Page 17 of Maneater
I look at Rory, trying to judge if that’s a good idea, then determine we need it and give it to him. He writes it in a notepad before slipping it back in his pocket. He smiles again and opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, he’s stopped.
“Hey, Daniel!” a voice calls out from the other side of the pool, and he looks over his shoulder and sighs as if he knows he’s in for it. “Daniel, can you come talk for a second?” a redhead asks, smiling deceptively sweetly. He stands then and nods at us.
“I gotta go. It was great meeting you two.”
“You too, Daniel. See you on Wednesday.” He smiles again before he looks over his shoulder and sighs. He looks tired but professional, which is something I think would be expected if the resort where he works is experiencing incessant issues.
Daniel is currently on our very long list, though we don’t have any true motivation for him. He holds the top position in the resort, and the application process for securing this role was lengthy. It doesn’t seem like a logical move for him, unless there’s something happening we can’t yet fathom.
After he’s gone, we continue sunbathing, Rory keeping an eye out for the best time to dart off to the taped-off crime scene while I look around, keeping my ears open for any kind of useful information or anything that feels out of place.
And that’s when I feel eyes on me. Slowly, I turn my head to the sky and shift around the pool, trying to find the source without revealing what I’m doing. Finally, I catch the source of the gaze beneath my dark sunglasses: a woman. I pass right over her and her burning stare as if it doesn’t exist, then turn to Rory, putting my back to the source of the killing glare.
“Seven o’clock, red hair, white uniform. Works here, I think.” Rory reaches for her drink as she sits up, taking a long sip as she covertly looks to the side.
“My god, why does she look like she wants to rip out your intestines and use them to strangle you?”
My face screws up at the mental image. “Rory, that is so weirdly specific.”
She shrugs as she lies back down. “I listen to a lotof true crime.”
“In this line of work? Where you get to not just hear about it, but witness how dangerous and deranged people can be?”
She shrugs. “It quiets my mind.”
“Oh, you’re a serial killer,” I whisper, then sit back, fussing with my glasses as I do, taking one last look at the woman. Her arms are crossed on her chest, and Rory is right, she does look like she wants to kill me. I look at the pretty landscaping a few feet from her but keep her in my peripheral vision as she talks to Daniel, her jaw tight. He reaches a hand out to her, but she takes a step back before speaking to him, clearly annoyed. Her head tips toward us, and from here I can see him roll his eyes and throw his hands up exasperatedly.
“I think you were flirting with her man,” Rory says under her breath. “No wonder she was giving you the evil eye. Do you think I should tell her that unless he’s some hottie from your past, you’re so totally uninterested?”
I let out a loud laugh, louder than intended, but it helps to prove our point when Daniel’s head moves our way. Almost instantly, the woman’s hand moves to his jaw, shifting his head to face her.
“Oof,” Rory says.
“Something to take note of. She’s in an employee uniform. I wonder what she does.”
Rory shrugs but picks up her phone, and a moment later, a ping comes to my phone, indicating that Rory has updated the shared note we use to keep track of things while out in the field, probably adding a description and photo for reference. I continue to watch the unhappy couple before she shakes her head and stalks off to the other side of the large pool area, clearly frustrated. Daniel sighs and walks off into the resort out of sight.
“I got photos of both of them for the files,” she says, and I nod, but I’m still subtly watching the woman, who looks like she’s about to throw a full-on temper tantrum, foot stomping included. I’m glad I am because in an instant, her face changes, eyes catching on something in the distance.
Then she begins to move with a purpose toward a man. He’s not in a uniform like she is, and as soon as he notices her, her smile goes sweet. Not just sweet, butflirty.His back is to us, so I can only note he’s maybe a foot taller than her, with dark hair. I watch her hand move out, touching his shoulder, and he dips it a bit as if to shift away from her. I laugh quietly at the entertaining show of rejection before Rory nudges me.
“Hey,” she says, tipping her head toward where our first target is. I note that the area is now free of anyone. “Leave your stuff, let’s go.”
And then we’re off.
EIGHT
ROWAN
“I feel like I’m being set up, but it’s not me, Rowan. I need you to know that. I moved my whole family out here, changed everything so I could work this job, and you know I’m grateful.”
I nod, knowing this to be true. Not to mention, Jonas just ended his family vacation two days early to come in after hearing about the issues that have been arising.
My gut tells me the source of the issue isn’t the head of security at the Keys location. He was the one employee I handpicked for this location. When we opened this one, he was working as an assistant at one of our other resorts, and I knew he would be perfect for the job. I offered him a solid raise and covered his moving costs as an incentive to take the position. His wife was excited about the weather, but his kids, who are both in middle school, were upset. I can’t think of a reason he’d try to fuck this up, knowing he’d get fired and most likely be blacklisted in the industry.
But then again, I can’t think of a single reason someone would want to fuck with my hotel in the first place.
I arrived at the resort early yesterday morning, checked into a room, and immediately began speaking with Daniel, the general manager, to learn abouteverything that had happened in the last month. He didn’t give me much information I didn’t already know, though I did find out about a few more unreported incidents, such as double bookings of suites with no source attributed, as well as numerous double billings to guests that resulted in rightfully angry calls and even threats. These events could seem innocuous and like some bad luck, but when combined, they start to paint an increasingly obvious and worrisome picture.
