Page 9 of Maneater (The Mavens #1)
SEVEN
JOSIE
Rory and I are on the next flight to Fort Lauderdale, where we take a bus to one of the lower Keys, as the resort is located on a small island and is inaccessible by car.
From what we’ve learned, employees take a ferry to work every day, which in theory narrows our pool.
While there are a few other businesses and homes on the island that Daydream Resorts doesn’t own, the majority of the land is Daydream property.
This also means we’re to be in character from the moment we get on the ferry, playing the part of eager vacationers.
We both know from the second we step foot on the property, game faces must be on, because in a situation like this, everyone is a suspect or a source.
The only time that facade can fall is when we’re closed in our room, with not an eye on us.
From what our research has shown, the Daydream resort is the epitome of luxury: a boat ride to the resort, then a five-minute drive on a winding road once you’re on the property through a beautiful, wooded area.
As we arrive at the resort, I take it in in awe.
It has a Mediterranean feel with lots of white and splashes of bright blue and orange, giving it a fun but clean and peaceful vibe.
The front desk attendant is kind and smiling and tells us some of the excursions are out of commission, but, as expected, doesn’t go into details as to why before a bellhop takes us and our bags up to our room.
Once closed into the two-bedroom suite Rory and I will share, I set my coffee from the lobby on the coffee table, flop onto the large couch, and groan aloud, my body sinking into the soft cushions.
My mind rolls through days and weeks and months, and I try to think of the last time I slept in, much less the last time I went on a vacation.
It’s been…a while.
Maybe after this assignment, I’ll take a few weeks off. Sleep in every day, book a trip at one of these resorts, and rest for a while. If we manage to find the issue, which I’m confident we will, I bet I could get a pretty solid discount. Perhaps?—
“No resting, my friend,” Rory says after she finishes her sweep of the room for any bugs and cameras, poking my leg. “We’ve got work to do.”
I groan. The only flight we could get not only had a layover but was a red-eye, on which I slept maybe an hour or two. It’s officially noon the day after we got our assignment, and I am so exhausted I could fall asleep right here.
“Five minutes,” I grumble.
“Nope.” No one has a better work ethic than Rory, so much so that, sometimes, I think she might be an actual robot.
Slowly, knowing she’s right, I sit up and reach for my coffee. I take a deep sip, hoping the caffeine hits my bloodstream quickly.
“Okay. What do we have?” I ask once I finish my internal battle with wanting to flop over again, shifting to the edge of the couch to give her my full attention.
Rory smiles wide, shoulders moving back as she pulls out the file she’s created.
Without looking, I already know it’s color-coded and tabbed, with notes in the margins and ideas scribbled everywhere.
I also know if I scan through it, the light purple ones will be the thoughts and ideas she’s assigning to me, tasks I’ll be expected to conquer personally.
Which people do I need to schmooze and what secrets do I need to extract?
“We’re looking at a string of events, the earliest of which were just brushed away as growing pains and/or coincidences.”
I nod. “Until the fire?”
“Until the fire. We’ve gathered more information on other previously dismissed matters, such as discovering three chest freezers unplugged last week.
We’ve got cancelled food deliveries…lost towels.
One morning, all the beach furniture was folded up and hidden in the pool house.
Six days ago, a guest slipped and required first aid care after a puddle of oil appeared in the spa, the bottle of which was found in a nearby trash can and not a brand used internally.
No one could explain any of these circumstances, but also, no one considered they could all be connected. ”
I nod. “Okay, so the most extreme sabotage was obviously the rental stand. Unfortunately, it’s pretty well locked down, and the cameras were down.
” I reach into my bag and pull out my own folder with papers I’ve doodled on to begin to get my own thoughts in place.
It’s much less organized than Rory’s. Some of the photos in the stack are from the remains of the building, as well as the “before” shots. “We do have these photos, though.”
I spread them out onto the bed, and we both look over them once more with a closer eye, despite the fact that we’ve both done so a dozen times already.
“I wish we could see this corner better. I’d like to see where the fire was started.” She points to a section of the burned-down rental shack. I flip through my photos to find what she needs, but while one has a slightly better angle, I know it’s not exactly what Rory wants.
“We could go look at it,” I suggest.
“It’s a crime scene, Josie,” she says with an exaggerated eye roll.
I shrug as if that doesn’t matter to me.
That’s because it doesn’t, not really. Part of this job is going where you’re not “supposed” to be.
You’d be surprised how little you’re actually stopped, so long as you act like you’re allowed to be there.
In general, the world relies on humans respecting implied boundaries and the inherent risk of getting in trouble.
“The main pool is not far from where the rental shack used to be—why don’t we go there, hang out, and do some surveillance, then we can go over to the shack when we see an opening?” I ask, pointing to the pool on the map, then trailing my finger across it to where the fire was.
“What if someone finds us over there? Won’t it blow our cover?”
Rory typically provides background on operations, but on one like this, it’s all hands on deck.
I’ll definitely be the one handling the most person-to-person interaction with guests and employees, while Rory focuses on getting into the cameras and backend of things, but she’ll also be on the ground to help validate my cover. I shrug, then tell her the truth.
“They might catch us, but people are stupid. They want the easiest answer to most questions. We won’t blow our cover, not if we play stupid tourists, nosy guests who want to see something interesting, or dumb girls.”
“Dumb girl?” Rory asks with a disapproving grimace, and I smile.
“My specialty. It works best if a man is the one to catch us.” I stand, putting my shoulders back a bit more, my full chest popping out, and make my eyes wide and my lips pouty.
Then I cock my hip out while I twirl a lock of hair around my finger.
“Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry. I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to be in this taped-off crime scene.
I thought it was just pretty decorations!
Please, please forgive me.” Rory lets out a loud bark of a laugh, and I return the smile. “Works like a charm every time.”
“You’re out of your mind, you know that?”
“All part of the job, my friend.” Energized by the idea of a little snooping and trespassing, I move to my bag, digging through it. “Okay, come on. Bikinis it is. We’ve got some sunbathing to do.”
When we get to the pool, we begin my all-time favorite pastime: people-watching.
I’m convinced I was made for this job since I’ve always been the one to take note of people everywhere I go, listen to conversations I’m not a part of, and put together different tidbits to build a perfect profile for those around me.
Fortunately, the people-watching is stellar here, with everyone sitting around in their bathing suits, more worried about how they look and what people might think of them than they are about enjoying their time in the sun.
It’s also because the people here are the richest of the rich, celebrities, and people who think they have enough money and ego to be celebrities.
To our left is a B-list television star whose attempt to break into film never quite materialized, so now her entire persona is defined by that one show from years ago.
The irony of her reading a trashy tabloid is not lost on me, and I wonder for a single, catty moment if she’s scanning to try and find the whisper of a mention of herself.
There’s also a tech bro I vaguely remember from a video I stumbled upon recently, trying to explain the stock market and somehow making the concept even more confusing. Funny how his hair looks so much thinner in real life.
On the right side of the pool is a well-known eighties rock band member who, if I recall, was recently divorced in a messy case that stated infidelity as the main cause. It would make sense, considering he’s here with a woman who looks barely twenty.
I also take note of the employees: which ones are attentive, who’s on their phone, who whispers with coworkers, and who seems like an outcast. This is the key part of any early assignment: observing.
We take in our surroundings, read people, and decide who we should target first. You can learn so much about people just by watching them, by decoding how they move when they think no one is watching them, and how that differs when they think someone is watching them.