told me to come up here and look around.” Nevil Hancock, their boss.
They remained there for another ten minutes, watching who entered and left the room, and checking the hallway, too.
This part of the job could get monotonous, but that was a good thing—no security breaches or other issues to worry about.
The council members began entering. Alan and Dodd remained until they all were seated. Then back into the hall to keep their eyes open for anyone who shouldn’t be attempting to go into council chambers.
Alan preceded Dodd toward the door—and stopped.
Approaching were several familiar-looking people carrying large plastic bags that were undoubtedly filled with food from the Haven.
And one of them was that sexy server Kelly.
* * *
Kelly shouldn’t have felt surprised to see Alan near the room where the city council was meeting when she approached with the other restaurant staff members. She had suspected that he and the other man were at the restaurant earlier at least ostensibly to protect some council members, so it was natural for them to be here now doing the same.
Just like it was natural for her, these days, to observe people and what they were doing.
Alan and his colleague had just exited the room Kelly, Ella and Tobi were heading for. They stood outside the door. The man’s eyes seemed to focus directly on her.
If he was going to watch her, she should at least act friendly toward him, no matter how she felt. Maybe she could even render him off guard, although she suspected that any undercover member of the ID Division, if that’s what he was, would never be off guard.
As the other servers walked by the men into the room, Kelly smiled a little. “Hi, guys. Fancy seeing you again.” She looked directly at the one who’d especially attracted her attention. “Hey, are you following the council members to protect them?”
The expression on his handsome face grew quizzical. “Why do you ask?”
She knew she was right about that, at least, since he had answered her question with a question. “Because I’m curious,” she said. “And I suspect you are, too.” But why was she teasing him? It might be a big mistake to even talk to him anymore. “Sorry. I just guessed you’re in security, and I admire that.”
“Maybe we should hire you,” Alan said. “You do seem pretty alert. What do you think, Dodd?”
The other man—Dodd, apparently—looked a lot older than Alan, and Kelly suspected he’d been doing security work for a long time. He didn’t smile. In fact, he didn’t look at all happy about the conversation. “I think we need to check the hallway, then come back here.”
“Fine.” Alan nodded briefly at her as if in goodbye, and both men started walking toward the elevators from which Kelly and the others had come.
Kelly entered the room. It was large, and the main center of focus was a huge rectangular table in the middle, where the city council members all sat. Kelly recognized the few who’d patronized the Haven for breakfast. Even those she hadn’t seen before were dressed in suits.
Among them, unsurprisingly, was Stan. He sat at the far side of the table, his black suit jacket on, his round face smirking beneath his thinning brown hair. He faced the door where Kelly had just entered, chatting with the man on his left as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
And Kelly wanted to shake him. Or do something worse.
The woman who sat at the end of the table was Councilwoman Regina Joralli. She’d been in politics for a while, and Kelly recognized her from when she had lived there in her previous life. Stan was right beside her.
Kelly knew he had aspirations to replace Regina as council president. Or at least he had before. He was so egotistical that Kelly figured the only way that might have changed was if he decided to run for mayor.
Unless, of course, he was concentrating only on raking in bribe money—and hiding her sister’s murder while abusing their son. But with an ego like his, Kelly figured he still wanted it all.
Despite the fact that every seat around the table was filled, it was still twenty minutes before the time Kelly had been told that the session was officially scheduled to begin. Lunch apparently came first. The room was abuzz with conversation as Kelly joined her colleagues from the restaurant and helped to lay out the food on a compact table at the end of the room, turning it into a buffet. She assisted in making it look decorative yet practical, where the council members could pick up tasty sandwiches, small salads and cookies, as well as soft drinks.
“I think we’re all set here,” Ella eventually told Regina Joralli. “Anything else you need?”
“It all looks good,” the council president said. “Thanks.”
That was their cue to leave, Kelly knew. Which was fine. She remained invisible here to Stan as one among many lowly servers he could flirt with, but being inside this room any longer wouldn’t get her any of the information she sought.
She followed the others out the door. They all turned left toward the elevators.
Kelly didn’t want to leave the building just yet, though. Instead, she glanced at the placards of each council member’s name on the wall near the offices. She knew she couldn’t just drop into Stan Grodon’s and find whatever she needed—particularly since she knew that security was present on this floor, although she didn’t see Alan or his buddy Dodd just then. She did, however, see a few cameras mounted near the tops of the walls.
Even so, she could get the lay of the land.
“Excuse me, Ella,” she said, hurrying to catch up with her boss. “I’m going to find the restroom here. I’ll be back at the restaurant soon.”
Ella’s cool eyes scanned her. “You feeling okay?”
Obviously she’d send Kelly home if she was sick with anything she could pass along.
“Fine.” Kelly smiled what she hoped was an embarrassed smile. “I just drank a little too much coffee this morning.”
“Okay. Fine. See you later.” They’d reached the elevators, and the door to one opened as soon as Ella pressed the button—an indication of the woman’s lot in life, Kelly figured. Everything seemed to work out well for her.
Well, it would for Kelly, too—as soon as she was able to find her nephew and help him. He’d be in classes now, and she didn’t want to appear obvious by hanging around his school. She had to figure out a good way to see him. Talk to him.
But while she figured that out, she also wanted to devise a plan to get the right evidence against Stan. No one, not even her thug of a brother-in-law, would suspect that was what Kelly Ladd was up to—unlike Shereen Alsop.
Well, there was one possible exception to that: Alan.
For now, she figured she had better do as she’d told Ella and start at the restroom before conducting any further exploration of this floor. When she came out, she could scout to see who else was around. She had been here before, when she’d been Shereen, and had accompanied Andi on scheduled visits now and then,
