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They all stared at me. The quiet made me nervous, but Bellamy blinked at me and then tilted his head. Slowly, a smile spread across his face and he let out a loud whoop. He took three long strides and whipped me out of my chair, spinning me around twice before planting my feet down once more and kissing myforehead.
“That’s it!” He beamed down atme.
“Shh,” Texas hissed. “The walls here aren’t exactlysoundproof.”
Bellamy didn’t seem to care. He continued smiling. “That’s it,” he repeated. “If we look through the guest log for this event and cross reference it with the old guest logs, we’ll be able to find the link. If we don’t have the thief now, then we will at least have a much smaller leadpool.”
Marv stepped forward, clasping Bellamy on the shoulder and pulled him away from me. “How are we going to get those old eventlists?”
Bellamy frowned. “Don’t we have access to thatonline?”
All eyes turned toTexas.
Texas grimaced before scratching his chin uncertainly. “I can get it, but it might take sometime.”
“Go ahead and do it,” Knix announced suddenly. All eyes flicked over to him. “Marv, take Harlow down to the dining room. You need to mingle with the guests. This time, instead of simply attending the activities, I want you to be actively searching for suspects. If Harlow is right, then we’ve missed something. Texas? Didn’t we already check out theguests?”
“We ruled them out,” Texasanswered.
Knix’s brows pinched down and his frown deepened. “And their plusone’s?”
Texas’ eyes widened like a deer caught in front of a blinding light. “I–” He glanced around, his eyes dazed as he tried to think. “Shit,” he cursedlowly.
“I’ll go ahead and head to the kitchens to see if they need any extra help,” Bellamyvolunteered.
“Good idea.” Knix nodded. “I need to go discuss this with Mr. Carrigan. He needs to be made aware of the situation.” He looked toward Texas. “We all make mistakes, don’t worry,” he assured him. “We’ll fixthis.”
Texas frowned, but with grim lips he bent his head inacknowledgement.
Marv nodded and took my hand. Before he could direct me back into the hallway, Texas jumped up and offered each of us new earbud communicators with tiny speakers. He flushed as he helped me put it in thistime.
“They’re cheap,” he explained. “And we don’t want anyone suspecting anything, especially now that we’re looking at theguests.”
I nodded and adjusted my hair so that it covered the earbud. “It’s all good.” I smiled. He blinked at me for a split second, his hand hovering over the side of my face. “What?”
Texas shook his head. “Nothing,” he mumbled, and turnedaway.
“You ready?” Marvasked.
I glanced back, wondering why Texas had looked at me so strangely, but nodded anyway. Marv pulled me into the hallway, towards the dining room. I hoped whoever the thief was, we would catch them sooner rather thanlater.
* * *
Astring quartetsat on a raised dais in the corner of the lascivious Sweratt Island gardens. Marv and I, along with the rest of the guests of Sweratt Island, were dressed in light pastels and summer colors for the garden tea-party event. A much smaller number of couples had been invited and were seated at their own private tables. Sweratt employees circled them, pouring water and wine and offering bouquets of flowers for purchase. When an employee stopped by our table, Marv put a hand over his wine glass and politely shook hishead.
"For you, ma'am?" the young man askedme.
I blinked up at him, shocked that I wasn't even being carded. "No thank you," Ireplied.
He smiled and poured each of us a glass of water before turning to the nexttable.
According to Texas, Bellamy was stocking wine in the kitchens. We likely wouldn't see him in thegarden.
"Look for anyone acting out of the ordinary," Texas said in my ear. "Look for anyone paying special attention to one couple or another. They may still have their eyes on the Fosters, to see their reactions. If they think that the Fosters haven't noticed anything missing then they will likely find another target sooner rather thanlater."
I coughed and reached for my water glass, gulping down several mouthfuls as my eyes scanned the nearby tables. Like the night before, we were seated near the Fosters along with a few other familiar faces. All seemed to be focused on the event coordinator, Donald Carrigan, the man that Texas had explained was one of the many faces of Sweratt that had been placed in charge of the event. Not far from him, I recognized Mr. Daschund, one of the men Marv had introduced me to at the party in Charleston. Mr. Carrigan stood in front of the now silent quartet with a microphone in his hand, welcoming theguests.
“Thank you so much for coming everyone,” he said pleasantly, wiping away sweat from his brow with a crisp linen square that he pulled from his pocket. “As you know, Sweratt loves to appreciate its partners and affiliates with these events and this retreat is no different. We want to offer you any choice menu item from the selections you have been given and please feel free to treat your ladies to bouquets and adance.”
