Agent X

xx| 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 |xx

I glanced at my watch, which indicated that it was five twenty-one in the evening. Ty, Jax, and Finn would meet us in Dari's and my room to figure out what to do next. Ty and I had followed Miss Monpelie to a mall where she had spent the rest of the day distractedly window shopping. She hadn't even stepped inside one store, just slowly walking past each shop, barely looking at what was inside. Something was on her mind. Perhaps she was regretting her decision to sell her ruby earrings.

Right now, Miss Monpelie was eating an early dinner at the hotel restaurant. I figured now was the best time to debrief my team and come up with a course of action. Dari had her computer set up to be watching the representative. If she tried to leave, we'd hurry to follow her again. Though for some reason, I had a feeling that she wasn't heading anywhere more today.

Someone rapped three times on the door. I pressed my ear against the wood and said,

"Are you the maid?"

"No, we're the three blind mice," Ty's voice said.

"Oh really? Then how did you arrive so quickly?"

"We almost fell down the stairs."

I smiled. It was them alright. Ty and I had come up with that sign in the car just to make sure that we didn't let any WAOIC agents into our hotel room. I unlocked the door and allowed the other Summit members into the room.

"Sit down, we have some things to discuss," I told them.

The guys took their places on the divan next to Dari.

"According to what Ty and I saw, Miss Monpelie's daily activities today included going to a coffee shop, a tavern, and a mall. She is currently eating dinner at the hotel restaurant. What I suspect is that she went to the coffee shop and mall to hide where she was really going."

"Which was the tavern?" Finn asked.

"Yes. At the tavern, she sold a valuable piece of jewelry, a piece that we have seen her wearing for years. I don't think she wanted anyone to know that she sold it, or that she went to such a low-brow place."

"Which piece of jewelry was it?" Dari inquired.

"Her ruby earrings."

Dari's eyes popped open. "The ones that are worth at least ten grand?"

"Yup."

"Oh my gosh. But why?"

"That's what we need to find out. Right now, we have two options. We can either observe what she does tomorrow, check for any repeat behaviors or see if she contacts WAOIC. Or, we can confront her now. Dari, we sent you the location of the tavern. Have you found any information on it? Are there any links to WAOIC?"

"According to the research I've done, it's been around for more than a century. It has been passed down within a tight-knit family of owners. In recent decades, however, they lost significant business since they are outside of Brussels."

"Hmm, so then that begs the question: if they have so little business, how could they possibly gather enough money to be able to afford such an expensive piece of jewelry?"

"Smells like WAOIC if you ask me," Ty said.

"Maybe," Dari conceded. "Or maybe not. According to the research I found, the owner of the tavern has actually converted it into an illegal, underground casino to increase the revenue they make."

"We didn't see any gamblers when we went. What are their hours?"

Ty laughed. "Jeez, you sound so business-like. 'What are their hours?' I hope you're not trying to start a new habit." I ignored his comment.