Chapter 9 #2
“I’ve already looked at the guest application inquiry that they list on their website,” she said, her voice carefully neutral despite the churning in her stomach.
“Medical history. Blood test upon arrival? Damn! But they claim to develop a personal vitamin and mineral regimen based on the blood test. They also have the guests take a cognitive test upon arrival. Most of the questions involve medications, but they also asked about family.”
The application process was more invasive than she’d expected, probing into personal history.
“They ask about medical conditions, emergency contacts, family relationships, and financial status. I’m sure they have to have all this information for liability, but it also allows them to choose their clients, who they refer to as guests. ”
She continued typing, ignoring the heavy silence that had settled over the room as the others waited for her analysis. The initial firewall was laughably easy to penetrate, clearly designed to keep out casual hackers rather than someone with her level of expertise.
After a few minutes of focused work, she snorted and couldn’t help but grin at what she’d discovered.
“Not too hard to break into their initial client assessments. There’s a firewall beyond that, but I can tell you that Natalia did not put down that she had any relatives.
I don’t know why she didn’t put Maria, unless she was thinking of just birth family, but it makes Natalia look as though she has no one waiting for her at home. ”
The implication was of a woman with no family connections and no one to ask questions if she disappeared. The perfect victim for whatever might be happening behind Serenity Dunes’s carefully maintained facade.
“I can see where you’re going with this,” Sisco said, nodding slowly. “I think we ought to take the case, if Sadie’s willing.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. A woman was missing, possibly dead, and Sadie was the only one positioned to find out what had happened to her. The choice had been made the moment Logan had started talking.
“There’s a risk,” Todd continued to argue. “If something is going on at the spa, then she could be in danger with whatever they’d give her!”
“Then I just won’t take the pills,” she said. “Easy solution. I can tell them I have trouble swallowing pills or just palm them.”
“She’ll need someone close. Several of you already have other assignments, but I’ll go down with Sadie,” Timothy offered, his calm voice cutting through the tension. “If Mary can get me into a hotel nearby, I can be close to monitor what’s happening.”
Sadie twisted around in her chair, nodding toward Timothy.
Her gaze moved to Todd out of habit. What she saw made her breath catch.
His expression was hard as granite, jaw so tense she could see the muscle ticking beneath the skin.
His hands were clenched on the table in front of him, knuckles white with the force of whatever he was holding back.
The intensity of his reaction sent conflicting emotions crashing through her chest. Part of her wanted to be annoyed at his obvious displeasure, considering she was perfectly capable of working with any of the Keepers.
Granted, she was the one back in the compound behind the computer, but she had no doubt she could perform the assignment.
But she had to admit, inwardly, that she was secretly thrilled by the possessive fury radiating from Todd like heat from a furnace. Before she could analyze the feeling further, Logan’s authoritative voice reclaimed her attention.
“I’m going to tell Maria that we’re taking the case. Sadie, you and Timothy plan on heading to Arizona as soon as Mary can work her magic to get the spa and the hotel booked. And until then, start working on the mission from here.”
The next two weeks passed in a blur of intensive preparation that consumed nearly every waking hour. She and Timothy worked alongside Frazier, Cory, and occasionally Todd, digging into every available piece of information about Serenity Dunes Spa Resort and Natalia Benedetto.
The spa’s digital footprint was surprisingly clean…
almost suspiciously so. Their social media presence was perfectly curated, their online reviews glowing without exception, and their staff credentials were impeccable on paper.
It was the kind of polished perfection that immediately raised red flags for someone with Sadie’s background.
Natalia Benedetto, on the other hand, proved to be exactly as Maria had described.
She was an eccentric, independent woman who’d lived quietly in a small Italian village, traveled rarely, and maintained minimal social connections.
Her digital presence was almost nonexistent, making her the perfect target for something nefarious.
The night before Sadie and Timothy departed, her girlfriends had insisted on getting together for drinks.
Vivian hosted Sadie, Noel, Justice, Mary, Mia, and Lenore at her house.
Noel was Landon’s wife, Mia was Devlin’s, and Justice worked with LSIMT on a contractual basis and was with their newest Keeper, Tyler.
They’d eaten tapas, laughed over stories, and finally raised glasses in a toast. “Here’s to enjoying the hell out of that spa!” Vivian said with a smile.
“I hope that while you’re there, you can take the time to relax and rejuvenate, even if you are on active duty,” Mary said, her eyes warm as they landed on Sadie with a wink.
“Me, too,” Sadie had agreed, though they all knew relaxation would be the last thing on her mind. Still, the gesture meant everything. These women had become her chosen family, supporting her.
The morning of departure arrived, and she and Timothy had gathered their equipment with surveillance gear disguised as personal electronics, communication devices hidden in everyday objects, and weapons concealed in places that would pass casual inspection.
Sadie was double-checking the false bottom of her luggage in her room in the bunkhouse when she heard Timothy’s voice drift from the kitchen. “I’ll load the car. Give you five more minutes to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.”
She was zipping up the bag when approaching footsteps made her freeze. The knock on her doorframe was soft, barely audible, but she knew the way he rapped twice, paused, then once more.
Todd filled the doorway, his broad shoulders blocking most of the morning light. He’d clearly been up for hours already, judging by the damp hair and the faint scent of soap that clung to him. His blue eyes swept over her face with an intensity that made her stomach flip.
“Wanted to catch you before you left,” he said, his voice rougher than usual.
She stepped back, letting him into the small space.
The room suddenly felt impossibly small with him in it.
She remained quiet, waiting to see what he wanted to say.
He moved farther inside, close enough that she could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hands hung loose at his sides like he was forcing himself not to reach for her.
“This case,” he started, then stopped, running a hand through his hair. Timothy’s voice drifted from outside as he talked to someone about checking their equipment. Todd’s eyes flicked toward the door before settling back on her face.
“I should’ve argued harder against sending you.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “Should’ve found a way to—”
“Todd.” She moved closer without thinking, her hand almost reaching for his arm before she caught herself. “You know I can handle myself.”
“That’s not—” He exhaled hard, frustration oozing through his careful control. “Christ, Sadie. That’s not what this is about.”
The air between them crackled with too many months of careful distance, of professional boundaries that had become increasingly difficult to maintain. She could see it in the way his hands clenched and unclenched, in the way his gaze kept dropping to her mouth before jerking away.
“Then what is it about?”
For a moment, she thought he might actually say it. Might finally give voice to the thing that had been growing between them since her first week at the compound. His lips parted, and she held her breath.
Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a necklace with a lighthouse pendant. Laughing, she shook her head. “You do realize that I don’t need an LSI tracer? Jesus, Todd, I have the Keeper tattoo with the embedded tracer like the rest of you!”
“I know,” he rushed to say. “This is a backup communication device,” he said, draping it over her neck. “I had Bert work on it. You activate it when you turn the lighthouse base, and we… I can hear you without you having to try to get to your phone in case they take it. It’s just for backup.”
She stared down at the device, her throat tight. “Todd—”
“Promise me you’ll use it, if you need to.
” His other hand caught her chin, tilting her face up until she had no choice but to meet his eyes.
The intensity in his voice and his touch made her chest ache.
This wasn’t protocol. This wasn’t a professional concern.
This was something raw and desperate and entirely too personal for the careful boundaries they’d constructed.
“I promise,” she whispered.
His thumb brushed across her cheekbone, so gentle it made her eyes burn. “I should be the one going with you instead of Timothy.”
Before she could respond or process the weight of those words, Timothy’s voice cut through the moment. “Sadie? We need to roll.”
Todd’s hand dropped from her face, and the loss of his touch sent a chill over her. He stepped back, wincing while his eyes remained dark with emotion. “Be careful,” he said, and somehow those two simple words carried everything else he couldn’t say.
As she and Timothy pulled away from the compound, heading toward the airport, Sadie found herself twisting around, her gaze searching.
Todd stood just outside the bunkhouse, his tall frame silhouetted against the morning light.
Even at a distance, she could feel the intensity of his gaze, could sense the weight of everything he wasn’t saying.
Then he lifted his hand in a wave that seemed to carry all the words they’d never spoken, all the feelings they’d never acknowledged.
Her traitorous heart squeezed in her chest, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to tell Timothy to stop the car, to run back and say all the things that had been trapped between them for so long.
Instead, she raised her own hand in response, their silent farewell stretching between them like a bridge made of regret and unfinished business.
As the compound disappeared behind them, Sadie forced herself to focus on the mission ahead.
Somewhere in Arizona, a woman had vanished, and it was up to her to find out why.
The personal complications would have to wait, but as Todd’s face lingered in her memory, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this mission would change everything, one way or another.