They swiftly empty the trash, replace the bags, and disappear out the door to the back patio, rolling a large bin between them.
Shit.
Big guns. By the mountains. I’m intrigued, and I have a pretty good idea where I might be able to find this arsenal.
Where Nick and I might be able to find them…
I shouldn’t go alone, and I’m surprised to find I don’t want to. Nick keeps a cool head in a crisis. He’s a good partner—a great one, actually.
Now, if I can just catch him before he’s otherwise engaged.
I pull out my cell and hit his contact profile. He answers after the first ring. “Miss me already, beautiful?”
My lips curve. “Desperately. So much that I’m canceling my spa appointment, and we’re going for a hike. Meet me by the activities desk in ten? Your man-time can wait, right?”
“Absolutely,” Nick says. “See you there.”
Ending the call, I hurry into the spa to cancel my facial and then, on impulse, head out through the back door. But the maids are nowhere to be seen. The only sign of them is the now-empty bin they were using to collect the trash parked at the edge of the patio.
Which gives me an idea…
Chapter Eighteen
Nickolas
Pacing in front of the activities hut, I check my phone for the fifth time.
She’s ten minutes late, and Zan is never late.
Especially not for anything work-related.
And I assume this last-minute change of plans has something to do with the mission.
Though, I wouldn’t mind going on a jungle hike with her. I like spending time with Zan. I’d prefer we spend our stolen moments alone in our bedroom making out—sense memories of how perfect her breast felt cupped in my hand have been tormenting me all morning—but I enjoy Zan outside of bed, too.
I enjoy her so much, in fact, that it would be stupid to sleep with her.
I’m going to get attached.
More attached.
And that seems foolish, considering Zan only seems to like me in that way when she’s drunk.
Speaking of, half the people milling around the activities desk, signing up for snorkeling and paddleboard tours, reek of alcohol. They need to pace themselves, or they’re going to have liver failure before they fly home.
I wander farther from the desk, towards where a petite maid wearing a blue scarf over her hair is gathering fallen palm fronds from the grass and dumping them into the large, rolling trash bin beside her.
Instantly, I’m struck by something off about this scene. A beat later, I figure out what it is.
Biting back a smile, I stop beside the maid, but keep my attention on the flowers farther down the path. “Excellent disguise, but a maid wouldn’t be performing gardening duties. And palm leaves would go into a compost pile, not a trash bag.”
“Yes, but you’re going to need something to hide under,” Zan says beneath her breath. “And I thought you’d want a trash bag between you and all the yummy garbage juice at the bottom of the bin.”
I grunt. “You thought right, but I have a better idea. I’ll track down a uniform, too, and—”
“All the housecleaning staff are female, and all the uniforms are far too small for you, sadly.” Zan’s lips curve as she dumps another load of stiff brown fronds into the bin. “And do we really want to waste time hunting for a gardener’s uniform when we could be in and out of the suspicious green buildings and back by the pool before lunch?”
Scrubbing at my jaw, I glance both ways down the path. “You found a way in?”
“No, but I overheard a maid talking about guns. Big guns. And where else would Stefano store something like that? And if she saw them, then they must be somewhere the maids can access. Worst-case scenario, I try to roll my bin inside to empty the trash and someone asks me why the hell I’m there. I explain I’m new, and I leave. No harm, no foul.”
“That’s not the worst-case scenario, and you know it,” I say. “If someone stops you, how do you explain why you’re white and don’t speak Balinese or Indonesian? Every maid I’ve seen has been a local.”
“I’m a recent transplant. I moved here to teach yoga and fell on hard times. The people here were good enough to give me a job. I play it very clueless and eager to please.”
I chew the inside of my lip for a moment but finally nod. “Okay, I’m game. We need to know what’s in there.”
“Agreed. I’ll push the bin around the corner. Once no one’s looking, you hop in, and we’ll try the barbed wire gate. If the key card I found in the housekeeping office gets us in, I’ll head for the closest green building, and we’ll go from there.”
“How did you get into the housekeeping office?” I ask as she begins pushing the bin down the path.