Page 28 of Wilde In His Arms

Julia stabilized it with her hands on both ends.“Everything must have shifted inside when he dumped it on its side.”

He stared at her and the cart.He had no cause to make her open the cart or even ask her to do it, but he wanted to because this whole thing felt off.But he didn’t want to spook her.Not if she could lead him to Javier.

And he’d be keeping a closer eye on her now.

“Have a good night.”It was getting late.He’d been here longer than he intended.He didn’t plan to leave just yet either.

This time he went to the elevator and took it down to the lobby, where he went to the reception desk and asked the twenty-something guy with dark hair behind it, “Mind opening the door to the offices?I’m meeting Dennis again.”He pulled back his suit jacket to show them his badge.”

He stood immediately, eager to help out.“Sure, sir.Is everything okay?”

“Yes.Just here asking some questions about membership.”

He relaxed and grinned.“Oh.Well, I hope you sign up.We’ve got a lot to offer.”The young man opened the door, then went back to his seat as Nick disappeared down the corridor.

He’d seen the sign on one of the doors marked Security and ducked inside, where he found another guy monitoring a dozen screens and live feeds from all the cameras around the property.

The dark-skinned man with cropped black hair and a bulky build abruptly stood.“Hey, you can’t be in here.”

Nick flashed his badge again.“Dennis knows I’m here.”Technically, Dennis knew he was on the property, so he guessed that counted as the truth.“Can you pull up the third-floor camera by room 310?”

The security guard tapped a couple keys and the third-floor camera came up, showing Julia coming out of the door he’d left her in front of without the cart and going back to room 310.

“What is that room that Julia came out of?”

“Storage room.It’s where they keep the cleaning carts, cleaning supplies, room supplies, like towels and shampoo and all that stuff.Anything that needs to be restocked is kept in there.Each floor has a room like that.”

Julia knocked on the door.

A moment later, the same man with light brown hair opened the door, this time wearing a shirt buttoned up to mid chest and untucked.He immediately started talking, his posture rigid, his dark eyes narrowed on her.

She stepped into him, said something, and they both disappeared into the room.

“Can you print out a picture of the guy she’s talking to and tell me who rented that room?”

The guard took a screenshot and printed it out, then turned to another computer and looked up the reservation information.“Huh.The room says it’s closed for maintenance.No one is supposed to be in there.”

“Does it say why it needs maintenance?”

The security guard put on a pair of readers.“The order says a leak in the bathroom.It’s due to be repaired tomorrow.”

“Then it’s strange that someone put him in that room.”

The security guard quirked an eyebrow.“What’s going on?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

Julia had told him the guy had trashed the room, not that there was a leak, but the room was still serviceable for a guest.Odd.Suspicious as hell, too.

The guard offered a suggestion.“Maybe we were overbooked and they had to put him in that room anyway.The leak could be minor and they didn’t want to turn away a member.”

“Do you overbook often?”

He shrugged.“Don’t know.Not my job.”

“Okay.Thanks for this.”Nick held up the printed photo of the guy.He’d figure out who the guy was some other way.

Before he left, he thought of something else.“Can you go back on the footage on that floor, that room, and see when the guy arrived?”

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