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As they were returning to the hotel, Adam remained mostly silent. He was almost completely lost in his thoughts, consumed by what had happened the previous night and by what Amy had told him.

He parked the rental car in a space in the parking lot and looked at the redhead. She appeared thankfully calm.

"Ames, would you mind hanging out with Trish for awhile?"

She looked up sharply.

"Why?"

"Just for about an hour...Please," he said. He didn't want to tell her just yet what he was planning to do. She might get furious and accuse him of not believing her.

Amy arched an eyebrow, wondering what on earth the blond man was thinking. This was one of those rare times when she absolutely could not read him. However, for now, she decided to play along.

"Okay...I'll visit with Trish. Maybe we'll even go to the hotel bar and get plastered." She smiled sardonically, as the thought of doing that had entered her mind on more than one occasion in the not-so-distant past.

"Fine. Thanks, babe."

Adam leaned across the seat and kissed her.

She couldn't help being curious as hell. What was he up to?

*

The moment the redhead went off to visit her best friend, Adam went directly to their room.

He was now positive that something very strange was going on. After thinking very hard about the events of the last several days and weeks, he was convinced of something...

...Someone had to be pulling something, playing games...

As they'd been leaving the arena a little earlier, the blond man had recalled how Amy had freaked out awhile back, on the night of her birthday, upon seeing a ski mask inside a gift box. Likewise, it wasn't much later afterward that she'd reacted badly to an empty plate, a fork and a cup of coffee that had been left in his locker room.

The question was, who had made sure she would get the ski mask, and who had left those dishes?

Whoever the culprit was, Adam was convinced this was the same person behind the voice Amy had heard the previous night - and he was determined to find out the identity of this person...

Adam began doing a search of the room, positive there had to be something awry within. There had to be a logical - or maybe not so logical - explanation for the redhead having heard that bastard's voice... Maybe the asshole had tracked her after all this time. And if that was the case, the blond man would find him - and make certain to beat him severely...

A thorough search of the bathroom turned out to be fruitless, so Adam decided to turn his attentions back to the main room. He'd searched under the bed first, coming up empty-handed. Then again, that would be the first place a person would hide something such as a tape recorder - because it would be the first place a victim would think of checking if they suspected such a thing.

After what had to be at least an hour, the Canadian sat down on the bed to take a breather.

Damn it, all this searching had gotten him nowhere. He shook his head, exhaustion taking over. But he was still convinced of some type of foul play at work here...

Then, Adam suddenly realized there was one place in the hotel room he hadn't checked. And because it was right beside him, he didn't even have to stand up to do it...

The blond man reached over to his immediate left to the small desk beside the bed, pulling out the drawer.

His eyes widened just a bit at what he uncovered there...

Inside the drawer, there was an object just beside the bible, and he reached in and pulled it out.

Adam felt his blood drain from his face as he stared down at a tape recorder, a cassette tape inside...