cutter. Various buckets and bottles of cleaning supplies had been pulled out to make room for him.
“I have eyes on you,” I said.
It seemed to take forever but eventually Loch disappeared from view. “I’m through,” he said. “There’s a two-meter drop when you come through. Ladies, I’ll lift you down, so don’t try to stab me when I grab you.”
Ada chuckled. “You deserved it, you jerk,” she said without heat. I wondered at the story behind the gentle ribbing. Ada hadn’t revealed much of what had happened when she and Loch first met, but I doubted it had been an easy meeting.
Ada quickly replaced the supplies under the shelf, pushing everything to the sides. She crawled through the opening in the middle. She disappeared, then squeaked and laughed. “If you grab Bianca like that, I’m pretty sure Ian will remove your arms,” she warned.
“I don’t need Ian to fight my battles for me,” I said drily. “I’m perfectly capable of removing Loch’s arms on my own, so keep it appropriate, buddy.” I checked the hallway video. “The hallway is clear. We’re on our way.”
Ian and I didn’t encounter anyone on our way to the supply closet. “With the drop on the other side, I will go first,” Ian said, “and hold you up while you reorganize the supplies.”
Loch’s quiet laughter rang through the earpiece but he didn’t say anything.
Ian shimmied under the shelves. I heard the faintest ring of boots on metal as he landed. “Okay, Bianca, come through feetfirst on your belly,” he said. “I’ll grab your legs.”
Loch had cut the panel at the floor so I didn’t have to worry about a sharp edge digging into my skin, but easing my feet into a black hole while under a shelf wasn’t exactly the most fun I’d ever had.
Strong hands gripped my ankles. “I’ve got you,” Ian said. “Come back as far as you need.”
I slid my lower body farther into darkness, trusting Ian to hold me up. Working quickly, I spread out the supplies so there wasn’t an obvious empty space that someone might wonder about.
Movement in the hallway video caught my attention. “We’ve got potential incoming,” I said. “Where is the panel?”
“It’s folded up on this side. Get clear and I’ll get it,” Loch said.
I pushed myself backward into the hole and for a brief, dizzying moment, I thought Ian would drop me before one of his arms moved up and pulled me down to sit on his shoulder.
I gripped his head for balance, burying my fingers in his hair. A blink later, my smart glasses adjusted to the dark and I could see Loch taping the panel into place.
He hopped down from the railing he’d been balanced on and started to say something.
“Quiet,” I whispered as the supply-closet door opened. The hotel manager who had been bothering us earlier stepped inside and glanced around before moving to the wall on his right—the wall that was shared with our suite.
“You just had to sweep the suite, didn’t you, you little bitch?” the man grumbled to himself. “Well, let’s see if your fancy trackers can find this, hmm?”
He crouched down next to the shelves and peeled back a piece of tape that had been painted the same color as the wall. Whatever it was, it was just slightly out of frame, but when he pressed his face to the wall, I had a pretty good idea. The bastard had a spy hole into the primary bedroom. Ada and I had changed in that room.
He took something out of his pocket, aligned it just so, then carefully reapplied the tape. Unless you knew what to look for, you wouldn’t notice anything wrong with the wall. Fifty credits said he’d just planted another camera or bug.
My fingers tightened in Ian’s hair. If Ferdinand’s life wasn’t on the line, I’d climb back up there and give that asshole what he deserved—a solid ass-kicking.
“Hold on,” Ian whispered. He moved down the walkway, his own smart glasses allowing him to see without light. Ada and Loch followed, silent as ghosts.
When the ceiling dropped, turning our walkway into a crawl space, Ian gripped me under my arms, lifted me off his shoulder, and then slowly lowered me to the ground. I tried not to think about exactly how much strength that move had required or I wouldn’t be able to focus on the mission.
“Was that pervert trying to spy on us?” Ada asked in a furious whisper.