Page 48 of Before and After

Tessa grabbed my arm and squeezed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Warmth filled me. I had good friends, and they’d all helped me through the toughest times after my brother died. “You know me. I’m good.”

Tessa gave me another long look, then yanked me in for a hug. “Okay.” She didn’t sound convinced.

“We need to have cocktails soon,” Sierra said.

“Tell me when, so I can get Mrs. Jenkins to watch Ollie.” With a wave, I hurried toward the elevators. I needed to get up to the third floor. It was midmorning, and most people were out doing whatever they did when they came to Windward.

Including the ESG who would be out on the mountain by now.

Drug dealers. I still couldn’t believe it. Operating right under everybody’s noses.

I pushed the cart down the corridor. I stopped at the first of the ESG’s two adjoining rooms and knocked. “Housekeeping.”

There was no response. I knocked again, being prudent. Unfortunately, I’d walked in on plenty of stuff that I couldn’t unsee. My team had some hilarious stories.

I held my card up and the lock beeped. I grabbed a stack of towels off my cart and entered the room.

It was empty. The two queen beds were rumpled and unmade. The rest of the place was a mess. There were clothes on every surface, and the carpet was littered with food wrappers and empty bottles.

My nose wrinkled.Pigs.

I found used towels piled on the floor in the bathroom. I set out the fresh towels, then snatched up the old ones. I looked around. Nothing looked odd or out of place, except for the mess.

After dumping the dirty towels in the cart, I remade the beds. Then I raced around, collecting trash and wiping down surfaces. As I did, I discreetly checked in the closet, the drawers, under the bed.

No sign of drugs.

Time for room number two.

The second room was only marginally tidier than the first. As I tidied the desk, I spotted some white residue on the wood, and froze.

It could just be talcum powder or sugar from some snack. My gut tightened. But I bet it wasn’t.

I pulled out my phone and snapped a couple of photos. Another quick search of the room didn’t yield any criminal motherload of drugs. I pulled a face. I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. These guys had gotten away with this for a long time.

I finished cleaning up as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to risk running into any of the ESG. I hoped they were out biking for the rest of the day, but I disliked the idea they could also be out there, dealing drugs to people.

When I slipped into the empty hall, I released a breath.

I needed to tell Caden about the powder. That meant seeking him out and speaking to him again.

My chest tightened. Whatever. I was an adult.

I’d talk to him, calmly and rationally. There would be no touching. I’d be keeping my hands to myself.

This was more important than my hurt feelings. I headed back downstairs into the back of house, and dumped the dirty laundry, then parked the cart. I checked in with my team. We only had a few more suites that needed cleaning before the new guests would start checking in. I slid my phone into my pocket and headed for the security room.

One of the security team, Hugh, was sitting in front of the bank of monitors.

“Hey, Hugh. Is Caden around?”

“Last I knew, he was checking out the renovations in the new security room. Want me to radio him?”

“No. No, that’s fine. I’ll find him.”

Strolling through the lobby, I noted that there were a few late checkouts at the reception desk. Enzo was escorting some guests into their cars. I walked around the concierge desk, and into the new security room. The buzz of power saws and the bang of hammering hit me.