Memories of Amber going missing flooded her mind. Thoughts of the years and years of aftermath had her reaching for her wine.
“Mom?” she said, when her hearing returned.
“I’m here, sweetie. He’s only there until they determine that no one at the resort is involved. But until then…” Her mother’s voice dropped off.
“It’s why you can’t interfere with his job. We’ve been assured that the moment he finds out anything, he’ll let us know,” her father finished.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Is his name really Wyatt?”
“Yes,” her father answered. “He’s very skilled at bartending. Which is why he was chosen for this job.”
“Okay,” she said, closing her eyes and leaning back in the chair. “Okay,” she said again.
“We’re sorry we lied to you,” her mother said. “We should have told you the truth the moment you took over for us. We were told we couldn’t tell anyone, but… We just had to let you know.”
“We understand that Josie is on her way down there,” her father said.
“Yes, she’ll be here in two days,” Jade answered.
“She can’t know,” her father said firmly.
“I understand.” Jade wondered how she was going to keep the secret from her best friend. “I… have to go.”
“Okay, sweetie.” Her mother sighed. “Try not to let this affect how you deal with him.”
“As far as you are concerned, he’s just another employee,” her father added.
“Goodnight,” she said and hung up. She reached for the glass of wine only to discover it was empty. She walked into the kitchen, deciding tonight was a very good night to get roaring drunk. After all, she had just taken a huge blow to the gut.
All of the flirting from Wyatt suddenly made sense. He was trying to get information out of her. That was it. She was a job.
“Hiding something from me wouldn’t be advisable.”His words played over in her head as she poured another glass.
She’d meant to order dinner downstairs but had been too busy admiring how sexy Wyatt was. Damn. Now she was going to be drunk and hungry.
She pulled a bag of potato chips from the cupboard and took the entire bottle of wine and the chips out on the deck.
An hour and a full bottle of wine later, she made her way back downstairs. She’d lost her shoes, somewhere… When she walked into the bar area, barefoot and still holding her glass of wine, Wyatt watched her closely. Something else dawned on her. He was always watching her. Why? Did he think she had something to do with the missing kids?
After all, each time one of the four kids had disappeared, she’d been there. So had her parents. Did the FBI suspect them?
“I need to talk to you,” she said, pointing her finger at Wyatt from across the bar.
“Okay,” Wyatt said slowly. “Shannon, take over for me and close up, will you?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Shannon chuckled. “Bosses,” she corrected and then went back to work.
Wyatt smoothly walked around the bar and took her arm and started walking her towards the elevators.
“Hey,” she said firmly. “You lied to me.”
“Not here,” he hissed.
She jerked her arm free, but he held her firm.
“You lied,” she said a little louder.
Wyatt smiled smoothly at the guests as they walked by them.