Page 31 of Vacation Friends

Goosebumps spread across her arms.

She should have accepted Adrienne and Brody’s offer to walk her back to her room.

But she’d never anticipated this.

She glanced at the door leading into her wing of the resort just ahead.

She was almost there. Only twelve feet or so.

Fear made her want to dart inside. Instead, she forced herself to walk. She couldn’t afford to draw any attention to herself.

Inside, she decided to take the stairs. The elevator was too risky.

She was huffing by the time she reached her floor.

Now, only a few more turns and then she’d be at her room.

She’d be safe.

Fear crept over her, making her skin crawl.

Maddie didn’t see anyone watching her. But she felt unseen eyes.

What if this person tried to kill her like they’d killed Jared?

No . . .

She couldn’t let this continue while she was here. She might lose her mind if she did.

Tomorrow, maybe Maddie should talk to Darla Bowman and find out more about Jared. See if she could figure out why the man might have Maddie’s name written on a paper in his room. See if she could figure out who Jared might have been arguing with on the beach before his trip into the ocean.

The only way to possibly clear her name was to find answers.

Yes, that was what she would do. She’d use her skills to find the truth.

She continued to hurry toward her room.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow Maddie would find some answers. Tonight it was too late.

As she turned a corner, something jostled behind her—almost as if the person following her had accidentally bumped the table where some plants had been displayed.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

She wasn’t losing her mind. Someone was following her.

Self-preservation kicked in, and she took off in a jog. No one else was near to see her, to judge her.

Finally, she reached her room. Her arms shook as she held up her wristband to the lock.

The mechanism turned.

She threw the door open and practically fell inside. Wasting no time, she slammed the door and leaned against it as she tried to get hold of herself.

A paper on the floor caught her eye.

What was that? Correspondence from the hotel?

Maddie knew management slipped notices under the door sometimes if they had a maintenance project coming up or when it was time to check out—which it wasn’t.

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