GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (21 page)

By seven o’clock the next morning
,
Sam was dressed and ready to leave for the office
.
He stood
next to
the bed for a moment watching Anne sleep and felt his chest tighten
.
He loved her so much and couldn’t even imagine a life without her
.
Not anymore.

He was elated that s
he’d agreed to stay at his house until Stockton was found and Sam wondered what ruse he’d
have to
come up with after the man was located in order to keep her from leaving again
.
He picture
d
her in his bed, just as she was now
,
with her long glorious mane of hair spilling over the pillow, her soft lips parted invitingly
.
Anne would bring warmth and laughter to his house
.
She
would
make it a
loving
home
.
Sam leaned down to give her a
light
kiss before leaving.
 

Beth opened her eyes groggily and found Sam’s smiling face only inches from hers
.
“You’re leaving?”

“I have to go, sweetheart, but I’ll be back after work.
”
He kissed her again, lingering considerably longer.

Beth yawned and stretched
,
still feeling the gentle tingling sensation from having made love that morning
.
When Sam had gotten up to shower afterwards, she’d fallen back to sleep
.
After they’d gone up to the room the night before, they’d had a very heated session of lovemaking
. They
ordered room service
afterwards
and Beth told him how she and Mark had set it up while they ate.

“How are you going to follow someone
if
you think they’re heading off to steal something
?
” Sam asked. “
Won’t it be pretty obvious that one of you is trailing behind them?”

“That’s where Justin comes in
.
As a bellhop, it wouldn’t be suspicious at all for him to be up and down in the elevators or in the hallways on any given floor
.
As soon as either Mark or I see someone entering the club at a time they should be working, we’ll page Justin and have him follow them
.
Justin calls it playing
I Spy
.”

“And you really think you’ll have this all wrapped up in a day or two?”

“The manager, Mr. Rodchester, says there’s been a theft at least every two days
,
and
because
no one reported their room had been broken into today, we’re pretty sure the
culprit will
hit tomorrow
.
It would
have been wiser to take a few bigger, more expensive pieces if they were doing it for the money rather than take so many chances going after the smaller jewelry
.
It’s just a hunch, but I think
it
has more to do with
the thrill of
getting away with it than
the
monetary gain.
I
also believe i
t’s been going on a lot longer than
the manager
think
s
.”

“
So tell me, Nancy Drew, how did you deduce
that
?”

“I think they started out pilfering a few small pieces
.
Some of the thefts probably weren’t even reported
.
After all, who would suspect something was stolen from their safe when other more expensive pieces were still there
?
They probably thought they’d lost them or set them down some place and forgot
.”

“Heaven help me if I ever try to
wing
something past you,” Sam had teased, although the admiration in his eyes was sincere.

Beth yawned again, trying to shake the sluggishness of sleep and threw the covers back
.
It was time to go catch a thief.

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                   
 
*
**

Beth w
as certain she w
ould be
crowned
the
Queen Bee
in her circle of friends
after
the
little stunt with Sam and was fully prepared to gloat
.
She’d slipped on another tennis skirt
;
a bright lime green
number
with a white
,
close
-
fitting top trimmed in the same lime green
.
She’d left all her jewelry in the safe in her room
,
as she’d paraded it the day before as a lure to the thief
.
Chances were slim that
her room would get hit
, but she’d put it out for them anyway
.

She s
aw
Mark down by the pool and waved
.
He was surrounded by even more adoring women than the day before
.
This morning, she would occupy the tennis instructors while he watched the swimming coaches and any golf instructors that wandered in
.
The only access to the hotel from the area the golf lessons were given was the one she’d just come from unless they went all they around to the front, in which case Justin would spot them
.

When her lessons were over, Mark would tie up the swim instructors and it would be Beth’s turn to keep watch
.
As she approached the table with Megan and her friends, she was happy to see they’d all donned tennis outfits and some of them even had their own rackets.

While
they were drilling
her
on how she seduc
ed
Sam so quickly when he’d turned down the three
other
women
, Beth’s
gaze idly wandered to the maintenance man a few tables away
, who was
fixing a wobbly leg.

She’d categorized the maintenance crew in with the groundskeepers
,
which
Beth
now realized had been a huge mistake
.
When she’d moved the groundskeepers to secondary suspects because they only worked late evenings and into the night, she’d inadvertently let the maintenance crew slip through the cracks
.
But the maintenance people worked
all
shifts
.
They could go anywhere in the hotel and no one would think it was strange.

Beth glanced at Mark and saw that he was watching the maintenance man
,
too
.
When he tipped his head toward the man, Beth nodded her understanding
.
She
took her cue
and rose from the table, excusing herself by saying she’d left something in her room
.
As soon as
Beth
was inside the club, she called Justin.

“The maintenance crew,” she said
.
“I need to know who’s on duty right now and where they are, or at least where they’re supposed to be.”

“One passed me not five minutes ago,” Justin told her
.
“But I know it was a legitimate job because I heard the woman complaining about a leaky bathroom sink driving her crazy.”

“Did you catch what room she was in?”

“Fifth floor, but I didn’t get the room number
.
It won’t take me a minute to find out.”

“Do that
.
I’m on my way in.
”
Beth dialed Mark
.
“Keep an eye on
Mr. Fix
-
It
out there
.
Justin and I are going to follow one of the crew that
was called in to do a repair
on the fifth floor.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner,” Mark apologized
.
“Maintenance would have a pass key to all the rooms
. With the right tools, they could pick the safe and
easily be in and out of there so fast no one would suspect a thing.”

“
And if
I’d had my mind on my work when I made the list, I
would
have caught it before now
,
too.”

“Must be love,” Mark
chuckled
.

“That’s no excuse,” she said irritably, thoroughly disgusted with
herself
for
losing focus and overlooking something so obvious
.

“Hey, lighten up
.
It happens, Beth, and you caught it anyway so there’s no harm done.”
 

Beth had been walking while she talked and spotted Justin waiting
for her
by the front
desk
.
“I see Justin
.
Follow your man if he moves.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

She disconnected the call
.
“Some
captain
I am,” she mumbled under her breath
.
“I almost sank the ship.”

“You, bellhop,” she snapped
.
“
Come
to my room and help me with my bags.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Justin
smiled pleasantly
.
“He’s in room 515 right now,” he said
once
they were in the elevator
.
“I called and told the
woman
I was the assistant manager and wa
nted
to verify
our maintenance man was working on the problem
.
She said he was under the sink, so we should be able to catch him before he leaves.”

Room 515 was midway down the long corridor
.
“I’ll take this end,” Beth said
.
“I’ll stand by the pop machine so I don’t look too suspicious
.
You hang out at the far end
.
He won’t think anything of a bellhop in the hallway
.
If he takes the elevator, be prepared to take the stairs
.
I’ll watch to see what floor he gets off on and call you
.
If he goes anywhere but the first floor or basement, I’ll get Mark in here to help you.”

“What if he takes the stairs?”

“I’ll give him a few seconds and follow
.
Once he goes into a room, I’ll let you know where he’s at.”

“Be careful, Beth,” Justin said.

“I won’t confront him without my bodyguards,” she smiled reassuringly
.
“Go now, before he comes out of the room.”
 

Beth watched him hurry down the hall
and
then dug in her purse for a dollar
.
She posed in front of the pop machine, positioning herself at a slight angle
to
catch the maintenance man in her peripheral vision when he left the room
.
Ten minutes later, he emerged with toolbox in hand and headed her way.

She leaned over, pretending to deliberate
 
over the choices in the vending machine as the man advanced on her
.
He stopped in front of the elevator but she could see he was watching her
.
He eyed her far too long for him not to recognize her if he spotted her on another floor, but it didn’t matter
.

If it
was
him,
they would
nail
him
before he had a chance to put it together anyway
.
The elevator doors slid open and the maintenance man stepped inside
.
When the doors closed again, Beth moved quickly to see
whether
he was heading back down, smil
ing
triumphantly as she called Justin’s cell.
 

“I think we’ve got him
.
Get moving
,
Justin
;
he’s already past the eighth floor
.
I’ll let you know when he stops.”