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“Shows off her new boobs,” another woman said.
“Sometimes less is more.”
Giggles, then ashh.
“Did you hear that Kalise was in Tristan’s room all night?”
“He’s gay,” Leesa said.
“No, she was definitely in there all night, and they weren’t watching movies.”
“She’s entitled to some fun,” Leesa said. “The St. John police are still asking about Ms. Harden. Tristan isveryconcerned. So is Kalise. Liability issues.”
“Good riddance,” a third voice, much deeper, said, then coughed. “She was a bitch.”
“Stop—if anyone hears you talking about guests like that—”
“They would agree with me. Entitled and rude. She made Ginger cry after her spa treatment. Ginger!”
The others murmured something, their tone implying that this was particularly egregious.
“And it’s not like she’s a regular,” the gruff woman said. “Never been here before, and it wasn’t planned.”
“How do you know?” Leesa asked.
“I read the guest profiles. She registeredliterallytwo days before she showed up Friday. That’s unheard-of.”
“Surprised we had room,” another said.
“She’s not the only one,” the gruff woman said. “The actress? Who brags about being in a Tom Cruise movie where she hadone lineand was on screen for a nanosecond? Shealsoregistered last minute. And she’s been asking questions about the Harden woman. Wanted to know what room she’d stayed in, can you believe that?”
I bit my lip. Why was Amber asking questions about Diana? I would need to be very careful how I approached the subject of the missing woman with staff.
“She left all her stuff behind,” Leesa said. “We had to pack everything up and—”
“Enough gossiping!” a new voice, a brusque female, snapped. “I was wondering where everyone had gone off to. Do I smell weed? While on duty?”
“No, ma’am,” the sweet girl said. “Must be a guest.”
“Must be,” the woman said in a disbelieving tone. “Come on, Jason’s already shut down the bar, and we’re just waiting for the last guests to board the shuttle. We’ll be out of here in five minutes if you double-time it.”
The women walked back into the main building, and I breathed easier.
Last shuttle leaving!
I didn’t want to walk back in the dark, so I ran up the trail and burst onto the dance floor. The empty room was disorienting as I looked around for the exit to the shuttle.
“Now, that’s an entrance,” Jason said from the bar as he locked the cabinets.
“I didn’t realize how late it was. Has the shuttle left?”
“You have a few minutes.”
“Water?”
He smiled, as charming as ever, and put a water bottle down on the bar. I felt doubly bad for being rude earlier. I was about to apologize, but he walked away.
I couldn’t blame him. I had been rude. It was for the best. We were totally incompatible.