by Diana X Dunn
“So what did I find?” Alex asked.
“I’m thinking a M-ped or a wrist-con,” Suzy mused, “but it might make more sense if Genifer slipped it to you before you headed up to her room rather than saying you found it in the suite when you discovered the body.”
“I’m not sure any of this makes sense,” Alex chuckled. “Why didn’t I just give whatever it is to the police?”
“Maybe you just found it in your pocket?” Suzy felt like she was floundering a bit, but that the idea was improving. “When you finally get to bed tonight, after the police are done with you, you get undressed and an odd wrist-con you’ve never seen before falls out of your pocket. Genifer was the only one who was close enough to you to have dropped it in there without you noticing. So now you are planning to give it to the police, but you are going to sleep late first.”
“So how do you know about it?” Alex wondered.
“You called me tonight when you found it, but we agreed that it could wait until morning. We are both so tired after all the events of the last twenty-four hours, that we agree to just leave it for morning.”
“So I just lie in bed and pretend to be asleep while someone comes in to find this wrist-con?”
“No, you won’t be in the room. We need to check the floor plan and see if we can find a safe place for you to hide. We want somewhere that allows you to see your door, but not be seen. We can shut the door to the bedroom and hope that the murderer doesn’t want to do any more than grab the device and run. Whatever they do in the room, we’ve got them once we see who comes looking.”
“But what happens when they don’t find a wrist-con?”
“We need to leave a decoy wrist-con on a table in the living room area of your suite and hope that they go for it.”
“And we are going to do this today? When I really am going to be exhausted and over-tired?”
“We only have until noon to try set the trap,” Suzy explained. “At noon Max and Randy are heading back to The Mirage and I’m sure Marta and Captain Grayson will be with them, if they haven’t gone back already. Once they’re allowed to leave, Luke will have a hard time holding on to Peter and Henry. The Mirage is set to sail on Monday, which is tomorrow, so yes, we have to set the trap today.”
Alex nodded and tried to smother a yawn. “I guess I’d better get some sleep,” he said.
“Yes, we both need a couple of hours of sleep,” Suzy agreed. “Luke has extra security staff on all of the levels, so you should be safe for the rest of the night.”
“I could just stay here. That way we could protect each other,” Alex suggested with a slow smile.
“Our first night together is not going to be when we are both exhausted and caught in the middle of a murder investigation,” Suzy told him. “It’s going to be special.”
“Hmm,” Alex replied. “I do like the sound of that.”
Suzy walked over to the desk on the far wall. “Let’s make this more interesting,” she suggested. “Let’s place our bets now.”
“What do you mean?”
Suzy handed him a sheet of hotel stationery, an envelope and a pen. “Write down who you think will be trying to break into your room tomorrow and seal it up in the envelope. I’ll do the same. You give me your guess and I’ll give you mine. When this is all over, we can have a nice romantic dinner somewhere and open the envelopes. The loser pays for the dinner.”
Alex grinned. “Do you think you know who did it?” he asked.
“I have my suspicions, but you should have some as well.”
“I do,” Alex admitted. “Okay, deal.” He frowned for a moment and then quickly scribbled something on the paper. He folded his answer up and stuck it in his envelope, rubbing the glue to activate it. Suzy had done the same with her own guess. They exchanged envelopes.
“I see that look in your eye,” Suzy teased. “Don’t you dare open that envelope until we are back in New York.”
“I won’t,” Alex sounded reluctant.
While Alex seemed inclined to linger, Suzy wanted to get as much sleep as possible. She was probably going to need to take some sort of energy booster in the morning as it was, but the less she had to take, the better.
At the door, Alex paused. “Do I at least get a good night kiss?” he asked.
“A quick one,” Suzy answered with a smile. She had been waiting all night for this. In spite of her words, the kiss was anything but quick.
Alex took his time, teasing and torturing her with feather-light brushes of his lips to hers. Finally, she couldn't stand it any more and she pulled his head close, deepening the kiss. After what could have been seconds, minutes or hours, she reluctantly pulled away.
"We both need sleep," she reminded him, before he could speak.
"We could sleep after," he whispered huskily in her ear.
Suzy wavered for a moment. “No, really.”
She used her years of hard training to drag herself back from temptation. “We have a very important job to do later today. Sleep, even if only for a couple of hours, could be the difference between getting this right and a murderer getting away with it.”
Alex kissed her quickly on the top of her head and headed back to his own suite. Suzy crawled into bed, setting an alarm for not many hours in the future. It wasn’t long before she was knocking on Alex’s door.
"What did you take? And can I have some?" Alex asked as he opened the door. “You look wide-awake and full of energy.”
Suzy looked him up and down and grinned. His hair was a tousled mess, he needed a shave, and his robe barely covered him. From what she could see, she would guess that he’d slept naked. Wordlessly she handed him a pair of tablets from the packet she’d ordered from room service. There was no way Alex could order his own. He was supposed to be sleeping late.
Alex stumbled into his kitchen and punched up extra-strong, extra-hot coffee. A few minutes later, he spoke. "Okay, I’m feeling almost human again. I don't suppose you came up with a better plan after I left last night?" he asked Suzy.
"Nope, did you?"
"Nope." The two looked at each other for a moment.
"So I guess we’d better go with what we've got," Alex said finally.
"I think it will work," Suzy told him.
"Do we have a backup plan in case it doesn't?" Alex asked.
Suzy grinned. "I always have a backup plan," she assured him. "Let's not waste time with that just now. We need to get started."’
Alex sighed. “I think I’m in over my head.”
“I think I’ve found the perfect hiding place for you,” Suzy told him. “You’ll probably want to get dressed first, though.”
“Give me ten minutes,” Alex replied.
She listened as he dashed through the shower and then shaved and got dressed in record time. Clearly the energy tablets were racing through his system, speeding him along on an artificial burst of liveliness that might prove short-lived. She was happy to see him looking wide-awake when he emerged from his bedroom. He also looked gorgeous and smelled incredible, but she ignored those things.
“I messaged Luke this morning. All of the extra security at the resort has been called off,” she began. “The police are focused on one last comprehensive search of The Mirage before Randy and Max get there at noon today. The hotel normally has quite extensive security, but I think they’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything that has happened. I doubt anyone will be paying any attention to our antics, but we need a story in place if they interfere.”
“I hope you have a good one ready,” Alex told her. “I'm wide-awake, but I don't think all my neurons are firing.”
Suzy nodded. He would feel better as the day wore on and the tablets kept flooding his system with whatever chemical magic they possessed. “Let's go and figure out a hiding place, first.”
In the hall, they both looked around. Suzy managed to look casual, while Alex looked furtive and guilty. Suzy laughed at him.
“Security will be all over us i
f you keep looking like that. You look like you’re trying to figure out how to sneak the entire contents of your suite out of here.”
“Sorry,” he replied a bit tartly. “I'm new to all this spy stuff.”
Suzy just laughed again and headed toward the elevators. A service door, just a few steps away from the elevators, had already caught her eye. She glanced at the security panel next to the door and smiled. The system was one that she was very familiar with.
“Just stand here,” Suzy directed Alex, pulling his arm to move him into place between her and the nearest security camera. “Use your key card to call an elevator and act like you are waiting for it to arrive.”
“What happens when it gets here?” Alex hissed.
“I’ll be faster than it will,” Suzy said, with more confidence than she felt.
Alex tapped his key card on the elevator control panel and tried to look casual. Beside him, Suzy tapped a series of codes into the panel by the service door. A whirring noise and a click surprised Alex, but Suzy just smiled. She pushed the door open and pulled Alex inside with her.
The room was small, maybe ten foot square, and it contained row after row of tightly packed shelves that were full of anything and everything that might be needed to refresh the suites. One entire wall was filled with stacks of bedding and pillows. Several shelves were dedicated to kitchen supplies like plates and glasses.
Alex whistled softly. “They have a lot of extra stuff in here,” he remarked.
“I’m guessing that this is the storeroom for this entire wing. There’s no way that they need this much overstock for just this level,” Suzy told him. “Whatever it is for, I think that it’s just about perfect for us.” She quickly walked up and down each row, peeking in between stacks of cutlery and piles of the resort’s signature bathrobes.
“Come here,” she said finally, waving Alex over to the far wall. She carefully slid a huge box labeled cleaning supplies away from the wall.
“I think you’ll fit in that gap,” she said to Alex. He looked at her for a moment, probably hoping that she was kidding. She wasn’t. He sighed and carefully got down on his hands and knees, crawling carefully into the space along the wall. Once he was in place, Suzy slid the large box back into place as far in as she could.
“Perfect,” she remarked, before sliding the box back out again.
Alex stood up and brushed dust from his hands. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you were the one who had just been crawling around on the floor,” he told her.
Suzy waved a hand at him, ignoring the remark, motioning for him to follow her to the door. The security panel on the door had a video display option, and Suzy quickly punched in a few codes. Within seconds, she had a grainy black and white image of the hallway outside displayed on the screen.
“Now all you need to do is watch the screen,” she told Alex. “See if any of our suspects turn up and watch out for security and housekeeping. If anyone comes to the door, duck in behind that box, pull it back as close to you as you can, and don’t breathe!”
Alex shook his head. “What if I get found?” he asked.
“Tell them you are playing hide and seek with a bunch of Genifer’s friends,” Suzy suggested. “Drop a few names, throw Max’s name into the conversation frequently and they should be quick to let you go. Have my number ready on your M-ped and message me a quick help, as well. I’ll be here before they can beat a confession out of you.”
“I hope you’re kidding.”
“I have to go and start talking to the suspects,” Suzy continued. “I just hope I can find them all and find a way to work what you found into the conversation in such a way that whoever it is doesn’t smell a trap. I’ll meet you back here after I’ve talked to everyone. Hang in there.”
“How likely is it that someone will find me in here?” Alex asked worriedly.
“It’s Sunday. I’m hoping that only minimal staff is working, and that they start with the lower floors. The idle rich like to sleep late, after all. If it takes me more than an hour to find everyone, I suspect you might have at least one visitor, so make sure you can get into your hiding place fairly quickly and easily.”
Alex looked nervous at that. Suzy grinned. “I’ll scramble the security codes as well,” she told him. “That will mean that it will take a little bit longer for anyone to get access. That should give you an extra couple of seconds.”
“What if I’m hiding when the murderer comes past?”
Suzy grinned. “You’re getting good at this,” she told him. “You’re really thinking.”
“Last time I got involved in a murder case, I got locked up in a basement by a madman who tried to blow us all up.” Alex didn’t need to remind Suzy of that. “I want to be prepared this time.”
Suzy smiled and then held up a wrist-con. “I bought this in the resort shop this morning. It’s what our murderer will be after. After I leave you, I’m going to put it on the table in the middle of your living room area. I’ve set it on record and programed it with a few tricks I know. Basically if anyone picks it up it will send a video of whatever the camera can see. Let me borrow your M-ped.”
Alex handed over his device and watched, fascinated, as she tapped through a bunch of screens he had never seen before. After a few seconds she handed it back to him.
“There you are,” she told him. “Your device is now receiving a direct feed from this one. If you have to hide, watch your screen and you should be able to at least see if anyone disturbs the target device. It’s set with some very special security features, so anyone who looks at it won’t be able to tell that they’re being recorded and they shouldn’t be able to even get it to turn on. At least I hope that’s the case. We already know that whoever is behind this has some special skills when it comes to computerized security.”
“Great.” Alex shook his head and took a deep breath. “So are we all set?”
“I guess so.” Suzy looked around the small room again. “Just hang out and relax and hope for the best,” she suggested. “Message me if you see anyone. Otherwise I’ll be back here after I’ve spoken to everyone.”
Alex nodded. He reached for her and then hesitated. Suzy watched the emotions as they played out across his face. It was a good thing he wasn’t a professional spy. He was terrible at hiding his thoughts.
Suzy leaned over and kissed him, quickly and gently, and then cautiously let herself out. She made a quick trip back to his suite to leave the rigged wrist-con in place, and then let herself back out. It was nearly nine, so she had three hours to locate every suspect and try to work the existence of the device casually into every conversation. She was pretty sure one of the suspects was the murderer. There was no doubt that all of the suspects would be very much on their guard.
She smiled nonchalantly toward the door of the service room as she walked past. The elevator seemed to take ages, and she forced herself to take a few deep breaths. Inside the empty elevator she counted slowly backwards from ten to one, using her favorite childhood technique. When the elevator doors pinged open in the lobby she was totally calm and completely focused on her job.
Which was good, because Peter was standing there, waiting for the elevator.
“Oh, Peter, I’m glad I ran into you,” Suzy began at once. “Do you know where Luke is?”
Peter barely glanced at her as he tried to push past her onto the waiting elevator car. “Nope,” he ground out as she deliberately stepped in his way, acting flustered, seeming as if she were actually trying to move away from him as she kept him from boarding the car.
“Oh dear,” she laughed as she tripped over her own feet and landed in his arms. Behind her the elevator doors pinged shut and Peter frowned.
“Are you really that dumb?” Peter snarled at her. “I’ve been waiting forever for that thing.” He pushed Suzy off of him onto her own two feet and reached a hand toward the control panel to call another car.
Suzy reached out and grabbed the hand, pulling Peter gently awa
y from the controls. “Where are you rushing off to?” she asked him, flirting gently.
“My room,” he answered. “I’ve got to get packed. I’m getting out of here.”
Suzy forced herself to look happy. “The police are letting us go?” she asked.
“I don’t know about the police,” Peter answered, “but I’m going, no matter what.”
“Oh,” Suzy frowned, “but I thought we had to stay until they found out who killed Chrystal, especially now that Genifer was murdered too.”
Peter winced and Suzy slid an arm around him. “I’m sorry,” she cooed at him. “That was such a terrible thing to say. I know you were good friends with both of them. You must be devastated.”
Peter looked at her suspiciously, but her face expressed nothing but concern and sympathy. “I am feeling rather sad,” he said after a moment. “I was getting to be very close to Genifer.”
Suzy patted his arm and led him toward a nearby sofa. “Just sit and rest for a moment,” she suggested in a low voice. “Tell me about it if you want to. Sometimes it’s good to talk.”
Peter shook his head. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” he replied. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Don’t we all,” Suzy drawled, “but I think I’ll wait for the official okay from Luke Nolan before I head out. I would rather not do anything to call attention to myself at this point.”
Peter narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say the less the police look at me, the better,” Suzy whispered confidentially. “I’m doing everything I can to cooperate with them so that they don’t feel the need to dig around my past too much.”
Peter nodded. “Including sleeping with the investigating officer.”
Suzy shrugged. “I’m not actually,” she told him. “He has too many scruples, but I would if I thought it would help.”
Peter grinned nastily. “That isn’t really a route that is open to me,” he told her.
