Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“He had mean eyes. The other workmen joke and flirt with me. This guy was totally different.” She shivered, remembering how dead his dark eyes had looked.
“Dark eyes?”
“Yes, black. He had blackish hair as well. It looked strange, like an old man who’d dyed his gray hair black, and it ended up looking like he’d used shoe polish. Fake.”
“Good. Anything else?”
“He kept one hand in his pocket. You don’t think he had a gun, do you?” Sadie gasped.
“I’m sure he had a gun,” Hawking stated firmly before adding, “but he was probably holding something else to signal the van.”
Glancing from one man to another, Sadie tried to calm her racing pulse. “Where do I go now?”
“You’re through running, Sadie,” Rocco said, his voice firm. “We’re going to track down the threat and take care of it. I’d like to see the emails you sent yourself while working at your last job. It’ll help us know how deep your boss’s criminal activity is. Meanwhile, we’re going to change a few things around here,” Rocco announced.
Sadie looked at each man’s face. They all held the same resolve. “Okay. I’ll have to trust you. Tell me what I need to do.”
Chapter Fourteen
By the afternoon, a sign was erected by the front drive, directing all workers and delivery vehicles to the service entrance. Hawking stationed one of the security staff he had already begun to train at that entrance to screen out anyone who didn’t seem to belong there. His staff had also contacted all crews already on site that day to update them on the new procedure and to move their vehicles from the entrance.
Sadie looked across the empty lobby and through the front doors to see uninterrupted open space. Changing the flow of workers from the main entrance to the service drive would have happened anyway when the guests arrived. Hawking had simply moved the timeline up.
The panic button in her pocket felt very heavy. Each time she moved, it reminded Sadie that there were bad guys after her. The men had also attached an emergency button to the underside of the desk surface so that anyone on staff could alert them without hesitation. Sadie was updating her training notes for those checking in guests on its presence and when to use it.
Her first crew of trainees was coming in tomorrow. This change would take a huge burden off her shoulders. Sadie had worried about how she would man the desk and take the new staff members on tours to different sections of the resort where they would work. She tried to convince herself that maybe there were simple excuses for everything that had happened today. Her twisting gut told her no.
“Dinner tonight with the guys on our floor, Sadie,” Phoenix said as he entered the lobby.
“Oh! I don’t want to interrupt everyone’s dinner plans,” she insisted.
“You’re not interrupting. You’re joining. We’ve all settled on having dinner together so we can talk about what’s happening and how progress is going,” Phoenix said. “You’re part of how things are going. You don’t want us talking about you, right?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then join us for dinner.” Phoenix walked over to close and lock the front entrance. “Ready?”
“I’ll just go freshen up in my room, and I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she rushed to assure him, never intending to join the men for dinner.
“Okay. I’ll ride up in the elevator with you.”
“Are you guys keeping me in sight?” she asked.
“Yes. Besides, we’re going in the same direction.”
“Up, you mean? I’m stopping at my apartment on the fourth floor,” Sadie explained patiently.
“You may wish to come up to the fifth floor now,” Phoenix said, obviously avoiding saying something else.
“I’ll be there later. I want to finish this training module and print off the new sheets.”
“I’ll wait with you,” he said, propping one hip against the counter and grabbing his phone to type out a message.
Sadie jumped a minute later when her phone buzzed next to her. “Hello?”
“I moved all your stuff upstairs into my room,” Rocco told her.
“What?”
Phoenix looked at her and said loudly, “Rocco, I think you should come downstairs.”
“I think you should come downstairs as well, Rocco,” Sadie said sarcastically.
She’d had just about all she could handle today. First, that guy, then having someone guarding her all day long. She was done. It was as if Rocco knew she planned to get in her rental car and head to the airport the first chance she got. Well, she hadn’t quite decided to do that yet, but even if she could talk herself into it, Sadie hadn’t had a minute alone to dash for the door.
Disconnecting the call, she smacked her phone down on the counter and watched Phoenix wince from the corner of her eye. She knew she wasn’t behaving well. Who would? Throwing herself back into her work, she studiously ignored Rocco as he approached.