Page 17 of Todd
The finality in his voice made Sadie’s teeth clench. She’d worked with federal agencies long enough to know how quickly cases could be dismissed when they didn’t fit neat investigative parameters.
“Yet her sister still believes something happened?” Todd’s question echoed her own thoughts. He was never one to blurt out theories, but always carefully considered ideas before voicing them.
“Yes,” Logan confirmed, and something in his tone suggested there was more to the story. “To be honest, if it wasn’t for something the FBI supervisor said, I might have dismissed the assignment. But they admitted that with their backlog, they had not delved deeply to investigate whether facial recognition matched. At the initial investigation, the person using her passport looked similar to the woman in the passport picture.”
Similar.The word caused Sadie’s spidey senses to tingle. In her experience, “similar” in a missing person case was never a good sign. It suggested deception, identity theft, or worse.
“What if something had happened at the spa? There would be protocols... hospitals, doctors, records,” she pressed, her analytical mind already working through the logistics of how such a cover-up might work.
Logan’s expression grew darker, if such a thing were possible. “Maria said her sister-in-law was eccentric. Never married and traveled infrequently. But when she was coming to the United States to visit, she said Natalia had looked into a spa in the Southwest that promised a rejuvenating experience.”
He paused, consulting his tablet before continuing. “It seems that the resort does not want its guests to keep their phones, tablets, or laptops with them. If there’s an emergency, the spa will handle it. Maria said her sister-in-law is never without her phone, so she hid one on her person and then in her room. She hadn’t heard from Natalia for several days, but when Natalia finally called, she said she was enjoying the experience but occasionally felt very lightheaded and dizzy. She thought it was just because she was unused to the dry heat.”
That piece of information made Sadie’s gut twist. Isolation from communication. Mysterious physical symptoms. And then…
“That was the last Maria heard from her,” Landon added. “Maria is convinced that something happened at the spa, and to cover their tracks, they had someone impersonate Natalia, leaving the States.”
Dalton leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight as he shook his head. “That’s some deep-level, conspiracy-theory reasoning.”
“Agreed,” Logan said, but his tone suggested he wasn’t entirely dismissive of the theory. “But I told Maria that we would check into it.”
While the conversation continued around her, Sadie found herself already moving, her fingers flying across her laptop keyboard as she pulled up everything she could find about Serenity Dunes Spa Resort. The name was perfect. The website that loaded was a masterpiece of sophisticated design and carefully crafted language. Images of pristine desert landscapes, luxurious treatment rooms, and blissfully relaxed guests filled the screen.
She clicked through pages of testimonials, treatment descriptions, and facility information, her trained eye cataloging details that might prove relevant. Guest reviews. Staff credentials. Treatment philosophies that relied heavily on buzzwords like transformative transcendence, holistic holiday, and rejuvenating renewal.Good grief… who came up with their marketing aliteration?
“Sounds like a mental anti-aging focus under the direction of the spa owner, Dr. Marvin Selinski. This spa caters to females seeking regenerative wellness,” she announced, looking up from her screen to find every pair of eyes in the room fixed on her. The realization had hit her like a physical blow. If something were happening at Serenity Dunes, if a woman disappeared or had been harmed, then the investigation would require someone who could get inside their carefully controlled environment. “That means I’m the only one who can get inside.”
The words had barely left her mouth when Todd’s head swung around, his eyes wide with what looked suspiciously like panic. “That’s not true. One of us could get on as an employee and?—”
The protective desperation in his voice sent heat flashing through her chest. It was part gratitude, part irritation, and something deeper that she didn’t want to examine too closely. “It would take a hell of a lot longer for that to happen than for me togo in as a guest,” she argued, her own voice sharper than she’d intended.
“You don’t do in-the-field work,” Todd snapped back.
She wanted to punch him, but instead, pinned him with a glare that had been known to make CIA operatives reconsider their life choices. “Think I can’t handle it?”
“You know that’s not it!” The words exploded from him. His hands clenched into fists, knuckles white with tension, and for a moment, the careful professional distance they’d maintained for eighteen months threatened to split wide open.
She could see the fear in his eyes, raw and unguarded, and it did something to her carefully constructed emotional defenses. But before she could respond, Logan’s authoritative voice cut through the tension like a blade.
“I agree that Sadie is the only one who can quickly get on the inside of the spa and see if she can find out what may have happened to Natalia, if anything.”
The decision settled over the room like a weight. Sadie felt a complex mixture of vindication and trepidation as she turned back to her laptop, fingers already moving across the keys.
“I’ve already looked at the guest application inquiry that they list on their website,” she said, her voice carefully neutral despite the churning in her stomach. “Medical history. Blood test upon arrival? Damn! But they claim to develop a personal vitamin and mineral regimen based on the blood test. They also have the guests take a cognitive test upon arrival. Most of the questions involve medications, but they also asked about family.”
The application process was more invasive than she’d expected, probing into personal history. “They ask about medical conditions, emergency contacts, family relationships, and financial status. I’m sure they have to have all this information for liability, but it also allows them to choose their clients, who they refer to as guests.”
She continued typing, ignoring the heavy silence that had settled over the room as the others waited for her analysis. The initial firewall was laughably easy to penetrate, clearly designed to keep out casual hackers rather than someone with her level of expertise.
After a few minutes of focused work, she snorted and couldn’t help but grin at what she’d discovered. “Not too hard to break into their initial client assessments. There’s a firewall beyond that, but I can tell you that Natalia did not put down that she had any relatives. I don’t know why she didn’t put Maria, unless she was thinking of just birth family, but it makes Natalia look as though she has no one waiting for her at home.”
The implication was of a woman with no family connections and no one to ask questions if she disappeared. The perfect victim for whatever might be happening behind Serenity Dunes’s carefully maintained facade.
“I can see where you’re going with this,” Sisco said, nodding slowly. “I think we ought to take the case, if Sadie’s willing.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. A woman was missing, possibly dead, and Sadie was the only one positioned to find out what had happened to her. The choice had been made the moment Logan had started talking.
“There’s a risk,” Todd continued to argue. “If somethingisgoing on at the spa, then she could be in danger with whatever they’d give her!”
