Chapter 12
Sasha
Starting at one corner of the room, she peeled the black, felt-like fabric from the window, carefully rolling each piece as though it might be used again at their next location instead of thrown in the trash, where it would most likely end up.
She couldn’t help feeling all of this had been a waste of time, that it didn’t matter if the study moved forward when it was constantly taking steps backward.
If she’d learned anything in the last few years, it was that Zack was more of a hindrance than a help.
He gave the impression of being a force of action, capable of getting the impossible done simply by stating his desires.
This may have been true some of the time, but it also became clear that he couldn’t get out of his own way, usually making a situation worse.
Whispers were hard to ignore. Especially ones confirming what Sasha already suspected.
Zack had never sought cooperation with the Mexican government at all.
None of this had been done on the level.
And word about what they were doing had gotten out because, of course, he didn’t care about the consequences and had arrogantly posted something on social media he shouldn’t have.
It wasn’t surprising government officials weren’t happy and looking to shut them down.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go or how she was supposed to be working. She wondered if—
The bottom of her left shoe lifted from the floor with a gummy sensation, causing it to loosely stick to the hotel’s carpeting every time she took a step. Using the wall as support, she lifted her foot, discovering a crumpled sticker stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
Between pinched fingers, Sasha carefully peeled the sticker away.
It wasn’t too dirty. In fact, it looked like a fairly new sticker, if a bit creased and folded.
She was about to toss it into a small nearby waste bin when something caught her eye.
It was a name tag sticker, similar to the ones she was handing out in Ballroom A before she had to hand the task to one of her coworkers because of the meeting with Zack. In fact, the handwriting was hers.
Out of curiosity, she uncrumpled the sticker in order to read the name better.
Catalina.
She remembered writing the name, but it wasn’t enough to match it to a face, to know who specifically it had belonged to. Either way, it was definitely one of the guests Mankind2Mars had paid for under the guise of a free vacation.
Well, whatever. Sasha tossed the sticker into the trash and went about her day, later packing up her items in the hotel room. Except the more she thought about it, the more the sticker began to provoke her curiosity.
How did the sticker get in that room? It hadn’t been stuck to her shoe before she started removing the window coverings. She would have noticed if there’d been something on the bottom of her shoe, causing it to stick to carpet fibers.
She supposed the sticker could have been brought in by the team that had cleaned out the room of the equipment being sent to Belize.
Sure, that was probably it. Maybe the sticker fell off in the hallway and then stuck to a moving dolly or someone else’s shoe, only to end up inside of the room.
This seemed to be a reasonable theory. Her brain needed to drop the matter.
It was a silly sticker and didn’t warrant spending a lot of time considering what it signified other than being discarded garbage.
It was ridiculous to assume a name tag inside of the room meant that a guest had wandered where they shouldn’t. And even if they had accidentally gone in, they’d realize their mistake quickly and leave. Right?
Regardless, Sasha was going to make sure the next place they set up was going to have a door with better locking protocols.
Because if unauthorized people did end up in that room, who knows what could happen.
She tried her best to convince her brain nothing had occurred and she was worrying for no reason.
Sasha tapped her finger nervously on the nightstand near where she sat on the bed. Retrieving her tablet, she opened the Vacations4Fun document of guests. Her finger scrolled through the list before stopping.
Catalina Rosario.
The woman had been logged in at the same time as Trey Schuster. They’d been partnered up with Bill Higgins.
Sasha pulled out her cell phone, pressing it against her chin as she pondered everything. This was ridiculous, she kept telling herself, but, for her own peace of mind, she decided to call Bill.
“Yeah,” the man’s voice answered, muffled by what sounded like him being in a wind tunnel.
“Bill?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember that couple that got assigned to you this morning? Catalina and Trey?”
“How could I forget?” was his deadpan reply.
She wasn’t sure how to follow-up after this. How was Bill to know if they’d inadvertently gone into the MASS room? She chewed on a fingernail, hoping talking to Bill would reassure her rather than stoke her worries.
“Are you still there?” he asked impatiently. “Hello?”
“Yeah, sorry. I, uh, was just wondering if you knew where they went afterwards.”
“No idea,” he responded. His answer wasn’t surprising. Why would Bill even notice what the couple had done after they left the ballroom?
“Except…” he started, interrupting her thoughts.
Her heart stopped. “Except what?”
“We never finished the presentation. I never got them to sign our form, but it got really awkward because they started arguing and then left.”
If it was who she was thinking of, Sasha remembered them too.
The man, Trey, had been friendly enough and funny, making her laugh with that bathrobe joke, plus he’d been really good-looking.
But Catalina, the woman with him, looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, with arms crossed as though she’d been dragged against her will.
She had leaned against the wall away from them.
Her attitude was different from everyone else’s, who was more or less pleased to be at a vacation resort even if they had to go through a boring presentation.
“She had brown, wavy hair, right? Petite?” Sasha asked.
“Yeah, that was her. They left fighting, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, so I left the ballroom just to see if they were planning on returning. But it seemed like things were getting really heated between them because they were still arguing loudly in the hall.”
“The hall? Like, where in the hall?”
“I don’t know. Just in the hall. I did a quick peek and decided it wasn’t worth getting in the middle of all that.”
That funny tingling was back in her gut. “Would you say it was close to the MASS room?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“And they never returned?” she asked.
“Not that I saw. Why? What is this all about?”
“Nothing. I-I just…found something, and I’m trying to return it, that’s all.” It was a weird excuse, but the best one she could think of off the top of her head.
“Why don’t you leave it at the front desk then? I’m sure they’ll make sure they get it.”
“Oh. Good idea. Thanks.” She disconnected the call with Bill without so much as a goodbye and picked up the hotel phone, dialing for the front desk.
“Reception.”
“Hi. I’m with the Vacations4Fun team, and I’m looking for guests Catalina Rosario and Trey Schuster. Can you tell me what room they’re in or patch me through to their phone?”
“Catalina Rosario and Trey Schuster?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Quick keyboard tapping was heard in the background. “Ah, sí. We have them in room 236. Do you want me to put you through?”
“Yes. Please.” Sasha sank to the bed, wrapping the phone cord nervously around her hand.
“Okay. Hold, por favor.”
Sasha held her breath, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. A voice, any voice, would fill her with relief. Except the phone continued ringing, each time like a foreboding warning that something was wrong.
She tried to reassure herself this in itself didn’t mean anything.
There was still plenty of daylight left.
They could be out on the beach, exploring the city, doing any number of things people did on a tropical vacation.
Besides, people on vacation didn’t usually spend a lot of time inside a hotel room unless they were honeymooners and this couple seemed far from that if Bill’s account was accurate.
There was no reason for her to jump to any and all conclusions…
not yet. Returning the phone to its cradle, she decided to try again later.
Sasha returned to her task of packing, but not five minutes later it hit her.
There was one way to know for sure. The video security feed inside the room.
If she could access it, searching during the period of the presentation, when she knew the couple was in the area, she could see if they had entered the room or not.
It was worth taking a look instead of waiting around to see if Trey and Catalina returned to their room, without needlessly sounding the alarm if it was nothing.
She didn’t have access to the video feed, but she knew Dr. Cutchin did. Retrieving her cell again, she dialed him and hoped she’d finally be able to put this mystery to rest.