Walt took a deep breath, rubbed the back of his neck, and set the metallic box on the edge of the coffee table. He was lost in conflicted thought when he noticed the postcard among Avery’s research. It looked to have been ripped to shreds and then painstakingly taped back together. The pieces mostly fit, at least to return continuity to the postcard, but the edges were poorly opposed and uneven. He lifted it off the table and inspected it. A short message was written on the back of the card:

To the one-and-only Claire-Voyant,

Just hanging out and watching the Events of America. Could use some company.

On the bottom of the card Walt saw three numbers scrawled innocuously. Almost as if they were an afterthought:

777

Walt flipped the card back over to inspect the front. Pieced together and taped over was a picture of a wooded cabin set among trees whose leaves had been turned ginger by autumn. The handle of the bathroom door clicked. The noise startled him and the postcard slipped from his grip and fell to the floor. Its momentum took it under the couch. Before he had a chance to retrieve it, Avery appeared in the vestibule outside the bathroom.

“You ready?” she asked.

Walt stood quickly. “Yeah.”

His heart pounded and the perspiration returned to his forehead. As he walked across the hotel room and toward the door, he passed Avery and headed out into the hallway. She closed the door behind them and checked that it was locked.

“You want to head back to the Rum House?” she asked.

Walt nodded. “Sure. Sounds good.”

They stepped into the elevator and Avery pressed the button for the lobby. As the doors closed, Walt again saw his reflection in the clear metal. It was then that he realized he’d left the thin metal box, and the listening devices it held, on the edge of the coffee table.

CHAPTER 49 - Manhattan, NY Sunday, July 4, 2021

CHAPTER 49

Manhattan, NY Sunday, July 4, 2021