Page 179 of Renegade
She closed the door behind them, and they stood there, looking around. There was no sign anyone had been doing repairs onanything. The urinals were intact, so were the sinks. Slowly, Grey pushed open a stall door.
“It looks fine,” Caroline said. “I don’t get it.”
Grey flushed the toilet.
There wasn’t a leak, no water came spraying out. Theyflushed all the toilets, ran the water at the sinks. Everything in that bathroom checked out.
“Okay, so I thought they were building a bomb in here, but now, I’m not so sure,” she said.
“Maybe they’re buildin’ it in the wall,” he said. “See if you can find anything that looks out of place.”
As she examined the walls, he climbed onto a closed toilet lid, pushed up one of the drop-down ceiling tiles, and stuck his head inside.
He got down. “Nothing.”
She ran her fingers over the wall tile, scrutinized the flooring. “Another dead end.”
The pit in her stomach grew larger. Though she felt like screaming, she pulled out her phone and began recording the room. She videoed every stall, each urinal and sink, then the walls and ceiling. When finished, she stared at herself in the mirror. “This is infuriating.”
In true Grey form, he stayed silent, but his body language spoke volumes. His nostrils were flared, his hands curled into fists. He looked as angry as she felt.
Another dead end.
Back in the hallway, Carrera paid in cash, handed the master key to Grey. “I’m gonna escort him out. Call if you need anything.”
“Get us access to this surveillance camera,” Grey reminded him.
“I’ll see what I can do.” After saying goodbye, Carrera retreated toward the elevator bank with the locksmith.
Grey hooked the key onto his ring. “I’m gonna spend another minute in there. Maybe we missed somethin’.”
“I need to get to JL’s company. What about you?”
“Black Site,” he murmured.
“I’ll see you there.”
He ran a comforting hand down her back. “We’ll figure this out.”
While she appreciated his confidence, they’d hit another major effin’ roadblock. At the elevator, her growing frustration swirled like an angry tornado, destroying everything in its path.
On the way to JL’s company, Caroline made a quick stop at the grocery store, then on to Federal Commercial Cleaning Services in Crystal City, just outside DC. With the grocery bag in hand, she entered the building, walked into the company’s first-floor office.
“Caroline Austin for Jennifer Leigh,” she said to the receptionist.
“She’s in a meeting.”
“Can you tell her I’m here?”
The woman made a call. “A Caroline Austin is here for JL.” The receptionist hung up. “I let her assistant know.”
Not more than three minutes later, a woman entered reception. “Caroline?”
“Yes.”
“Let me bring you back.”
Caroline was escorted to JL’s corner office. Once inside, she glanced at Addison, then cemented her gaze on JL.
