AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’d like a loaf of your sourdough bread, please.”
Annie bagged it up, took Dani’s money, and handed it over.
“Enjoy!”
“I will,” Dani said. “Bye, B.J. Nice to meet you, Annie,” and then she left.
“She seems like a nice person,” Annie said.
B.J.’s usual buoyant demeanor suddenly shifted.
“She’s not just nice, Auntie. She’s a warrior,” and then he went back into the kitchen in silence.
The word rolled through Annie with a gut punch. That’s what Shirley’s sons said about their mother, which told Annie that Dani Owens wasn’t just another pretty face.
Michael Devon was in the penthouse suite of the Hotel Devon, getting ready for the day. His fiancée, Liz Caldwell, had just left for work across town at her father’s hotel, the Serenity Inn, where she worked as an event planner.
The fact that they were competitors for the touristtrade often made for awkward situations, but they’d learned to adapt. Love worked like that.
Michael was finishing his cup of coffee and scanning the local paper before going down to his office on the second floor. The sketch was impossible to miss, even though he’d seen it when it first ran. But he kept staring at that face, thinking of what that poor kid must have gone through. He also knew that Liz’s cousin Rusty had married into the Pope family, and that she’d once been an agent for the FBI. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was involved in this investigation.
He glanced at the time, then folded the paper and took it with him as he rode his private elevator down to the second floor. His secretary had yet to arrive, and he liked walking into the quiet, knowing it would erupt soon enough with the usual drama of managing a hotel.
The first thing he did each morning was check emails and messages. Quite often there would be one from his father, Marshall, who’d left Hotel Devon to him to manage nearly a year ago so Marshall could focus on building a new apartment complex in another state.
He’d barely begun when there was a knock at the door. He looked up from the computer and sighed. So much for quiet.
“Come in,” he called.
Ron Daley, the head of their hotel security, came in carrying a copy of the same paper Michael had brought with him.
“Sir. Have you seen the morning paper?” he asked.
“Yes, I have. Why?”
“As you know, I was out of state for my brother’s wedding. Today is my first day back at work, and I’m seeing this story has been running for a few days. I thought the sketch looked familiar and had one of our guys check security footage. This man was staying at our hotel! I think we should notify Chief Warren.”
The skin crawled on the back of Michael’s neck.
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. We have the footage pulled up in security if you want to see it for yourself.”
Michael stood. “I’m right behind you,” he said.
They both left the office in haste and hurried to the security area of the hotel. There were dozens and dozens of cameras throughout the hotel, and as Daley promised, they had footage of him checking in, of him going in and out of his room. Having breakfast in the hotel. Of coming in and walking out. And then there was the footage of him coming back with a bloody head wound and the appearance of being in some distress. Then less than an hour later, they had footage of him at the front desk checking out. But the kicker was footage of the back of his car as he left the area, with a clear view of his license tag.
Michael was in shock.
“Do we know his name?”
“He registered as Dirk Conrad. I have billing pulling up the details now,” Ron said.
“Make stills of every one of these shots as quickly aspossible. I’m calling the police. They’re going to want to see this footage, and they’re going to need the still shots for their files. Good job! Good job all of you!” Michael said, hurried back to his office, and made the call.
Sonny Warren was on his way to roll call when his cell phone rang.
“Chief Warren speaking.”
