Chapter Nine
Tyke and Kenna stood in a small room with computers, phones, a blinking switchboard, and a team of people chatting into headphones. Al Carpenter, Kilos’s supervisor and the director of security at the resort introduced himself. He was average height with ebony hair and dark brown eyes. His full midsection and meaty arms hinted at Al’s life as a retired police officer who got comfortable behind a desk.
They’d already viewed footage from outside Richard and Claire’s room, but no one except the couple went in or out. That piece of information definitely compounded the investigation. How had the thief taken Claire’s watch if he hadn’t entered her room? Was he also snatching things from people while they were out and about?
“Anyone else report things missing?” Tyke asked as they waited for the tech guru, who was introduced as Vin, to pull up the feed outside Kenna’s room.
Al shook his head. “No one other than the two incidents you’ve informed us of.”
For now. Tyke hated to think it, but bad guys usually didn’t stop at one or two. If they knew they could get away with something, they’d keep doing it until someone stopped them.
Someone like Tyke.
“We’ve handed everything over to the local police,” Al said. “They’re sending over some uniformed and plainclothes officers to increase our security presence at the resort.” He turned to Kenna. “They’d like to speak with you.”
Tyke stepped in front of her. “Only with me present.”
Al’s gaze skated from Tyke to Kenna. “I’ll let them know.”
Vin, wearing a headset over his short brown hair, pushed back a few inches in his chair and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sir.”
Al gestured to the far-right TV screen on the wall. “This should be it.”
The screen came to life, showing a black and white video of an empty hallway.
“The room is right there.” Al pointed to a door in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Vin pressed a button on his control pad, and the time stamp in the corner of the video sped up. People raced up and down the hallway.
After a few moments, something moved near Kenna’s door.
“There,” Tyke said. “Stop.”
The guy slowed the video to normal pace.
The four of them watched as a lean, dark-haired man approached her door with his back to the camera.
Son of a bitch. Despite what he’d told Kenna, from this angle, the guy on the screen did look like his boss, Joseph Landry. But that was impossible.
“Show me your face,” Tyke said under his breath. It’s not him. It’s not him. “Come on. Turn around.”
The man kept his head low as he slid something out of his pocket and fiddled with the door handle. Another second and then the door opened, and he walked into Kenna’s room.
Her body tensed beside him as she sucked in a sharp breath. “My God…”
Her reaction skyrocketed Tyke’s protective instinct to a billion.
“Interesting,” Al said. “That’s why our security alarm didn’t sound. There was no forced entry. He used a key.”
“But how?” Kenna asked, her voice anxious. “How did he get a key to my hotel room?”
“I don’t know,” Al said.
Wrong answer.
Tyke gripped the guy by his shirt and smashed his back against the closest wall, holding him there with his feet off the ground.
“But I’m going to find out,” Al croaked, his dark eyes bugging as he strained for air. “I’ll find out, okay?”
“You better,” Tyke said. “Because the way I see it, either your hotel mixed up keys or someone here intentionally put her life in danger. Either way, you better pray you find them before I do.”
His face turning an unhealthy shade of purple, Al rasped, “We’ll have a new key printed and we’ll move Ms. McCord into another room immediately.”
Kenna rested a hand on Tyke’s shoulder, making the red in Tyke’s vision dissipate. He lowered Al to the ground, straightening the man’s lapels but not letting him go quite yet. “I’ll be back, Al. Don’t disappoint me.”
Al nodded with an expression that said disappointing Tyke was the last thing he wanted to do.
Good.
He sent Al one more meaningful look before they exited the room.
Standing outside the thick steel door, Tyke put his hand on Kenna’s back. “You okay?”
Her chest expanded as she inhaled a long, slow breath. “I think so. It’s just… I focused so much on the ring that I didn’t think about the fact that he was in my room. That he could’ve come in while I was in there.” She closed her eyes as fear blasted across her features.
Fuck. He should’ve never let her watch that video. It was careless. The reality of her words finally set in. How could he have been so stupid?
“Hey,” he said quickly. “Look at me.” He pressed his index finger under her chin, urging her to look at him. When she did, he said, “You’re safe. You hear me? I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t get near you ever again, okay?”
She frowned and gave a weak nod.
“And I promise, I’m gonna get your momma’s ring back. That asshole isn’t getting away with this. Tell me you believe me.”
She started shaking.
He gripped her shoulder. “Kenna. Come on. Tell me.”
“I… I believe you,” she said it so soft his heart almost ripped in half.
The video was unsettling. It had rattled him, too. She was right. The guy could’ve come in while she was in there. Hell, if he had a key, he could come back again. The thought of her in danger—that something could happen to her and Tyke wouldn’t be able to prevent it—made his stomach squeeze to utter agony. He almost doubled over from the force of it.
No. He was going to catch the bastard. And when he did, Tyke would see to it the guy couldn’t steal anything from anyone ever again.
“We’re moving everything out of your room,” he said. “You’ll stay with me until this is over.” He wasn’t trusting anyone else with her safety until he could piece this together.
Without thinking, he slid his hand into hers, immediately regretting it as soon as a familiar spark of awareness zapped him. Kenna’s gaze dropped to their connection, and before he could pull away, she wrapped her fingers around his and held tight. She let out a soft relieved sigh. “Thank you, Bryan.”
Leading her down the hall toward the elevators, he ignored the warmth and longing radiating through his body at the simple touch.
Tyke stood at his favorite location on the island—the bar. Beer in hand, he looked out at the tables filled with people having a great time, with no idea a thief was among them.
It was dusk, and dinner was over, but everyone stayed in their chairs, waiting for the show to start. Fire dancers. What a brilliant idea that was. People who intentionally lit things on fire and threw them into the air for entertainment. You wanna talk about dangerous? That shit was dangerous.
Before coming to dinner, Bryan and Kenna had moved all of her stuff to his hotel room. She’d stay with him until the threat was over.
The threat…
That thought sent his head into a tailspin. The threat was real. The guy was lurking around here right now, and they had no idea who he was or whether he was targeting people for a specific reason.
Glancing down at his now-warm beer, Tyke cursed it. His nerves were shot, and it wasn’t doing a damn thing to calm him.
It couldn’t be Landry. Right? He was Tyke’s boss for Christ’s sake. But it sure as hell looked like Joe on the video. Same build. Hair. Even the way the guy walked.
Tyke did a passing glance over the crowd again, spotting Landry at the table with Reese and the cute blonde Reese had met on the first day. Tyke really should learn her name. Given their relaxed posture, they were talking about something normal and mundane. Tyke had known Landry for years. He was a good guy. The best.
Reese looked back at Tyke and must have read something in his expression because he tilted his head and got up, making his way toward the bar.
“Are you okay?” Reese said once he was at Bryan’s side.
Tyke kept his eyes on their boss and lifted a shoulder. “Sure.” After a minute, Tyke said, “You know what? No. I’m not. Let me ask you something.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“Do you trust Landry?”
Reese’s face showed his confusion at the random question. “With my life. Why?”
Right. So did Tyke. It was stupid to think Landry would have anything to do with stealing anything from anyone.
“Never mind.”
Reese waited, like he thought Tyke was going to elaborate. When he realized Tyke wasn’t going to, he turned his back to the wedding guests and lifted a hand to flag down the bartender. “I was able to narrow down the list to two viable suspects.”
Tyke placed his drink on the bar and faced his friend. “Yeah?” Thank Christ. See, it couldn’t be Landry.
“They both fit the description. But, get this, one of them works at the hotel.”
Tyke’s adrenaline ramped up, climbing to unhealthy levels.
“He’d be able to obtain keys for all the hotel rooms,” Tyke said, his mind going immediately to the vision of the thief inserting a card into Kenna’s door and waltzing in.
Reese pulled his glasses off to wipe the lenses with a cloth from his pocket. When he slid them back on, he looked directly at Tyke. “Yes, he would.”
“But he doesn’t have a connection to the wedding guests. Not that we can tell. So why were Claire and Kenna targeted?”
“It does seem odd that only those two ladies are missing items. Which is why I took particular interest in the second suspect. He’s here.”
“Right now?”
Reese turned his head, gazing over the tables of people. Tyke followed, noticing that Reese stopped on a table in the front corner, next to the stage. “Eleven o’clock, facing us.”
“Got him.”
Tyke stared at the dark-haired guy in a collared shirt and shorts, chatting with one of Sam’s bridesmaids. That bubbly blond one again. Tracy. Suspect number two had a finger looped under a gold bracelet around her wrist and seemed to be complimenting her on it.
“Son of a bitch.” Tyke turned back to Reese with his blood pounding in his ears. “If that’s our guy…”
“If,” Reese said. “You know how this goes. We need more intelligence before moving in, so I contacted Giles and requested he run our suspects through the system.”
Giles was a computer tech guy at the DEA who often aided the team in compiling intel on their missions.
“What came back?” Tyke asked.
“Giles said the man who works at the hotel has prior records of robbery and also owes money to some unscrupulous people.”
Keeping his attention on the second suspect, whose name and room number were on their list from Davis, therefore Tyke knew exactly where to find him when needed, he asked, “Where can I find the hotel worker?”
“He lives in a villa on the private side of the beach. I’ll send the address to your phone.”
“Thanks, man,” Tyke said. “That’s the best news I’ve gotten all day.”
Get ready, assholes. I’m coming for you.
…
“We have a problem,” Kenna said as she approached the bar where Bear stood. He’d been holding the thing up all night, not walking away even to sit and watch the entertainment.
His expression was serious and calculated as he stared at the beer in his hand. “Which is?”
“Aunt Estelle said her brooch is gone. It’s a family heirloom from her mother.”
His head snapped up. “When?”
“Today. Just before dinner. She said she left it out on her bed when she went for a walk with Rose and Celia, and when she came back, it was gone.”
He brought the bottle up to his mouth, threw his head back, and his throat worked as he drank. After a few seconds, he slammed the bottle onto the bar, making Kenna jump. “What did she say? Please tell me she saw the motherfucker.”
“I haven’t asked yet. Figured you’d want to be there when I talk to her.”
He paused, surprise blanketing his face. “Yeah, I would. Thanks.”
“Sure.” She started to walk away, but he rested a hand on her arm.
Stopping, she faced him.
“Since, uh…you know, you did something nice for me…I’ll tell you something I found out, too.”
Her expression warmed. “Okay.”
“Reese found two suspects on his list. A guy who works at this hotel and owes a lot of people money, and a guest here at the wedding.”
Her eyes were already scanning the crowd. “Where are they?”
“Reese is sending me the address for the first. He’s got a place on the other side of the island.”
“And the one here?”
Tyke lowered his voice. “Don’t stare. But look at the table that would be considered eleven o’clock. He’s facing us talking with Tracy.”
She found him and glanced at the woman next to him.
Holy crap. Why hadn’t she seen him before? He fit the profile. At least enough that they should check him out. He was a little broader across his shoulders than she remembered. And his hair was a touch longer. Like he was a few weeks late for a haircut. The man she saw walking down the hall was well-groomed and didn’t seem like the type to ever miss a hair-trimming appointment. Then again, she’d only seen him for a few seconds, and the security video wasn’t close enough for that kind of detail. He was definitely a viable possibility.
“Stop staring.”
Kenna brought her attention back to Bryan. “So what do we do now? Should we talk to him?”
“Not unless we want to blow the investigation. First, we watch him. See what he does. Who he talks to.”
She sent another look the man’s way, her anxiousness making her heart race. One of these men was their guy. They were so close. She could feel it.
“Stop looking at him,” Tyke growled.
“Okay, okay.” She turned, keeping the man at her back so she wouldn’t be tempted to keep staring.
“If you’re so adamant about doing something,” Bear said, “then let’s find out what Estelle knows.”
Good idea.
Kenna wormed her way through the row of tables, dodging chairs and people, in the direction of where her aunt sat. She lowered into the chair next to Estelle. Tyke pulled one from the next table over, keeping it facing the opposite direction, and sat backward with legs wide.
“Aunt Estelle,” Kenna said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I said something to Bryan about your missing brooch. In addition to Mom’s ring, he heard about another couple at the wedding who are missing something, too.”
Her eyes widened, and her voice went up an octave. “He did?”
“Yeah, it was a couple days ago,” he said. “We’re trying to see if all this is related.
“Do you remember anything out of the ordinary when you got back to your room?”
Estelle’s forehead wrinkled. “Not that I can think of.”
“Did you see anyone? A dark-haired guy, maybe?” Kenna asked.
“A what?” Estelle perked up. “Now that you mention it, yeah. I do remember seein’ a dark-haired guy.”
“What was he wearing?” Kenna asked, eager. Come on. Something specific.
Estelle’s lips squeezed in thought. “I don’t remember.”
Kenna wilted in her chair. Damn.
Without attire, it was tough to choose which one to target first. If Estelle had seen someone with a uniform, then they’d know it was a hotel worker. Plain clothes could suggest a wedding guest.
Kenna glanced across the area at the suspect, and she was about to ask Aunt Estelle if the man looked similar to that suspect, but when she opened her mouth, Bear cut her off.
He shook his head once. Not now, he seemed to say.
“Was anything else in your room disturbed?” he asked, his expression serious. It was crazy to see this side of him. She’d never seen him in action. The no-nonsense demeanor was a welcome change. He obviously took other people’s safety seriously.
“Uh.” Estelle’s features went thoughtful, like she was thinking back to when she walked into her room. “Nothin’.”
“Anything about the guy you can point out? Other than dark hair? Did he talk a certain way? Act a certain way?”
She shook her head. “Nah. Can’t think of anything.”
Bryan blew out a breath, his frustration rolling off him. “Okay. Thanks, Estelle.” He shot from his chair and ate up the distance to the bar.
“Why didn’t you want me to ask her about the guy at the other table?” Kenna asked once she met him back at the bar.
“Too soon.”
“But if she saw him, maybe she can identify him.”
“Or it could draw attention to someone who has nothing to do with the investigation. It would draw attention to what we’re doing. We don’t need Estelle blabbing to everyone that Sam and Cass invited a thief to their wedding.”
“Oh. Good point,” she said, lounging against the bar. “So what now?”
His attention was focused on the stage, where a handful of tanned-skin men and women wearing grass skirts were lighting batons on fire.
“Now we wait for the fireworks to start.”
“Be serious,” she said. “What should we do?”
“What I said.” He gestured with his chin to the man at eleven o’clock. “We wait.”