probably waiting for some form of transport. There was a businessman reading a newspaper in the corner chair…
Him. Lamont’s hound snarled. The man wasn’t turning the pages, and he didn’t appear to be reading anything.He’s watching the lobby over the top of the paper, using it as a mask.
Lamont guided Ewen into the elevator, keeping his body between his mate and the lobby until the doors closed.
“What’s wrong?” Ewen had picked up on his tension.
“It might be nothing. Or it could be someone curious about the American who disappeared for two weeks and just came back. I’m not sure.” Lamont watched the floor numbers climb. “Which room first?”
“Five-twelve. That’s where I slept.” Ewen’s jaw tightened. “The other one has my research materials.”
The elevator dinged - fifth floor.
Lamont stepped out first, checking both ends of the hallway and making sure it was empty. He nodded for Ewen to lead the way.
They walked past identical doors until Ewen stopped at five-twelve. His hand shook slightly as he inserted the key card.
The lock beeped green.
Ewen pushed the door open.
Lamont’s hound roared a warning the same instant Ewen froze in the doorway.
The room had been destroyed.
Not ransacked, it was completely destroyed. The mattress hung half off the bed frame, sliced open with stuffing scattered like snow. Drawers had been yanked from the dresser and smashed apart. Torn clothes were thrown across the floor. Even the bathroom door hadn’t been safe, hanging crooked on broken hinges.
Someone had taken their time. Methodically searching every inch and destroying what they couldn’t steal.
“Don’t touch anything.” Lamont caught Ewen’s wrist before his mate could step inside. He scented the air, sorting through the chaos for useful information.
Three people had been here. No, four. Different colognes, different sweat signatures. It was likely a recent event, possibly within the past twelve hours. They’d come after sunset, probably between midnight and dawn, when the hallways would be empty.
“They were looking for something specific.” Ewen’s voice had gone flat. “This wasn’t random vandalism or an opportunist crime.”
“You know they were looking for your research.” Lamont pulled Ewen back from the doorway. “Whatever you found, they wanted it badly enough to do this.”
“Then they’re going to be really disappointed.” A grim smile crossed Ewen’s face. “I didn’t keep anything important in this room. This was the decoy, remember.”
“The other room?”
“If they found this one, they probably found that one too.” Ewen’s hands curled into fists. “But my laptop has encryptionthat would take weeks to crack. And the physical documents are hidden where they won’t think to look.”
Lamont’s hound wanted to translocate them both out of Egypt. Whoever had done this might still be nearby, watching, waiting to see if Ewen would return.Like the man with the newspaper in the lobby.
“We need to leave.” Lamont kept his voice low. “Now.”
“Not without my things.”
“There’s nothing here worth saving.” Lamont’s arm indicated the shattered room. “I can put the room back to rights, so that they won’t charge you for damages, but your personal effects are gone. Can’t you see…?”
“I’m done running from these people - it’s about time we became the hunters instead of the hunted.” Ewen met Lamont’s eyes. “But I’m not stupid. We’ll check the other room quickly, grab what we can, and get out. You can do your zappy thing. Five minutes. That’s all I need.”
“If you told me where you hid the papers, I could…”