Page 109 of Maneater

“With Rowan’s help, I have access to the email server for the company. He sent the email on the night of the fire.”

I sit down next to Rory and let out a heavy sigh. “If it were him and he knew we were efficient, he wouldn’t have suggestedwe come to investigate. Does he know it’sus?” I ask, waving a hand between myself and Rory.

She shakes her head. “No, I don’t even know if he is aware that Annette took his suggestion.”

“Do you think he suspects Tanya?” I ask, thinking out loud.

Rory’s face looks contemplative for a moment before she shakes her head.

On the bright side, we can reliably knock out Daniel as, at the very least, the person executing the sabotages, since he sat with me the entire time except for a few minutes near the beginning of the dinner.

“I also found this once I got back to the room and started digging,” Rory says, pulling up another screen. “I haven’t been able to get much from the cameras that have been altered, but I did manage to find this hidden on some backup of a backup of a backup in the cloud.” She hits play, and I see a clip of a man in a dark hoodie, head down, leaving a room with a bag, something large sticking out of it.

“Is that…?” I ask, my heart pounding excitedly.

“The room that was broken into? Yes,” Rory says with a smile.

“Oh my god,” I whisper, leaning closely. “Who is it?”

“I can’t determine that, but I do think…” she says, moving screens and showing me a screen grab. “I had Demi clear this up.”

“That’s a camera,” I say excitedly.

“I think it’s why they went into that room. Someone had stashed it in there. The Barlows had checked in early the previous day, so they needed to get in and get the camera before it was found.”

“That’s why nothing was taken,” I say in awe. “We need that camera.”

Rory gives me an apologetic look. “Unfortunately, I can’t find any other clips with hoodie man in them.”

I groan. It feels like we areso close,but nothing is giving us what we need to close this case, or at least take the final steps to do so.

“We’re close, Josie,” Rory says sympathetically.

I smile at her, and the way she knows exactly what I’m thinking. “I know, I know. I just…we’re so close, but we also have nothing. Just a lot of loose ends.”

Rory shrugs. “That’s the fun of it, babe.”

I glare at her, and she lets out a laugh.

“Come on. Let’s scroll through more tape until your man gets let out and you can go back to his bed.”

And really, who am I to argue with an offer like that?

FORTY-TWO

JOSIE

I leave Rowan’s room at the ass crack of dawn to take a morning yoga class with Rory, our eyes and ears open for any whispers. We realized that Tanya is often on the standby list for these classes, and given her recent behavior, she seems to be our number one suspect, so we make sure we’re there. Unfortunately, it’s a packed class, and she isn’t in attendance, but I can’t be too mad at the way the slow, languid movement makes my body feel, especially considering my new nightly activities have me feeling sorer than I’d like to admit.

Not that I’m upset about it, of course.

I’m tying up my bikini top for another morning at the pool while we try and figure out the next steps when there’s a knock on the door. Rory answers it, and I hear Rowan’s deep voice greet her.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, walking over to him. He looks casual for once in a thin T-shirt and a pair of swim shorts. I don’t miss the way his eyes move to my full breasts in my small top. Despite the number of times I’ve had him in the past week, it doesn’t feel like enough. I wonder if, when we’re both home, it will be different. If, once we’re free of paradise, the need will be less.

My gut tells meno.

“We’ve got plans.”