“Around ten thirty, maybe a little after that? We only have two racquetball rooms, and there were guests waiting. They played real hard. I suggested they go to the pool to cool off, but the female guest—Kara?—she said they had plans.”
“Did you notice anyone follow them out?”
She shook her head and looked concerned. “I really didn’t. I had other guests to tend to, and I was training a new employee.”
“That’s okay. Thank you for your time.”
She got up, started for the door, then turned to him. Her eyeshad tears, but she blinked them back. “Did Garrett really... I mean... did he really kill those people? That’s what everyone is saying.”
They hadn’t yet charged him with murder, but Michael wasn’t surprised that staff was talking about it—it wasn’t a secret that three couples had disappeared from the resort and were later found dead.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Michael said.
“But you arrested him. Right? He’s in jail—that’s what Alena said.”
“He is in jail,” Michael confirmed. He didn’t know how long that would last. Catherine wasn’t confident that the judge would deny bail, especially since they’d found zero evidence that he had killed anyone. Michael felt sick to his stomach that their entire case was falling apart.
“It’s like, you don’t really know people, do you? He always seemed like such a nice guy.”
“Brian will reach out if we have additional questions. When do you get off work?”
“Usually I work five in the morning until one, but Brian asked me to stay because you wanted to talk to me.”
“I appreciate your time,” Michael said, and Hope walked out.
Michael quickly wrote up his notes, then sent Brian a text message that he’d like to talk to the employee in training, but that was a long shot.
He had nothing. Ryder was checking into their one small lead—the uniforms—but so far, zilch. He texted his Jacksonville FBI contact about the lab results from their room, though he knew nothing would be back this quickly, no matter how quickly they expedited it. He sent the team a status report.
And then he stared at the wall. He felt helpless. Matt and Kara had been missing for more than twenty-four hours and he didn’t know how to find them.
11
Matt and Kara took a lot longer than five minutes to regroup after the harrowing experience down the hall when the roof collapsed.
“Okay,” Kara finally said. “I’m ready. But we need to be super careful with any potential exits. Maybe they’re all booby trapped.”
“Agreed,” Matt said and used the wall to help push himself up. He winced, tried to hide it from her.
“Hey, tell me the truth,” she said. “How is your leg? No lying, Matt, I’m serious.”
“It’s sore, but it’s not bleeding anymore. I’m good, I promise. I’ll need a heavy-duty antibiotic when we get out of here—I’m sure there’s rust and bacteria roaming around in my bloodstream by now.”
“Gross,” she said with a small laugh.
“Made you smile.”
“You can’t see me.”
“I can tell.” He took her hand and helped pull her up.
They headed down the hall toward the large metal doors with the eerie green light.
“This place is a fucking death trap,” Kara mumbled as they walked carefully down the hall. This side didn’t have as much junk blocking their way, which again told her they were being led in a maze. “And that light? Green for go? I’ll bet it’s a trap, too.”
“We have to try. We don’t have another option. But like you said, we’ll be extra careful.”
The large metal double doors were twenty feet down the corridor opposite from where the ceiling had partly collapsed. Matt inspected the seams for a booby trap like they had discovered in the elevator and staircase. Kara didn’t realize that she was holding her breath until he nodded that it was clear.
