Page 110 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

She reached past me and tapped the door with her fingernail. “Ella no está.”

I understood no, anyway. “Oh, sí, she’s not in her room.”

“Sí, sí, señor.”

I stared after her as she wheeled the cart away, my mouth dry. How would she know Noelle wasn’t in her room? Maybe she was just trying to get a crazy gringo to stop pounding on the door.

I jogged toward the elevator, my heart pounding in my chest. Noelle was at the pool with everyone else. She was probably in the water when I looked outside earlier.

Eyeing my phone in the elevator, I willed Noelle to answer my texts. Jaysus, I felt like I was back in Australia on that bloody tour when she wouldn’t respond to my messages.

I careened through the lobby and shoved through the gate to the pool, my gaze sweeping the patio. I made a beeline to the water and stood on the edge, my eyes aching from peering through the glassy surface.

The group of people lounging on the pool steps stopped talking.

I spun around and practically shouted, “Where’s Noelle?”

Not one of them would look me in the eye.

Then Rhys walked up behind me. “Noelle’s gone, mate.”

I swallowed as the Texas heat beat down on me, and a trickle of sweat beaded down my spine. “What the fuck are you talking about? Gone where? Did she go ahead to Dallas?”

“She’s gone, gone.” Ashley lowered herself to the edge of the pool and fluttered her feet in the water. “Fucked off and left.”

The humidity closed in on me like a soggy blanket, and I gasped for air. “What did you do to her?”

“Moi?” Ashley dipped her fingers in the water and sprinkled the drops on her chest. “I didn’t do anything. She did it all herself. She quit.”

“Quit?” Sweat dripped down my face and off my chin. “The tour?”

“The tour, the company...and I guess you, too.”

My hands balled into fists at my side. “What happened at that meeting?”

“Besides Noelle quitting?” Ashley fanned herself. “I got myself a new narrative—a sex addiction.”

My harsh laugh scratched my throat on its way out. “No fucking way. There’s not a chance in hell Noelle came up with that shite.”

“You’re right. She didn’t. That was my idea.” Ashley slipped into the water and splashed me as she flutter-kicked away.

I unclenched my hands and wiped them on my shorts. “What did you hear, Rhys?”

“I didn’t hear much, bro. I guess there was some crisis meeting to save Ashley’s rep. Noelle left that meeting and quit. Jermaine told us. 92 West is sending some dude named Nolan to finish the tour with us.”

“D-did you see her? Did anyone talk to her before she left?”

“Jade saw her wheeling her bags out to a waiting car, but she was too far away for Jade to catch. I imagine she spoke to Jermaine before she left.”

“Where’s Jermaine?”

Somebody from the pool steps held up his phone and whistled. “Whoa, talk about slash and burn on your way out.”

Despite the heat, my blood iced through my veins. “What happened?”

I fumbled for the phone in my pocket and called out, “What am I looking for?”

“The Instagram account for 92 West.”