Chapter 25 #2
Instead, she walked with the careful dignity of someone who had absolutely nothing to hide, while inside her head, alarm bells screamed warnings that her window of opportunity to collect evidence of wrongdoing was rapidly closing.
The calming, brief moments of feeling almost weightless had been stripped away by Brock’s appearance and the suspicion in his eyes. Now, even the pool felt contaminated—an additional tool in Dr. Selinski’s arsenal rather than a refuge from his experiments.
My room. My phone. Todd. The mantra repeated in her foggy brain as she navigated the corridor that seemed to stretch infinitely before her. Just make it back to my room.
The click of her door closing behind her should have brought relief, but as Sadie stepped into what she’d hoped would be a sanctuary, the sound of running water from her bathroom sent a fresh alarm racing through her compromised nervous system.
Her hand automatically moved toward the lighthouse pendant at her throat, a reflexive gesture seeking the comfort of knowing Todd was just a transmission away.
Through the partially open bathroom door, she could see movement. A figure bent over the marble vanity, scrubbing with the kind of intense focus that spoke to more than routine housekeeping. The soft sounds of running water made Sadie’s skin prickle with warning.
“Nina?” she called out as she walked closer, recognizing the housekeeper. Her voice came out steadier than she felt, allowing her to project calm despite the adrenaline coursing through her.
The woman straightened abruptly, nearly dropping the bottle of cleaner clutched in her hands. Nina’s dark eyes were wide with something that looked suspiciously like fear, and her usual quiet composure had been replaced by nervous energy that filled the small bathroom.
“Ms. Sadie,” Nina replied, her accented English more pronounced than usual. “Yes... I was just cleaning.”
Something in the woman’s demeanor set off alarm bells in Sadie’s mind. Nina’s hands trembled slightly as she set down the cleaning supplies, and her gaze kept darting toward the bathroom’s hidden corners as if searching for escape routes.
“Is this your usual time to clean?” Sadie asked gently, stepping closer while maintaining enough distance to avoid seeming threatening.
Her investigative instincts, dulled by whatever pharmaceutical cocktail was circulating through her bloodstream, still functioned well enough to recognize fear when she saw it.
Nina’s shoulders tensed, and she twisted her cleaning cloth between nervous fingers. “I... they told me to come now. While guests are at activities.”
But Sadie had deviated from her expected schedule, and Nina’s presence here felt far from coincidental. The timing was too convenient and the housekeeper’s nervous energy too pronounced for simple housekeeping duties.
“Nina, do you know why Melinda left?” The question emerged with careful casualness, but Sadie watched the other woman’s face intently for micro-expressions that might reveal the truth.
The effect was immediate and devastating. Nina’s face went pale, her eyes darting toward the door as if afraid of someone else walking into the room. Her hands stilled completely, the cleaning cloth twisted in her fingers.
“I don’t know these things,” Nina said quickly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just cleaned.”
The rehearsed quality of her response triggered Sadie. This was a woman who’d been coached on what to say.
“I’m sure you see a lot more than just people’s underwear on the floor,” Sadie pressed gently with a smile, her tone carrying understanding rather than accusation. She knew that fear often loosened tongues more effectively than aggression.
Nina’s breath caught audibly, and for a moment her carefully maintained facade cracked to reveal the terror beneath. “I see... but it’s not my place...” Her voice was heavy with implications she couldn’t say.
The pain in Nina’s expression sent protective instincts surging through Sadie’s chest. This woman was trapped just as surely as any guest, caught between loyalty to her job and knowledge of things that could get her killed.
The recognition sparked something fierce in Sadie despite her compromised mental state.
“Nina, if you’re not okay, you can let me know,” she said, moving closer and lowering her voice to barely above a whisper. “If someone is making you do things that feel wrong, you don’t have to carry that alone.”
The kindness in Sadie’s voice seemed to reach Nina. Her shoulders sagged with exhaustion, and tears gathered in her dark eyes as she struggled with words that wanted to escape but couldn’t safely be spoken.
“I was told to search,” Nina finally whispered, the admission torn from her like a physical wound.
Cold flooded Sadie’s veins. “Search for what?”
“Anything you... shouldn’t have,” Nina replied, her gaze dropping to the floor as shame colored her features. “Phones, cameras, things that could...” She shrugged.
The confirmation of her worst suspicions should have triggered panic, but instead, Sadie felt a strange calm settle over her. The pretense was over. They knew she was hiding something, and Nina had been sent to find evidence that could justify whatever action they were planning.
“And did you find anything?” Sadie asked, though she was already moving toward the sink area where her phone lay hidden behind the exposed pipes.
Nina shook her head quickly, relief evident in her expression. “No, Ms. Sadie. Nothing.”
Sadie hesitated. If she checked to see if her phone was still taped behind the sink pipes, Nina's suspicions would be confirmed. But she didn’t want Nina to walk away without Sadie ascertaining—she would search Nina if necessary to ensure she had her phone.
She shifted to the side, letting Nina escape the confines of the bathroom.
She moved to wash her hands, then knelt at the vanity, pulling out her toiletry kit and snagging her lotion.
The simple act reassured her phone was still hidden.
Standing with her lotion bottle in her hands, she turned to Nina, whose gaze was down.
Sadie felt a small victory. They suspected her, but they didn’t have proof yet.
Looking back at Nina, she saw a woman caught between impossible choices, forced to search for guest accommodations or face consequences that were likely far worse than losing her job.
“Nina, if you need help, you can come to me,” Sadie said, the words carrying absolute sincerity despite her own precarious situation. “I know that might sound impossible right now, but I promise, if you need a way to keep you safe, I’ll find it.”
For the first time since Sadie had entered the room, Nina’s expression softened into something approaching hope. A small smile touched her weathered features, transforming her face with genuine warmth.
“Thank you, Ms. Sadie,” she whispered, gathering her cleaning supplies with hands that no longer trembled quite so violently. “Thank you.”
Nina slipped past her toward the door, pausing only long enough to offer one final grateful look before disappearing into the corridor. Now, Sadie was alone with the devastating knowledge that her cover was blown, and her time was running out faster than she’d feared.
The secure phone felt impossibly heavy in her shaking hands as she initiated the connection to Todd. Every ounce of energy she’d expended maintaining her facade with Nina had depleted reserves she didn’t have to spare, leaving her feeling hollowed out and dangerously fragile.
The phone rang once before Todd’s voice filled her ear like a lifeline thrown to a drowning woman.
“Sadie? How are you?”
The familiar warmth in his tone nearly undid her completely. She wanted to collapse, to let him hear exactly how terrified and sick she felt, but operational security demanded she maintain some semblance of professional composure.
“Not good, Todd,” she managed, her voice carrying exhaustion she couldn’t hide. “I’m nauseous, weak. Whatever they’re giving me is getting stronger, and they’re escalating the timeline.”
She could hear his sharp intake of breath over the phone and practically feel his protective fury radiating across the miles separating them.
“They had a housekeeper searching my room,” she continued, forcing her foggy brain to organize the critical intelligence. “Looking for phones, cameras, anything I shouldn’t have. They suspect me, but they don’t have proof yet.”
“Goddammit, Sadie—”
“We have no choice but to move tonight.” She interrupted, knowing that hesitation could be fatal. “I have to get into those offices tonight. Whatever Dr. Selinski is planning, whatever happened to Melinda and the others… the answers are in there, and I’m running out of time to find them.”
The admission hung between them, heavy with implications they both understood. Tomorrow might be too late. Tomorrow, she might be too incapacitated to function, or she might simply disappear like Melinda had, leaving nothing but an empty room and vague explanations about early departures.
“Todd, I need you to know… if something goes wrong tonight… if I don’t make it out—”
“Don’t,” he said fiercely. “Don’t you dare start talking like that’s an option. We’re going to finish this together.”
The conviction in his voice steadied her more than any medication could have, reminding her that she wasn’t facing this nightmare alone. Somewhere in the desert darkness, Todd Blake was preparing to move heaven and earth to keep her safe.
Tonight, she thought, clutching the phone like an anchor. Despite the dangerous unknown, the idea that she would also see Todd tonight made her smile.