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Hazel glanced from me to Mason. He gave her a warm smile and a nod. “I’ll be right behind you in my truck. We just need to make sure that no one knows we’re together.”
* * *
I hadn’t been back to the Blue Sky Resort since the attack. I still needed to pick up my paycheck for the time that I’d worked there but hadn’t wanted to step foot in that place again.
I pulled into the parking lot. The building loomed over us. Mason was just a few minutes behind. He didn’t intend on coming in the main entrance. He’d let himself in via the back and then take the elevator up to our floor.
Hazel didn’t have anything with her. No bags. No clothes. She wore Mason’s sweatshirt and a baggy pair of sweats, the hood over her head. She kept her face down, her hands shoved into her pockets, and tried to appear inconspicuous.
I could do this. It was an easy assignment. All I had to do was check into the hotel lobby, get the key card and take Hazel up to the room, which would be our room. I hadn’t broken the news to her that I’d be rooming with her indefinitely.
“Everything okay? Are you going to be sick?” Hazel asked.
Emma stood behind the registration desk. We were friends, and while I was glad to see her, I hadn’t spoken with her since before I’d been fired. She hadn’t known about the assault and abduction. Had she known why I’d been fired, that I had another name, or that I’d previously been employed by the C.I.A.?
“Ariella,” Emma said, a dutiful smile on her face. It was the same gleeful expression that she gave all the guests at the resort.
Hazel glanced from Emma to me. I could tell she had questions, but thankfully she didn’t start asking them.
“I have a reservation,” I said, digging out my wallet from my purse.
“Under which name?” Emma asked. The smile disappeared from her sunny disposition.
She knew. “Ariella Cole.” It was my legal name and maiden name. I’d changed it after the divorce. I was formerly Ariella Ryan, the wife of Benjamin Ryan. He’d been convicted of several felonies for embezzlement, money laundering, the list went on.
Emma stood behind her desk. Her fingers tapped away at the keyboard as she stared at the screen. Did she see the reservation? Was she just trying to take her time and fluster me? I thought we were friends, but the cold shoulder she gave me was my answer.
“Do you have a credit card, Ms. Cole?” Emma asked. “I will need one with the name Ariella Cole on it.”
I handed over my credit card. “Of course. Do you need to see my government-issued identification too?” I flashed my driver’s license at her, and I was ready to pull it out of my wallet from behind the plastic screen if she wanted to see it.
She tapped away at the keyboard. “No need.” Another minute and she retrieved two room keys, running them through the scanner as she assigned us a hotel room. “I’ve got two queen beds on the third floor. Can I help you with anything else?” She handed us the keycards and wrote down our room number. “I’m sure you can find your way to the elevator.”
“Thank you,” I forced out, snatched the keycards, and stalked away from the registration desk with Hazel at my side.
“Wow. Did you steal her boyfriend?” Hazel joked.
I pushed the elevator button to go up. “Something like that.” I hadn’t even considered that she might have been pissed about Jaxson. Hazel didn’t need to know about my past. My job was to look after her and get her to the hotel room. Mason would be joining us anytime now.
We stepped into the elevator, just the two of us. I pushed the button to the third floor and hit the close doors button repeatedly as a gentleman rushed toward the elevator. I didn’t want to be trapped with him, just in case he was after Hazel.
The doors slammed shut and the elevator ascended up to the third floor. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was probably making something out of nothing. He was probably just a guest at the resort.
Hazel remained quiet, and I stepped out of the elevator first when the doors opened. Mason was already in the hallway and stood outside our assigned room.
They worked at lightning speed. Declan must have provided him with the room number by hacking into the resort’s system.
I opened the door with the room key, and Mason went in first, flipped on the light, and checked the bathroom and closet.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” she asked, glancing around the room with a frightful gaze as she followed Mason in.
I shut the door behind me and locked it using the deadbolt.
“Yes. Keep the curtains shut. Someone will be with you at all times.” Mason sat in a chair in the corner of the room that faced the door, his back to the wall.
“I’ll be staying the night,” I blurted out. “Jaxson uninvited me to stay with him.” I was pretty much homeless. With no insurance on my house and the fire had destroyed the property, I had nothing.
“Wow,” Mason said. He ran a hand through his short, cropped hair. “You do know why he’s been an ass lately, don’t you?”
