A/N: And things only get worse for our intrepid heroes.

Chapter 13: Surveillance

The hotel room that Melissa Brown-Littleton had rented on Logan's behalf was a large one. It was beautiful and spacious. It was just the sort of room that would have been perfect for a person suffering from claustrophobia. In any other situation, four, maybe five people could have spent an ample amount of time in the room without any discomfort.The afternoon that Max and Logan escorted the weary Patterson heir into the room, however, it shrunk considerably in size.

For one thing, Max and Logan were both nervous pacers. At first, their constant bumping into each other was amusing, but after ten minutes they were both annoyed. Max snapped at him to watch himself. Biting back his own impolite retort, Logan only frowned. He didn't like the air in the room. It was too tense. He hated waiting, but that was all that there was to do. They were waiting for Alec. They were waiting for Logan's contact at San Francisco police department to return Logan's call. Will, meanwhile, could only sit and stare out the window, waiting for his life to make sense once again.

Logan sighed heavily as he listened carefully to the detective on the other end of the line. Detective Northam was an invaluable Eyes Only source that he had known for years. He'd been the first person to bring the shady nature of the Patterson company's dealings to Logan's attention, and over the years he'd provided more information that had led to many successful Eyes Only hacks. He was a good man, and Logan trusted him. Unfortunately, on this occasion, he couldn't tell Logan anything he didn't already know.

"Are you sure you didn't know the man?" Logan asked over his shoulder. Will, who was reclining on the bed, obviously inspecting the intricate mural on the ceiling, only shook his head. "Could you describe him to a police sketch artist?"

"The police!" Will erupted. "You can't call the cops! They're all corrupt."

"All but one," Logan tried to smile, but found it probably looked more like a grimace. He hoped Detective Northam hadn't heard the little outburst.

"He might be able to," Logan said into the phone. Detective Northam laughed, and Logan knew that he had, in fact, heard Will.

They talked for another few minutes. The detective offered to send a sketch artist to wherever they were staying, but Logan declined. Hopefully, within a few hours, a missing persons report would be filed, but, until that happened, Will was in no shape to be talking to the police. He was scared as hell, and the only person he trusted was his beloved "Grazia."

A cautious knock at the door echoed through the hotel room. Quickly, Logan thanked his informant for the information, and flipped the phone shut. He watched as Max slinked toward the door. She situated herself into a maneuverable position, nodding to Logan as she did so. Logan understood. He reached into his overnight bag to feel the cool metal of his handgun, before calling out for the knocker to identify himself.

"Turndown service!" A far-too-amused falsetto voice rang out. Of course… Alec.

Rolling her eyes, Max quickly unbolted the door. Alec sauntered into the room as only he could, ignoring Max's observation that 2:00 in the afternoon was a little early for turndown. He then took one look at pale-faced Will, and began chuckling under his breath. Logan released his hold on his gun, and met Alec's entertained eyes.

"Matthew, I presume?" he asked.

"de Mayo," Alec added. He stepped forward and shook Logan's hand. "Grazia's cousin."

"I can see the family resemblance," Logan deadpanned.

"It's not like I said he was my brother," Max protested, a small smile on her lips as she watched the "introduction."

"Yeah, 'cause that would be weird," Alec quipped. Max's response was that of an eye-roll and a glare in Alec's general direction. Naturally, Alec ignored her. Watching them reminded Logan of his cousins when they were all younger. It embarrassed him to think that he'd once thought of Alec as a rival. Strangely, he'd never considered himself to be a particularly jealous man until Max came along, and suddenly the one thing he wanted more than anything was beyond his reach.

As Alec clicked his tongue and set his backpack on the table, Logan was brought back to the situation at hand. The occupants of the room all grew quiet as Alec began pulling out and exhibiting the contents of his bag. Unfortunately, it was just as they had suspected. One look at Max proved that she also recognized the items Alec was setting down. It was surveillance equipment – the best money could buy – microphones, tiny cameras, routing antennas…. the works, basically.

Max exhaled slowly as she watched. Logan stopped inspecting the equipment and studied her reaction. She'd crossed her arms across her stomach, and she was chewing her lip. She shook her head slowly, as if she just couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was a knowing, and yet somehow haunted, look in her eyes. It was almost as if she were withdrawing into herself, staying within her own protective shell. He saw the light in her eyes dim, and he saw the tiny shiver that passed through her.

"Were you careful?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I had some suspicions. Patterson Electronics, you know, so I was careful about what I said, but…" she stared hard at the table full of equipment. "Where did you find it?"

Alec, to his credit, no longer looked so amused. He shrugged, pointing to each object as he explained in a calm, businesslike manner, "Let's see two mikes in the kitchen, but no camera. A mike and a camera in the front hall – monitoring who came and who went, I suppose. I found three mikes and three cameras in the living room. Nothing in the bathrooms, cause, you know, that would be gross. Nothing in the guest bedroom – lucky me – and…" he stopped, and he just couldn't help himself. He laughed, "Four of what appear to be high-def cameras, all with night capability and mikes, in the bedroom." He looked quite pointedly at Logan, a little smirk on his lips, "Were you careful?"

Revulsion, embarrassment, and anger joined the bile rising in Logan's throat. That asshole had been spying on Max! He'd watched her in bed! Fucking pervert! Worse still was the fact that this went beyond anything a sane man would do if he suspected his son's girlfriend was just a gold-digger. This went so far beyond it that, in an instant, Logan no longer considered Will to be the one who needed protecting. How long had the shithead been spying on Max? How many conversations between Max and Alec did he have on tape, hidden away somewhere to be used… for what? Evidence? How many times had Alec called her Max instead of Grazia on those tapes? How many times had they mentioned Joshua? Eyes Only? Manticore?

"Shit," Max whispered. She was blushing, her flaming cheeks matching the red of her tank top, but there was so much more than embarrassment in her eyes. She looked... scared, terrified, edgy. She looked as if she was ready to run at a moment's notice. She'd suspected she was being watched, certainly, but probably nothing on that scale. She glanced at Will, who was looking at her, at Alec, at Logan, from one to the other rapidly, searching for answers that not one of them could give.

"What is going on?" Will asked firmly, his eyes fixed on Max. She could only shrug.

"There's more," Alec added, and all merriment left his voice. He nodded to Max, "You were right. About five minutes after I left, two guys in black went in and trashed the place."

"Meaning that someone was probably watching twenty-four hours a day," Logan muttered. "His dad's not going to be happy that all the equipment's gone."

"Logan…" Max whispered. He caught her eye. He saw then that there were other emotions colliding within her, boiling together as they were in him. The look in her eyes wasn't so much frightened as it was... apologetic.

"We'll figure it out," he tried to assure her. She looked as if she was going to say something else, but he cut her off. "Max, we don't know what he was after. We'll figure it out as we go." She didn't look convinced, but it was the best he could do. It probably didn't help that he didn't feel at all convinced himself.

"Max?" Will whispered, staring at Max with a mixture of fear and pain. Oh, crap.

A/N: It's all a bit more complicated than I ever thought it would be. TBC...