Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Phillip showed them into the missing guest’s hotel room.
“His name is Marco Griffin,” Phillip announced as Cara paced the room with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Was he here with anyone?” Coop asked, drawing Phillip’s attention away from Cara as she seemed to be looking for something to touch.
“He’s a speaker at the convention.”
Cara’s gaze met Coop’s.
“What was he speaking about?”
Phillip cleared his throat before answering. “Pleasing your partners and fantasy sex rooms.”
Coop covered the smile with his hand. “And how old is this guy we’re looking for?”
“Thirty-five.”
“That’s young considering the rest of the guests,” Cara announced, stopping in front of the computer on the bed.
Phillip’s cheeks flushed. “He uh…he’s apparently an authority on the subject.”
“Maybe you should sign up for his lecture, honey.” She beamed a bright smile at Coop.
Coop smirked. “Are you sure he’s missing and hasn’t just hooked up with one of the other guests?” Coop asked as he rubbed the stubble on his chin. Chances were the guy was shacked up in one of the rooms or got so involved in a private demonstration that he’d lost track of time.
“No one has seen him since the meet and greet, and he missed his slotted time to talk at the convention,” Phillip answered.
“Can I see the surveillance?”
“Sure.” Phillip walked to the door. “Are you coming, Cara?”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby. I’m going to see if I can find anything on his computer.”
Cara sat on the bed and smiled at Coop. She was about to use her ability and gain the upper hand. Phillip walked out of the room, and Coop paused to wink at Cara. “Good luck, wife. Don’t stay too long looking at his porn.”
“I don’t need luck, and it’s not me that needs porn, honey.
It’s you. You could stand to learn a thing or two.
” She winked back, picked up the laptop, and sat it in her lap.
Her eyes shut, and her chest heaved. The look was erotic, and he’d planned to be the one to make that look happen again.
He shut the door behind him to find Phillip waiting by the elevator.
Phillip led him into the security room to follow the cameras in search of Marco. He spotted him in the lobby and followed him to the elevators.
“Where’s the rest?” Coop asked. “I assume you’ve got video on all the floors.”
“I’m afraid that’s all we got. Our security system went down, and we’ve had techs trying to bring it back up and restore the system.”
Cara closed her eyes as the visions took hold and she was greeted by a good-looking man working on his presentation. Pictures of what she believed were sex playrooms and such crossed the screen as he looked at them, followed by porn with worse pick-up lines than Coop’s. Then Marco…fondling himself.
She tossed the laptop and opened her eyes.
Her cheeks heated from the vision. She got up and walked into the bathroom.
The man’s toothbrush was on the counter.
She touched it and closed her eyes. Marco was looking in the mirror as he brushed his teeth.
There was a knock on the door, and he continued to brush as he opened the door.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Cara swore as she recognized Marco’s guest. She’d recognize that blue hair anywhere. “Aunt Betty.”
Aunt Betty winked as if it were meant for Cara before the vision broke.
Cara left the bathroom, took the stairwell down into the lobby and went right up to the desk where the man who’d checked her in yesterday was standing. “Excuse me.”
“Ah, yes, Mrs. Thatcher, or is it Cruz? Your sister said you’d answer to both.”
Nice. She swallowed around her retort. “Thatcher is fine.” She smiled sweetly. “Can you tell me what room my aunt is staying in? Betty Thatcher.”
“She said you would ask.” The man smiled as he stroked the keyboard. “She gave me permission to give it to you. She’s in Room 259.”
“Perfect, thank you.” Cara turned to leave and then spun around. “Could you tell Phillip and Agent Cruz in the security room to meet me up at that room. Tell them I think I found what they were looking for.”
“Sure.”
Cara jogged up the stairwell to the second floor and followed the room numbers to 259. She banged on the door. “Aunt Betty.”
No answer. She banged again. “Aunt Betty, answer the damn door.”
The door swung open just as Coop and Phillip approached. Aunt Betty was standing in a pink-feathered robe. “Cara. What a nice surprise.”
“Where is he?” Cara demanded and pushed her way into the room to find Marco tied to the bed with a blindfold over his eyes. Thankfully, the sheet covered his groin.
“Betty…did you invite another woman? Remove my blindfold and let me see the tasty morsel.”
“My wife is off-limits,” Coop announced, removing the guy’s blindfold.
Marco glanced between them both. “The more, the merrier. You can play too.”
Cara ignored them both and turned to face Aunt Betty. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for the convention.” She smiled sweetly. “Why are you here?” She rested her palms on Cara’s arm. “And with Agent Cruz?”
Cara pressed her lips together as humiliation blossomed in her chest. She couldn’t answer Aunt Betty truthfully, not with Phillip in the room. She also couldn’t use the cover of a honeymoon without her questioning the answer. Deflection was needed. “Marco missed his speaking engagement.”
“No, I didn’t.” Marco sat on the bed, rubbing his wrists that had been tied. “That’s not until tomorrow.”
“Uh, no, sir. That was last night. The seminar committee rescheduled you for tonight and replaced your time slot last night that you missed. They were worried about you, and we’ve been searching for you ever since.”
Marco rose, pulling the sheet with him from the bed. He wrapped it around his body and walked over to Aunt Betty and cupped her cheek. “You were amazing, my bella. We’ll pick up again tonight after the seminar?”
“Afraid not.” Betty kissed him smack on the lips. “I’m going to spend some time with my niece and then head back to Florida. But thank you for the invite.”
Betty was giving the guy the boot and Marco looked as though she’d just told him his performance was subpar. Just wow. Cara didn’t know if she should be embarrassed or impressed.
Marco grabbed his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.
“I’m going to inform the others that he’s been found,” Phillip announced.
“Good luck with that.” Coop patted his back.
“Betty, you’ve got some explaining to do.” Coop crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head.
“What? I was here for the conference and knew you two were here, so I was going to kill two birds with one stone: check in on you and find some new toys.”
“How did you know we were here?” Cara asked.
“Well, your mother, of course.”
She walked over to the door and held it open. “Dinner, drinks, and dancing tonight. Meet me inside the restaurant at seven so we can catch up.”
“Are you kicking us out?” Cara’s mouth parted.
“Yes, dear.” Betty grinned. “Unless you’d like to stay and watch me stroke Marco’s…ego.”
Cara held up her hands. “Nope. No stroking for us. You can explain later. Come on, Coop.”
Betty stopped Coop from leaving and thrust a bag into his hands. She winked. “You should have listened to me sooner. You’re going to need these.”
Coop opened the bag and glanced inside as a smile split his lips. “Did you have a vision?”
“Didn’t need to.” Aunt Betty smiled. “I can see it in your eyes. I have to warn you though. When you think you know everything…you don’t, and when it comes to Cara, you only get one shot. Don’t forget that.”
“Okay, he’s heard enough,” Cara said, grabbing Coop’s arm and dragging him from the room.
Cara pulled the hotel door closed behind them with a click and walked silently down the hall.
She waited until they were past the pool to ask the question that was pressing on her mind.
Aunt Betty being on the island was curious enough, and she may never get the answer to that question, but the bag?
That one she could easily enough figure out.
“What’s in the bag?”
Coop tossed his arm around Cara and handed it to her. “Take a look.”
Cara peered inside, and her cheeks heated as she pulled out a box of extra-large ribbed condoms. “Nice. She must think you’re hiding a bazooka in your shorts.”
Coop squeezed her shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “She knows it’s inevitable.”
“I wouldn’t be getting too cocky there, stud. She probably used a needle to poke holes in them.”
Coop pulled open the cabana door. His brows dipped. “Why would she do that? Is she hoping I knock you up?”
Yes. Not that Cara was about to explain.
That was probably exactly what Aunt Betty had in mind.
Damn woman. She didn’t want to have to explain why she’d made the comment, not that he’d understand.
Coop wasn’t father material. Watching him with his nephew proved that.
“When dealing with Aunt Betty, there’s no reason to her actions.
It’s best to err on the side of caution. ”
“Duly noted.” Coop tossed the box and the bag into the trash, walked across the room, and pulled out another box of condoms from the bedside table. “Perk of the honeymoon suite. They seemed to have it stocked.”
“I won the bet,” she announced.
“I know. I promised to be truthful.” He held her gaze as he answered. The color of his eyes deepened. “What do you want to know?”