The Export by J.K. Kelly (read along books txt) 📕

was imminent. As the attendant rolled in the cart, Matt could smell the freshly brewed coffee and began to jones for it. He’d enjoyed the dinner and his late-night dessert. And the perfect mattress, pillows, and comforter – a rarity for most travelers – had allowed him to sleep so soundly he couldn’t remember when he had last awoken so refreshed.

The coffee would get things moving. While he sipped and watched the early morning walkers along the boardwalk below, he couldn’t imagine what the day, and Tilton, might bring.

Thirty minutes later, Matt walked into the Chateau’s main event room and scanned the crowd for anything out of the ordinary. The keynoter, speaking in German, was giving an impassioned speech having to do with saving the environment. Behind him, a gallery of photos depicted polar bears without ice and other dire results of climate change.

He rechecked the agenda Mercier had provided and confirmed that Tilton’s speech wasn’t scheduled until that afternoon. No doubt, the man was in a meeting somewhere in the Chateau. During the daylight, like most predators, he was probably on his best behavior.

Matt left the room and began walking through the hallway, past the open doors to much smaller gatherings hosted by regional organizations or companies supporting the global cause. Speeches were being given, mostly in English, and the smell of coffee and danishes drew his attention to a continental breakfast displayed just a few feet from him. Headed there for more caffeine, Leclerc approached him, greeting him like a long-lost pal.

“Matt Christopher, how are you, my friend?” Leclerc said loudly as he shook hands and then embraced the American operative. Matt reciprocated the enthusiasm and then gave Leclerc a warning look to tamp down the enthusiasm a notch.

“Been too long, my friend. What’s new with you?” Matt responded. They moved their conversation closer to the wall to avoid the congestion, as a meeting was just ending and people were flooding the area in search of the next item on their agendas.

“Everything going well with your trip, Matt?” Leclerc continued. “Anything I should know about?”

“Well, I got laid last night. But, as for our person of interest, I haven’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary.”

Leclerc gave Matt a look of frustration.

“What? This isn’t a friggin’ CIA op where we’ve placed bugs in his room. Unless there’s an incident or you tell me something has occurred, there’s not much I can do,” Matt explained. “If something does happen and he leaves a mess behind, then I will deal with it.”

Leclerc seemed to think about this for a minute as both men looked through the crowd, smiling at the ladies that caught their eye. One woman approached them, asking if Leclerc could take a photo of her with Matt, and he laughed but obliged.

As the woman took back her phone, she thanked Leclerc for the favor and smiled at Matt. “I know you’re not Clooney, but my girlfriends won’t know the difference,” she said. “Thanks so much!”

Not wanting to draw additional attention to their meeting, Matt and Leclerc began to walk toward the winding marble stairway that would take them up to the hotel lobby. Once there, Leclerc thanked Matt for coming and moved on to other business.

Staring down the massive main hallway toward the revolving golden entrance doors, Matt turned his head in the opposite direction toward the circular bar he had spent time in the night before. A familiar face popped in front of him.

“Know where a girl can get a proper Bloody Mary at this hour?” Eve asked with a smile.

To his surprise, Matt was happy to see her. He’d had many one-night stands and weekend flings over the years, but he felt mildly confused by the actual interest he had in this woman. She was attractive, willing, and as fun to drink with as most of his dates had been. But there seemed to be a strange chemistry between them that he didn’t necessarily understand. He was having fun and wasn’t watching for tells from her. He had no reason to.

“I do indeed, young lady,” he answered. “Follow me!”

An hour later, the bartender removed her second empty glass from the bar and left the bill, laid inside a red leather check holder that bore the Chateau’s crest on its cover. As Eve reached for it, Matt was quicker and signed the charge to his room.

“It’s on me,” he laughed, picturing Mercier’s face when he reviewed Matt’s final bill and room charges. They exchanged small talk, thanked each other for an enjoyable date the night before, but then it was time for them to get back to work.

“I have a photoshoot with an American politician,” she said, “some guy named Tilton at two o’clock in his suite. Want to come watch me work?”

Matt’s eyes lit up. This might get him past Tilton’s security team and allow him to get face to face with his staffers and scope the suite. He checked his watch, the same silver TAG that he wore everywhere, and then pulled the day’s agenda from his jacket pocket. He pretended to have to jockey a few things, staring out the windows for a moment.

“Yep, I’d love to,” he said with a smile. “I have a few things to take care of before then. Can we meet at the elevators just past the front desk at five of?”

“Deal,” she said as she hopped off the barstool. She gave Matt a quick kiss on the cheek and then headed for the exit.

“See you later!”

Matt finished his Coke Zero, no ice, and went outside for a walk on the terrace. He hadn’t expected to be able to gain access to Tilton’s suite, but this was the break he needed to allow him to plant a few bugs and let the Canadian government prosecute or humiliate the man if he did indeed do something foul. If he planted the bugs and they were used to incriminate the bad actor, he might find himself in hot water