7. CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
“ W e’re going to have to call the police,” Liam told Dawn, pulling Hicks from the room so as not to disturb any more evidence.
Dawn followed him, and Ritz cuddled into her body’s warmth. “But if we call the police, you know they’re going to go into the tunnels and take everything in that room.”
“Dawn, we have to report this,” Liam stated. “The police will take the blood sample from the carpet and go into the tunnels.” He ran a hand through his hair. “While I know we wanted to solve this, and researching the hotel’s history is great, I also need whatever this is to come to an end. It’s causing a negative impact on my hotel.”
“I know,” Dawn said, feeling bad because all she wanted was to get into that tunnel, grab those old journals, and find out what was in that smaller closet. “Hear me out.” She put Ritz into Hicks’s bed. “We go into the tunnels. If the police want to know why, we say we were chasing the person disguised as a wall that slipped into it.” She gave him an appealing smile. “It’s a natural instinct for someone to chase a person that’s broken into their home. Then, we can quickly grab what journals and things we can. Tell the police we found them in that room. I’ll even take photos of how they were positioned in the room.”
“You’ve got this all figured out rather quickly.” Liam’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Were you planning on sneaking down there on your own?”
“What?” Dawn looked at him innocently. “No!” She shook her head emphatically. “Geez, I’d never go into dark, scary tunnels on my own.”
“But you wouldn’t be on your own because you’d have Hicks.” Liam wasn’t buying her innocent look.
Dawn sighed. “Okay,” she said. “I was going to ask Carl to come with me and Hicks.” She held up her hand to stop him from saying anything as she continued to explain. “You’re so tired and have had such a busy day. I didn’t want to put more pressure on you.” She watched him intently. “I really want to find my journal, watch, and Lila’s locket.”
“Dawn, we’re supposed to be in this together,” Liam reminded her. “I need to be able to trust that you’re not going to do something crazy like you’ve just laid out to me.”
“If we go to the tunnels now, I won’t have to,” Dawn told him.
Liam stared at her for a few seconds before sighing resignedly. “Fine,” he said. “But we do this right this time. I have some more powerful flashlights I’ll go grab. You call Carl as it’s not a bad idea to have someone like him with us.” He looked at Hicks. “And we’ll take Hicks as our early warning device.”
“Great!” Dawn smiled happily and impulsively bounced into his arms, pulling his face towards her.
Dawn’s lips met Liam’s in a moment fueled by a cocktail of adrenaline and excitement at the adventure ahead. It was a spontaneous act that caught them both off guard. As she stepped back, her eyes wide with a mix of surprise at her own boldness and curiosity about his reaction, the air between them crackled with new, unspoken tension.
Liam looked stunned for a heartbeat. He looked into her eyes, his initial surprise softening into a tentative smile. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he processed the sudden intimacy by injecting some humor.
“That’s one way to seal a plan,” he murmured, the warmth in his voice smoothing over the tension that had started to suffocate the room.
Dawn’s cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. “I… I don’t know what came over me,” she stammered, trying to laugh it off, though her gaze lingered on his lips for a fraction too long. “Sorry, it was the heat of the moment’s excitement.”
“I can’t say I minded it.” His voice was low and husky as his eyes searched hers before he cleared his throat. “I should go get the flashlights so we can get this done as quickly as possible and then call the police.”
“Right, the tunnels.” Dawn quickly shifted back to the task at hand, grateful for the distraction from her racing thoughts. “I’ll go find Carl while you’re getting the flashlights.” She shoved her slightly trembling hands into her pockets, hoping Liam didn’t see how affected she’d been by her spontaneous kiss.
“Take Hicks with you,” Liam suggested as she left the room.
Dawn stood staring at the closed door for a few minutes. She gave herself a mental shake and forced the thoughts of the feel of Liam’s lips on hers from her mind. Dawn glanced at Hicks.
“Come on, boy. Let’s go get us a bodyguard,” she said to the excited dog as she put his harness and leash on.
Hicks started to bark toward the kitchenette. Dawn looked up to see that Ritz was now on the kitchen counter near her little harness and leash.
“Oh, so you want to come too?” Dawn walked to the kitchenette and looked at the little harness. “This is so cute.” She figured out how to put it on the surprisingly cooperative iguana. “There you go.”
Dawn picked Ritz up and grabbed Hicks’s leash. She slid her room card key into her pocket and made her way to the elevator. Luckily, it was pretty late, so there was hardly anyone around. Dawn made her way down to Carl’s room. The walk down to Carl’s and Liam leaving to get the flashlights gave her enough time to collect their thoughts and get her crazy, wayward emotions under control.
By the time Dawn knocked on Carl’s door, she had convinced herself she’d gotten her thoughts and growing feelings for Liam under control.
“No more spontaneously throwing yourself into Liam’s arms, Dawn,” she muttered to herself as Carl’s door swung open.
Carl’s eyes widened when he saw Dawn standing at his door with a large cane corso at her side and a harnessed iguana in her arms.
“Miss Vanderbilt,” Carl greeted her, his eyes sliding to her companions. “Is everything okay?” His eyes narrowed. “You and Miss Joyce didn’t rob a zoo again, did you?”
“How did you know about that?” Dawn asked him, her brow crinkling.
“It’s in your files,” Carl told her.
“And we didn’t rob the zoo,” Dawn corrected him. “Harriet was relocating a few of its abused animals.” She raised her eyebrows. “I was merely helping her with the relocation.”
“Noted.” Carl nodded.
“I’m here because Liam and I need your help,” Dawn told him and went on to explain what was happening after she made him promise not to tell her brother Scott.
Carl was reluctant to promise anything like that at first, as Scott was his boss. But Dawn could be very persuasive when she wanted to be. She got Carl to agree to her terms for the mission ahead.
“Give me a few minutes to get ready,” Carl told her.
“Sure. I’ll be up in my suite,” Dawn told him.
“Are you sure it’s wise to be there on your own, Miss Vanderbilt?” Carl looked at her worriedly.
“I’m not on my own,” Dawn told him and looked pointedly at her companions.
“He’s a beautiful dog,” Carl said, reaching out his hand for Hicks to sniff before he patted the dog’s head. “The iguana is beautiful too. But she probably needs a bit of warmth right now as the evening cools down.”
“You know about iguanas?” Dawn looked at him, impressed.
“Yeah, I’ve had a few,” Carl told her. “They can be quite the characters, too.”
Dawn nodded. “I’ll see you upstairs.” With that, she turned and went back to her room, worried about Ritz getting cold.
When she was inside the living room of her suite, Dawn took Ritz’s harness off and put her into Hicks’s cuddly bed. She turned the heat up in the living room. Noticing that her balcony doors were still slightly open, she went to close them. Dawn froze when her gaze was drawn to the hotel’s yacht jetty. Her gaze settled on the gleaming hull of the superyacht moored there. Its imposing presence was unexpected and, for some reason, sent warning bells off in her head. She stepped out onto the balcony to get a better look. The night air was thick with the scent of the sea, and the gentle bobbing of the boat instantly made her feel queasy.
“You really need to get this motion sickness under control,” Dawn told herself and was distracted by a knock on her door.
She pulled the glass door closed behind her and locked it before going to answer the knock. Dawn pulled the door open to find Liam armed with three flashlights.
“Hi,” Liam said, smiling and holding up the flashlights. “I think these will do nicely. Just one looks like a spotlight. I think three will light up the entire tunnel system.”
Dawn’s eyes drifted to the flashlights while her mind was on the yacht. “There’s a superyacht docked at the jetty where Alex’s boat used to be.” Her brow furrowed. “Do you know when it arrived?”
“Just a couple of hours ago,” Liam replied, watching her closely. “I believe it’s a surprise for Alex, Daniella, and Emily from the Blackwells.”
Dawn nodded as she absorbed his words. “Do you know who sailed it here?”
“I can find out.” Liam pulled out his phone. “I know the captain is booked into Harriet’s old suite next door to yours.” He dialed the reception desk. After a brief exchange, he hung up and turned to Dawn. “It’s a Captain Jet.”
Dawn’s heart jolted, her jaw clenched, and her fists balled at her sides. “Dang it,” she said through clenched teeth before she stormed out of her room.
Dawn’s stride was purposeful and swift as she made her way toward the suite where Harriet stayed before she got married. Dawn heard Liam hurrying behind her and the click of Hicks’s claws. They reached the suite next door to hers.
Without caring that it was almost midnight, Dawn pounded on the door with a force that resonated along the hallway. It didn’t take long before the door swung open to reveal a tall, ruggedly handsome young man in his early thirties with violet eyes and dark hair styled neatly on the sides and shaggily on top. His expression shifted from surprise to a disarming grin when he saw Dawn.
“Dawn,” he greeted warmly. “Where did you come from?”
Ignoring his pleasantries, Dawn shot straight to the point. “Don’t act all innocent like you didn’t know I was here.” She poked him in the chest with her index finger.
“I thought you were in Greece, actually,” he told her.
“Oh!” Dawn nodded, not believing one word of what he said. “Of course you did.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m going to give you one chance to give me an honest answer and tell me what you’re doing here.”
The man paused, his smile never faltering under her intense scrutiny. “I’m delivering Alex’s new yacht. It’s supposed to be a surprise for when he gets back from his honeymoon.” He leaned against the doorframe, casually shoving his hands in his gown pockets.
Liam stood gaping at the exchange between two of his guests in the most expensive suites in his hotel. He stepped forward, asking, “Do you two know each other?”
“You could say that,” the man told him, his grin getting cheekier. “Although it’s been a while since we’ve talked. Not for the lack of trying on my part.” He winked at Dawn, infuriating her even more. “She’s always far too busy to return calls or text messages.”
“Cut it out,” Dawn warned him. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“I told you,” the man repeated with a heavy sigh. “I’m delivering Alex’s new superyacht as per his parents’ request and insistence that I be the one to do so.”
“Nice white gown you’re wearing,“ Dawn noted. “Is it part of your blending to spy and steal things technique?” She noticed a fresh bandage wound on his hand. “Any dogs bitten you within the last half an hour or so.”
He looked at her as though she had lost her mind. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Dawn folded her arms across her chest as she held the young man in her angry gaze. “Just you pulling your ninja stealth thing and sneaking into my suite where you got bitten by Hicks.”
“Dawn!” Liam said in disbelief. “You can’t go accusing people of something like that.”
“Dawn, I haven’t done my ‘stealth things’ since I was twelve.” His face scrunched up in frustration, and he held up his bandaged hand. “I got this on the docks just after I arrived here when I was showing a new crew member how to properly secure a superyacht.” He cocked his head. “Go ask the lovely lady in the reception. The one with the wild, fiery red hair. She’ll tell you as she was the one to bandage the wound.”
“I’m going to do that,” Dawn warned him. “And you’d better not be lying to me.”
Hurt mingled with anger flashed in his eyes for a few seconds, and he shook his head. “Nice to see nothing changed. I’m still the one who always causes trouble.”
“Well, what do you expect?” Dawn asked him. “You keep on about us not trusting you and always looking at you first whenever something goes wrong, and you’re around. But you’ve never given us any reason to trust you.”
“Maybe…” the man said, straightening to his full impressive height of six-foot-three, “I just want the people who are supposed to love me unconditionally to do just that. But you can’t, can you?” Hurt and bitterness sparked in his voice. “Because none of you ever took the time to get to know me.” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Just like now, you were all too busy to ever do just that.”
Dawn’s heart dropped, and guilt washed over as his words sunk in, and she knew he was right.
“No!” Dawn said, stepping up to him. “You’re wrong, you know.” She held out her arms to him, pulling her to him in a hug. “I’m sorry I barged in here accusing you.”
The man wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into a bear hug.
Liam cleared his throat. “Uh… How do the two of you know each other?”
Standing arm in arm with the man, Dawn turned to Liam, realizing she’d been rude and not introduced them properly.
“Oh, sorry, man,” the man said, holding out his hand. “I’m Wade.” He shook Liam’s hand. “Vanderbilt. Dawn’s little brother.”
“Listen, Wade,” Dawn started, her voice firm, “we’re about to head into the tunnels under the hotel. Before we do, and before the police get involved, we need to know if there’s anything you’re not telling us.”
The elevator dinged, and Carl stepped out, stopping when he saw Wade.
“Mr. Vanderbilt?” Carl’s eyes widened. “When did you get in?” He frowned. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”
“Hey, Carl.” Wade gave the man a salute. “I arrived ahead of schedule.”
“You were supposed to check in with me the moment you arrived,” Carl reminded him, walking toward them. “You know the rules, young sir.”
“Geez, even when I’m on legitimate business I get treated like I’m on probation.” Wade shook his head and stifled a yawn. “Listen. I love catching up with you all.” He looked at Liam. “It was nice meeting you, Liam.” He grinned at Hicks and scratched the dogs, who looked up adoringly at him. “It was a privilege to meet you, big guy.”
“There’s an iguana in my room, too,” Dawn blurted, regretting the moment it was out. Wade loved animals, and before all his trouble started, he was going to be a wildlife vet.
“No way!” Wade’s eyes instantly lit up, and all remnants of sleep were gone. “This I have to see.”
“No!” Dawn stepped in front of her brother, holding up her hands. “No. You can see the Ritz in the morning. Right now, you need to get some rest.”
“Oh, come on.” Wade looked at her with disappointment, shining in his gorgeous eyes and reminding her of how he’d looked when he was a kid, and she’d let him down.
Dawn swallowed down the guilt that flooded her heart as she stared into her brother’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Wade, but I’m tired as well. I have to speak with Carl about Harper and then need to get some sleep as I’m researching hotel management for a new script.”
“Okay.” Wade nodded and stepped back into the suite.
“Why don’t we have breakfast together tomorrow in my suite?” Dawn offered.
“Sure,” Wade said, and she could hear the hurt in his voice. “I’ll call you in the morning.” He nodded toward Carl and Liam and patted Hicks once more before pecking Dawn on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
With that, he stepped back into his suite and closed the door, leaving Dawn whirling back to their youth. All the times he’d gone to his room because she couldn’t spend the time with him she’d promised.
“Dawn, are you okay?” Liam asked, his eyes filled with concern. “Your brother seems nice.”
“He’s a complicated man,” Dawn said with a tight smile and glanced at Carl. “Carl, can you get someone to keep an eye on Wade?”
She hated even having to do that, and she so wanted to trust her little brother. Still, past experience had taught her that Wade always needed supervision.
“Of course, I’ll organize that right away,” Carl promised as they made their way back to Dawn’s suite.
While Carl organized a security detail for Wade, Dawn battled with her own conscience and guilt over her brother. She’d always felt partly responsible for the trouble he’d gotten himself into. Harriet had once told her to give Wade the benefit of the doubt and stop being so hard on him. Dawn had done so too many times, but Wade hadn’t just let her down; he let himself down as well. To this day, Dawn didn’t think he’d been telling the truth when his troubles had begun.
She drew in a deep breath and shook her head. Push it aside, Dawn. The past is in the past, and Wade paid for his mistakes.
“Dawn?” Liam’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Are you ready for our trip into the tunnels?”
“The person is probably long gone,” Carl pointed out. “We should call the police now.”
“We will,” Dawn told him. “Once we’ve recovered some old journals that are down there.”
“But the personal trail will have gone cold by then,” Carl told them.
“That’s why we’re bringing you, Carl,” Dawn told him with a grin. “You can use your ex-FBI skills to scout the place out.”
“Your brother sent my credentials to you, didn’t he?” Carl looked at her questioningly.
“Yup!” Dawn nodded and looked at Liam. “Are we ready?”
“Here you go.” Liam handed them each a flashlight. “Do you want to take Hicks?” He gave Dawn the leash.
“Do you think it’s wise to give Miss Vanderbilt Hicks’s leash?” Carl asked. “Hicks is a strong dog, and if he’s going to dart, he could seriously injure her.”
“I’ll be fine, Carl,” Dawn promised. “I’ll drop the leash the minute I get a hint that Hicks wants to dart.” She smiled down at the beautiful, shiny black dog with his lovely red eyes. “Besides, he makes me feel safe walking with me.”
“Alright then,” Carl said, following Dawn, Liam, and Hicks into her bedroom.
Liam pushed on the mirror, and Carl’s eyes widened in disbelief when it clicked open.
“Welcome to Narnia,” Dawn told him. “Only, this is a portal to the ghost of Summer Inn’s past.”
“You really are a writer, aren’t you?” Liam laughed.
Carl stepped around them, switched on his flashlight, and walked into the passages. “I’ll take the lead.”
“I’ll take the rear,” Liam said.
“Hicks and I have no problem with being in the middle of two big human shields,” Dawn stated, and Hicks looked up at her with what she took for a grin in agreement.
With the flashlight beams piercing the darkness ahead, Carl led the way cautiously, his steps echoing through the tunnel. The air was heavy with the smell of damp earth and the musty smell of decay. Dawn clutched the leash tightly in her hand, Hicks’s presence comforting beside her as the dog’s ears twitched at every small sound.
As they approached the hidden room, the tension among them grew. Dawn glanced back at Liam, who gave her a reassuring nod. Carl opened the door that led into the room where the journals were. He stopped in the middle of the doorway, blocking Dawn, Hicks, and Liam’s entry.
“Here we are,” Carl announced, his voice low, almost a whisper. He handed Dawn and Liam each a pair of gloves from his pocket. “For handling the journals,” he explained. Dawn nodded, pulling them on with a sense of anticipation tingling through her veins.
Liam put on his gloves and stepped inside the musty old room after Carl. Dawn watched him pull the small key from his pants pocket as he walked over to the small door they had yet to open. It was a sturdy, old wooden door with a rusted metal handle that looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades. He inserted the small key they had found earlier into the lock. It resisted at first, but with a firm, determined twist, the lock clicked open. Slowly, with the others’ flashlights focused on the door, Liam pulled it open.
Inside, they found shelves with dusty books and bundles of papers, some of which spilled onto the floor. The air was thick with the smell of old paper and leather, a library forgotten by time.
“Here, let’s put them in the paper bag I brought.” Dawn pulled the bag she’d folded neatly into her pocket and handed it to Liam.
While Liam piled the contents of the small closet into the paper bag, Dawn pulled out another one as her flashlight swept over the spines of the books, some titles barely readable. She reached for a stack of journals bound in faded leather, the pages yellowed but intact. As she flipped through one, a pressed flower fell out, its colors long since faded to a gentle brown.
Liam joined her, holding up the journal he’d found in the smaller closet. “Look at this,” he said, pointing to a handwritten note tucked in the margin of a page. “It mentions the original owner of the inn and some kind of secret agreement.”
Carl kept watch at the door, his eyes scanning the dark hallway outside the room. “We don’t have much time,” he reminded them. “We need to call the police.”
Dawn nodded, her fingers skimming through the pages faster. She pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures of the pages, especially those with any handwritten notes or drawings.
As they gathered what they could, the sound of distant footsteps echoed through the tunnels, causing Hicks to growl softly. “Someone’s coming,” Carl hissed, his hand instinctively reaching for the weapon he’d secured earlier.
“Let’s move,” Liam said, grabbing a few more journals.
“Shh.” Carl lifted his finger to his lips and, as quietly as he could, pulled the door to the room closed, leaving only a slight crack.
They stood lined up behind Carl as the footsteps drew nearer. Hicks growled low in his throat, and Dawn, her heart hammering so loud she was surprised she’d heard it, crouched down beside the big dog, patting him.
“Shh, boy,” she whispered, soothing him. “Good boy.” He licked her hand, but she could feel he was edgy like they all were.
The footsteps grew nearer, and Dawn frowned as she listened to them. She glanced up and saw Carl lean his ear closer to the door as the footstep stopped right outside. Carl turned and indicated for them all to step back. As they did, Carl moved at the speed of a striking cobra. The door swung open, and he reached out, grabbing the person and pulling them into the room in a death grip.
“What the heck?” Wade spluttered, then cringed when Dawn switched her flashlight back on and shone in at him. “Hey!”
“Wade!” Dawn hissed. “What the heck are you doing here?”
“We’ve been over this,” Wade told her. “I’m delivering Alex’s boat.”
“Don’t act dumb!” Dawn’s voice raised slightly.
“Oh, you mean here.” Wade wiggled, and Carl let him go. He rubbed his wrists. “Geez, man. You nearly broke my arm.”
“You’re lucky that’s all that nearly got broken,” Carl warned him.
Hicks, the traitor, wined and wagged his tail before snuggling up to Wade for pats.
Wade obliged the dog.
“What are you doing here?” Liam asked Wade this time.
“I heard someone scream,” Wade told them. “Thought it was my sister. I rushed out and saw a woman dressed in a white bodysuit rushing down the hall and flinging something green off her.” He grinned. “Before I could reach her to find out if she was okay, she disappeared.”
“What do you mean disappeared?” Liam asked before Dawn or Carl could.
“She ran past the elevator, and by the time I got to her, she was gone,” Wade told them. “Poof. Like a ghost.”
“Are you being serious?” Dawn watched her brother closely.
“The green thing she flung off her was an iguana,” Wade told them. “I take it she’s your iguana?” He looked at Liam
“Ritz!” Dawn and Liam said in unison.
“Where is she?” Liam asked
“Safe and warm. Ritz is pretty shaken and irritated, so just leave her with me for a while and let her warm up where I have her,” Wade advised.
“You saw someone in a white jumpsuit,” Carl questioned Wade.
“Yeah.” Wade nodded. “It was like a slick skin and even covered her face.”
“Wait!” Dawn’s frown deepened as she looked at her brother. “How did she come to have Ritz?”
“I can’t give you an exact answer as I only came to the party when she was screaming down the hallway with an Iguana stuck to her,” Wade told them. “Once I rescued the poor thing, I found that your room door was open. There were papers scattered everywhere. I went inside and found this passageway. As you were nowhere to be found, I thought you may have been kidnapped and dragged in here.”
“So you came to rescue me?” Dawn was touched. “With an iguana as your weapon?”
“Trust me, that woman was pretty scared,” Wade said. “Iguanas know their owners and who is feeding them or taking care of them. They don’t like strangers and, like any animal, can pick up on ill intent.”
“You said that woman was in Miss Vanderbilt’s room?” Carl’s eyes widened, and his head snapped around to look at her. “I’m sorry, Miss Vanderbilt, Mr. Gains, but it’s time to call the police.”
They retraced their steps back through the tunnels to Dawn’s bedroom. Along the way, Wade insisted he be brought up to speed on what was going on under the threat of calling their older brother if he wasn’t, especially when he learned his niece was in town.
It was nearly three in the morning when the police finally left. Dawn and Wade were being moved to newer suites in the new wing of the hotel, which had only just finished being renovated. Carl and some of his security detail helped Liam and some of his staff members board up the doors that led to the guest rooms through the tunnels. Liam liaised with Carl about getting secret security cameras set up in the tunnels to try and catch the thieves.
It was four in the morning before Dawn climbed into her new bed in her new room with Hicks curled up beside her. Wade still had Ritz and insisted on creating a temporary home for her in his new suite made from a large fish tank Liam had taken out of the main sitting area of the hotel a couple of years ago. Before Dawn fell asleep, she messaged Harper and Betty to let them know that they had to switch rooms. It had been an eventful night, and Dawn was going to sleep until noon or try to at least.
Every time Dawn closed her eyes, she felt her lips pressing against Liam as she remembered the stupid, impulsive slip-up Dawn had earlier. Thank goodness they’d been too busy to dwell on it. As the sun started to awaken the day as it peered over the horizon, Dawn finally drifted off to sleep. Carried in the arms of Liam, she stepped into a blissful dream.