Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“You took off your bandage,” he whispered to her. “Without permission. That was naughty.”
Urgh, why did that send a shiver of heat up her spine?
“Of course that isn’t hard to believe. This has nothing to do with Addie. It’s all of you. I don’t know you. I can’t trust you. How am I meant to know that you don’t have some ulterior motive?”
Ink nodded. “Fair enough. Would it make you feel better if you did pay us?”
Dotty gave him a surprised look. “Actually, it would. However I haven’t decided that we need your services.”
Ink nodded. “I get that. But someone did threaten you.”
“Right. The hotel room was really trashed?” She glanced over at Addie, who nodded.
“We took some photos,” Ink said.
Brody must have done something on his computer because a number of photos appeared on a screen at the end of the room. Ralen had to move his chair around so he could see them.
Monroe sucked in her breath. “Oh my God, they touched my clothes. Look at my poor heels. Jesus, what were they doing? That is not the way you treat Manolos.”
“Who?” Ralen asked.
“Manolos. My shoes. Poor things. They’re going to be so sad and upset with—”
“They’re just shoes,” Ralen growled.
“That’s rude,” Monroe muttered.
“Eat,” Ralen said.
“Addie, did you have to find the bossiest men in Billings?” Monroe grumbled.
“Why just throw everything around like that,” Dotty said, ignoring Monroe’s mutterings. “There doesn’t look to be anything taken. Addie, did you notice anything missing?”
Addie shook her head.
“The safe still had your laptop. We’ve brought it back with us,” Ink said. “I didn’t know if you’d want to contact the police, but we’ve gone through and searched for any fingerprints. The trouble is that it’s a hotel room, so there’s going to be fingerprints, and a number of them will belong to the staff.”
“I don’t think the police are going to come to our aid anytime soon,” Monroe said.
“It’s their job,” Dotty replied. “If they don’t do it, I’ll be making some complaints.”
Addie knew her sister would do that.
“And that’s the message?” Dotty pointed to one image which Brody made bigger.
“That’s it,” Cash said.
Dotty glanced over at Addie again, who nodded. She had her backpack between her feet, and reaching down, she opened it so she could hold onto Snaggles as he sat in the backpack.
Cash gave her a strange look and glanced down. Then he grabbed the backpack and pulled it onto her lap, but kept it hidden, so it was still under the table.
She gave him a small smile, and he winked.
Damn, that wink was potent.
Monroe nudged her slightly, and she turned to her.
“Dotty is asking you a question, babes.”
Oh, shoot. She hadn’t been paying attention, had she?
Had everyone seen her and Cash interact? Had they seen the look of admiration on her face as she stared at him? That would be super embarrassing.
But no one gave her a strange look, so she guessed that she’d kept her feelings hidden. Thank God for that. The last thing she wanted was anyone figuring out how she felt about him.
She raised her eyebrows at Dotty.
“I asked you if you saw the message, Addie.”
She nodded her head as a shiver ran through her. Dotty’s eyes narrowed, and she shared a look with Monroe.
“How would they have gotten into the hotel room?” Dotty asked.
“Our best guess is that they found a keycard,” Ink said, glancing at Monroe.
“But how would the keycard have told them which hotel it was and which room?” Dotty asked.
“Remember that my bag got stolen,” Monroe told her older sister. “And in it was a keycard.”
Dotty leaned her head back. “And you like to keep the piece of paper with the hotel name and room number with the card. Damn it, Monroe, how many times have I told you that’s not safe?”
“She didn’t know it would get stolen,” Ralen defended her.
Huh. That was surprising, he’d seemed irritated by Monroe earlier.
“Who the hell would’ve stolen your bag with the keycard, gotten into our room, trashed it, and left that message?” Dotty asked.
“That’s what we’re looking into,” Ink said. “The hotel refused to let us view the camera footage for the foyer and hallway outside your room. If you want to involve the police, they’ll be able to get it.”
“I can’t hack in unless I can get into their security room, which would be pretty tough to do,” Brody said. “Although not impossible.” He glanced around the room.
“What are you looking for?” Dotty said.
“He’s waiting for me to chime in,” Dr. Claw said over the speakers.
“Who are you?” Dotty demanded.
Ink sighed. “He’s extra help we have, an adviser, you might say. He’s watching from his home. He doesn’t like to come to meetings in person.”
Probably wise not to tell Dotty that he was Brody’s boyfriend. Addie kept quiet. She wasn’t going to chime in with the truth.