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“Either way, I don’t have it. How’d you get inside when you snuck aboard?” Doyle asked, now waving one arm half-heartedly as they spoke.

“I followed you up. It was open.”

“Well, I guess I can see if my thrusters still work. Hold on to me.” Doyle scooped her around the waist and pulled her tight to his side. He grinned, reminded of an old Vid he’d seen as a kid where the space hero swung with the princess to safety. He may not have a rope, but the same feeling applied.

“What are you going to—sakes alive!” Sadie screamed delightedly as he kicked on his mud-caked boots and his anti-grav thrusters whirred into action.

It was bumpy at first as the tech fought through whatever dirt and sand had seeped inside. But after bouncing up and down a few times, Doyle lifted them both straight up toward the window wall of the resort.

“See if you can find anyone to signal,” Doyle said, searching for signs of people wandering around, preferably staff.

It was on the fourth floor that they spotted Lacey’s costume shop. Both of them banged on the window to get her attention.

Looking over, Lacey did a double take. Wally held up his empty wrist and pointed to the floor hoping she’d get the message. Nodding and wide-eyed, she rushed from the room. Doyle lowered them back to the ground and, within minutes, the door slid open and the stairs and ramp extended to the ground.

“God bless you, Lacey,” Doyle said when they climbed aboard and he saw her at the control screen.

“Happy to help. Don’t suppose I should ask what the hell is happening?”

“Not a good idea,” he replied.

Sadie nodded. “It’ll take too long. Where’s Teddy? Caroline?” She searched behind the console and around the room like they might be hiding in there.

“I haven’t seen either. Sorry.” Lacey shrugged then promptly screamed.

Heart pounding out of his chest, Doyle swung around to find Amos, Otto, and a few other men pointing pistols at them. He tried to step in front of the women, but Sadie joined him at his side.

“You don’t belong here,” Doyle snapped at Otto.

“Neither does she,” Otto said, tipping his gun toward Sadie.

The way Amos and everyone but Otto trembled with gazes snapping all around at every blinking light or whirring machine made the danger of the situation more frightening. Otto was the only one who’d already been there, after all, and if they were as nervous as they looked, a wrong word could send them into a shooting frenzy.

“Nor do you belong out here in Devil’s Creek,” Amos said, shiny silver pistol shaking as he pointed it toward Doyle’s chest.

“We’re leaving as soon as we’re sure Caroline’s on board. We’ll be out of your hair then,” Doyle said in as even a voice as possible.

Otto laughed. “You owe us. Figure we’ll just take a look around and see what we can use before you go.”

“Looting? That’s not very lawful, Sheriff.” Doyle inclined his head toward Amos.

Otto spit on the floor. A service bot scooted out from the corner to clean it up. Pistol zeroing in on it, Otto pulled the trigger and sound exploded all around the room as the poor bot burst into flame.

“Far as I know, there’s no precedence for this sort of thing,” Amos said, wiping his forehead with a hanky as they watched it burn. “I’d say it’s about as fair as can be expected, considering you interfering in our lives.”

This was beyond out of hand.

“You burned down my house!” Sadie yelled, pointing a shaking finger at Otto.

“You killed my brother,” Otto said, puffing out his chest.

“That’s enough,” Amos said. “You’re going to show us around, and if anyone tries to get in the way, someone is going to get shot. I figure since we got three of you here, we can lose two before we have a problem.”

Doyle pressed his eyes closed. Poor Lacey didn’t ask for this. But she fell into step with them as Amos nudged them all forward.

Doyle led them onto the lift and hesitated with a finger over the controls. Selecting the button for the presidential suite, he backed away. His job was probably toast, but this way, they’d have a better shot at avoiding the Watcher, and that was his best bet overall if Sadie was in any danger.

The lift doors slid open to reveal the presidential suite’s door.