Ben wondered if he’d see the man who’d chased them down in the pickup truck. A glance around the lobby and the only face he recognized was Tate!
Tate stood at the counter in a leather jacket and a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. He spoke with the receptionist and flashed her a killer smile. Just like he told Tara, he'd be at the low end of the sex on a stick totem pole. Tate stood about an inch or two taller than Ben. Rich ginger locks swooped in front of his face that he brushed away with a wave of his hand to reveal a pair of slate grey eyes. The girl at the counter was enamored with Tate.
Ben walked over to interrupt them, "I didn't think you were getting here so soon. Why didn't you call me? I would have picked you up from the airport or something."
"It's fine. They have these amazing things here called trains and taxis. I took a train and then a taxi. It's fine. I also have some news for you."
“What’s that?”
"I know who's after those artifacts, and they're in this hotel right now."
7
Ben stared at Tate as though he had five heads and was ready to draw his weapon. His mind went to Tara in the suite upstairs. She was alone with the artifacts. Almost as if Tate could read his mind, he grabbed Ben by the wrist to stop him from unholstering his weapon.
“Who are we looking for?” Ben asked him.
Tate pulled out his phone to show him a picture on his phone. There was an average looking guy, tall, dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, and a thick mustache.
“Name and pedigree?”
"Erik Anderson, late 30's, mercenary for hire, no known associations. He hasn't been on the scene long enough to have a name for himself. Our guess is he's a goon for someone. He's not very experienced, or you guys would have never made it out of the Mallard estate."
“You said he’s here?”
“Yeah, I’ve been arguing with the front desk and security guard about a blind spot in the parking lot. I need them to hand over the security footage, but with how cagey they’re being, I’m guessing those are dummy cameras outside. The only ones that probably work are these,” he pointed to the cameras placed around the lobby.
"Where is this Anderson guy?" Ben couldn't stop his heart from thumping against his chest. "We gotta get up to Tara to see if she's alright. There are two sets of stairs. We're on the third floor, rooms eight and nine. 15 rooms on each floor, five floors. I didn't see anybody on my way down here doing my sweep."
Tate turned his head side to side. A subtle scratch to his chin with a furrowed brow told me he was stumped about something, "You know there's no way to sweep a building this big by yourself. We need at least 8 more guys. What do you want to do?"
“I want to go check on Tara. I think the best thing for us to do is to have this discussion with her and the artifacts nearby.”
Tate agreed with Ben and followed him up to the suite where Tara was busy on her phone. She didn’t look up to see Ben wasn’t alone when she blurted out, “I’m happy to talk about that kiss whenever you’re ready, but can we-”
Tate snickered, "A kiss, you say? I am devastated, it couldn't be me."
“Oh my! Sorry!” Tara snapped and hopped out of the bed, “Who are you? You look really familiar.”
“You spoke to my brother, Rork,” Tate extended his hand. “I’m Tate Calhoon. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Samuels.”
Ben swatted Tate away from her, “Hook your phone up to the TV. Show her who we’re looking for. Maybe she’s seen him before and can tell us who he’s working for.”
Tate put Anderson’s picture on the screen. Ben walked over to the screen standing between Tara and Tate as they stared at the face on the screen.
“Who is that?” Tara asked the both of them.
Tate swiped through a few screens to pull up photos from the airport, "This is the partial shot we got from the rental car lot. We had to do some digging, but we finally found him based on the ID he gave the agent. We were able to trace it with his boarding pass to grab this shot. As of right now, we don't have any known affiliations for this guy. I doubt that's even his real name."
“How did you track him here?” Ben asked.
“Once we got his name and ID-”
Tara interrupted Tate with disbelief, “This guy is here?! In this hotel? We have to leave! Now!”
“Easy,” Tate pumped his hands to slow her down, “If we can nab this guy here, we might be able to get you guys back to the East Coast in one piece. How about we just do a sweep of this floor? Ben, you and I can take shifts.”
"So, I don't get a shift?" Tara eyed Tate with a discerning eye.
Ben shrugged at Tate and motioned for him to continue. “Aren’t you, uh, staying with the artifact?”
"Yeah, so what does that have to do with me taking a shift staying up to lookout?"
“You don’t have a weapon,” Tate blurted out. “And weren’t you knocked unconscious?”
Ben elbowed Tate in the side hard.
“You’d be caught off guard if you were running and came around a corner blind too! Ben lets me take driving shifts and everything.”
Tate cocked his head to the side with his eyes darting back and forth between them, “Really? This guy lets you drive?”
“Well,” Tara hesitated, “He will. I’m sure of it. Ben! Say something!”
Ben smirked at her, "I think since Tate and I are armed, we're
