by J. Kenner
As for Liam’s own team back at Stark Security, he’d gone with the uncomfortable lie that Ellie Love was a high maintenance prima donna and that she and Rye had simply overreacted to a hoax that Liam had shut down. Considering no one at Stark Security knew anyone connected with the show, the subterfuge was simple.
He and Ryan had made peace with the lie, but it still didn’t sit well, even though it was in some ways true. Ella really was high maintenance, and she could be an absolute dictator where her show was concerned—a fact that was evidenced right then, because she was on stage, leading her team in a walk-through of the show that involved both praise and a few well-placed curses.
Still, she was fair, and her people seemed to love her. She worked her ass off, and she was beyond dedicated to her team, a fact that had been borne out when she’d insisted that Gordon be protected from his own overeager tendencies.
He lifted a hand to Tommy, waving goodbye, but stopped after only one step toward the brightly marked exit.
Ella was loyal, there was no doubt about that. Her team mattered to her.
Xena mattered to her.
And whether Ella wanted to or not, now was the time to tell him the whole story about the woman who’d risen in the organization to become Ella’s friend, confidante, and personal assistant.
He shifted directions, heading not to the door, but down to the stage. He knew he wouldn’t get Ella right now, but he could leave a message for her to meet him after the concert.
He didn’t see Xena, and he assumed she was probably off enjoying the light meal that he knew had been set up backstage for the performers. But Rye was talking with one of the choreographers, and he went over to him.
“I’m heading to the resort’s security office to check the fitness center footage. Can you tell Ella I want to see her in her dressing room after the show?”
“Sure. No problem. Just don’t take too much of her time. She’ll be wired, and everyone’s coming to our suite for the after party.”
“I’ll be quick. And Rye—I want to talk to her alone.”
The other man’s eyes widened. “Whoa. Am I in trouble, coach?”
Liam crossed his arms as he studied Rye. “What do you think?”
“That if you think I had something to do with what happened this morning, you are seriously off your rocker. I might beat the shit out of someone I caught messing with my girl, but I’d never lay a hand on her.”
“Good to know.”
“You’re just messing with me, right? I’m not seriously on your radar?”
“Everyone’s on my radar.” He added a smile. “But you’re not pinging too loudly.”
“Wow. Well, good to hear it.” He chuckled. “Do you know I’ve never even gotten a speeding ticket? The idea someone would think that I—” He cut himself off with a shake of the head. “Just a little surreal.”
Liam started to step away. “You’ll tell her?”
“Yeah. Um, there’s one other—never mind. I’ll let El know.”
“What’s on your mind?”
Rye shrugged, running his fingers through his tousled dark blond hair.
“It’s nothing. Honestly. Just—nothing.”
“Rye, your fiancée was attacked, and under the circumstances I’m better equipped to assess what is or is not nothing. So spit it out.”
“It’s just that I saw you talking with Xena up there, and … hell, I hate to say anything. I might be totally off base.”
“Say it anyway.”
He exhaled loudly. “Fine. Okay. I did a background check on her.”
“When? Today?”
“No, no. Years ago, back when Ella hired her. We’d barely started dating, but I was her manager, and something felt off.”
“What did you find?”
He met Liam’s eyes. “Not a goddamn thing. Seriously. Nothing. No credit. No property. No anything. I mean, yeah. I found her in the system. We had her social security number. Susan Morgan—no idea why she started calling herself Xena. Anyway, that was it. Born in Idaho. Parents both dead—killed in a car accident. And that’s it.” He shrugged. “So I told Ella I was concerned. This girl had started working in Ella’s house. You know, buying groceries, sorting mail. And I was afraid she was going to scam her. Get her financial info. Whatever.”
“So what did Ella say?”
“She told me not to poke around anymore. That there wasn’t anything to find, and that Xena’d had a hard life.” He shrugged. “I assumed that was code for her being a runaway. What with her parents’ accident, she probably got tossed into the system, and it was a bad situation. El’s got a big heart, and I figured she wanted to help the girl out.”
“But now?”
He exhaled loudly. “Listen, El thinks a lot of Xena. I do, too. She’s a great employee. She loves El, I’m sure of it. But I’m worried that maybe there’s stuff in her past that’s more than just a messed up family life and blowing off a foster home.”
Liam didn’t disagree, but he kept his expression bland as he said, “Thanks for telling me.”
“Sure, sure.”
“I still want to see Ella. Tell her I’ll come to her dressing room after the show.”
“Yeah. I will. Anything you need. I just want her safe.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
Rye exhaled loudly. “Yeah, you are. No offense, man, but it sucks that you had to come.”
Xena’s sideways grin popped into Liam’s head. “Maybe so, but I’m glad I did. And we will get to the bottom of this.”
“Sooner the better. You going to watch the concert? We keep a few front row VIP seats open.”
“No, but thanks. I’m heading over to watch security videos. With any luck, maybe I’ll spot a mugger.”
Chapter Six
Carlos Martinez, the head of security for the Delphi Casino and Hotel, was in a meeting, so Liam ended up grabbing dinner—his first meal of the day—in one of the property’s many restaurants, then meeting Martinez right about the time Ella was taking the stage.
“Good to see you again,” Martinez said, looking up from where he sat in front of a security console, a spot usually reserved for one of the techs. But Liam had worked with Martinez before and wasn’t surprised to see that the man was hands-on. A woman had been attacked on his watch, and he wanted to find the perp as much as Liam did.
“You’re already reviewing?” Liam asked, peering over his friend’s shoulder.
“You mind?”
“Hell, no. The more eyes the better.”
Martinez made a scoffing noise. “If she’d reported the attack, we could have had eyes on a live stream. As it is, you know the score. There’s no way we can monitor every security feed at all times.”
“No one’s blaming your team,” Liam said. Martinez knew that, of course. But he’d still take the whole situation very, very personally. “What have you got for me?”
Martinez nodded toward the chair next to him, and Liam sat as the tech on his other side scooted down the console to make room for him. “I’ve cued it up to where Ms. Love leaves the fitness center to start her run.” He maneuvered the controls, and that footage popped onto the screen.
“Nice equipment,” Liam said. He’d been the head of security for the entire Sykes Department Store enterprise during the time he’d been moonlighting at Deliverance. The Sykes family had spared no expense in any aspect of their business, but the security system they’d had was a toddler’s video recorder compared to this.
“State of the art,” Martinez said with as much pride as a new father. “And with cloud storage, we can save our footage indefinitely. We’ve learned that some women have to talk themselves into reporting bad behavior, and years ago, the evidence was often overwritten.” He met Liam’s eyes, his own hard. “You see a lot working in this town, and sometimes the hotel guests misinterpret what it means to have a good time. You know what I’m sayin’?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
As they talke
d, Martinez stepped through the images. Ella walking through the fitness center. Ella pausing at the juice bar by the exterior door. Ella filling her water bottle. And then Ella exiting through the glass exterior door. And, yes, especially with the cap on, the hair really did look like Xena’s.
Of course, Ella was wearing shorts and a tank, which revealed her significant curves. A feature that Xena definitely didn’t share, and Liam mentally put a check mark in the random attack column.
On screen, Martinez jumped to the point he’d bookmarked from another feed on the jogging trail. “Unfortunately, we don’t have complete coverage outside,” he said, but he did have enough to confirm Ella’s version of the attack.
“Any chance we can get a closer image of this arm?” Liam said, tapping the eraser end of a pencil against the screen. Martinez gave it a shot, but the image never got clearer than a blurry dark splotch.
“Tattoo?” Martinez asked.
“A snake, most likely. Ms. Love said she could only see part of it.” He leaned back in the chair, his twined fingers cupping his head. “Show the fitness center footage again. If they were watching her, chances are they were in that room, too.”
“Agreed.” Martinez pulled up the footage they’d already reviewed, then put the video from the room’s second camera on the neighboring monitor. Both covered the open area of the fitness center, but one showed the interior door that led into the heart of the hotel. The other showed the exterior door that led to the track.
With Martinez at one control and Liam at the other, they went frame by frame through the footage, backing up to five minutes before Ella entered and continuing to five minutes after she left.
“This guy,” Liam said on their third run through. He tapped the screen again, indicating a stocky man in black shorts and a black tank. He left the treadmill and went to the dispenser to fill his water bottle. Never once did he lift his head.
“Almost like he knows there are cameras,” Martinez said, echoing Liam’s thoughts.
“Keep watching,” Liam said, and as they did, the guy turned toward the interior door, putting the side of his arm in clear view of the camera. “Bingo,” Liam whispered.
“That’s a snake, all right. But your boy’s exiting into the hotel. And Ella’s leaving right now into the great outdoors,” he added, pointing to the other monitor that showed activity at the exterior door at the same time-stamp.
Another man in black followed Snake Man, his head also down. “Can you pull up a floor plan?”
“No sweat.” Within seconds, Martinez replaced the exterior door cam with a floor plan that showed the layout around the fitness center.
“There,” Liam said, pointing to a door a few yards down. “An exterior exit?”
“That it is. The sidewalk leads to the poolside bar. But there’s no reason why someone couldn’t walk on the grass and catch up with Ms. Love.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. I’m also thinking these guys are professionals.”
“No face shots.”
“None,” Liam agreed, frowning as something occurred to him. “Can you run the footage back to when they went through the door?” Like many entrances to hotel fitness centers, the center of the door had an eye-level glass pane. In this case, it was etched with an ornate D for Delphi.
“He turned, didn’t he? The one following your snake man?”
Liam nodded. “The door was already swinging shut, and he was in the shadows, but yeah. He did.”
“Did he look up?”
“I think so. Let’s see if I’m right.”
He was—but it wasn’t a full victory. Most of the bastard’s face was hidden behind the etched D.
“Not sure we’re going to get something useful.” Martinez frowned as he leaned forward, slowly enlarging the image.
“Can you make a copy for me? If anyone can pull enough information off that image to run it through facial recognition, Mario can.” He thought of the young, smart-mouthed analyst who oversaw tech at Stark Security. The kid was always telling everyone he was a genius. Maybe today, he’d prove himself right.
“I’ll put it on a shared server. He can pull the feed directly.” He manipulated some keys, then pulled up a text message box and typed in a password and a URL. A moment later, Liam’s phone pinged. “Send him there. And if he runs into any trouble, give him my phone number. You can log in, too, in case you want to review it on your phone.”
“Perfect.” Liam pushed his chair back and stood. “I owe you one.”
“I’ll remember that,” Martinez promised. “Always good to bank favors.”
Liam was grinning as he left the Delphi’s Security Operations Center. He didn’t have answers yet, but at least he could report to Ella that he was moving forward. A good thing in its own right, but also a nice buffer to the questions he intended to ask about Xena.
He glanced at his watch, surprised to realize how late it was. The concert would be almost over, and he decided to go straight to the dressing room to wait for Ella and call Mario.
“Foster, my man,” Mario said as soon as he answered. “How are things in the land of sex and sin?”
“I’m more concerned about assault, actually.”
“I’m listening.”
“Where are you? At a computer?”
“How long have we known each other?”
Liam chuckled. “Good point. I need you to manipulate some footage for me.”
“Sweet. Are we scamming someone?”
“Not like that. Hang on, let me forward you the text. You may need to use the office computers. I’m assuming we still have a few bells and whistles that you don’t have at home?”
“Not many. Ryan’s cool with me upgrading my home system so long as the security and firewalls stay top-notch. But not an issue, anyway. I’m at my desk right now. Doing some work for Denny.”
Liam frowned. “Denny? She’s taking a month off with Mason.” An agent with Stark Security from its inception, Denny had spent most of her time on the job mourning the loss of her husband, who’d been gone for years after a mission gone wrong. Recently, he’d resurfaced, but without any memory of Denny, himself, or his past.
Things were solid between the two of them now—thank God—but Liam still couldn’t fathom the depths of their anguish … and the challenges they still faced.
And he certainly didn’t understand what Mario had to do with any of it.
“Denny wants to make memories,” he explained. “So she’s sending me daily images and videos from their travels to compile into an interactive virtual album. Editable—I think she’s leaving out the juicy footage—so she can add stuff later.”
“Except for you, I’ve never met anyone better with tech skills than Denny. Why are you doing it and not her?”
“One, I think she’d rather make the memories than record them.”
“Point taken.”
“And two, I was working remotely from Austin when all that drama with Mason’s return went down. So now I want to help.”
“Good for you,” Liam said, meaning it. He loved Denny like a sister, and he’d taken a liking to Jack—well, Mason—the moment he met the man. “Anyway, I need you to take a break from your vicarious vacation with them and see if you can rebuild an image. I’m texting you the access info and the timecode for the part I’m interested in.”
“Hold on,” Mario said, as Liam heard his phone ping in the background. “Oh, yeah. This guy in the window.” He let out a low whistle. “Tough one.”
“Too tough?”
“I didn’t say that. Give me a chance to work my magic. You want to put it through facial recognition, right?”
“That’s the goal.” Stark Security was fortunate to have many high-level connections that allowed for access to several databases not officially available to civilians. Not that Mario couldn’t get through government security, but best to be above-board if possible.
“I’ll buzz you as soon as I’ve got something. It won’t be fast, though.
Fair warning.”
“Whatever you can do, as soon as you can do it,” he said as the door opened and Ella stepped in. He waved in greeting as he ended the call with Mario, then smiled at her. “Thanks for letting me invade your space.”
“I already told you. Anything you need. I want to know what’s going on.” She moved past him to sit at the dressing table. “Rye says you were going to look at the security footage. Was it from the fitness center? Did you find anything?”
“Maybe. I’ll get back to you.”
She squinted, looking ready to argue, but apparently decided against it. “He also said you wanted to talk to me, and it had to be tonight. Before my after-party.”
“I didn’t see any profit in waiting.”
“I’ll admit I’m intrigued. This all feels very espionage-ish. Are you going to interrogate me about my dark past?”
He chuckled, then took a seat on her sofa, no longer covered with costumes. “Unless you’re better than Witness Protection at crafting a fake past, I know pretty much all I need to know about you. And while you may have pissed off a few record producers over the years, I don’t think any of them would attack you.”
“You’re saying it was random.”
He leaned back, spreading his arms along the top of the sofa. “I think we both know it wasn’t.”
She’d been looking straight at him, but now her eyes flickered away before returning to his face. “Do we?”
“Don’t play games. We’re both too old and too smart for that.”
She licked her lips. “Then stop trying to trap me and just tell me.”
He almost laughed. The woman definitely had his number. “It wasn’t random, but it also wasn’t about you. It was about Xena.” He caught her eyes again, then held them. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
She lifted her chin, then looked defiantly at Liam. “Not at first. I figured it out after her reaction about the wig. I’m assuming you did, too.”
He nodded. “So let’s call her in and get some answers.” Finally, they were making some progress. And if Xena knew who her attackers were, maybe he could wrap this thing up by morning.
