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Chapter 8
The scratching of pen on paper woke me. It was such an innocent sound—barely louder than someone’s breath and yet the force and speed of it somehow broke its way through my dreams and pulled me up from unconsciousness. I blinked my eyes open and poked my head out from beneath the sheets I was under.
Early morning sunlight streamed in through the sliding glass doors. Texas sat at the hotel desk scratching his pen against a notebook as he looked up to one of his computer screens and then down again. I scanned the room, but it seemed like we were the only two here.
Peeking underneath the covers, I determined that Bellamy had given me one of his shirts to sleep in before he had mysteriously disappeared. I vaguely recalled him carrying me back to the room and him sitting me half up on the bed as he tugged a shirt over my head, though he’d left me in my now damp bikini bottoms.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled as I yawned and stretched.
Texas’ scribbling paused and his head slowly came up. “Hey, you’re awake.” He smiled as I slipped out of the covers and made my way across the room.
I paused at his side and looked down, not quite sure what I was seeing. There were notes, numbers, dates, times, names of places I didn’t recognize, and arrows drawn through the margins. “What is this?” I asked. “Where are the others?”
“Knix found something at Jenna’s office. He called Bellamy to go with him. Marv and—”
“Did they not come back?” I was shocked.Had I not heard them?
“You were out,” Texas said. “Jetlag’s a bitch. The guys came back and caught a couple of hours each before they headed out again.
“Okay, so...you said Bellamy’s with Knix?” I asked, glancing back to the desk.
He nodded, reaching over and closing the notebook as he stood up. “Yup, and now that you’re up, we should probably get ready to meet them.”
I blinked as he took the notebook and moved to the bed furthest away from the balcony, but followed anyway and reached between the mattresses for my bag as I rifled through it and pulled out clothes. I kept him in my sights as I changed, watching as he clicked away on his phone, keeping the notebook at his side.
“I called for a ride,” he said when I finished. “They’re here.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as we headed for the hallway.
“Knix and Bellamy are at Bricker and Stein. We’ll meet them there. They might have found something that can lead to Jenna’s whereabouts.”
I nodded and followed him out of our room, into the elevator, through the lobby, and out onto the streets, where a tinted blue sedan waited on the curb, it’s hazards flashing. We got into the backseat, Texas murmuring instructions as I scooted across to the other side. It wasn’t until we were well on our way that I prompted him about the notebook.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Texas glanced down as I gestured to where it sat in his lap. “I called Bricker and Stein last night while you and Bellamy were down by the pool,”—try as I might, I couldn’t stop the blush from coming to my cheeks, but if he noticed, he didn’t comment—“and they gave me access to security camera footage as well as Jenna’s timecard.”
I cleared my throat. “And they just gave it to you?”
He grinned boyishly. “I might have led them to believe that their home office had hired me as a PI to search for their missing employee. It’s not completely a lie,” he went on when I pursed my lips at him. “We are looking for her.”
“PI?” I said. “How are we going to prove that if we need to?”
“Bellamy actually is a licensed private investigator.”
“He is?” I blinked. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well…” Texas’ smile grew.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “What?” When he didn’t immediately answer me, I reached over and touched the notebook. “Don’t make me take this, you still haven’t answered my questions.”
“He’s only licensed in the United States,” Texas admitted.
I huffed. “And the notebook?”
“Notes,” he said. “On the case. I dated all of the times I saw Jenna’s face on the security footage and correlated it with her timecards. I got a picture of her employee ID from the office as well. From there, I hacked into the cities’ CCTV and followed her—”
“CCTV?” I shook my head. “What’s that?”
