She smiles at me. “Hope your stay was everything you wanted and more.”
I glance toward Adelaide over my shoulder and grin. “More than I was expecting, actually.”
The lady’s mouth curves like she knows exactly what kind of room she checked us into and approves of the outcome.
“I’m settling the bill for The Reef room,” I say.
“The bill is under Clio’s account, and she confirmed she will be covering all charges,” she says.
“Move it to mine.” I hand over my Amex Black Card. “All of it. The room, the meals, the service, the whole stay. And put four more days on Clio’s account in advance too, for whatever she needs next. Consider it a thank-you.”
Her brows lift just slightly, but she recovers fast and takes the card with an even bigger smile. “Of course, sir.”
She works quickly, fingers tapping across the screen, while the storm batters the windows behind me. Then she hands my card back. “I can have the invoice emailed over, if you’d like.”
“No need.”
I tuck the card away and head back to the others, where the rain is still coming down hard enough to turn the parking lot into a gray blur.
“Well,” I say, stopping beside them, “this is going to be fun. Not like we’re strangers to getting wet.” I laugh at my own joke.
Three heads turn toward me.
“Geez,” I mutter. “Tough crowd.”
Adelaide’s phone lights in her hand. She glances down, starts typing, then stops as something else catches her eye. Her thumb scrolls. Her face changes.
“What is it?” North asks.
She lifts her chin, a smile on her face. “Clio messaged. But I also missed a bunch from my brother over the last few days.” Her voice thins. “He found Rebecca, and she’s in Whispering Grove after all.”
I can’t help but grin, knowing she needed to hear this news.
She nods quickly. “Yeah. He did as we asked. He didn’t go inside, just got close enough to see her through the window. He even sent a photo.” She shows it to us, and yep, it’s her, looking so bright and settled. “Let me read some of this.Confirmed. I found the woman. She seemed happy. Was laughing with a customer. Nothing strange.Followed her for a couple of days and nothing out of the ordinary.” Her gaze lifts to mine. “He also found out she’s newer in town and discovered her exactly where you said she’d be, Ace.”
She throws herself at us all at once, arms around whoever she can reach, and I get one hand on her back while North and Luca close in too. When she leans back, there are tears clinging to her lashes, but she’s smiling now, shaky and beautiful and ruined around the edges.
“You were telling the truth.”
“I know,” Ace says softly.
“I wanted to believe you. I did,” she says. “But I needed to hear it from someone else…” She gives a helpless little shrug. “Someone I knew and was unbiased.”
“That’s fair,” North adds.
Ace takes her hand and kisses the knuckles one at a time. “Whatever you need to trust us again, for however long it takes, we’ll give it to you. You’re the only one of us who gets to decide when the waiting ends.”
“Chris is a good man to have in your corner,” she says. “We’re going to like him.”
“Would need to meet him one day,” I suggest.
She laughs. “Oh, he’ll want to meet you three.”
Another crack of thunder shakes the windows.
“Now we really have to go,” North murmurs. “Ace is coming with me so we can do a quick check on the main grid near our place. Luca, use Ace’s truck and take Adelaide straight home.”
I nod, and Ace is handing over his keys. The second the glass door opens, the rain comes down sideways, smacking into us. Adelaide squeals, so I pull her under my wing, tucked against me, and we’re running across the parking area. The sky is slate and black in uneven layers, and a line of lightning forks across the eastern horizon as we watch. The jacaranda tree nearby is whipping sideways.
