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

Lila, who he pegged as the most likely to object. She merely nodded in assent. At this point, she was more than happy to keep a trained police officer nearby, and sticking together seemed like the safest option.

Chloe’s head fell against Nate’s chest, the quiet thumping of his heart lulling her into a dreamlike state. A low rumble in her belly at Nate’s mention of food reminded her that she hadn’t eaten yet today. People disappearing out of thin air didn’t exactly whet the appetite. Breadsticks with legs, a smiling cartoon chicken cutlet, and a head of romaine lettuce wearing a sombrero danced across the backs of her eyelids. A sharp ding, signaling they had arrived on their floor broke Chloe from her trance.

“I miss real food. Want to cook. Miss my kitchen.” She murmured quietly to Nate, who couldn’t help nodding in agreement. Homesickness—an emotion that Chloe, having never stayed in one place long enough to consider it home—hit her hard in the face. So this is what that feels like. Maybe I can click my heels together three times and forget about this whole mess.

Chloe’s key card was at the ready, and when she swiped to open the door, everyone filed in behind her. A strangled cry escaped her lips as she looked around the room. Clothing spilled out of open drawers; the bed was stripped, the mattress askew as if someone had searched beneath it; every piece of luggage overturned. Several lacy undergarments littered the floor, but embarrassment wasn’t a luxury Chloe could afford right now—her room had been ransacked.

Nate raised an arm, gently pushing everyone back into the hallway. “Dalton, stay here and guard the exits. I’ll clear the suites; make sure this son of a bitch isn’t still skulking around.” He looked around, pulled an umbrella from the stand inside the door, and made a couple of practice lunges with it. If the situation were different, Chloe might have giggled out loud at the sight of her hunky boyfriend brandishing an umbrella sword.

“Better than nothing.” Nate shrugged, then disappeared inside. After the longest three minutes of Chloe’s life, he emerged from the door to EV’s portion of the suite. “All clear. Whoever it was seemed to be focused on Chloe’s room, but EV’s was searched as well. Lila, the door to your room was locked, so I’m assuming it hasn’t been touched. I’ll call in security, and then you two need to check all of your belongings and see if anything is missing.”

Everyone followed Nate’s instructions; fear, anxiety, and concern coloring all six faces. Dalton followed EV into her room; Javier ordered Lila to wait while he checked theirs, just in case Nate was wrong about it not having been accessible. When they were alone, Nate pulled Chloe close and held on tight. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re safe.”

“Mother will love that.” Chloe hid fear and uncertainty behind a wall of humor. It was a short wall, though, and easily breached. “I feel violated.” Nate squeezed her even tighter. Until this business with Baylee and the break in, Nate thought Chloe’s suspicion of Javier to be based on concern for Lila. Watching more critically now, he was sure the man had a stake in what was happening, and the time for withholding information was just about over.

A room away, Dalton said, “EV, This goes beyond catching Remy. Screw him; it’s not worth your safety. If he sees us together, that’s just too bad. He’s got something to do with this, I can feel it in my bones.” Dalton had waited until they were alone in EV’s room to pull her close, but there was no trace of hesitation in the action.

EV leaned into his embrace and spoke her mind. He had expected no less. “We can’t throw away all we’ve worked for over this. This isn’t the first room to be broken into, and nobody has gotten hurt so far. Let’s not overreact. If we blow our cover now, we’ll never find out why he’s terrorizing Ponderosa Pines. I want to put this to rest once and for all.”

Dalton sighed. Leave it to EV to put her own safety on the back burner. “Let’s talk to Nate and Chloe; figure out how we’re going to handle this.” Dalton would humor EV, but in the end, nothing—not even her iron will—would stop him from protecting her.

* * *

“You’ll understand, I went through proper channels on this. Hotel management is contacting the security staff. They’ll be able to analyze how the room was accessed, and they’ll review the video footage of the hallway outside. It’s all going to take some time. They requested that we check if anything was missing—as if that’s not the first thing any sane person would do in this situation. When I said we already had, and everything was accounted for, I got the impression that our priority level dropped significantly. Now that we’ve put in an official complaint, you can probably facilitate things on that front, Javier.” Nate explained, once everyone had reassembled in Chloe’s room. He ran his hands through his hair; it didn’t have the usual effect, given his new, shorter style.

“I’ll handle this; none of you need to worry. Several guests have complained about missing items lately, and in each case, the objects were found right away.” Javier paced around the room, lost in thought. “People misplace things all the time, but when they go to a hotel, the first assumption is that someone—usually the housekeeping staff—is stealing. Though, none of the reports lately have included an actual security breach, so maybe this has to do with Baylee’s disappearance.” Storm clouds gathered in his eyes before he schooled his features again.

“How could someone get in here without a key?” Nate asked.

“They would have to hack into the security mainframe, and either activate a new key card or remotely unlock the door. The second option would require more than one