“I don’t even remember.”
“Have you talked to your bosses?”
She shook her head. “Not since I told them I was calling the police. They were slightly annoyed but they’ll be getting the art back eventually.”
“If the Green brothers didn’t destroy it.”
“They wouldn’t have had time. They didn’t even know SWAT was coming. Wait…if the hotel owner wanted to cut a deal, he wouldn’t have lied. What if the cops are wrong and Delilah took off with it? Maybe she hid it for them?” She was pensive as they took the elevator to the designated floor.
Thankfully the commander was a man of his word. The security team didn’t mind at all and set them both up in front of the two screens.
“We’re looking to see every angle where the suspects were from the moment they checked into the hotel,” one of the techs said, her fingers moving across her own keyboard as she spoke to them. “We want to find where they stashed the art as much as you guys do. If you see them carrying anything larger than a piece of paper, flag it for us. Some of the feeds are corrupted, however. We’re pretty sure it was intentional so there will be missing timelines.”
Both Ivy and Nash nodded and sat down, getting to work.
Ivy clearly knew how to use this kind of technology, and he had some experience, though not as much as her. He’d always been more on the operator side of things, but this was interesting too.
Thankfully it was easy enough to plug in faces and do a parameter search, which made all the difference. This wasn’t normal hotel security—this was much higher tech than the standard feeds that dumped their records to an offsite place after forty-eight hours. Good for them and the cops, but he couldn’t help but wonder who owned this place.
He shelved all thoughts of that, however, and got to work. The sooner they could finish up here, the sooner he could get Ivy home. To his home. Where he could take care of her and they could talk about their future.
Because they were going to have a future.
Chapter 21
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way you wanted,” Nash said as they stepped out of the elevator.
Yeah, she was too. “It was nice of them to let us watch the security videos though.” Unfortunately they’d seen Delilah crystal clear on the screen, multiple times. She’d disappeared for a while, and then there were a couple fairly large blanks in the feeds. The final shot was of her hurrying out of the lobby, her bright yellow dress basically a beacon. She’d been carrying a small purse in hand, but nothing else.
The painting had to be somewhere in the hotel. Or at least Ivy really hoped so. If the art wasn’t retrieved, she didn’t get anything, which left her stuck taking another contract. Or losing the shelter.
“How about you let me buy you dinner? We’ll have a couple drinks and relax.” Nash wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they made a right, heading toward the parking garage.
There was a quietness to the hotel, especially after the cops had made themselves known. They’d hauled the Green brothers away and were currently doing a grid search, so she assumed most people were either in their rooms for the night or had made themselves scarce.
“That sounds good.” She laid her head on his shoulder, liking how good it felt. Today had been long and draining and she just wanted to not think for a while. There was too much to worry about and she knew that getting all caught up in her head would do her no good.
“I’d also like to talk about us.”
She nearly stumbled at his words. “Us?” She wasn’t surprised, so she wasn’t sure why the word came out all raspy. She’d known they’d eventually have to have this talk. They’d simply been avoiding it. And she was tired of fighting her feelings.
“Yes.” His voice was all deep and sexy, and dammit, why was he doing this to her now?
As they made another right down a long, plush-carpeted hallway, a hotel staff member was stepping out of a nearly hidden door. The man in the black slacks, black shirt, with neatly slicked-back dark hair frowned at them. “What are you two doing back here?”
She blinked at him even as she motioned to the set of double doors at the end of the hallway. What the heck did he think they were doing? “Heading for the parking garage.”
He shook his head and nodded behind them. “It’s that way.”
She was normally great with directions. She glanced around. The long hallway had cream-colored walls and a rich maroon carpeting. “I could have sworn we came this way.”
The man smiled slightly, his expression softening. “This part of the hotel is under construction. It connects to a sister hotel that’s not completed yet. It’s still in the construction phase, but they’ve called off all work for a week. Something to do with permits and…” He shrugged. “Nothing that concerns me. Just turn back around, make a right, then a left at the first hallway. It looks just like this one.” As he hurried off, talking into his radio about linens, she looked up at Nash.
“What are you thinking?” he murmured, his gaze falling to her mouth.
On instinct, her own gaze dipped to his mouth and heat bloomed inside her. “I’m thinking of a lot of things right now. But…I’m also thinking maybe we head that way instead of to the parking garage. If that hotel is under construction, it would be a great place to hide a painting.”
He closed his eyes and took a breath.
She pushed. “Delilah disappeared from the cameras for a while. What if…they hid the painting at a hotel that’s currently under construction, but no one’s working on right now. It’s not a crazy thought. Let’s just check it out. There are no cameras down here.” She motioned around them. “Not visible anyway. And even if we get caught, we can just play stupid.”
In response he simply continued down the hallway, his arm around her shoulders.
Beyond surprised, she said, “Really? You’re not going to give me grief?”
“I know by now that it will be of no use. Besides, you make a good point. This would be a fantastic place to stash a painting. Unfortunately, it’ll be like looking for a needle in a stack of needles.”
Yeah, Ivy knew that, but it didn’t hurt to look. Especially now. Her adrenaline was pumping, a low buzz of energy in her core as they hurried. What if it was here and they found it? If there was a chance she could still save the shelter, she was going to try.
At the end of the hallway, they pushed open the double doors and her eyes widened. It was a giant connecting walkway surrounded by glass. It stretched out to another set of double doors. On one side was a view of the ocean, and the other, what would be a huge pool with a lazy river surrounding it for guests.
“We really shouldn’t be doing this.”
“We’ll just pretend we got lost.” That tactic had worked for her on multiple occasions. It was sadly so easy to play the role of “silly woman.” “Besides, the cops are going to be super lenient with me after this.”
“Your logic terrifies me.”
“It’s not like we’re stealing anything. And we’re not breaking in. The doors were open.” At least the first set had been. When they pressed the bar on the opposite double doors, she grinned when it swung open. “See, it’s fate.”