A Deadly Reunion (28 page)

He shoved me away from the door and further
down the corridor. When I turned, looking over my shoulder
instinctively, he shooed me on as if I were some unwanted bug.

“But there’s–” I began.

“Nothing going on here,” the man said as he
locked me in an unnerving, dark gaze.

Then it stopped.

The arguing.

The thumping.

It stopped, and the silence left an eerie,
uncomfortable feeling tracking its way up my spine.

Standing several meters down the corridor
and still staring at the two enormous men, I had no idea what to
do.

Then the big brute of a guy waved me on
again, turned to his friend, cleared his throat, then the both of
them opened the door and walked in.

Dumbfounded, I stood there for all of about
ten seconds until I whirled on my foot and hurried off down the
corridor.

Racing over to the elevators, I jumped in,
pressed the key to the ground floor repeatedly, then bit my lip
nervously as I waited.

When the doors finally opened with a
courteous beep, I rushed out into the lobby. As I did, I
accidentally ran into a man.

Not just any man.

The rugged, polo-shirt-wearing, tanned god
with the scuffed boots.

I hit his arm as I shot past, and it was
like slamming into a brick wall. It knocked me sideways, and I
stumbled sharply.

Before I could right myself, one large,
tanned hand wrapped around my elbow and anchored me to the
spot.

It surprised me, and I spent a split second
blinking up into his questioning gaze.

You could easily, easily get lost in eyes
like those. If you were lucky enough to wake up to them every
morning, you’d never look away.

“Are you alright?” he asked quickly, his
tone revealing a thick American accent with a lilt of something
exotic.

“
Ah...” I turned away and locked my eyes on
reception. “Sorry,” I mumbled quickly as I pulled away from
him.

His fingers slipped easily from around my
arm, though I saw him turn my way with a questioning gaze crumpling
his brow.

I hurried over to reception.

Tapping my fingers sharply on my thighs, I
waited for a couple to stop chatting to the man behind the desk.
Quickly giving up on being polite, I cleared my throat and leaned
in.

“
Look, I am really sorry to interrupt, but
I was walking along the corridor on the eleventh floor and I
heard... a heated argument. There were two guys in one of the rooms
shouting, and,” I swallowed sharply, “I think you should check it
out.”

At first the man behind the counter looked
irritated at my interruption, then he gave a quick nod, grabbed up
his phone, mumbled something into it, and nodded at me. “Thank
you,” he said simply.

I stood there, feeling itchy and nervous as
he typed something quickly on his computer.

I’d lived in one or two rough
neighborhoods over the years, and I was no stranger to calling the
police. I also knew how important it was to see to disputes like
these quickly.

“We will deal with this. I’m sure it is
nothing. Now please enjoy the facilities.” He gestured towards the
enormous glass windows that revealed an unrestricted view of the
ocean beyond.

I shook my head a little, forced a wan
smile, then finally took a step back.

As I did, I flicked my eyes to the left and
saw the man with the scuffed boots standing a few feet off to the
side of the counter, talking on his phone in a hushed but quick
voice.

I frowned. Wondering whether I should go up
and apologize for ramming into him, he suddenly glanced my way.

I caught his gaze, but only for a flickering
second until he turned, shoved the phone harder against his ear,
and started to walk across the lobby with heavy, thumping
steps.

....

He hadn’t been listening to my conversation,
had he?

It was a quick, admittedly stupid thought,
and I promptly dismissed it with a sigh.

Then I made my way towards one of the
pools.

This wasn’t how I had envisioned my
holiday starting. Loads of sunshine, liberal amounts of fine food,
and a good dose of luxury, yes, but not this... whatever this
was.

Though it took me a while, I forced myself
to take a swallow and muster a smile, and finally walked outside
into the startling sunshine and gentle, pleasant breeze.

Whatever that argument had been, I’d done
what I could.

I’d alerted management, and hopefully they
would go and break those boys up before they could do themselves
any damage.

Convincing myself I’d done everything I
could, I finally hit the pool. Finding a lounge, I snapped up a
drink, lay down face first on a cushion, and let the sunshine warm
my back.

My holiday had just begun.

And though I could not appreciate it in that
moment, my adventure had just begun too.

The end of the excerpt. The rest
of Room 89 is currently available.