10. Chapter Ten
Chapter ten
N othing was ever simple. Nick spent the weekend going over his old case notes, regarding Javier Lopez. He spent two more days digging up everything he could on Javier’s newest movements. He pulled one thread after the next from every whisper and associate even remotely connected to Lopez. He knew exactly what he’d known all along. Lopez was a piece of shit, who preyed on children.
Today he’d start hunting.
His phone rang as he drove out to the resort where Javier’s sister Julia worked. He hit the button on the steering wheels to answer and said hello to his boss.
“Nick, I have good news. I looked into using the Blackrock Falls PD building to open a satellite FBI office.”
“And?” Nick held his breath, hoping he got what he wanted. The lieutenant position would be okay, mostly supervisory, but not like what he did now.
“The uptick in cases we’re overseeing in the area do warrant more attention and resources from the bureau. Mason’s handled several cases already on his own and the other agents in the state are desperate for some help. I’ve signed off on setting up the new office and your transfer, as well as Mason’s, if he wants it.”
“Wait, are you saying you’re going to partner me with Mason to run that territory?”
“And several other agents who are already in state. You’ll head them all. How soon can you leave?”
Nick locked his jaw so he didn’t gape, even as his heart pounded with excitement. This was what he wanted. He’d be working with Mason again and live closer to Aria. He could have a real shot at getting her back. She wanted to be a wife and mother. He wanted her and a family.
“I need time to bring in Javier Lopez.” He hated that the guy was still on the streets, still hurting innocent children. He needed to be stopped.
“I’ll let our group setting up Blackrock Falls know that you’ll be joining them soon. Mason can oversee everything until you get there. I’d start looking for a place. Unless you plan on crashing at your brother’s until you decide what you want.”
I know exactly what I want and she’s a five-foot-five spitfire with dark hair and blue eyes, who has my heart—and my balls—in a vise at the moment, because she refuses to believe I’m coming for her.
“I’ll start making plans.” He’d already started.
“I’ll contact Mason and make him the offer, though I’m sure he’ll take it. I’ll send the formal offer over to you as well, and we’ll get the ball rolling on your transfer while you tie up this case with an arrest this time.”
Nick didn’t take any offense that his boss implied Javier’s escape had been his fault. Helping his fellow agent, who’d been shot, took priority over arresting Javier. Still, Nick felt the pressure to stop Javier once and for all. “I’m on it. In fact, I’ll be meeting his sister in about ten minutes.”
“Good. I hope you get her to talk and we can get this guy once and for all. I’ll have the team setting up the new office keep in contact with you about their progress. More soon.” His boss hung up and Nick sat back, happy for the first time in a while that things were going his way.
He hit the speed dial for Aria on his phone and left her a message, because it was too early for her to be up yet. “Hey, sweetheart, it’s me. I just got off the phone with my boss. He’s transferring me to Wyoming. I already found a house I know you’ll love. I’m going to buy it. For us. I don’t know exactly when I’ll be there, but soon. I promise. God, I miss you. I hope you think this news is as good as I think it is.”
He hung up and tried to focus back on his case and what he needed to accomplish today.
Nick had Julia Lopez under surveillance, as well as the private resort where she worked.
Snowcap Resort was everything it claimed to be. The place to ski, mountain bike, fish, golf, and network with those who had risen to, or were born into, the upper echelons of society. The who’s who of the small and big screen, the tech world, big business, even government, were members of the private resort. The surveillance team had gotten some great shots of the rich and famous enjoying the amenities.
Though there were a few children spotted, they were all carefully identified as children of the guests, or even school friends, tagging along on vacation.
They hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.
Julia was seen entering and leaving the property each day that week, arriving on time and leaving within a relatively close time to her shift’s end. Some days ran longer than others for her, but it seemed she kept to her schedule.
The only thing she did after work was stop by her mother’s place to check on her.
Nick had learned that the elder Lopez had been frail for some time. Arthritis. Julia picked up groceries for her mother a couple times a week and stopped by to check on her every evening.
He found the Lopez place interesting. Aside from the main house, there were three small cabins on the property. All vacant.
He wanted to check them out but didn’t have probable cause for a warrant. Yet.
But he wondered why Julia didn’t rent out the cabins to earn some extra money.
Maybe she did from time to time, using some other means to advertise. Word of mouth even. But his mind went to something sinister, involving Javier, the dark web, and pedophiles. He’d have the cyber team look into it.
But first, he wanted to surprise Julia at work and see how she reacted and what she had to say about her brother.
Wednesday was a quieter time at the resort. Most people preferred to stay for a long weekend, while fewer stayed the whole week. He hoped to find Julia less busy and more willing to talk if she wasn’t worried about catering to the elite guests.
He drove up to the guarded gate and flashed his badge. “Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nick Gunn. I’m here to speak to Julia Lopez.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No. We’re old acquaintances and this is official business. I’d prefer if you didn’t tell her I was here and allowed me to meet her in her office, or somewhere private where I can talk to her.”
The security guard picked up the phone to call someone, probably the manager, to find out if they should let him in. The last thing they wanted was a fed roaming the property. Their members expected privacy. This was a haven where they could relax and let their guard down.
The security guard hung up. “The hotel manager, Dennis Collins, will meet you in the lobby. Please park in the staff lot to the right of the resort.” The guard handed him a pass to put on his dash.
Nick drove through the massive gates and down the tree-lined driveway toward the circular entry by the main doors. He pulled out of the loop to the right and followed a shorter road to the staff parking lot. It took him only a few minutes to traverse back to the main entrance and walk into the gorgeous lobby. Wood dominated the space. It was a mountain retreat, after all, but this one had huge crystal chandeliers overhead, forest-green upholstered chairs, and navy-blue sofas, accompanied by white marble-topped wood tables. To the right was the check-in desk in the same wood tone with a marble top. Two people manned the desk, while a third watched over the tall cabinet of keys to all the expensive cars parked outside.
“Agent Gunn?”
Nick turned to the gentleman in the black suit, white shirt, and green tie that matched the chairs behind him. “Mr. Collins.”
“Dennis will do.” He waved his arm out toward a more private area, away from their avid audience sitting at the check-in desk nearby.
Nick followed Dennis, still checking out the massive entryway. “This is a beautiful place.” The fireplace in the adjoining room was big enough for Nick to stand in. Several guests occupied the seating area in front of it. The art on the walls was a mix of scenic views that matched the outside landscape and portraits of what he had to assume were prominent members.
“Our members expect the best. We give it to them. Now, I understand you wish to speak to Julia Lopez. May I ask what this is in regard to?”
Nick put the manager at ease that he wasn’t here to arrest one of his guests, or disrupt the tranquil atmosphere. “It’s a family matter. She’s done nothing wrong. She’s not in any trouble. I’m just following up with her about a matter we spoke of years ago.”
Dennis relaxed. “Of course. This way. She’ll most likely be in her office as she’s already overseen the room attendants this morning.” No maids here. “Midafternoon is usually quiet before guests are back in their rooms prior to dinner.”
Nick kept his easy manner, letting Dennis know with his body language that all was well. He didn’t want to tarnish Julia’s name or job. As far as he knew, the only mark on her was being related to Javier. Not her fault. “I won’t take up too much of her time.”
Dennis led him through an Employees Only door and down a long hallway with several offices. No surprise that Julia’s office was near the large laundry room, where several workers folded towels and sheets.
Dennis knocked on the doorframe as he stood in the doorway. “Julia. There’s someone here to see you.”
Dennis stepped back and let Nick take his place.
“Hello, Julia. It’s been a long time. Do you remember me?”
“Of course. Agent…”
“Gunn. Nick Gunn. I’d like a few minutes of your time. I have some questions for you.”
Julia’s gaze shot to Dennis’s rapt attention on them, then back to Nick. “I’d be happy to answer them for you. I have to check on something in one of the rooms upstairs; would you mind walking with me while we talk?”
Nick guessed she didn’t want her boss standing outside the door while they talked about her brother’s illegal activities. “Lead the way.”
She stood and put her cell phone in her black slacks’ pocket. She met Dennis’s curious gaze. “This won’t take long.” She stood there, waiting for him to leave them alone.
“We don’t have a problem, do we, Julia?” Dennis raised a brow, eyeing her.
She gave him an easy smile. “Everything is fine. This is a private, family matter.” One she obviously didn’t want to discuss with him.
Dennis held her gaze for another long moment, then turned to leave. As soon as Dennis walked back toward the lobby, Julia tilted her head toward the laundry room. “Let’s go this way.”
He followed her past the huge washers and dryers, toward another door that let them out into the end of a guest hallway with a service elevator in front of them. She used her key card. The sign beside this elevator designated it for staff, not guests. The sliding doors opened immediately. “Where are we going?”
“I like to check the suites after they’ve been cleaned and restocked to be sure everything is as it should be for guests.”
He stepped into the elevator with her. “I imagine most of the rooms in this place are suites.”
“On the upper floors, yes. But when I say suite, I mean the most expensive ones, reserved for special guests.”
“What kind of special guests?”
“The kind with money and power, who expect the very best of everything. The ones we have to anticipate.”
“I imagine you keep detailed files on guests’ likes and dislikes.”
“You are correct, Agent Gunn. I’ve worked very hard to rise from just a maid to managing the operation. It is a point of pride that complaints have dropped eighty percent since I took over.”
They stepped out of the elevator into a long hallway. “That’s quite impressive, considering your clientele. Those remaining complaints must be from those who simply can’t be pleased no matter how hard you try.”
They walked side by side down the hallway.
“Some think that nothing is ever good enough. Sometimes you can surprise them with something they never knew they wanted.”
He wasn’t here to talk about hard-to-please guests and changed the subject. “I heard your mother isn’t doing well.”
She stopped outside a set of double doors. “You heard?” She raised a brow, then opened the door with a master key card.
He walked in, taking in the opulence of the space.
She closed the door behind him.
The suite was everything he thought it would be and more. The entryway had slate tiles. The walls were the palest of blue. A huge arrangement of assorted pink, white, and yellow flowers stood on the entry table. Their sweet fragrance surrounded him. But the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking part of the world-class golf course and the mountain range that had some of the best skiing trails in the state…spectacular. He couldn’t take his gaze away from the beauty of it all. Julia went about checking to be sure the fridge was stocked with expensive champagne and chilled vodka in the freezer. The bar held several types of top-shelf liquor. Cut crystal decanters were topped off and glasses stood ready to be used.
The living space boasted an elegant sectional, large-screen TV, a wood coffee table, and a couple of chairs. He could sit on that couch and stare at the view for hours as the clouds drifted past.
Julia clasped her hands in front of her. “So you want to ask about Javier? Go ahead. Ask your questions. But I don’t know anything.”
“When is the last time you saw him?”
She shrugged. “Maybe two, three years ago.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Try again. I have a photo taken of you two together at a restaurant three months ago.”
She pressed her lips tight. “It was my birthday. I was there with friends. He surprised me.”
Yeah, and one of those friends posted the pics on social media and the FBI’s face recognition software found the photo.
“Happy birthday.”
“Thank you. He only stayed for a little while before he left again. I haven’t seen him since he showed up out of the blue.” She squeezed her fingers. “He knows I want nothing to do with him and his world. Although what he did for me was nice, he is not a nice man.”
Nick knew that all too well. “Did he tell you where he’s living? What he’s doing?”
“I don’t want to know, so I don’t ask. He didn’t say. He asked about me, our mother, if we needed anything. That sort of thing.” Her gaze never met his. The words came out too smoothly, almost rehearsed. Like her brother told her exactly what to say.
“If you’re scared of him…if he threatened you in any way…I can help.”
She pressed her lips tight. “I don’t need help. I have a good job. I make enough for what I need to take care of myself and my mother.”
He made a show of looking around the opulent room again. “This is more than a few steps up from the motel I found you working at the last time.”
Defensiveness filled her gaze. “I’ve worked hard to rise above my circumstances. I like it here. It’s clean. The people are mostly nice. The ones who aren’t I avoid if I can.”
“Did one of the ones you couldn’t avoid do that to your arm?” Nick gentled his voice, hoping she’d respond to his concern and open up to him about the bruises he had spotted the second he walked into her office.
She quickly covered the four bruises on the outside of her forearm. He bet he’d find one thumb imprint on the other side of her arm. Someone had grabbed her. Hard. And not let go. “Some men think they can put their hands on a woman because of their name or what they do and nothing will happen to them. But they learn different when it comes to me.”
That was interesting. “Did you report him?”
She seemed to catch herself and waved that away. “It’s not important. I dealt with it.”
He wondered if she’d had Javier take care of it for her. Or if Javier was the one who marked her. “Do you have any information about your brother and where he might be?”
She straightened her spine. “Like I told you last time, he keeps his business, or whatever he’s doing, away from us.”
“This place has a lot of security.” He’d noticed the camera in the elevator, several along the corridor outside the suites on this floor. He bet if he looked hard enough, he’d find one in the living space here. Hopefully not the bedrooms or bathrooms that split off this main space.
“The wealthy expect it along with their privacy.”
He flipped open the room service menu on the bar. “You can get just about anything you want in a place like this.” Yes, he was fishing to see if she took the bait and revealed anything.
Julia eyed him, probably guessing he suspected illicit things happened here all the time. “We pride ourselves on taking care of our members’ needs.”
He grinned, hoping to disarm her. “Anything and everything at their fingertips.”
“We want them to enjoy the experiences this place has to offer.” It sounded like there was a subtle hint of something in those words.
“What kind of experiences are you talking about?”
She actually smiled. “If a member wants to set up a special evening in his suite to celebrate a special occasion or romance his…partner…”
That pause made him wonder about the types of couples she’d seen here. He believed that love is love and everyone should be with the person who made them the best version of themselves. So long as they were of age and consenting.
Of course there were probably a lot of lovers meeting here undercover. Probably a lot of trysts with mistresses.
But was she hinting at something salacious or deviant just to taunt him? Or was he reading too much into her words because of this type of case?
“We are happy to set the scene and create the perfect ambiance for their experience. For our members, nothing is too big an ask, or out of the realm of possibility. Given enough time and money to pull it off, of course. We aim to please, even the most discerning members.”
“Of course.”
“Most of the guests are satisfied with the entertainment we provide in the club and community spaces. Many of our members are in the entertainment industry and like to perform for the guests at times. It’s not uncommon to find a rock star or musician playing somewhere on the grounds and drawing a crowd.”
“I bet that’s something to see and hear when it’s such a small gathering compared to a huge concert venue.”
“I think that’s why they like to do it, too. And here, they aren’t swarmed by fans but appreciated by others who understand that here they are among people like them.” She obviously loved her job and being here.
Who wouldn’t? It seemed like an ideal place.
But was there something darker he was missing?
“Now, I have a lot of work left to do before my shift ends. If there’s nothing else…” She shooed him toward the door.
He didn’t push, not now, and pulled out his business card from his suit pocket. “If you hear from Javier, or he tells you anything about where he is or what he’s doing, call me.”
She took the card, but didn’t even look at it.
He had a feeling it would end up in the trash the second he left the room.
She waved her hand out toward the door. “I’ll see you out.”
“Not necessary. You go ahead and finish checking the suite. I know you didn’t just come up here to check the fridge and supply of booze. I can find my way out.”
She nodded and crinkled his card in her hand as she fisted it at her side. “As you wish.”
He wondered how often she said that phrase to members here. “I hope your mother feels better soon.”
“Thank you, Agent Gunn.” So formal. Another skill learned on the job here.
But he let it go and walked out of the suite. Instead of going to the elevator, he took the stairs down to the next floor. He wanted to check things out. Something about the way Julia spoke and acted set off a niggling in the back of his mind that not everything was as it seemed with her.
He expected her to be proud of working her way to the position she held now. But she seemed almost defiant about it. And also like the position gave her some sort of power over the people she was meant to serve.
It was strange.
The fourth floor was much like the fifth, with one extra door. He took the stairs down to the third floor and stared through the small window as Julia walked out of the elevator they’d used earlier and went to one of the guest room doors that had a sign on it. He couldn’t read it from here. He opened the stairwell door just as the guest’s room door opened and she rushed inside. The door closed immediately.
Odd.
He waited in the alcove, hoping no one discovered him lurking in the stairwell, peeking through the window.
He wondered whose room she’d gone into. Javier’s?
In only a few minutes Julia came out of the room, pushing a rolling cart in front of her. It looked like one used for a coffee station.
Suddenly a man came into view, dressed in slacks and no shirt, his feet bare. Definitely not Javier. “Tell him I didn’t mean to break it. It was an accident. I swear. You’ll tell him , right.” The man seemed almost panicked as he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and dropped it onto the cart. “That should be enough to make it right. If not, I’ll pay more.”
Several hundred-dollar bills fluttered to the floor.
Julia cursed, then knelt to pick them up. “You know he’s not going to like this. You’ve been warned once already.”
The guy grabbed Julia by her suit jacket lapels and hauled her up to her feet and close to his chest, their faces inches apart, his angry and defiant.
Nick couldn’t stay hidden any longer. He rushed out of the stairwell and down the hallway. “Let her go.”
Julia’s head snapped toward him with a look of surprise and fear before she schooled her expression. “Agent Gunn, I’m fine.”
He didn’t miss the way she stressed his title, or the way the guy paled.
The guy let her go like she was on fire. His eyes rounded into saucers as he stared at her and started to sweat.
Nick looked from him to Julia and back again. “What seems to be the problem here?”
She turned to the guest. “I’ll take care of everything. Please, go back inside and enjoy the rest of your stay.”
The guy didn’t even look at Nick again, just spun on his feet and rushed back into the room, slamming the door in her face.
He noted the sign on the door. Under Construction. “Why the sign? Isn’t that guy a member?” Based on his tailored slacks, Nick would bet on it.
She pushed the cart to an unmarked door next to the room the guy had disappeared into and pulled out a different key card than she’d used on the room upstairs. She leaned in and dropped her voice. “He is a member. One who sometimes drinks too much and gets angry easily. I put the sign up so that if anyone hears him trashing his room again, they’ll think it’s just renovations or something.”
Was she lying? To protect the member? To cover something up?
She held up the wad of bills. “As you can see, he thinks everything can be solved with money. But when the market is down, he takes it out on the things around him.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Dennis will be angry that he’s destroyed property and warn him again about letting his temper result in damages, but nothing else will happen, because he’ll pay for it. An endless loop of no real consequences for the rich.”
“I’m sorry he treated you the way he did. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’ll restock this coffee station and provide a new coffee maker and all will be as it should be.”
“I can wait for you to restock it and go with you to the room to deliver it. I’d hate for him to take anything else out on you.”
“I’ve dealt with him plenty. Better me than one of the other younger girls. He knows not to mess with me. I’ll be fine.” She cocked her head. “Shouldn’t you have already gone by now?”
“Oh, I thought I’d take a tour of the floors. When am I ever going to get another chance to see a place as nice as this?”
She grinned, but it seemed forced. “Well, you should get going before Dennis gets even more nervous about an FBI agent skulking around the private members.”
He bet she’d make sure he left as soon as possible. “You sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yes.” She shooed him away with her hands. “Now go before you get me in trouble for not doing my job.”
“You should have one of the staff take care of this, but I get it, sometimes difficult customers will only deal with management.”
She almost grinned. “It wasn’t so long ago that I was one of the girls. It’s nice to be in a higher position and making more money, but it comes with a lot more headaches.”
“And assholes,” he added. “Be careful.”
This time he got a genuine smile. “Thank you, Agent Gunn.”
“Thank me by calling me about your brother if you have any information. He’s a wanted man. He killed an agent. We won’t stop until we get him. You don’t want him hunted down. Things could go really badly in that situation. Tell him to turn himself in. I’ll meet him wherever he wants and we can do it peacefully.”
“You know he will never do that. He’s not meant for a cage.”
“It’s where he belongs for doing what he does.”
Something seemed to suddenly shift inside the cart.
Julia stabilized it with her hands on both ends. “Everything must have shifted inside when he dumped it on its side.”
He stared at her and the cart. He had no cause to make her open the cart or even ask her to do it, but he wanted to because this whole thing felt off. But he didn’t want to spook her. Not if she could lead him to Javier.
And he’d be keeping a closer eye on her now.
“Have a good night.” It was getting late. He’d been here longer than he intended. He didn’t plan to leave just yet either.
This time he went to the elevator and took it down to the lobby, where he went to the reception desk and asked the twenty-something guy with dark hair behind it, “Mind opening the door to the offices? I’m meeting Dennis again.” He pulled back his suit jacket to show them his badge.”
He stood immediately, eager to help out. “Sure, sir. Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Just here asking some questions about membership.”
He relaxed and grinned. “Oh. Well, I hope you sign up. We’ve got a lot to offer.” The young man opened the door, then went back to his seat as Nick disappeared down the corridor.
He’d seen the sign on one of the doors marked Security and ducked inside, where he found another guy monitoring a dozen screens and live feeds from all the cameras around the property.
The dark-skinned man with cropped black hair and a bulky build abruptly stood. “Hey, you can’t be in here.”
Nick flashed his badge again. “Dennis knows I’m here.” Technically, Dennis knew he was on the property, so he guessed that counted as the truth. “Can you pull up the third-floor camera by room 310?”
The security guard tapped a couple keys and the third-floor camera came up, showing Julia coming out of the door he’d left her in front of without the cart and going back to room 310.
“What is that room that Julia came out of?”
“Storage room. It’s where they keep the cleaning carts, cleaning supplies, room supplies, like towels and shampoo and all that stuff. Anything that needs to be restocked is kept in there. Each floor has a room like that.”
Julia knocked on the door.
A moment later, the same man with light brown hair opened the door, this time wearing a shirt buttoned up to mid chest and untucked. He immediately started talking, his posture rigid, his dark eyes narrowed on her.
She stepped into him, said something, and they both disappeared into the room.
“Can you print out a picture of the guy she’s talking to and tell me who rented that room?”
The guard took a screenshot and printed it out, then turned to another computer and looked up the reservation information. “Huh. The room says it’s closed for maintenance. No one is supposed to be in there.”
“Does it say why it needs maintenance?”
The security guard put on a pair of readers. “The order says a leak in the bathroom. It’s due to be repaired tomorrow.”
“Then it’s strange that someone put him in that room.”
The security guard quirked an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
Julia had told him the guy had trashed the room, not that there was a leak, but the room was still serviceable for a guest. Odd. Suspicious as hell, too.
The guard offered a suggestion. “Maybe we were overbooked and they had to put him in that room anyway. The leak could be minor and they didn’t want to turn away a member.”
“Do you overbook often?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Not my job.”
“Okay. Thanks for this.” Nick held up the printed photo of the guy. He’d figure out who the guy was some other way.
Before he left, he thought of something else. “Can you go back on the footage on that floor, that room, and see when the guy arrived?”
“Sure. It could take a few minutes, depending on how far back I need to go.”
He was about to do it when Julia walked out of the room again. “Wait. I want to see what she does next.”
Julia went back to the storage room, pulled the cart out, and pushed it to the elevator.
“Can you see where she goes with that cart?”
“Sure.” The guard checked the elevator. “She’s going down to the first floor.” They caught her coming out into the hallway near the laundry room. “She’s in the laundry area. We only have one camera back there. It’s not a high-risk area.”
Julia pushed the cart through the laundry room to a door at the back that was partially blocked by a tall rack of folded towels. She had to move it out of the way to get behind it, then she pushed it so that it blocked wherever she was going.
“What’s back there?”
“Not sure.”
“Do you mind coming with me to check it out?” He’d probably need a key card to gain access to some areas.
“Sure, but Dennis doesn’t like it when I leave my post.”
“I’ll tell him I asked if he notices.”
“Okay.” The guard stood. “This way.”
Nick followed the guard down the hallway, all the way to Julia’s office at the end. They went through the laundry room to the back, where the rolling shelf of towels blocked access to another door.
The guard put his hand on the knob. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this door and I do rounds every other day. I wonder if the other guards know about it.”
Nick bet they didn’t. “Let’s see where it leads.”
They walked through the door and found another long hallway. “The golf shop is on the other side of this wall, I bet. And this probably dead-ends in the employee parking lot. That’s probably why she went this way.”
Sure enough, when they got to the end of the hallway, it turned right to an alcove where they found the cart and a metal door.
The guard opened the door and looked out. “Yep. Employee lot. But I don’t think anyone uses this door. You’d need a key with this automatic lock.” The guard let the door swing closed on the spring attached to it at the top. He turned to inspect the cart.
Nick stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t touch it. I’m going to have a team down here to check it out.”
“For what?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I have some suspicions.” Who knew exactly what Javier was into these days?
“Okay.”
Nick focused on the guard. “How late do you work tonight?”
“Ten.”
“Okay. I’m going to have my team ask for you at the gate. I’ll have them park in the employee lot. Then I want you to let them in through this door. They’ll do their thing with the cart. Then I want them to check out room 310.”
“But there’s a guest in there.”
“I’m betting he’s leaving soon or is already gone.” Nick walked with the guard back to the security room. They checked the footage, and sure enough, while they’d gone on a fishing expedition to find out what Julia was doing with the cart, the guest had left.
The guard went back to the video, finding the moment the guest went into the room. Five minutes later, Julia delivered the cart. Without a coffee maker on top. It could be inside, but Nick had a feeling what was inside that cart had nothing to do with making or serving coffee.
“Can you make me a copy of the footage showing her taking the cart into the room and out?”
“Sure.”
Nick handed him his card. “Email it to me.” Nick took the piece of paper the guard had written his name and cell number on. “My guys will call you as soon as they get here. Thank you for your help and discretion.”
“No problem. Should I notify Dennis about what’s going on?”
“If I asked you to keep this quiet, would you?”
“I’ll wait for your guys to show.” The guard looked up at Nick with concern. “Do you think something bad happened in that room?”
“Yes, I do.”
The guard shook his head, dismay in his eyes. “These people get away with all kinds of shit because they’re rich and think they can do whatever the hell they want. You want to bust one of them for being a prick, be my guest, but tread carefully with Julia. She’s a good employee, nice to everyone, and a hard worker. Don’t mess things up for her.”
Nick gripped the guard’s shoulder. He couldn’t promise anything right now. “Thank you for your help.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.” He turned back to his screens, then back around again. “Hey, you think Julia has something to do with that guy?”
“I’m not sure. It’s just strange that he’s in a room he shouldn’t be in and she probably knows he’s not supposed to be there.”
“It could be as simple as her just trying to keep her job and not upsetting one of these assholes.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t think so. He wanted to know why she took that cart all the way down to the employee parking lot. What had been in it? Drugs or…something. Maybe someone. A small someone.
Nick’s gut soured. He hated to think about what that meant if it was true and he hadn’t done anything to stop it. “Thanks again.” He left before the guard could ask more questions.
The second he stepped out of the hallway and into the lobby, Dennis spotted him from across the room. Nick dismissed him with a nod, then made his way to the young man who’d helped him into the back earlier. “Did you see a guy leave in the last ten minutes? Six feet, light brown hair, barrel-chested, wearing gray slacks and a white dress shirt.”
“Mr. David just left.”
“Is David his first name?”
He shook his head. “No. Gilbert David.”
“What kind of car does he drive?”
The guy by the valet station perked up. “An Aston Martin Valkyrie. Sweet car. Rare. Dude doesn’t appreciate it. There was what looked like chocolate stains on the passenger seat.”
Nick hated that his thoughts turned dark and he thought of some kid in that car with that guy and his volatile temper.
But he didn’t know if that was even true. Maybe a girlfriend or his wife was eating in the car and made the stain. Maybe it was his own kid.
Nick didn’t know and it was eating him up, the things he was thinking and couldn’t do anything about until he had some evidence to follow.
He turned to the reception desk people. “Thank you for your help.” And just as Dennis was closing in on him, he walked out the front door and headed for his car. When he got to the employee lot, he looked around at all the cars and the empty space closest to the door.
What did she take out of the cabinet with her? He’d find out.