Page 15 of Master Cordell

“I didn’t see him anywhere, baby, so he’s either hiding in there or somewhere out here,” he said, trying to reassure her. “We’ll find him, okay?”

Her body trembled, as she let him pull her into a tight embrace. “Why would anyone do this? Was anything stolen?”

“Not that I could tell, but I didn’t have a chance to look closely at everything. And I have no idea who could’ve done this, but you can be damn sure I’m going to find out.” Whoever it was had taken a risk with all the people that were around, but since mostly everyone had been inside the resort, a full football field away, he or she had managed to avoid detection.

Dante disconnected a phone call he’d made and said something to Jared, who nodded and started walking back toward the resort as his boss approached Cordell and Tiffany. “Sheriff’s deputies are on their way. I’ve got Troy going through the security camera feeds to see if he can spot anything. He’s going to send Cooper out here to see if he can pick up Eastwood’s scent too. Jared’s heading to talk to the landscaping guys and find out if they noticed anyone out of place.”

As expected, the head of security was on top of things. However, he frowned when he added, “I’m sorry, Cordell. I should have had guys patrolling down this way.”

Cordell shook his head. “Your guys can’t be everywhere at once. This was completely unexpected. Hopefully, we’ve got the bastard on camera somewhere.” There was one above the front door, but that feed rotated on the monitors in the security room with some of the feeds from other low-risk areas. With the vast number of cameras set up inside and outside the resort, it was impossible to have them all showing on the large screens at once. Some of them appeared and disappeared every ten seconds on the smaller monitors. If the person watching them saw something of interest, he could transfer that feed to one of the larger screens where the high traffic areas were constantly showing.

The security team had been concentrating on the resort, as they should have been, making sure everything was ready to guarantee the guests’ safety. Having someone take a huge chance and break into Cordell and Tiffany’s cottage wasn’t something they could have foreseen.

Dante gestured toward the driveway leading in from the main highway. “Deputies are here, and it looks like our guests have arrived too.”

Well, shit. Just what Cordell needed right now—to explain what’d happened to his bosses, two of whom were security experts along with their teammates who were also there.

Up by the front doors to the resort, Troy appeared with Cooper, pointing toward the cottage where Dante stood. The dog took off like a shot, heading straight for his owner. Troy then spoke to one of the Monroe County sheriff’s deputies who’d gotten out of his vehicle. The man glanced toward the cottage then got back into his car and drove toward it. A second MCSD vehicle followed. Meanwhile, the five dark-gray SUVs pulled up to the valets and people began to pour out of them. Everyone eyed the activity at the cottage, and Cordell was grateful when only Mitch, Ian, and Devon started walking toward them as the others began to unload the luggage. Three young men from the concierge came out with carts to help bring it all inside.

Dante began telling the deputies what’d happened as the Sawyers approached. Cordell turned to Tiffany. “Pet, head on up to the hotel, say hello to everyone, and make sure their check-in runs smoothly. We’ve got everything covered down here.”

She hesitated, then asked, “Can you bring me a change of clothes when you’re done? I’ll take a quick shower in one of the guest rooms.”

Hopefully, he could find some clothes for both of them that hadn’t been destroyed. “Good idea. We’ll sleep up there tonight too. There’s too much that needs to be cleaned up in here. In the morning, ask Emma to assign a few of the housekeepers to help out.”

She nodded. “What about Eastwood? We have to find him.”

Just as she asked the question, movement behind her caught his attention, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Um, it looks like Cooper’s got that under control.”

He hadn’t noticed the dog leave Dante’s side, but the big German shepherd was now trotting toward them, holding the fat cat by its nape in his jaws. Surprisingly, Eastwood wasn’t fighting the dog, but the expression on his face made it clear he wasn’t happy with the situation and was plotting his ultimate revenge.

Cooper dropped Eastwood unceremoniously at Tiffany’s feet and ignored the cat’s hiss and attempt to swipe him with his claws. Tiffany picked up Eastwood before he could take off again and stroked his back, calming him down. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be injured, so he must’ve escaped before the intruder had realized he was in the cottage. Eastwood wasn’t the fastest cat around because of his girth, which was probably the reason Cooper had been able to catch him so easily.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” The cat responded by rubbing his head against Tiffany’s chin, while still giving the dog an evil glare that promised retaliation for being humiliated in front of everyone. Tiffany reached down and scratched the dog’s ear. “Cooper, you are such a good boy, rescuing your buddy.”

Cordell chuckled and shook his head. “I’m sure Eastwood doesn’t agree with you on that—especially the buddy part. Let me go grab his carrier, so he doesn’t try to escape again while you take him up to the hotel. We can’t put him in a guest room because with my luck, the first person who stays in it will have allergies. Lock him in your office. I’ll bring his litter box and food and water dishes up with me.”

“Okay. Don’t forget to bring his stuffed mouse and his circle thingie too, so he doesn’t get bored.” She’d gotten a round toy with a ball on a track that the cat loved to bat around several times a day.

“I won’t forget. Stay here, and I’ll get the carrier.” He didn’t want her to see the interior of the cottage just yet. It would only get her more upset than she already was, and he wanted her to relax and enjoy herself tonight with everyone.

An hour later, the sheriff’s deputies and two crime scene techs left after the interior of the cottage had been photographed and dusted for fingerprints. They’d also taken the kitchen knife that’d ended up in the bedroom. Dante had supplied them with digital printouts of Cordell’s and Tiffany’s fingerprints from the security files for elimination purposes.

The other Trident Security teammates had wandered down after getting the others settled in the resort. Ian and Devon’s younger brother and his husband, Nick and Jake Donovan, Brody Evans, Ben “Boomer” Michaelson, and Marco DeAngelis had all been filled in on what’d happened. Brody had asked if the deputies could give them copies of the fingerprints they’d lifted from the door and other surfaces inside the cottage, but as they’d all expected, the answer had been no. If Dante’s two friends on the sheriff’s department hadn’t been out of town at a wedding that weekend, he would’ve called them to see if they could get them access to the prints.

It would take a while for Cordell and his security staff to develop a cooperative working relationship with the MCSD. For now, though, they’d have to play nice and accept whatever help was offered and find a way to circumvent what wasn’t. Cordell, however, had foreseen the problem they might have with the local law enforcement, and after the deputies had left, he’d retrieved the baseball bat he’d hidden on a shelf in the bedroom closet. Ian barked out a laugh when Cordell came back outside using one of his destroyed T-shirts to hold the bat at its wide end so as not to smear any prints that might be on the handle.

“Once a cop, always a cop,” Ian joked.

“Yup. Since this isn’t a murder or assault weapon, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put it aside.” He gestured with it toward Brody. “You want to do the honors? My old evidence kit is up in the security office. Dante can take you up there—he’s got Tiffany’s and my prints on file for comparison. I’m going to take a look around and see if anything is missing. I also need to find some clothes that weren’t shredded for me and Tiffany.”

After Brody took the bat, also using the T-shirt to hold it, and headed for the resort with Dante, Mitch asked, “Do you think this has anything to do with the spy cameras you found?”

“I have no idea,” Cordell responded truthfully. “We still haven’t been able to figure out who planted those.”

Ian crossed his arms. “I get the feeling they’re not related. The cameras were targeting guests, and the person who planted them couldn’t know which guests would be staying in which rooms, unless they had access to the reservations. I had Brody reinvestigate the two women you hired for that, as well as make sure the system hadn’t been hacked. There were no red flags anywhere, so I’m leaning toward it being one of the contracted workers, since nothing else happened after you battened down the hatches. Now this,” he said while jutting his chin toward the front door of the cottage, “appears totally different. You said Tiffany’s and your clothing and the bedding were all slashed. This wasn’t a random burglary—it was personal.”

He nodded. “That was my thinking too, but I didn’t want to rule out a connection until we had proof.”

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