“No.”
Monroe closed her eyes briefly.
Then opened them.
“Body camera?”
Both officers indicated yes.
Monroe looked toward Adrian.
“Agent Cole, are you alleging criminal conduct by my officers?”
Adrian answered carefully.
“Not at this moment.”
Mercer visibly relaxed.
Too early.
Adrian continued.
“I’m alleging that your officers’ conduct may have compromised an ongoing federal operation.”
Mercer’s face tightened again.
Monroe stared.
“What operation?”
Adrian looked toward the hotel doors.
“One I can’t describe in public.”
That was when a hotel security employee ran outside.
A man in a burgundy blazer.
Breathing hard.
“Police?”
Monroe turned.
“Yes?”
The security employee pointed toward the side drive.
“She left.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Who?”
“The woman in the sunglasses.”
Mercer looked at him.
Adrian ignored him.
The employee continued.
“She exited through the service corridor.”
Adrian touched his earpiece.
“Team Two?”
A voice answered.
“Visual. She entered a silver Lexus. Moving east.”
“Do not stop her.”
“Copy.”
The security employee looked confused.
“You’re letting her go?”
Adrian turned.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes where someone goes matters more than where you found them.”
Mercer looked at him sharply.
Adrian saw it.
There again.
Recognition.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
The morning was developing a second problem.
Adrian looked at Monroe.
“I need your officers separated.”
Mercer stepped forward.
“Hold on.”
Monroe’s voice hardened.
“Officer.”
Mercer stopped.
She pointed toward two different police vehicles.
“Ortega, front unit.”
“Mercer, mine.”
Mercer stared at her.
“Lieutenant—”
“Now.”
He obeyed.
Once the doors closed, Adrian turned to Monroe.
“Do you trust both of them?”
Monroe looked toward the cars.
“That’s a dangerous question.”
“Yes.”
She considered.
“Ortega has eighteen months.”
“Good reviews.”
“Mercer has fourteen years.”
“Patrol training officer for six.”
“Several commendations.”
“Complaints?”
Monroe’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Adrian glanced toward the hotel.
“Because he lied.”
“About what?”
“He said he’d never been here.”
Monroe waited.
Adrian continued.
“Ortega’s face changed when he said it.”
“That isn’t proof.”
“No.”
“But it is enough to look.”
Monroe nodded.
“Fair.”
The operation unfolding around them had begun eleven months earlier with a stolen Porsche.
Not unusual by itself.
Luxury vehicles disappeared in the city every week.