Chapter 34
Threads
A scrape on the decking startled Kate awake. She bolted upright to find Zach and David spinning chairs to face her. She rubbed her eyes. Yup, still there, sitting on her pergola. Her sleep-addled mind struggled to figure out why.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you.” Zach growled, but with a note of apology.
“No, it’s fine. I must have fallen asleep.
” Kate shifted into a sideways position, curling her feet up next to her on the swing, the cushion beneath her still warm from the afternoon sun.
“What can I do for you two, or are you here to lecture me too?” She glanced between them, a prickle of defensiveness raising the hair on her arms.
David appeared confused. Zach looked... well, like Zach always looked. “Why would we lecture you?”
Kate sighed and twisted her lips into a wry smile. “Never mind. Tell me why you’re here. I somehow doubt you’ve dropped by for tea.”
The two men exchanged glances before David spoke up.
“Well, I’m here to update you about the hack.
Nick told you that someone spoofed his email, right?
” When she frowned but nodded, he continued.
“I’ve been tracking that email to Jessica.
Whoever did it has some skill. They routed it over half the globe, but I’m better.
I traced it to an IP address here on the island.
It came from a coffee shop downtown, so whoever sent it was here on the island. ”
Kate’s stomach tightened, a cold stone dropping into her gut.
“I checked out the shop,” Zach growled. “It has cameras, so David is going to hack its system and try to find images from that time frame. If they continuously record and keep the footage for at least five days, we may get a picture of the sender, since we know what computer he used.”
Kate leaned forward, her pulse quickening. “Really? That’s great.”
“It’s a lot of ‘ifs’, but hopefully we’ll get lucky. Ninja is still trying to track down the LLC’s ownership. He thinks he’s getting closer, but no dice so far.”
The excitement evaporated like water on hot pavement, leaving Kate deflated as she slumped back. “Oh. Anything on that guest at Tiki Beach?”
Zach shifted minutely in his chair, which looked too small for his massive frame.
The metal creaked under his weight. “The guest said he got a note with cash in it. Note said to go to one of the restaurants and cause trouble, in front of witnesses to record it. He was to make it look like the resort messed up. If he did, he’d get another envelope of cash.
The bigger the issue, the bigger the payoff would be. ”
“So, counting the room block problem, two definite problems linked to this LLC guy, and possibly a third, if we include Jessica.” Kate mulled that over, tracing her finger along the edge of the swing’s cushion.
“Don’t forget that spa mixup, too.” David added.
“Actually, we’re over half a dozen now. We had a food delivery canceled.
The chefs had to scramble to handle a dinner reception.
” Zach raked a hand over his short hair.
“Good thing it was a simple food choice—chicken. They got most of what they needed at the grocery store. A few other lesser things.”
“It's weird. Whoever this is, what they’re doing are such small things in the grand scheme of your business. What do they hope to accomplish?” Frustration seeped into her tone, bitter on her tongue. It doesn’t make sense!
David pushed his glasses up with one finger.
“Who knows? The broken blocks could have been huge, but in the scheme of our business, losing a few thousand—or even tens of thousands—isn’t significant.
It wouldn’t shut us down or force us to close the resort.
All these incidents appear to be aimed at our professional reputation, making us look bad. ”
He paused, his brow creasing with concentration. “But with the Jessica incident, I’m starting to think this isn’t business. It’s personal.”
Zach’s gaze snapped to him. “Explain.”
David blew out a breath. “Like Kate said, most of these problems have been nuisances. The block might have cost us some money and dinged our reputation a little, but nothing critical. Same with the guest incident—a minor embarrassment. Even the dinner reception fiasco was small change in the big picture. But Jessica? That was different. That was targeted—to Nick. Maybe she was supposed to distract him from something else, but so far, there’s been no sign of what that might be. So… distract him from what?”
The words rang through Kate’s mind like a bell. Wait, the note! Heat crept up her neck. “And then there’s the note I got.” She shifted, the swing’s chains jingling. She should have mentioned it sooner.
“What note?” Zach’s eyes snapped to hers, sharp as a blade.
Kate flinched. “Oh, um. Monday morning, a bellman brought me a nasty note. It said to go back where I belong.” She shrugged and looked away, warmth flooding her cheeks.
“Do you still have it?”
“No, I was a bit upset at the time, so it pissed me off and I threw it out.” She stared down at her hands, twisting them in her lap.
The skin around her knuckles turned white.
Now her cheeks burned, a furnace of embarrassment.
She’d screwed up. She should have kept it for Zach, who was now frowning at her. How could she have been so stupid?
“That’s all it said? Go back where you belong?”
Kate closed her eyes, picturing the note in her mind—the plain white paper, the block letters. “Um, it said, ‘Go back where you belong. This is your only warning.’ There was nothing on the envelope but my name.”
“And you said a bellman delivered it? Did you recognize him?”
“No, but the only one I would recognize is Mario.” She struggled to remember the man’s face but gave up as pressure built behind her eyes. She massaged her pounding temples, the ache spreading. “I didn’t pay attention.” Why hadn’t she paid more attention?
Oh, right. She’d just dumped Nick.
“Okay, I’ll check into that. I don’t like the warning, but you should be safe here at the mansion. An extensive security system covers the house and grounds. I’ll make sure everyone knows to keep it activated until we figure this out.”
Zach's frown grew, deep lines cutting across his forehead, and anxiety fluttered in Kate’s chest like a trapped bird. “I don’t like this. Someone sent Jessica here. Someone warns you away. But no one should know Nick is here. How does this make sense?”
Kate rubbed her temple, the headache intensifying.
Why didn't she take the note more seriously? The early evening air seemed cooler now, raising goosebumps on her arms. “Maybe they do know Nick is here. I mean, you put on a show of leaving, but you haven’t been visible somewhere else in the last week either.”
“We often drop out of sight for a week or more, especially when we’re working on a major project like Ivory Island.
It shouldn’t cause questions.” Zach sighed, raking his hand through his short hair.
“But it is possible. Or, someone could have seen one of us from a boat. We only considered hiding from the resort staff, not from someone actively watching for us. I’ll look into that. Kate...”
Zach paused and waited until she met his eyes. The intensity burning there made her breath catch. “Stay safe. Don’t wander around after dark outside the mansion grounds. Be aware of your surroundings. It would kill Nick if something happened to you because of us.”
Kate's stomach started doing backflips as Zach’s words reinforced Nick cared. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
“Give me your phone.”
Kate responded to his order automatically, her hand already moving before her brain caught up, only questioning her action after she’d handed it off to him. Why did she instinctively trust him?
He fiddled with it for a minute, his large fingers deft on the screen, before handing it back to her. “I put in both my number and the direct line of hotel security. If anything feels off to you, you call me.”
Kate nodded as relief spread through her like warm honey. Talking about the note had rattled her, shaken something loose inside, and his presence was comforting—solid, dependable.
“And that brings us to the other reason we are here.”
Zach’s tone cut into her reflections like a knife, and her eyes flew back to his, her stomach knotting again.
“Nick. He’s moping. We’ve never seen him like this over a woman.
Over anything, for that matter. Nick cares about only two things: his company and his family.
And he only cares about the company because it’s a means to an end—a way to take care of his family.
He’s never given a damn about any of the Barbie dolls he’s dated, but he’s tied up in knots over you. ”
Zach’s steady gaze burned into her, pinning her in place. “I’m not saying this to pressure you. God knows I know jack shit about relationships, so I’m sure as hell not going to tell you what to think or do. I just thought you should know.”
Kate read the concern in Zach’s eyes—real, deep concern—but was it for Nick or her?
She nodded, acknowledging his words, but not willing to respond.
Her throat was too tight. She had to talk to Nick first. Both men got up and left, their footsteps heavy on the wooden decking, striding back to their side of the mansion.
When they passed out of sight, Kate flopped back down on the swing, mind racing with everything Zach had said. The chains creaked overhead.
First Zach had talked! He’d strung multiple sentences together at once! Not that she didn’t think he could—he was obviously highly intelligent—he just never did.
And she was avoiding.
Kate dragged her attention back to what he’d said, forcing herself to focus.
Zach and David both respected Nick. It came through in everything they said and did, the way they followed him, by their own choice.
The way they spoke his name with an underlying note of loyalty.
They were both alpha males in their own way, yet they followed another.
Would they hold that kind of respect for a cheater?
For someone who played with other people’s emotions, as she’d feared?
No. Honor was stamped in every cell of Zach’s body—in the set of his shoulders, the directness of his gaze—and David’s intellect was way too high to respect someone like that. Marguerite certainly wouldn’t.
She hadn’t been wrong originally. He was the person she first thought he was: honorable.
The thought settled in her mind like a gentle breeze on a hot day, cooling her anxieties, feeling altogether right.
Just like that, her butterflies disappeared, replaced by a quiet certainty that warmed her from the inside out.