Page 106 of Pressure

She clutched the bag closer to her and huffed. “Fine. I’m not going to crash, I’m to get back to work. I just can’t be here right now.”

He chuckled. “All you had to say.”

“What’s your excuse?” she asked nodding to the office.

His eyes wandered to the double doors that led to the bar and dungeon. “Patrick and Austin are playing in there tonight. We have an agreement that Holly and I stay out if they’re playing. Plus, Holly is suffering from jet lag, so I sent her for a nap.”

She nodded. Holly wasn’t someone she’d spent much time around, but she seemed like a hard-working woman with a lot of spunk. Probably kept Eli on his toes.

“Well, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”

Eli nodded.

“Hey, I can’t tell you what to do, but maybe think about talking to Lance.”

She gave him a tight smile. “I will. I promise. Just not tonight.”

“Fair enough. You OK walking or do you want me to have someone take you in a golf cart?”

“Walking will do me good. Thanks though.”

Outside, she shivered as she made her way down the path to the cabins behind Solitaire.

Maybe some sleep would actually do her good. But she knew she wouldn’t actually sleep. She would sit up all night working on the job Solitaire was paying her to do.

As she stepped onto the porch of the third cabin, she spotted a light on in the first one.Odd.She’d been deep in Solitaire’s records all day and knew for a fact she was the only one renting a cabin this weekend. Had the cleaning crew left a light on? She unlocked her own cabin and stepped inside, intent on double checking records. Movement caught her eye. Someone was definitely inside. She set her tech bag inside and pulled the door shut again.

Carefully, she crossed behind the cabins until she got to the first one in the row.

Voices.

As quietly as she could manage, she slipped around until she was near the front window where she’d spotted the movement. Her eyes went wide. Jodie was inside talking to someone, but she couldn’t see them. A deep voice told her it was a man. What was the crazy bitch up to? She’d been banned for a month. How did she get on the property with the added security at the bottom of the hill?

Wanting to see if she could get a better look at the man, she climbed the steps cursing to herself as one of them creaked loudly.

She crouched by the window, but the man had moved. Fuck. She needed to get out of here and get security. Turning, her back to the door she started for the stairs. A noise behind her caused her to freeze.

Pain shot through her as something cracked into the back of her head and she crumpled to the wooden planks of the porch.

“It’s that Marissa bitch Lance abandoned me for,” Jodie said just as her world went dark.

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