As her two sisters bent their heads over the offerings, Cate continued to sip her soda. Now that they were past the Q&A, she could relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. No watching over her shoulder. No playacting. No constant red alert.

For the next forty-eight hours, she would be totally safe.

Cate wasn’t going to be happy about him crashing her sisters’ birthday weekend—but after the latest development, he wasn’t inclined to wait three days until their usual Tuesday meeting in the library to compare notes.

Unless she refused to see him.

Zeke pulled out his cell, called the hotel’s main number, and asked the operator to put him through to her room.

She answered on the second ring.

“Cate, it’s Zeke. Sorry to interrupt your weekend, but if you can spare half an hour, I’d like to drop by. I have news.” Positioning it as a purely professional call should make it harder for her to refuse.

Several beats of silence ticked by.

“Can we do this by phone?”

“I’d rather talk in person. That would be more secure.” True—but as far as he knew, no one was hovering nearby listening to this call. Nor was it likely anyone had tapped into his burner phone.

Cate didn’t need to know that, however.

“Isn’t it just as risky for you to come here?”

“I dressed for the visit, walked from my rental unit to a different location, and took a cab from there.” Slipping out the back door of the building that was his temporary home and hoofing it to a nearby Starbucks may have been overkill—but it never hurt to take extra precautions.

“Where are you?”

“In the lobby. I have information to share.”

A beat of silence passed.

“It must be important if you went to so much effort to talk to me.”

“It is.”

“As it happens, I have info to share too. My sisters are at the spa, so you lucked out with your timing. I can give you half an hour.” She relayed her room number.

Finding Cate alone was a stroke of luck. If necessary, he’d have bought them a few minutes of private time by claiming they had confidential case matters to discuss, but this was simpler.

“I’ll be up in three minutes.”

He ended the call, pocketed the phone, and caught the next elevator.

Stopping two floors short of her room, he exited and took the stairs the rest of the way up.

Before he could even knock on her door, it opened.

He slipped inside, and she closed it behind him, eyeing the knit cap pulled low over his forehead, the worn jeans, and the fake glasses he’d donned.

“Not a bad disguise.” She turned to lock the door.

He pulled off his cap and glasses, running his fingers through his hair as he gave her a quick scan.