Page 138 of Resting Beach Face
Katelyn dragged her ass out of bed in time to help me serve coffee. “Where’s Declan?” she asked, still sleepy-eyed.
“Sleeping in,” I said. “He had a late night.”
Kat wrinkled her nose. “I don’t need to hear about your sex life.”
Last night, wedidhave some pretty incredible sex. I was tempted to overshare the details just for that smart-ass remark. But I had a feeling Declan would never agree to an outdoor blow job again if I did that.
“No, brat. There was a theft on the property last night.”
Stacy Gillespie, a cute thirty-something blonde who looked more like twelve with her hair hanging in two braids, looked up from her phone. “A theft here?”
Rina, her roommate—and probably girlfriend, though they hadn’t explicitly said—frowned at me. “Should we be worried?”
“It wasn’t here at the house. It was tools and supplies by the greenhouse.”
The women visibly relaxed, but another guest—Jed Hartnett—walked in just then. “What’s going on?”
I winced. Apparently, on my first day managing the B&B, I was going to be telling the guests about crime on the property. Not the best PR. But it was only smart to alert them in case they had seen something last night.
Unfortunately, no one had noticed any strange trucks. Or rather, they’d seen so many they didn’t pay any attention to them. With Gray and his couple of guys working on the renovations, it was normal to see vehicles coming and going.
Maybe not so normal at night, but by that point, most of the guests were in for the day. Unlike the first instance of vandalism, we didn’t have any partiers returning late last night.
After breakfast, I went outside and found Declan already up and talking to Gray. He must have slipped out the kitchen door while I was busy in the dining room.
“I’m going to buy out Dyck’s supply of cameras,” Declan was saying. “If you could help get them installed every damn where a vandal or thief might strike, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course. I can’t believe this shit happened again,” Gray said. “I wanna kick this motherfucker’s ass.”
“You and me both,” I said, stepping up to slip an arm around Declan’s waist.
He was so tense it was like wrapping my arm around a plank of wood. I squeezed his hip, tugging him against me, and he melted into my side. Better.
“You didn’t get anything off the cameras at The Roost?” Gray asked.
“No, those are too far away to get a visual on vehicles driving by,” I said. “They just cover the doors and windows right around the cabin.”
“It was a mistake to only put cameras there,” Declan said, “but I thought it was just kids looking for a place to party.”
“No way it’s just kids making off with over a grand worth of polycarbonate though. Not to mention my toolbox. That sucker is worth five grand with all the tools inside.”
“I’m so sorry,” Declan said. “I’ve never had problems like this before. I promise I’ll compensate you for the loss.”
Gray shook his head. “Let’s make the bastard who did this compensate me.”
“We should put a camera at all entry points to the property,” I said. “If we can catch even his license plate on camera, we can give the sheriff’s department a lead.”
“Then I hope he comes back,” Gray said. “Maybe I can be here when he does. You know, I could camp out in the Tree Hut for a while. Keep watch over there. It’s got a good vantage point.”
“Really?” Declan sounded relieved. “That would be a load off my mind.”
“And we could stay out in The Roost,” I told Declan. “We’d cover more property that way.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Declan said.
Over the next week, we all operated in a state of high tension.
Each night, Declan collapsed into bed exhausted, then tossed and turned because he couldn’t sleep.
