Eve sat back in her chair, her mind turning over the exchange.
Julie hadn’t said anything. But that frown had been real. And brief. Like she’d been surprised by the mention of renovations.
Which meant either Julie didn’t know about them, or there weren’t any renovations at all.
Eve was willing to bet it was the latter.
Their food arrived, and the conversation turned to lighter topics. The Inn. The upcoming New Year celebrations. Stories about past holidays. Lila’s pizza looked enormous, Mia’s chicken piccata smelled divine, and Eve’s own grilled chicken with roasted vegetables was perfectly seasoned.
They were halfway through the meal when William’s phone rang.
He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted. Just for a second. A tightening around his eyes. A flicker of something that might have been concern.
Then the smile was back, apologetic and practiced. “Excuse me. This is so rude, but I can’t ignore this. I have to take it. I’m so sorry.”
“Of course,” Eve said.
“Take your time,” Mia added.
“It’s fine,” Julie assured him.
William stood and moved away from the table, weaving between other diners toward the back of the restaurant.
Eve watched him go.
He didn’t head for the front entrance. He moved past the restrooms, into the corridor that led to the kitchen and the back exit.
She waited three minutes, watching the second hand on her watch tick around the dial.
Then she set down her fork and pushed back her chair. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
Lila nodded, already reaching for another slice of pizza.
Mia smiled. “Take your time.”
Eve walked toward the back of the restaurant, her footsteps quiet on the tiled floor.
She had no idea why she was doing this. No logical reason to sneak after William like some character in a spy novel. But her instincts were screaming at her. The same instincts that had saved lives in the ER and warned her when something was about to go wrong.
The hallway leading to the restrooms was narrow and dimly lit, with doors on either side marked with simple wooden signs. Women. Men. And at the end, a service corridor that probably led to the kitchen and the back alley.
William stood between the women’s restroom and that corridor, his back to her, phone pressed to his ear.
Eve slipped into the women’s restroom as quietly as she could and left the door open just a crack.
William’s voice filtered through, low and urgent.
“It’s nothing to be worried about and nothing that will get in your way,” he was saying. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll keep an eye on them, don’t worry.”
Eve’s breath caught in her throat.
Them.
He was talking about them. She was certain of it.
But who was he talking to? And what did he mean by “nothing will get in your way”?
If he was talking about Eve, Mia, and Lila, how could they possibly get in anyone’s way? They were tourists. Visitors. Here for rest and recovery, nothing more.
