Fiction Friday: Naked Came the Jayhawk, Chapter Five (Part I)

                        The small travel party made it to the field office in North Las Vegas and disembarked the vehicle. A tour of the office was given and introductions were made to the guests from Miami. Michael and Veronica followed Lisa and James into a small conference room. An overhead projector was powered up with what looked like security footage paused on the screen. Michael, Veronica and James took seats while Lisa grabbed a remote control.

            “We wanted to give you all a status update on where things sit right now,” Lisa began, hitting a button on the remote. A silent video started to play. Lisa spoke as the video played.

            “We don’t have too much here but we have Jayhawk’s arrival into McCarran airport on Saturday evening. He headed over to the Cosmopolitan by private limousine and has been holed up in a suite there since he arrived. We’ve been working, or trying to, with the Cosmo’s security team. They have the eye in the sky looking for him and sending us anything they might think is relevant.”

            “That’s it?” Michael asked as the footage showed Jayhawk using a keycard to enter a suite and the door shutting behind him.

            “That’s all that we have that is concrete,” James said.

            Michael sighed deeply. “So, why, exactly, are we here?”

            “We don’t think that this is a pleasure trip for Jayhawk,” Lisa said.

            “Why?” Veronica asked.

            “There are a lot of VIPs in town this week. It is the annual mayor’s convention, after all,” James said.

            “We don’t know for sure if that is the target for Jayhawk. But in the days leading up to the convention, there was some suspicious activity reported by the Cosmopolitan. They’re serving as the host hotel for the event. Jayhawk’s arrival here is not being treated as a mere coincidence,” Lisa said as she took a seat at the table across from Michael and Veronica.

            “Given your expertise in tracking and following Jayhawk, Michael, we thought having you here would be an excellent use of your abilities and knowledge. And your supervisor thought very highly of you, Veronica, and that your skill set as a field agent would make the most sense here.”

            “Wait,” Michael said as he stood up. “I wouldn’t be in the field for this one?”

            “Jayhawk knows your face too well,” Lisa said. “If we’re going to have someone get close to him, it’s better to be someone he hasn’t encountered before, right?”

            “We’re not going to have Agent Gonzalez out there alone. You’ll set up shop in a room at the Cosmopolitan as well. You two are to serve as our onsite eyes and ears. You’ll have adjoining rooms so you’ll have privacy. You’re not going to have to pretend you’re a couple,” James said.

            “In fact, it works better if you pretend to not know each other at all,” Lisa said.

            Michael looked at Veronica and quickly said, “That shouldn’t be a problem at all.”