“As always, man.” I bumped his fist and my oldest friend turned to take his post.
I scrambled to the computer, eager to get started. I’d requested the footage from the Serendipity, and sure enough, they’d delivered with no questions asked. But then again, it helps to own the company providing their service. I plugged in the drive and with a few quick strokes on the keyboard, the footage appeared on my monitor.
It was time to take charge of the situation. Someone was out there hurting people I cared about and hoping to frame me, which meant they had to know me.
I’d racked my brain for nights and nights wondering who that could be, but always came up short. I’d never been disrespectful to anyone and wasn’t the type to let my money go to my head. I’d come from a meat-and-potatoes family where divorce finally played its final card the day after my graduation. It hadn’t been horrible, but there weren’t any silver spoons in the Grant household.
My only hope of figuring this out was to search through footage for anyone I might know. If I recognized them, then maybe I could figure out their agenda. If it were strangers, then they had a hell of a connection that would lead them to my past.
In the other room, Luna turned on the shower. I adjusted myself knowing she’d soon be naked and under the warm spray of the showerhead. I shook my head, hoping the image would go away. I didn’t have time for the distractions. I had to get my mind off of her and this whole marriage issue and focus on finding out who was trying to destroy my life.
I never should have let Mason handle things, but honestly, I’d been in such a fog that I couldn’t think straight. It hadn’t happened too often in my life, but now it was time to buck up and get past it.
I fast-forwarded through some of the footage before I found something that looked familiar. It was Luna, her hair paled in the black and white footage, losing its gradient, but she was still beautiful. Her hips swayed and she had a bounce in her step that tilted my head to get a better look, even on the small screen. There we were, the two of us, together in stride and making our way through the crowd and to the bar.
I paused the video to search the faces of the crowd around us, but came up short. I didn’t recognize any of them, and so I continued on. Now and then I’d pause and search, and always when I recognized Luna and me, I switched back and forth through the files, searching other viewpoints to get a better idea of things.
An hour had passed and my eyes were already paying the price, but then I froze when Stacey appeared. Seeing her recharged me, and I stopped the frame and searched the people’s faces around her. No one looked familiar.
I stared at her tiny image, and for a brief moment, I remembered the stubborn girl who loved to push my buttons. She had, too – many times. Though things hadn’t worked out, I had no ill feelings and seeing her made my heart ache. I hadn’t loved her, but she had such a craving for life that I couldn’t imagine her dead and gone from the world.
I forwarded through, determined to find out who did this to her and Cindy. Both deserved better, and panic shot through me knowing that whoever it was could go after Luna. If I were sent away, she’d be alone and vulnerable. I couldn’t trust some other man, whoever she’d end up with, to keep her safe.
My jaw clenched tight and my teeth ground together, making an awful sound that snapped me back to the task at hand.
And as it did, I found Cindy. She was hanging out in the casino with one of the staffers and something about the two made me think there was something intimate between them. Was this the other lead the police were chasing?
I made a note of the timestamp and moved along, having yet another face to look for. Sure enough, hours later I saw the same man pacing back and forth in the hallway outside a room. Checking the location and time, I realized it was hours before the murder. He didn’t look happy as he took off in a hurry toward the elevator.
“Nervous little shit.” My voice was no more than a whisper, but Luna reacted.
“Excuse me?” I glanced up to see her standing across the room at the coffee maker.
I sat up straight, my back screaming from hours at the makeshift desk, and stretched my arms up over my head. I’d wondered if she would shut me out forever and decided that if she were talking, I’d make conversation.
“This man, he looks nervous. He’s lurking around the halls where the murder took place and something seems to spook him. He takes off running. He worked there.”
“Sounds like you have another suspect. Congratulations. Maybe you should call Mason.” With that, she retreated to the room and shut the door.
So much for not shutting me out.
After stretching my legs and pouring my own cup, I returned to my search. Once I found the staffer acting even more suspicious in the front lobby right outside of the casino, I decided it was time to call Mason.
I dialed him up and told him my suspicions, knowing he wasn’t going to be happy.
“Jesus, Gabriel. You should have told me you were going to get the footage. I could have gone about it differently, petitioned to see it. They have to do that, you know.”
“I’m aware. I’m also aware that doing it that way, I’d only get what they wanted me to see. I’m looking for anyone that I recognize from the time I checked in until I left.”
“The entire Serendipity Hotel?”
“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but dammit, who else could I trust but myself? I’m sitting here waiting for them to get their shit straight when I could be looking it over myself.
“What else have I got to do? The company is in working order, I’ve taken an extended leave, and I’ve got a wife in the other room who isn’t speaking to me. Not to mention this damned coffee table that’s booking a date with my chiropractor.”
“And, don’t forget your sparkling personality. Look, Gabe, I get it. I guess I’d do the same thing, truth be known. I’ll come over in a few; we’ll look at your findings and I’ll have someone check into it. Maybe it’s time we hire our own PI?”
That was more like it. I could get on board with a private investigator. “Thanks. I’ll buy you lunch.”