by Lisa Harris
“There’s a lesson there, isn’t there?” Earl asked.
“His two children will inherit the money via a trust fund,” Sienna said.
“Good for them.” Earl wondered what people did with all that income. “As for us, we have to work.”
“Yeah.”
“You might consider working with me,” Earl said before he realized what he was asking. He recalled now that hours before, he had suggested Sienna apply to Hu Knows to work for Helen. Not with him specifically.
“You mentioned it. I’ll pray about it.”
“That’s the best answer,” Earl said.
Chapter Fourteen
Earl and Sienna arrived at Moss Grand Bahama after ten o’clock on a Saturday night that was bathed in a tropical downpour. While the rain lessened the humidity outdoors, the resort was cooler inside.
Kimball and her team blended into the surroundings, causing Earl and Sienna to check in on their own. At least they had their luggage with them, which Kimball’s people had brought from the safe house back in Atlanta.
Sienna was thankful to God that the receptionist found them two connected suites. Normally reserved for larger families, the suites came with a drawback: they were five floors up and faced the parking lot instead of the grand Caribbean ocean. A fast getaway down the elevator or a mad dash down five flights of stairs wasn’t going to happen.
Still, it made Sienna feel better that Earl was her neighbor, separated only by an interior door. That way, she didn’t have to go out to the hallway to knock on his door to call for help—should the need arise.
They came up the elevator together, and then Earl told her to stand at the door while he checked the room. He used his phone like a scanner in front of him. After a few minutes, he returned to the front door.
“No bugs. You can go inside now,” Earl said.
“Thank you, Mr. Paranoid.” Sienna saw that the connecting door was ajar. “I assume you’ve scanned your own room for bugs too.”
Earl nodded. “Can’t be too careful.”
By the time Sienna rolled her carryon to the closet, she was spent. However, she had to check in at work. Using the secure laptop that Kelvin at Binary Systems had set up for her, she logged in to find an avalanche of new emails from Gavard’s personal assistant, Noreen.
She replied to the most urgent ones, especially about the conference starting on Tuesday instead of Monday to give the GOOP family an extra day of mourning before they got back to business. Gavard didn’t want to skip a beat even though he had lost his half-brother tragically on Saturday morning.
It made him a suspect.
Or at the least, heartless.
As soon as Sienna sent the email, she received a terse note from Noreen asking Sienna to call her back. Sienna took a deep breath and tried to remember what her cover story was regarding her misplaced phone.
The resort phone would have to do for now.
“Hey, Noreen,” Sienna said as soon as Noreen picked up.
“Where have you been, girl?” Noreen’s high-pitched voice couldn’t get any higher.
“I just arrived this evening.”
“What happened?”
“I missed my flight on Saturday morning. Overslept.” It was the truth.
“You never oversleep. What happened?”
“I had a late night on Friday,” Sienna said. “My boyfriend and I were up half the night, and then I couldn’t get up.”
“You had a first-class ticket.”
“I know. I wish I had been there. Maybe Mr. Ford wouldn’t have…” Sienna blinked
“It’s terrible. It’s sad, but such is life. If you like, I’ll ask Mr. Gavard to give you a good referral.”
Sienna shook her head. “I just want to get through this week.”
“It’s your last week at GOOP, but you’ll still get paid. All is not lost.”
“At this point, I don’t care about my job. I just feel sorry for Mr. Ford’s children.”
“Oh, yes. Them too,” Noreen said. “Listen, Mr. Gavard wants to meet with you Sunday afternoon. He has to make the opening remarks on Tuesday and the closing remarks on Thursday. That’s on top of his own keynote address on Wednesday. He’s all stressed out. The poor man. He’s upset his brother died on him at this very bad time.”
“Like Mr. Ford should have waited until after the conference before he had a heart attack?” Sienna wondered where Mr. Gavard dug up Noreen. She was just as heartless as him.
“Well, what’s done is done,” Noreen said. “Don’t forget. Three o’clock Sunday afternoon. Meeting Room Seven. Can you make it? Don’t oversleep.”
“I don’t nap in the afternoon.”
“Good. Bring all your notes for Mr. Ford’s speech. Mr. Gavard might just have to go with them since it’s the last minute, you know.”
“Right.” Sienna said goodbye.
The good thing about Noreen—and hopefully Gavard—being focused on themselves was that they didn’t bother to ask Sienna detailed questions about what happened to her on Friday and Saturday. In fact, Noreen didn’t ask about Dana or Arun.
Sienna shut down her laptop. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, showered, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed with her Bible.
The knock on the connecting door next to her bed came just when she was about to fall asleep with her hair wrapped up in a bath towel.
She texted Earl, asking if it was him.
Earl: Yes, it’s me. Just making sure you lock your other door.
Sienna: I think I did.
Earl: Go check.
Sienna: I’m in bed. Why don’t you go out to the hallway and check my door for me?
She was half jesting, but Earl did not reply. Next thing she knew, someone was knocking on her front door. She could see the knob jiggle. The door did not open.
Sienna got out of bed, padded to the front door, peeked through the keyhole, and opened it. Sure enough, it was Earl.
“You shouldn’t open your door all the way,” Earl said. He was wearing a black tee shirt and a pair of jeans.
“Since there’s no chain latch, I wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the door in place if someone were to push in.” She stepped aside to let Earl in, and then locked the door behind him.
“Keep your phone charged up,” Earl said. “That way, if we need to talk to each other or if you need to call for help, you have battery.”
“However, if there’s no signal, what good is a fully charged phone?”
“I just want you to be safe.”
Sienna sighed. “Sorry I sound cranky. I’m tired, is all. Long day.”
“Long day for me too.”
Sienna realized she had been a little selfish. They were both tired. She followed Earl to the connecting door. “Earl?”
He stopped and turned toward her.
“Thank you.” Sienna reached for his face with one hand, and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.
Without a word, Earl held her hand. Sienna responded by placing her head on his shoulder. The hotel towel fell off, and her damp hair brushed against her arm.
When Sienna stepped away, she saw that the water from her damp hair had seeped into his sleeve. She pointed. “Sorry.”
“It’ll dry.” Earl shrugged. “What are you doing for church in the morning?”
“You heard Agent Kimball. Under no circumstances are we supposed to leave this resort until Thursday.”
“Yeah. I checked with the concierge and there’s no chapel on site. There are churches in Freeport, including Freeport Chapel by the Sea, which is a sister church to one in Nassau. My church has sent mission teams to help them with summer camps and vacation Bible school.”
“All outside the resort,” Sienna said. “I was thinking of live-streaming the church service from Midtown Chapel. If you like, we can watch it together at breakfast. There are two services.”
“My church has two services too.”
“Right. Riverside Chapel. I haven’t been there bef
ore.”
“Maybe when you visit Savannah, you can drop in.”
“Sure. What time is your service?”
“Eleven in the morning,” Earl said. “For tomorrow, I guess we could watch our own church live-streams, or we could get together?”
“I’ll watch your church service with you. Where shall we meet?” Sienna asked.
“Here or in my room. Either way.”
“Here, then,” Sienna said. “I’ll have coffee ready.”
“Shall we order breakfast for ten o’clock?”
“Sounds good to me. There are no activities until Tuesday.”
“Tuesday? I thought we hightailed here because the conference starts on Monday.”
“It was, but Mr. Gavard is giving everyone an extra day to mourn.”
“How nice,” Earl said. “So how is GOOP planning to mourn?”
“There’s nothing scheduled for Monday. It’s an off-day. No memorial service or anything. Each of the hundred-plus attendees will mourn in his or her own way.”
“Like at the pool and in the ocean?”
“Mr. Ford wasn’t exactly well-liked at GOOP,” Sienna said. “However, some think that Mr. Gavard is worse. He has security around him because he’s afraid someone might hurt him.”
“Speaking of security, I have a meeting tomorrow after church with the chief of security here,” Earl said.
“You know Mr. Jones?”
“How did you know his name?”
“Mr. Ford had me call him last week. He was worried about coming here, but then after he talked to someone at the security office, he decided he was just being paranoid.”
“And then he died before he got here.”
“I didn’t think he should have worried,” Sienna said. “Moss Grand Bahama is the resort of the rich and famous. I’d be surprised if Mr. Gavard and Celestia didn’t pick this place themselves.”
Earl agreed. “Two thousand dollars a night isn’t for everyone.”
Sienna wondered. “Did Helen Hu pay for your room?”
“It’s a part of the cost of keeping you safe,” Earl said. “Do you have your watch?”
“It’s in my purse.” She lifted her right wrist. “Kimball insisted on putting the bracelet on me and she said I can take it off on Friday morning on the flight home to Atlanta.”
“What about the other things she gave you?”
“The pen and clipboard are in my tote bag. I’m all set for the meeting tomorrow afternoon.” Sienna rubbed her forehead with her fingers. “I’m tired, so I need to get some sleep.”
“Good night. Sorry to keep you up,” Earl said.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I feel safer with you here,” Sienna said.
“Good. I’ve prayed that God will keep us both safe.”
“Thank you.” Sienna closed the door behind Earl. She didn’t lock it, just in case.
At the same time, she reminded herself that she could not rely on Earl Young, a mere human being, to safeguard her, especially since they still had no idea who the enemy was.
Who had killed Mr. Ford—if he hadn’t died of natural causes? The coroner’s report would take at least a week.
Who had killed Arun?
And Rocco?
Ultimately, only God could protect Sienna.
Chapter Fifteen
After online church, Sienna went to her meeting with Mr. Gavard. Earl followed as far as he could go until he saw the security detail outside the meeting room.
Dressed in a tee shirt, a pair of swimming trunks, and a pair of flip-flops, he carried a bottle of sunblock. He looked like a typical tourist. Still, there was no way he could get past Gavard’s security.
He went downstairs, sat in the lobby, and called Corazon Garcia-Moss to see if the chief of security of Moss Resorts was available to meet him at the security office. Corazon and her husband, Donovan, lived a few short miles from here in a gated beach community.
As soon as the phone started to ring, Earl regretted calling his former colleague at Hu Knows, Inc. It was Sunday, a day of rest. He tried to hang up, but someone answered the phone.
Corazon told him to go downstairs to the basement level of Moss Grand Bahama and wait for her. She would be able to get there in ten minutes. Right on the minute, she arrived. At eight months pregnant, Corazon could barely get through the door when she arrived at her office.
Earl gave her a hug around her belly. The baby kicked him. “Ouch.”
“He’s been kicking a lot,” Corazon said.
“Feisty like his mama?”
Corazon chuckled. “Or strong like his daddy.”
“How’s married life?” Earl asked.
“Feels like we’re still on our honeymoon.” Corazon’s face glowed.
“How long does that last?”
“I don’t know. We’ve been married four years.”
“Has it been that long?” Earl drew a breath.
“I know, right?” Corazon pressed a button on her phone, and someone knocked on the door in less than a minute.
She introduced Earl to the Moss Grand Bahama security director, a Mr. Jones with a thick British accent. She used a remote to turn on several wall-mounted screens.
“I see the FBI agents,” Corazon said.
“Yes, ma’am. They’re in their own operational center.”
“You gave them the second floor?”
“A few empty suites. They set up their surveillance teams there,” Jones said.
“Where are all the GOOP people?” Earl asked.
“Scattered across the resort and surrounding villas,” Jones said. “Security is tight, but many of them have brought their own security detail, so we try to work with them.”
“Can you see everyone?” Earl scanned the screens.
“Everywhere but in their rooms and suites.”
“Tell me where Sienna Halstead is,” Earl said.
Jones didn’t until Corazon gave him the go-ahead. “Give Earl what he wants. He’s here in the best interests of his country.”
Well, Earl only wanted the best interest of Sienna.
Jones took over the computer.
“Sienna called you last week on behalf of her boss, Finnegan Ford,” Earl told Jones to establish some familiarity.
“Yes.” Jones seemed to remember now. “I’m sorry Mr. Ford passed away.”
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of the mess,” Earl said. “Anything you can help us with will be appreciated.”
Jones pointed to a screen. Sienna was knocking on a meeting room door. On the door was the number seven.
“Is this live?” Earl asked.
“Yes, sir.”
A woman opened the door for Sienna. Tall with too-tight clothes. She winked at the security guards standing watch. Then the door closed.
“That’s Miss Noreen. She has talked to me a few times,” Jones said. “Personal assistant to Zachary Gavard.”
“Where’s Mr. Gavard?” Earl asked. “And his wife.”
“For that, we have to rewind.” Jones made a quick work of it. He pointed to a series of videos. “Mr. Gavard.”
As Earl watched the screen, he realized that Moss Grand Bahama used facial recognition to track its resort guests. “Is that legal?”
“It’s private property,” Corazon explained. “Last year, a trust fund baby was abducted from one of the nearby islands, and the parents sued the hotel chain for their lax in security. Donovan doesn’t want us to be sued. Every guest has to sign a paper giving us permission to protect them.”
“I didn’t sign any. I don’t think Sienna did either.”
“Well, I saw your signatures,” Jones said.
“Really?” Earl wondered if Kimball pre-signed it for them? That would run afoul of every law in the books.
Earl watched Mr. Gavard walk down the hallway, take the elevator, and reach the same meeting room that Sienna would enter an hour later.
“Where’s his wife, Celestia Gavard?” Earl asked.
&n
bsp; “She’s here under Celestia Oppenheimer,” Jones said.
“That’s her maiden name.”
Jones panned out the outdoor camera. “She’s been at the pool all morning. She ate her breakfast there.”
“I better find my swimming trunks,” Earl said.
“Where’s Dana, exactly?” Zachary Gavard—now the de facto CEO of GOOP—asked Sienna the second she stepped into the meeting room three floors below her suite. “Since she was let go, she has disappeared.”
Noreen was sitting in another office chair next to Gavard. She wore a tight-fitting buttoned-down shirt with a row of buttons that looked like they were about to pop. In fact, the top three were already out of their buttonholes.
Surrounding them on the cherry table were paper, coffee cups, and laptops.
Sienna sat down on the other side of the table so that she could face the two of them. She was not within arm’s reach of either one.
“I don’t know where Dana is, sir,” Sienna said. Gavard did not like Mr. Ford’s employees to call him by anything other than sir. On the other hand, Noreen could call her boss by his first name, and nobody would bat an eyelid.
“You went to see her.” Noreen pointed a pen at Sienna.
How did she know?
“When did I go?” Sienna did not bring a laptop with her because her work laptop was still in Atlanta. She placed her clipboard on the table, put the pen on top of it. She hoped they had started recording because she wasn’t about to redo anything for Agent Kimball.
“I was just asking if you did,” Noreen said.
Ah, fishing.
“I haven’t seen Dana.” Not since Friday. “Should I be concerned?”
“No idea.” Noreen returned to her notepad.
“Where’s your GOOP laptop?” Gavard said.
“Left it in Atlanta by accident.”
“Never leave home without it.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“And you missed your flight,” Gavard added.
“I told Noreen. I overslept.”
“You were flying here with your boyfriend, right?” Gavard asked.
