Page 17

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ANNA

T he next few days, life seemed almost normal.

I was happy working, being useful. Being at the front desk no longer kept me awake at night.

I felt the flutter of nerves at times, but all I had to do was glance up at the camera or touch my wrist, and the nerves would settle.

Having Una there helped, and I grew more comfortable every day.

I liked the staff, all of them friendly and helpful.

No one looked down on me or seemed upset by the fact that I was being treated differently from other staff members in some instances.

It wasn’t better, but different. Few ever just started at the front desk.

I asked Una about it one day while we were eating lunch.

“What would I be doing as part of the regular program?”

She chewed the bite of her sandwich, looking thoughtful.

“When I first started at a different hotel, I had to learn from the ground up. I wanted to know everything, so I did everything. Housekeeping, laundry room, catering. I spent time in every department because I wanted to see how they worked.” She took another bite, then grinned.

“I doubt Niall plans on you running a hotel or being interested in the way the laundry is done.”

“No.”

“Some people are only trained on the front desk or the group desk. Reservations. You’re not getting any special treatment, really.” She grinned. “You’re just watched over more carefully.”

“We both are.”

She nodded, finishing her sandwich. “Anyway, if you don’t like the front desk, you can be trained elsewhere. Up in the office, accounting, wherever. If you plan on working.”

“Of course I do.”

“How does Niall feel about that? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t plan on you working much.”

“But I love working. Contributing. Niall’s not a free ride.”

“But he’s a good one, am I right? Like Finn—all commanding but tender. I swear that man has some tricks up his sleeve.”

I stared at her, and she winked and waggled her eyebrows. I started to laugh, and she joined me.

“What is so funny?” Heidi asked, sitting down across from us. “I could use a giggle.”

Una and I shared a glance. Neither of us wanted to share our personal lives with someone we barely knew.

“Just something funny a guest said this morning,” I said with a smile.

“Damn. I hoped it was dirty.”

I blinked and she chuckled. “Just teasing.”

“Where are you off to?” Una asked, looking at the case in Heidi’s hand.

“Oh, to put some things in the new place.”

Una frowned. “How did you get possession so fast?”

Heidi cleared her throat. “We rented it for the time period before closing. I wanted in right away, and the owner agreed. Odd, but it was what we wanted.”

“Clever,” Una mused.

“So, no lunch today since you two have already eaten. We really need to have lunch before I leave.”

“Which is?” I asked.

“This weekend, I think.” She stood. “Must get going. See you later!”

She departed, her dark hair swinging in a long wave down her back.

“I wish my hair cooperated like that,” I murmured. “Hers is so perfect all the time.”

Una hummed in agreement. “I can never get mine to behave.” She paused. “Is it wrong I’ll be glad to see her go?”

“She’s not so bad. Just a bit pushy. I think she’s lonely.”

“I really don’t want to go to lunch with her. The other day, she saw me here alone and sat down and talked for twenty minutes straight about herself. Her preferred brands. How wealthy she is. The car she drives.”

“Maybe she was trying to impress you.”

Una shrugged. “I don’t care about that stuff. I tried to ask about her husband or where she went to school, and she clammed right up. Then she said she had to go.”

“We don’t like to talk about our personal lives either.”

She sighed. “You’re right. I guess she just rubs me the wrong way.”

I patted her hand. “How are wedding plans coming?”

She brightened. “I think next week. Finn’s pulled some strings and got the usual three-week window shortened. We signed everything last night. We were thinking next Friday on the terrace, just us and you and Niall. Dinner after. We’ll leave for Ireland on the Monday.”

“Sounds lovely.”

She nodded. “I don’t want big and complicated. I just want him. I know Roisin will have a party while we’re there. And he thought we would host one when we get back.”

“Sounds good.”

“So, we need to get dresses.”

“Okay. Any color?”

“Finn loves green. I think I’ll stick with that.”

“Sounds good.”

“Things going well with you and Niall?”

I smiled widely. “Perfect.”

She took my hand. “Good. You suit each other. Finn says he’s never seen him happier.”

“He’s wonderful.”

“So are you.”

“Thanks, my friend.”

On Friday, George finished a report he’d been working on and handed it to me. “Your time is almost up, Anna,” he said kindly. “You look a bit tired. Take this to accounting and be done for the day.”

“I have another half hour,” I protested.

He patted my shoulder. “It is very quiet, and I am fine with Charlotte here.”

I took the report, feeling grateful. I was a little tired.

It was a rainy, dull day, and I had felt chilly and had put on one of the sweaters that came with the uniform.

It was thick and warm, but the sleeves were too long.

I rolled them up, but the wool kept getting caught on my bracelet and pulling it down.

Finally, I gave up, leaving it tangled. I would fix it later.

I was looking forward to going back to the suite, getting comfortable, and having some hot tea.

I loved this new addition to my life. I felt useful and back in control.

But finding a new routine and learning so many new things was exhausting.

I kept quiet because if Niall thought this was too much, he would make me stop, and I didn’t want to.

I was enjoying learning. Even meeting the new guests.

Since I was surrounded by people and the men Niall and Finn had posted, it was a safe way to be with others and not be nervous.

I dropped the report off in the accounting office and chatted with the staff for a few moments, then headed toward the elevator.

Niall was still out with Finn, and Una was working the later shift.

She and Finn were getting married next week and would then head for Ireland, so today was her last day at the front desk.

I would miss her, but I was excited for her as well.

I pushed the button, waiting for the elevator, when I heard my name being called. Heidi was walking toward me, smiling.

“Hello,” I greeted her. “You look excited.”

She nodded. “I was out picking furniture. I’m going to pack some more things and head to the condo to do a few measurements, then to the airport to pick up my husband.”

“Oh, he’s coming in today?”

“Yes. Just for the weekend to see the place. And me.”

“Of course.” She looked happy, and I felt bad for not going to lunch with her.

“You must be excited to get out of a hotel room and into your new home.”

“You have no idea,” she replied.

The door opened and we stepped on. She pressed the twelfth floor and clapped her hands. “Are you busy for a few moments?”

“Um, no?”

“I have a gift for you. I was going to bring it down later, but since we’ve run into each other, maybe you could come to my room and I can give it to you?”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Nonsense. You and Una have been so nice. I have a little something for her too. But I’d like to give you yours now if I could.”

I felt a ripple of unease. I shook my head mentally. I was in the hotel. Surrounded by security. Niall could pinpoint my location at any moment. And it was only Heidi.

“Sure.”

“Great.” She dug in her purse, bringing out the keycard. “My room’s a bit of a disaster,” she confessed. “I call it disorganized chaos. My husband calls it messy.”

I laughed. “You must be looking forward to seeing him.”

“I am glad this chapter of our life is closing,” she replied. “I want to move forward with our plans.”

It seemed like a strange answer, but I just nodded.

We stepped off the elevator and headed to her room.

She walked in, holding the door open for me.

Inside, I felt my eyes widen. Clothes were strewn everywhere.

Shoes lying around as if kicked off carelessly.

I noticed all sorts of makeup containers on the dresser.

Towels hung over the open bathroom door.

A large suitcase sat on the floor, hard-sided and new-looking.

It was empty and looked odd among the disarray.

“You should let housekeeping clean up,” I murmured.

“I don’t like strangers in my room,” she replied, searching for something on the dresser top. Her voice sounded different. Removed and cold, not the usual singsong voice I was used to hearing from her.

A flutter of nerves rolled through me. I looked around, not seeing anything amiss.

Just an untidy room and clutter. I glanced back at the dresser, noticing the bottle of contact lens solution.

Then the box of daily wear contacts. I squinted, trying to read the label.

Colored lenses. Then I noticed something else.

A wig lying on the floor as if forgotten and discarded. A long, braided dark-colored wig.

For some reason, my breathing picked up. The flutter became a torrent.

“Maybe you should give me and Una our gift together,” I said, trying to control the sudden quaver in my voice. “We could do lunch tomorrow.” I slid my hand over my wrist, finding the toggle on my bracelet. It was caught on my sweater, wrapped in the folds of wool. I tugged, trying to loosen it.

“No need, I found it,” Heidi said, turning to me. Her usual smile wasn’t in place. Her eyes, even with the colored lenses in them, were no longer friendly. They were cold. Angry.

“I really should go.” The toggle slipped out of the heavy knit on my arm, and I turned it, trying to get it between my suddenly trembling fingers.

She smiled, nodding. “You’re right. You are going to go.”

Then she plunged a needle into my arm. “You’re going far, far away.”

The room began to spin, and I grabbed at the back of the chair to keep upright. I felt hot, unsteady, and dizzy. I stumbled and fell, my fingers reaching for my wrist.

But not fast enough.

Blackness closed in, and I was gone.

I woke, groggy, my head aching and my body protesting.

It was pitch black and cold. I tried to lift my arms, but they were tied together at my back, pulling my shoulder blades together tightly, the muscles pinching.

The air around me was hot and damp. I tried to stretch my legs, but I couldn’t.

Moving my head was impossible. I searched my foggy brain, trying to piece together the puzzle of the fragmented memories.

It hit me all at once. Running into Heidi, her seemingly innocent request of giving me a gift. Her disastrous room.

The sudden awareness that somehow I had walked into a trap.

The needle plunging into my skin and the cold of whatever she injected me with running through my system.

Her furious eyes.

Falling.

The vague sensation of being moved. Shifted. Enclosed.

My eyes flew open in the dark.

The suitcase.

I scratched at the enclosure, feeling the slippery material underneath my skin.

She had stuffed me into the suitcase.

I opened my mouth and screamed. Then again.

There was only silence.

I shut my eyes again, forcing myself to calm. I could breathe—the air was stale and warm, but I wouldn’t suffocate. But I needed to get out.

I twisted and tried to kick my legs. Tugged and jerked at whatever was holding my wrists, ignoring the sharp pain of the restraints. I pushed on the enclosure, trying to use my strength to break open the suitcase. Then I remembered it was hard-sided, and I stopped, panting and terrified.

Where was I?

Who the hell was Heidi?

Tears built in my eyes, and I stilled, needing to think.

My bracelet. Niall told me it had an undetectable tracker on it. And a backup. I tried to recall if I had managed to push the alarm button before Heidi had drugged me.

I wasn’t sure. Could he already be looking for me? I prayed that he was.

I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me, and I pressed my head into my chest.

I knew once he found out I was gone, he would search for me. Like Una’s faith in Finn, I had absolute trust in Niall. He had come so far, admitting his feelings, confessing to his hopes of a future, that he wouldn’t stop until I was safe. I need his over-the-top possessiveness now more than ever.

“Please, Niall, find me,” I whispered. “I need you. I need you so much.”

A noise made me fall silent. Footsteps approaching made me tense. They were heavy, measured. I had no idea where I was. If the suitcase I was trapped in was visible. If it was Niall, I needed to help in order to be found. I screamed his name. Begging. Pleading for him to find me.

“Niall! I’m here! Help me!” I cried out.

The footsteps stopped, and I felt the suitcase being shifted. The sound of the zipper sliding open was a low growl that seemed to fill the small, enclosed space I was trapped in. I felt the rush of cooler air hit me as the lid was thrown open. I opened my eyes and blinked in confusion.

The room around me was bright with hideous colors.

Red, gold, purple, in blazing tints and textures.

There was no rhyme or reason to it—just pattern after pattern thrown together, creating a dizzying kaleidoscope of hues.

It made me woozy simply to look at it. I inhaled deeply, shifting my gaze and meeting the face of a woman—a stranger. I blinked.

Or was she?

Pale ice-blue eyes, like frost, met mine. A head of blond hair so light it was almost white surrounded a familiar face.

I had to lick my lips. “H-Heidi?” I asked.

She smirked, her expression frigid.

“The real me,” she stated, her voice a lower register than I was used to.

“Please, don’t do this. Whatever you want, Niall will give it to you.”

She threw back her head and laughed, the sound sending chills down my back.

“Your doughy Irish man can’t give me what I want.” She smiled a cruel smile. “I like pain. Giving it. Taking it. I am so going to enjoy watching you be broken.”

I started to hyperventilate.

She tilted her head. “Oh, I told you my husband was joining me. How rude of me not to introduce him.” She stood, waving someone over. “And I lied a little. The gift wasn’t for you. It was for him.”

I dropped my gaze, unable to look. Not wanting to see who was there.

A figure stepped beside her, and my eyes widened in horror at what I saw. Red sneakers.

My focus dimmed, and I felt myself shaking. Whimpering. Struggling to get enough oxygen in my lungs.

Then he hunched down, and Juan’s face came into view, his ugly, evil smile curling his lips.

“Welcome home,” he said.