Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Hayden
My little birdies (a.k.a. Mira and Nessa) tell me Adam has had interviews lined up over the last two days. The interviews have all taken place in the large conference room, which is completely soundproof, dammit. Not that I haven’t walked past several times to test the theory.
Time to pay a visit to Adam’s new assistant. I’m a manager. She can’t refuse my inquiries. Unless Blackwell warned her off the way he has the Blue Star managers… Fingers crossed he’s done what he always does, and left the secretaries and assistants to their own devices.
Pain in the ass though he is, Adam doesn’t cater to Blackwell’s every wish like the rest of the managerial herd. It must explain why he still talks to me. I don’t think Adam would have told Bridget to stay away from me.
I drink the last of my twenty-ounce super espresso latte, type out one final email to the data manager who’s updating our HR system, and shake out my pleated skirt.
It’s an icebox in the casino with all of the indoor air conditioning, but between the hot drink and the hyped-up energy I have over conducting sneaky reconnaissance while Adam is tied up in meetings, my face is flushed.
Grabbing a notepad, I hurry out the door before I lose my nerve—and Mira barrels into me.
“Back, back—go back!” She shoves me inside. “You can’t snoop.”
“Why not? You just texted me that the coast is clear.”
“It was, but your dad showed up.” Her eyes are wide and harried.
“What? Why?” I say, mostly to myself. My family moved to Reno after the high school incident. They come down to visit, but never unannounced.
She holds up her hands in exasperation. “You’re asking me? And never mind that. He’s talking to Adam.”
“I thought you said Adam was in an interview.”
“Well, he’s not. He’s talking to your dad.”
Anxiety fills my chest. “That needs to stop, like, right now. I don’t want Adam getting friendly with my dad. What does he think he’s doing?”
Mira twists my shoulders around, opens the door, and shoves me out. “You should go ask him, because he’s looking a little too comfortable with your father and you might want to put an end to that.”
Thin as she is, Mira has a hell of a heave. I catch myself before I trip in my heels and face-plant.
I peer down the hallway, and just as Mira said, my dad and Adam are talking several doors away. My father is even laughing at something Adam said.
Adam looks up and catches sight of me first, a knowing expression crossing his face.
What is that? This is my reconnaissance mission, not Adam’s day to infiltrate my personal life. I sweep down the hallway, and Adam’s gaze drops to my hips, his mouth turning up at the corners. I stop in front of him and glare.
My dad looks from Adam to me, appearing confused. I’m usually more polite than this, but my dad has no idea how much Adam presses on my every last nerve.
“Hayden,” Adam says. “I didn’t realize your dad was a Warriors fan.”
I stare at him. Who cares if my dad is a Warriors fan?
Apparently, men do, because my dad grins, as though those are all the credentials he needs, and says, “Go Dubs.”
I blow out a frustrated breath. “Dad, what are you doing here? Were we supposed to meet? I don’t have it on my calendar.”
“Well, no. I was in town and thought I’d drop by.”
“Oh.” I sound disappointed. Crap, of course I want to see my dad. The problem is I’d just psyched myself up for this information-gathering mission while Adam was supposedly preoccupied.
I turn my shoulder to inch Adam out of the conversation. For some reason he’s still standing here. “That’s great, Dad. Do you want to grab dinner? I’ll be off in a couple of hours.”
“Actually, honey, Adam here just offered to give me a tour.”
I cast an irritated glance at Adam, who’s smiling. “But Dad, I gave you a tour at the last casino where I worked. Don’t you remember?”
“Sure, honey, but this is Blue Casino. I’ve always wanted to check this place out. See how they run the fancy ones.” He grins cheekily.
Well then, Adam’s the perfect person to give my dad a tour. He’s behind everything, along with the rest of Blackwell’s Blue Stars. “Sorry, Dad. I didn’t realize. I’d be happy to take you around.”
He squeezes my arm and plants a kiss on my cheek. “No, no—you go back to work. I’ll make a quick sweep with Adam here, and return later to pick you up. How does five thirty sound?”
I can’t hide the hostility rolling off me in waves as I stare daggers at Adam. Why is he befriending my father? And how did he wrap my shrewd father around his rich-boy finger so quickly?
“Can you give us a quick sec, Dad?” Not waiting for my father’s reply, I pull Adam into the nearest empty room, which happens to be the facility manager’s office.
I shut the door and whirl around on him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking your father for a tour?” the jackass says, all innocence.
“I don’t think so.”
“No?” He chuckles as if he’s getting some sort of pleasure out of this.
“You’re up to something. Do you think this will somehow get you out of our bet?”
He steps toward me. “Why would I want that? I’m looking forward to winning.”
For a split second I’m ruffled by his suggestive tone and nearness—which I consider progress, considering how much his presence disarms me. “Leave my father out of this.”
Adam’s face grows serious and his voice softens.
“Hayden, he was lost and I was giving him directions. When he explained he was your father, we started talking. That’s all.
I offered to give him a tour, because he said he’d never been here before.
Honestly, I can’t believe you’ve worked at Blue nearly a year and you haven’t offered him one. ”
Okay, fine. I’m a bad daughter. But in my defense, I had no idea my dad was interested in Blue. He’s never mentioned it before. “A tour and that’s all?”
“I promise to have him back in plenty of time for your dinner date.” He inches back, giving me space to walk past him and leave, but I suddenly realize the importance of where we are. This is the facility manager’s office—the guy with access to every room in this entire building.
Adam follows my gaze. “I don’t like that scheming look in your eye. What are you thinking?”
Why didn’t I consider it before? Adam and his assistant aren’t who I should focus my reconnaissance on. There are people with information at their fingertips that could be more helpful. And they’re not even a part of the Blue Stars.
“Hayden, did you hear me?”
I walk toward the door. “Better hurry up, Adam. My dad’s waiting.”
He opens the door, still frowning, and I pass him, but I can feel his heated gaze on my back.
I smile at my father. “All set, Dad. Adam will give you the tour.”
My dad’s eyes narrow with suspicion. “Will he? Well, I’m glad you’ve decided.”
I give my dad a hug goodbye. So it looks suspicious that I dragged Adam into a room to talk in private.
But my father hasn’t a clue about the things going on at Blue, and it’s best that way.
He’d worry, and the point of returning to Lake Tahoe wasn’t to give my parents another reason to worry.
It was to show them and the world that I’d risen above what happened in the past.
I shoot Adam a glare. “Take care of him.”
Adam responds to my warning with a charming grin that has probably persuaded hundreds of unsuspecting parents to hand their precious daughters into his safekeeping. I’d be concerned, except that my father can take care of himself.
I head off toward my office. Oh, not for long. I fully intend to return to the facility manager’s room. Just as soon as I confirm with Mira that the space will be empty for at least half an hour.
I peer down the hall to make sure no one sees me, and quickly enter the facility manager’s office, closing the door behind me. Mira says I have forty-five minutes until the manager returns.
I rush to the desk rimmed in every bobblehead ever created, and carefully look through the paperwork on top. Just a hint of where the secret suite is located—some sort of building site plan—that’s all I need.
The paperwork on the desk is for a vendor lease, another stack for an energy efficiency plan—none of it what I’m looking for.
Opening the desk drawers, I sift through files on security services, parking services… Come on, buddy, where do you keep information on secret suites?
There’s no way the facility manager isn’t in on the suite Mira and Tyler found. He has access to everything going on in the building. I slam the drawer shut, and all the bobbleheads nod their agreement. It’s got to be here somewhere.
Scanning the rest of the room, my gaze stops on a tall file cabinet in the corner.
One of the drawers is locked, but the others aren’t.
I head over and open them one by one. And strike gold.
The manager keeps site plans for the building as well as work repair documents in the file cabinet. I’m definitely getting warmer.
Riffling through the papers, I find nothing out of the ordinary.
Which coincides with the other digging I’ve done.
I’ve searched every hotel floor at Blue Casino and have yet to find a suite that doesn’t look like all the others.
One of the floors has been under construction for months, but it was the first place I looked.
The completed portions check out. These documents do too.
I shut the bottom drawer of the cabinet and stare at the top, locked drawer. If someone wanted to hide something, it would be under lock and key.
I hurry back to the desk and search for keys.
I’m running out of time, and the facility manager has about two hundred keys in his desk to choose from.
Only a few are small enough and look like they might fit.
Grabbing the small keys, I scramble back to the cabinet and I try each in the locked drawer. None of them work.