AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can I see the room?”
The woman blinked at Sakura’s rudeness, but hope rose in her chest, and she found it hard to calm down. She might have actually found the place where her mother died. When the old woman grabbed a key from behind the counter, Sakura blew out a breath of relief. The progress out of the office and up the stairs at the end of the building seemed to take forever. At last they arrived outside the room, and Sakura again had to tamp down her impatience while the woman fumbled with the lock and key.
The door swung open, and Sakura stepped inside. Aqua colored walls, plastic stark white chairs sat around a small circle table, and full size bed crowded the tiny room. She spotted the flamingo picture right away and the view beyond it. Her heart hammered as she compared the view with the picture and found it a dead on match. On shaky legs, she crossed the threadbare carpet to the bed and stood beside it. An image of her mother lying there sprang to mind, and tears flooded her eyes. She clutched her stomach and rushed out of the room, gulping huge breaths of air.
“Are you okay, honey?”
Sakura gripped the railing outside on the landing and shut her eyes. Embarrassment at her weakness made her straighten despite the lightheadedness. All the old feelings came flooding back, of how helpless she’d felt when she found out her mother died. They hadn’t been close. Sure, she’d loved her mother and thought she was the epitome of womanhood, but the two of them argued all the time. Her mother wanted her to depend a little more on the family, but Sakura continued to take the assignments that meant traveling the farthest away. She couldn’t explain why she was always so cut off and so… The last time she had argued with her mother, the woman had accused her of being afraid of living. Sakura had been so offended, she refused to come home, even for meetings. Then her mother was gone, along with any opportunity to build a closer relationship.
“I’m fine,” Sakura said, pulling her thoughts from the past. “Were you here five years ago?”
“Five years?” The old woman frowned. “Of course, honey. This is my business. If I’m not here, who will run it?”
Sakura pulled another picture from her purse, one of her mother when she lived. “Do you recognize this woman? Was she ever here?”
More squinting. “A lot of people come through here. I don’t remember everybody.” The old lady shook her head and handed back the picture. Sakura cursed silently. She was not an investigator. Her targets and all their information were emailed to her, and she read over the facts, deciding the best way to approach the shifter. Looking for clues to what happened to her mother seemed impossible. How did one get people to remember what they had forgotten? What questions were best to ask? She’d come all this way and even found the motel, but she had no idea of the next move. The room had obviously been cleaned and probably been used a dozen times or more by other guests.
“Thank you for your time,” she said and started down the stairs. When she arrived at her own hotel, she sighed at the luxury, leather couches with accent pillows, beautiful paintings on the wall, lush carpet on the floor, fresh flowers on the table, and best of all a muted color scheme that was both relaxing and classy.
She walked to the bed with its turned back coverlet and mint on the pillow and flopped down, groaning. A ding on her cell phone brought her head up, and she checked the display, annoyed that she hoped it was Adam texting. Instead, a number she didn’t recognize flashed on the screen. She read the message.
“Hi, Sakura. It’s Roger Port. Care to have drink with me?”
She frowned and texted back. “As if your name should mean something to me?”
“Lol. Beautiful ladies should not be cruel to us lesser creatures. You can say I’m tech support.”
Then she recalled the name. Her dad had hired Roger to replace her sister Shiya in gathering info on shifters. Now that Shiya was no longer their computer person since she had run off with a couple of polar bear shifters, they needed someone with her skill set. She hadn’t had the chance to meet Roger face to face before she left San Diego.
“Sorry, Roger. I’m not in town at the moment.”
“I know. You’re in Miami. So am I. So how about that drink?”
Irritation rose, and she pressed her lips together. Had her dad sent Roger because she refused to take along a protector? No, if he had, it wouldn’t be this guy. They had plenty of strong, capable men in their employ that could do the job. A computer nerd was the last person he would send. Then she considered whether Roger could give her clues on how to find information on her mother’s death. She had no intention of sharing what she was doing because he might report back to her dad, but maybe he could help without realizing.
She let him know she’d be happy to meet him that evening for a drink and spent the rest of the day doing just what she had been wanting to, sunning beside the pool in a bikini and drinking a mimosa. When it was time to get ready, she returned to her room, showered, and chose a deep purple asymmetrical dress with one shoulder and an open back. An opaque strip of cloth slanted across her breasts, her waist, and her hips, connected by sheer strips at the upper part of her belly, a bit of her hip and across her thighs, making it appear she showed a lot more skin. She loved the dress because of how it fit her form like a glove and made her feel sexy. Four-inch heels completed her ensemble, and she brushed her hair until it shined and hung in a straight sheet several inches below her shoulders. In her experience, men liked long hair, so she kept it that way, especially since her job entailed seducing said men.
Ready, she left her room and accepted the hotel’s complimentary ride to the lounge where Roger agreed to meet. She strode through the entrance and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. A red lit ceiling illuminated the oddly shaped bar in the center of the room, lined with chair stools. Along the sides of the room were tall tables and chairs, where patrons enjoyed their drinks and food. Sakura scanned the faces at the bar and at the tables for anyone who might be her date. The bartender, wiping a glass dry with a towel, caught her gaze and winked. She resisted rolling her eyes and continued her search.
At a table near the back, a man in black slacks and crisp white shirt stood up from his table. He straightened stylish glasses and then brushed overlong, dark hair from his forehead. Not exactly the nerdy look, she thought, acknowledging his wave. Sakura walked over to him, noting if she removed her heels, they might be the same height.
“Roger?”
“The one and only.” He held out his hand. “And you’re Sakura. I’ve seen pictures of you. Wow, they don’t do you justice. You’re beautiful.”
She lowered her gaze and thanked him, then caught herself. The coy, sweet thing was a persona she used for work when the guy was the type to like it. She had no need to be anything but herself with Roger.
“Thanks, but don’t feel like you have to kiss up to the boss’s daughter.”
He grinned and held her chair while she sat down. “You don’t think you’re beautiful?”
She shrugged. If she said she did, she’d come off vain. If she denied it, he would probably shower more compliments on her. “So what are you doing in Miami? Are you checking up on me?”
“Yes.”
She blinked at him, and he chuckled.
“I don’t have to work in an office, you know. I can do what I do anywhere. Since I got the systems up and running, I thought I’d take a few days for myself.”
