Nikolas by Faith Gibson Page B

somehow she happened to be buried there…”
    “Describe the glyphs to me,” Xenia instructed. Sophia could hear her aunt unlocking a safe. She still had the disk in her possession.
    “From left to right there’s a bird, a funky building, a box, then three of the same symbol that look like fish with crosses coming out of their heads. Hang on, I’ll take a snapshot of it and send it to you.” Sophia snapped a picture of the glyph and texted it to her aunt.
    “I got it. I will have to get a magnifying glass out and study the disk. I doubt this particular sequence will be stamped on there, but I’ll give it a look. I’ll let you know when I find something.”
    “Thank you. Have you talked to Keene yet?” Sophia hoped Xenia and her mate worked things out.
    “He’s coming over later. I’m going to tell him the truth. Let’s hope he doesn’t run screaming.”
    “Call me if you need back-up. He would probably take it easier if he knew there were more of us.”
    “I appreciate the offer, and if he doesn’t believe me, I’ll take you up on it. Now, let me study this disk. I’ll call or text you soon.”
    “Thank you and good luck.” Sophia thumbed her phone off. A loud thump against the wall made her jump. It happened again, and she jumped again. When it happened a third time, Sophia figured out whoever was in the room next door was bouncing a ball off the wall. She drew her fist back to bang on the wall when she heard a loud voice say, “I told you, she’s in her room. I followed her from the zoo.”
    “Oh, gods,” Sophia whispered to herself. She knew they were keeping close tabs on her, but not that close. Shit! What if they had bugged her room and were listening to her conversations? If they were, they would know not only had she found the disk, but she’d passed it along to someone else. And she’d said Xenia’s name out loud. “Oh, this isn’t good, you s tupid girl.” Sophia forgot about ordering room service and began scouring her room for bugs. After an hour and a thorough search, she felt good about not finding anything. She still hadn’t heard back from Xenia, so she decided to head over to the inn. She could enjoy a meal and possibly poke the bear known as Yvonne at the same time.
    The door next door had opened and closed several times. Sophia gathered her Beatrice disguise as well as her laptop. She placed everything in a large bag and listened for movement and voices next door. When she felt the coast was clear, Sophia left her room, taking great pains to close the door silently. She padded down the hallway to the stairwell and exited out the side door. When she reached the side street, she hailed a taxi. Once inside, she looked behind her. Sophia didn’t see anyone following, but she still had the driver take her farther than she needed to go.
    She made her way into the lobby of another large hotel and found the guest restroom on the bottom floor. She went into the handicapped stall and donned her Beatrice disguise. Luckily, no one came in while she was changing. She didn’t want to have to hang out in the ladies’ room any longer than she had to. Once the coast was clear, Sophia left the restroom and strolled through the lobby. The delicious scent that reminded her so much of Nikolas wafted over the air. When she got back home and got her hands on him, he was in big trouble.
    Sophia arrived at the inn and took her bag to her room. She knew it was too early for supper, but she was hungry. She entered the dining room right as the Waterfords were coming in the front door.
    “Beatrice. Did your son-in-law find you?” Millicent asked.
    “My son-in-law?” What the holy hell was she talking about?
    “Yeah, he stopped by earlier. Said you were supposed to meet him for breakfast but he couldn’t get you to answer your phone.”
    “Was he tall with light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes?”
    “That was him,” Millicent said, fanning herself.
    Yvonne huffed. “Garrett is standing