Oliver checked his watch. “Forty-eight hours. I want another update.” He walked across the hotel room and opened the door, then turned before he left. “Good work this week, Walt. This little arrangement is already paying dividends.”

The door closed and Walt stood in the quiet of the hotel room. He stared at the small box Jim Oliver had left on the end of the bed. He walked over and picked it up. The brushed metal container was flat and thin. He unclasped the front lock and opened it. Inside were four small, circular devices that looked like silver-oxide batteries. He lifted one out of the seated felt and turned it over to find a 3-M decal covering the pad of tape on the back. Remove this decal, Walt knew, and the tiny listening device could be stuck just about anywhere.

PART IV - Evidence

PART IV

Evidence

CHAPTER 35 - Catskills, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021

CHAPTER 35

Catskills, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021

SHE STEERED THE RANGE ROVER THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN ROADS AS her mind replayed the previous night. Her thoughts continued to return to the moment in front of her hotel when she swore Walt Jenkins was on the verge of kissing her. Avery spent much of the night lying in bed, trying to decide if she had wanted him to kiss her. Of course she did. She was, despite her mind’s best attempt to convince herself otherwise, in the midst of a terrible dry spell. Even for her arid standards, eighteen months was something of a record for her. Taking over American Events during the last year had left little time for a love life, and she’d gone so long without intimacy that she wondered if perhaps her impression of Walt’s intentions was nothing more than seeing an oasis where, really, just more desert sand stood. They had shared an intimate conversation earlier in the night, during which Walt revealed that the love of his life had not only broken his heart, but perhaps his spirit too. Perhaps this innocent confession had given Avery the impression that Walt wanted more from their face-to-face moment in front of her hotel room than reality dictated. Perhaps she had misread the situation entirely.

She pushed Walt Jenkins from her mind when she pulled into the driveway and saw Emma Kind waiting on the front porch, just like the first time they’d met.

“Welcome back,” Emma said as Avery climbed from the Rover.

“Good to see you again, Emma.”

“Come on in.”

Avery walked up the steps and through the front door.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“No wine today, that’s for sure,” Avery said.

“Good Lord, no. I’m so embarrassed about that.”

“Don’t be. I drank as much as you did.”