The more the other woman spoke, Zoe found herself unable to stop the small grin that curled at the edge of her lips. It wasn’t just the words, but the turn of phrase she used. She’d never heard someone use the word snoops like that, like there were different active categories. Her logic was easy to follow, though, and Zoe’s head tilted with agreement, but there was a thoughtful look in her eyes when she responded. “Well, I mean, you could be an off duty cat burglar and you’re using your prowess to currently pursue something else entirely. After all, you did just come up with a really plausible cover story for a burglar. Who’d think of the contractor?”
…”Which, actually, that would be perfect, because a contractor can scope buildings out without suspicion.”
If there was one truth about Zoe, it was that she’d follow a tangent to its natural or unnatural conclusion, whatever the situation.
“I don’t think that you’re a cat burglar or a contractor, though. Just so you know.”
Zoe’s interest piqued when she mentioned that this was something that she and her brother used to do. Her head wondered about such a curious activity and her heart thought that it must be hard for the other girl to be doing this on her own, now. She might have been projecting, but Zoe knew that when she did something that she used to do with Max, it was a hard reminder that he wasn’t there anymore. In so many ways, there was an emptiness. “Places like this? What kind of information were you after?”
Her questions were a bit swallowed up with their shared realization and Zoe’s surprised but pleased smile complemented Sydney’s laugh. There was a sharp pinprick of tears that she had to blink back, because suddenly finding herself with a person who’d had a connection to her brother, even if it was through someone else, had a significance that cut a little more deeply than she’d been anticipating, but there was a genuine warmth when she said, “That’s me. Hi. Fancy meeting you here.” Exhaling, Zoe thought about the offer for a moment. “729E. I think that I’d like that, yeah.”
Taking a step forward, Zoe’s flashlight shone through the dark hall. Her expression became more serious when a realization hit that she’d been too distracted to fully absorb a minute ago. “So… am I wrong or are they lying about what they’re doing in this part of the hotel?” It didn’t look like there’d been much activity at all for a long while.