Page 48 of Forged in Secrets

It really, really was.

BEN

“Jesus, forgive me,” Ben muttered under his breath as the elevator doors slid shut behind Grace.

He waited for the hall to clear of the last few collegeboys, trying not to let himself get lost in his thoughts. If he did, he’d talk himself out of what he planned to do.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small screwdriver and pair of wire cutters he’d thrown in that morning. From the minute he’d met Jade, he knew he didn’t trust her, and he’d been waiting for an opportunity to find out exactly what she was hiding.

Just then, another two girls emerged from a door at the far end of the hall, stage-whispering to one another as they passed behind him. He rolled his eyes as he caught something about his muscles.

All through high school, he’d never had any difficulty attracting female attention. Like his brothers and his cousin Reilly, he had been blessed with Forge genes, and his passion for working out had only increased his physical appeal to the opposite sex.

But finding a woman who actually appreciated his personality was another thing entirely. Not many teenage girls were interested in hearing about his latest PC build, it turned out, and he’d spent most of his time in school sitting at the losers’ table.

When he’d met his ex, Mikayla, at the police academy, she was different.

She had been placed for adoption by her mother, who had become pregnant with her at the age of fifteen, and Mikayla ended up in a farming family with several siblings. Over time, she became a bit of a tomboy, more at home hunting deer than playing with Barbies.

When she’d befriended Ben, his nerdy interests hadn’t phased her, and it wasn’t long before he’d fallen in love–or at least, he thought he had, until she betrayed him and shattered his heart beneath her police-issue patrol boots.

The sound of the pinging elevator followed by laughterjolted Ben out of his thoughts. There was no point in looking back on the past.

Instead, as they so often had, his thoughts turned to Grace.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he imagined the way she’d kissed him, looking up at him like he was much bigger than six-foot-three.

Guilt twisted in his gut.

He’d lied to her. He wanted them to separate so that he could dig up more evidence on Jade, and she’d suggested it before he had to say a word.

He was worried about her being on her own. That much was true, especially after the bizarre incident with the truck that afternoon. But he figured she’d be safe enough in her hotel room for an hour or two, and finding the information he sought was more important.

As much as he hated lying to Grace, he was doing this for Katie Fairman. And if getting more information on what Jade was up to led to them finding her, he knew that all would be forgiven.

At last, the hall was completely empty.

He used the screwdriver on the door’s lock panel, working as quickly as he could without looking up. Though there was a small chance security could see what he was doing on camera, he doubted they were going to bother checking this particular hallway again. It was a risk he just had to take.

Finally, he was able to pull back the metal casing, revealing several thin wires in various colors. He closed his eyes for a moment before taking hold of his wire cutters, recalling the manufacturer diagrams he’d looked at earlier.

A minute or two later, he had finished his task and screwed the metal plate back into place.

He reached into his pocket again and pulled out the plain black swipe card he had programmed the night before. With just two wires cut, it would now function as a master key to any of the rooms at the Mistflower Resort.

With a final glance over his shoulder he slid the card through the reader, a grin breaking on his face as a small green light blinked at him.

Once he was in, his first thought was that sharing a room with Asher and Cameron growing up could have been a whole lot worse.

Jade was unbelievably messy.

Clothing, bathing suits, and mismatched shoes covered the carpeted floor. The desk was stacked with various plastic bottles, makeup brushes, eyeshadow pots, and tubes of lipstick. The bottom edge of the mirror was covered with dark brown face powder, and a smear of some kind of cream makeup sullied the white light switch to a nearby lamp. At his feet, he could see a streak of glittery blue powder that had somehow become pressed into the fibers of the carpet.

He made a silent promise to himself never to complain again about the makeup collection Grace stored behind the reception desk at FBS. At least she had the decency to keep the lids on.

He let out a sigh as he started looking through the space. He tried not to leave anything out of place, but his caution was slowing his search, and he doubted she’d be able to notice anything amiss among such clutter.

Within fifteen minutes, he was digging through her suitcases with little care, tossing clothes out onto the large unmade bed and stuffing them back in when he was done.

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