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Jade was dressed more casually today as well. The cotton skirt and top made her blend in easily with the guests.
As he stepped behind the bar, a large man in a speedo pounded the bar top.
“It’s about damn time,” the man said in a booming voice. “What does a guy have to do to get a beer on vacation?”
Wyatt watched Jade move forward to handle the man, but he spoke up quickly.
“Sorry about that. Unfortunately, my boss won’t let me open up before eleven.” He chuckled and shrugged. “You know how bosses can be right?”
The man seemed to relax a little. “Yeah, right,” he said as he sat down on a stool. “Bosses are why I need a drink at eleven in the morning,” the man said, and Wyatt chuckled as he worked quickly to unlock the cases holding the beer and set up outside.
“Where do you work?” he asked the man, making small talk as he worked.
“Boeing,” the man answered.
“No shit. Like the airplanes?” he asked.
“Yeah.” The man relaxed even more.
“Do you make the planes?” Wyatt asked.
“No, I just test the parts.” He sighed. “It’s a job. Not like this. I bet you love working in paradise,” the man asked, his eyes turning towards Jade for the first time.
“It does have its perks,” Wyatt answered.
Ten minutes later, after he’d sent the man off with his beer, Jade took the vacant seat and leaned on the counter.
“You handled that well,” she said.
“Those kinds of guys are easy to manipulate.” He shrugged and saw her eyebrows rise.
“Oh? Is manipulation part of your job description?” she asked, joking.
He smiled. “A bartender is more than a drink maker. We’re psychologists, confidantes, anger management teachers, narks, and more.” He leaned on the counter, closer to her. “Sometimes even lovers.” He winked as she laughed.
“You do know how to spread it on thick,” she said.
He smiled. “When it’s needed.” He nodded as two women in bikinis approached the bar.
As he was making them their frozen drinks, Jade disappeared.
He told himself that it was for the best, since she was a huge distraction to him. He wanted to keep talking to her in between customers when he should have been watching and listening.
The tiki bar was set up in one of the best positions to see the beach and two of the three pools.
It wasn’t as if he expected someone to snatch a kid directly in front of him. But there were other ways to spot suspicious people.
Thanks to Jade’s father, he had a list of repeat guests who had been at the resort during one or more of the kidnappings.
He’d memorized more than a dozen names and faces and was watching out for them.
When he spotted one of them heading his way, he went on guard.
Adam Matthew was a middle-aged businessman who had been to the resort more than a dozen times over the past five years. He was fit, charming, fairly wealthy, and one of Wyatt’s top suspects. He’d been at the resort three out of the four times.
“Whiskey sour,” the man said, and then he turned his back on Wyatt as he scanned the pool area.
After he’d made the guy’s drink, he charged the man’s room, then watched him walk over and sit at the edge of the pool right next to the two women who had ordered the frozen drinks earlier.
