Caught in the Frame (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by ReGina Welling (novel24 .TXT) 📕

moan escaped his lips as her fingers brushed lightly between the waist of his slacks and the taut line of his stomach muscles. Before the tryst could turn into anything serious, they heard a voice ringing out from somewhere above.

Chloe released herself from Nate’s grip and shuffled quietly toward the balcony’s edge. He grasped her by the wrist and pulled her back into the shadows, finger to his lips to let her know that silence was necessary. She returned his gesture with a hand wave meant to convey the sentiment, duh.

“That’s Javier. He must be directly above us.” Nate whispered. His cop instincts took over, letting him know there was a reason to listen to the conversation that must have been important enough to carry Javier to this remote area of the castle. They both stood still as statues, muscles tensed, straining to make out every word of the conversation.

“… disabled, you’ll have five minutes. That should be enough time. Are you positive you want to go ahead with this? It could be dangerous. No. I said I would help, and I won’t back out now. Yes, the safe, too. Yes. I’ll be ready. Win or lose, this is it—our last chance. I want this to be my last job. I fully intend to spend the rest of my life next to a sandy beach somewhere…yeah, I know I hit the jackpot. Okay, be ready, and wait for my signal.”

Chloe didn’t breathe until Javier had retreated into the upstairs room, and didn’t speak until they had followed the path back to the main part of the castle. Her cheeks flamed red as Nate stabbed the up arrow next to a small bank of elevators; he could tell she was about to launch into a patented Chloe-rant.

“Wait until I get my hands on that slimy bast—” Nate’s lips softly interrupted her tirade, but she was angry enough to break the kiss before it turned into a distraction.

“Let’s find Dalton and EV, and then you can start plotting his demise. For now, we need to keep this to ourselves. We don’t know what’s actually going on; let’s not jump to conclusions or be overheard by anyone.” He chastised gently, looking pointedly at the few guests milling about the hallway.

Chloe held her tongue until all four of them had assembled in Nate’s room, where Lila’s prying eyes and curious ears wouldn’t interrupt the conversation. EV and Dalton, assuming the urgent matter that had dragged them from a few moments of hard-earned serenity had to do with Remy, sat side by side. His face mirrored her expression of resignation. As soon as Chloe’s tirade began, they both relaxed for a moment before reacting to this newest twist.

“That son of a bitch, Javier, is up to no good! Nate and I were, um, exploring some of the more remote parts of the castle…” her eyes flicked to Nate, who bore a sheepish expression of his own, and quickly continued, “when we overheard a conversation between him and someone on the other end of the phone. He’s planning some kind of break in—he’s going to abuse his position in security to steal something from someone, and then he’s going to screw over my mother and take all her money. This isn’t the first time he’s ripped someone off, either; he said this was his last job, and that he was planning on retiring on some beach with all of his cash! We have to take him down; he won’t get away with this!” Chloe began pacing back and forth, muttering under her breath.

“Are you sure that’s what’s going on?” Dalton, always able to see both sides of a story, wondered out loud, directing the question toward Nate.

“I hate to admit it, but it seemed pretty cut and dried to me.”

“Great, now we have two situations to deal with. And Lila seemed so happy. This is going to crush her.” EV lamented.

“I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about this; we have no jurisdiction here, and it’s not like I can go to the head of security and ask for help.” Nate swiped a hand through his hair for about the tenth time; he was beginning to look like a troll doll from the ‘90’s. “Dalton and I’ll keep an eye on him, but he’s got more resources than we do. Man, I really thought he was a good guy. The only other course of action we can take is to tell Lila.”

“EV and I will take that particular bullet. C’mon, let’s see if we can find her.”

* * *

Miles of hallways, dozens of rooms, and fifty acres of grounds made tracking down any single guest into a chore. Not to mention, Lila had a long list of errands and a jam-packed wedding planning schedule, so there was no telling where she had run off to.

“Her cell goes straight to voicemail, as usual. I just love how when she wants to get a hold of me, I’m expected to answer on the first ring, but she doesn’t even have the presence of mind to keep her phone on her. And, at a time like this, with a million things to do, and calls to make. Damn my mother!” Chloe’s earlier irritation was now hitting record levels; the thunder clouds hovering above her head were swirling; a lightening clap threatening to sound at any moment. EV didn’t particularly want to be around when it did, having witnessed several of Chloe’s meltdowns already. Her bark was always worse than her bite; once Chloe unloaded, she turned back into a cuddly puppy. Nothing festered too long, but the anticipation of when she would finally snap was enough to drive EV mad.

“Let’s go back to our suite and see if she’s there. Maybe she left her tablet in her room; we can check her agenda and track her down.”

But there was no need; as they passed by the atrium dining room, Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. Lila