Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel
I was two seconds away from ordering myself a new desk before I decided against it. The crappy coffee table desk was a cluttered mess, and after spilling coffee all over the floor yet a second time, I was ready to get out of the damned honeymoon suite.
Honeymoon? What a joke. Unfortunately, I hadn’t laughed since mine and Luna’s shower two nights ago. I should have taken her anyway. Instead, I let my integrity get the best of me. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe everything I’d laid out for her, but dammit, I wanted her so fucking bad. And then to hear her admit that she should give it to someone who loves her, man, that cut deep.
I guess I couldn’t blame her. Things had been going much better since the drunken wedding night, when you didn’t count all the other drama, but I could hardly say I loved her. As I wanted to, it was all too soon, and wishing all the other drama of the investigation didn’t exist wasn’t enough to make it any better.
It wasn’t like she loved me, either. She’d made that clear enough, wanting the annulment so badly, and I doubted that had changed. When she thought I’d deny her the privilege, she freaked right out on me.
My head throbbed as I searched through my email, and before I could find relief from the pills I stashed in my briefcase, Joe knocked.
I crossed the room and checked the peephole and opened the door. “Thanks, man. You have any trouble?”
He passed me the envelope and shook his head. “Not a bit. Let me know if I can help out.”
“As always, man.” I bumped his fist and my oldest friend turned to take his post.
I scrambled to the computer, eager to get started. I’d requested the footage from the Serendipity, and sure enough, they’d delivered with no questions asked. But then again, it helps to own the company providing their service. I plugged in the drive and with a few quick strokes on the keyboard, the footage appeared on my monitor.
It was time to take charge of the situation. Someone was out there hurting people I cared about and hoping to frame me, which meant they had to know me.
I’d racked my brain for nights and nights wondering who that could be, but always came up short. I’d never been disrespectful to anyone and wasn’t the type to let my money go to my head. I’d come from a meat-and-potatoes family where divorce finally played its final card the day after my graduation. It hadn’t been horrible, but there weren’t any silver spoons in the Grant household.
My only hope of figuring this out was to search through footage for anyone I might know. If I recognized them, then maybe I could figure out their agenda. If it were strangers, then they had a hell of a connection that would lead them to my past.
In the other room, Luna turned on the shower. I adjusted myself knowing she’d soon be naked and under the warm spray of the showerhead. I shook my head, hoping the image would go away. I didn’t have time for the distractions. I had to get my mind off of her and this whole marriage issue and focus on finding out who was trying to destroy my life.
I never should have let Mason handle things, but honestly, I’d been in such a fog that I couldn’t think straight. It hadn’t happened too often in my life, but now it was time to buck up and get past it.
I fast-forwarded through some of the footage before I found something that looked familiar. It was Luna, her hair paled in the black and white footage, losing its gradient, but she was still beautiful. Her hips swayed and she had a bounce in her step that tilted my head to get a better look, even on the small screen. There we were, the two of us, together in stride and making our way through the crowd and to the bar.
I paused the video to search the faces of the crowd around us, but came up short. I didn’t recognize any of them, and so I continued on. Now and then I’d pause and search, and always when I recognized Luna and me, I switched back and forth through the files, searching other viewpoints to get a better idea of things.
An hour had passed and my eyes were already paying the price, but then I froze when Stacey appeared. Seeing her recharged me, and I stopped the frame and searched the people’s faces around her. No one looked familiar.
I stared at her tiny image, and for a brief moment, I remembered the stubborn girl who loved to push my buttons. She had, too – many times. Though things hadn’t worked out, I had no ill feelings and seeing her made my heart ache. I hadn’t loved her, but she had such a craving for life that I couldn’t imagine her dead and gone from the world.
I forwarded through, determined to find out who did this to her and Cindy. Both deserved better, and panic shot through me knowing that whoever it was could go after Luna. If I were sent away, she’d be alone and vulnerable. I couldn’t trust some other man, whoever she’d end up with, to keep her safe.
My jaw clenched tight and my teeth ground together, making an awful sound that snapped me back to the task at hand.
And as it did, I found Cindy. She was hanging out in the casino with one of the staffers and something about the two made me think there was something intimate between them. Was this the other lead the police were chasing?
I made a note of the timestamp and moved along, having yet another face to look for. Sure enough, hours later I saw the same man pacing back and forth in the hallway outside a room. Checking the location and time, I realized it was hours before the murder. He didn’t look happy as he took off in a hurry toward the elevator.
“Nervous little shit.” My voice was no more than a whisper, but Luna reacted.
“Excuse me?” I glanced up to see her standing across the room at the coffee maker.
I sat up straight, my back screaming from hours at the makeshift desk, and stretched my arms up over my head. I’d wondered if she would shut me out forever and decided that if she were talking, I’d make conversation.
“This man, he looks nervous. He’s lurking around the halls where the murder took place and something seems to spook him. He takes off running. He worked there.”
“Sounds like you have another suspect. Congratulations. Maybe you should call Mason.” With that, she retreated to the room and shut the door.
So much for not shutting me out.
After stretching my legs and pouring my own cup, I returned to my search. Once I found the staffer acting even more suspicious in the front lobby right outside of the casino, I decided it was time to call Mason.
I dialed him up and told him my suspicions, knowing he wasn’t going to be happy.
“Jesus, Gabriel. You should have told me you were going to get the footage. I could have gone about it differently, petitioned to see it. They have to do that, you know.”
“I’m aware. I’m also aware that doing it that way, I’d only get what they wanted me to see. I’m looking for anyone that I recognize from the time I checked in until I left.”
“The entire Serendipity Hotel?”
“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but dammit, who else could I trust but myself? I’m sitting here waiting for them to get their shit straight when I could be looking it over myself.
“What else have I got to do? The company is in working order, I’ve taken an extended leave, and I’ve got a wife in the other room who isn’t speaking to me. Not to mention this damned coffee table that’s booking a date with my chiropractor.”
“And, don’t forget your sparkling personality. Look, Gabe, I get it. I guess I’d do the same thing, truth be known. I’ll come over in a few; we’ll look at your findings and I’ll have someone check into it. Maybe it’s time we hire our own PI?”
That was more like it. I could get on board with a private investigator. “Thanks. I’ll buy you lunch.”
I hung up with him and searched the video again. I found the staffer and paused the video on him. Something was off about the guy, but I couldn’t place it.
I left it up and went to the bedroom door. I raised my hand to knock but decided against it. Why should I knock? This was my room and my wife on the other side of the door.
I turned the knob and pushed the thing wide. “Mason’s on his way. I’m ordering lunch soon, if you’re so inclined.”
She dropped her book to her chest and peered up at me with sleepy eyes. “Sure.”
“So, you slept, grabbed a quick shower and a cup of coffee, and got back into bed to read? That’s a hell of a vacation.”
“I was going to take a shower, but… I decided against it. I realized the beautiful tub was going to waste. Did you know it has jets?” She cocked her eyebrow but her mouth was still set in a tight line. “I was pruning before I got out. Then I called my friend, and now I’m passing the time.” I guessed she hadn’t wanted to be in the shower after our one together, and I supposed I couldn’t blame her.
She’d been holed up in the room, passing time and avoiding me. “Haven’t you already read that book?”
Her shoulder lifted casually and she turned another page. “Yeah, this is the third time. If I had known I’d be here this long, I’d have brought more than four.”
“How about I look for another room? Something else might be available by now. Or maybe I could find us a nice townhouse or condominium to buy? When we booked this place, it was all there was.”
“It’s fine. Stuck here, stuck there, it’s all the same. Besides, there’s no need to go through the trouble.” She glanced back down at the book and shook her head. “I can’t believe you offered to buy a house.”
I guess it did seem rather absurd, but I was only trying to make things better. We’d been cooped up too long and had started to wear on each other’s nerves. She’d been angry with me since refusing her, and once Mason left, we needed to talk.
“I’ll be out in a bit,” she said, as if it were a vow. Without further encouragement, I shut the door behind me.
Minutes later, Mason arrived. The guy strolled in dressed for court, and I wondered if he ever left the suit behind. “Nice threads.”
“So glad it meets your approval. I wasn’t sure what one wears to stare at a screen all day, but figured I may as well be ready to work in case we find anything.”
“Right, cause being comfortable never crossed your mind.” Not a day in his life. He’d always been perfectly tailored to the point I had often questioned the guy’s sexuality, but then his lust for women snuffed that suspicion.
“I am comfortable. Now, show me this suspect.” He crossed the room and lowered himself to the couch and leaned back as I stepped around the table to join him.
“There he is. There’s something off about the guy. I can’t place it, but you can tell he’s staff. Look at that vest.” All the staff wore the same red vest and bowtie.
“Look at the vest? I’m looking at the shoes; pants, too. Those aren’t standard issue. I used to work in a hotel years ago and the staff all had to wear the same clothes. I know for a fact that the standard dress there was black pants and shoes. His are jeans and those are some kind of work boots. Combat maybe?”
“That’s it. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. He could have thrown on the rest hoping no one would have noticed.” We were on to something. Had to be.
He leaned in to get a closer look. “Let’s call Detective Hatcher and see if this guy is already on their watch list.”
It would have been good to celebrate, but I wasn’t sure this was our guy. Whoever was doing this had to be someone I knew. “I wish I could make out his face better, but I don’t think I know him.”
Mason took out his phone. “Maybe you don’t. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know you.”