No, she didn’t recognize him. Emma turned around. The path stretched empty behind her. No man. No wheelbarrow. No clippers. Only rustling palms and dappled sunlight, and the distant sound of waves.
She stood perfectly still for a long moment; her pulse ticking up despite her best efforts to stay calm.
He went into the trees. Or stepped out of sight.
Maybe.
Emma’s instincts—the same ones that helped her excel at hiring, helped her read people and catch inconsistencies in backgrounds—said otherwise.
She started walking again, faster now, her hand finding the coin in her pocket.
As the resort’s buildings came into view, she made her decision. She’d tell Zach. Not panic. Not overreact. Just inform him professionally that something felt off. That was his job, after all. Security.
And if Ana-Luz’s words kept echoing in her head—‘the island protects those who care for it’—well, Emma was practical enough to take protection wherever she could get it.
Even if she didn’t entirely believe in folklore.
Yet.
Chapter 20
Stress Test
Zach was reviewingcamera feeds in the new security office when David cut into his thoughts.
Zach. Trouble.
What?His eyes stayed on the screen: rewinding, replaying a shadow shift near the staff entrance.
Either one of the electricians is an idiot, or someone intentionally rerouted a power feed under the spa deck.
That got Zach's attention. David didn’t use terms like idiot lightly.Can you show me?
Not without Lena here. I’m on the pool deck—the outdoor hot tub. You’ll want eyes on this.
He was already moving.
A wall of bamboo surrounded the utility area—designed to hide the equipment from guest view. Quiet. Isolated. Easy to overlook. Easy to access if you knew where to go.
Zach slowed as he approached, scanning the surrounding zone. No movement. No sound beyond the muted hum of systems and distant waves. No obvious disturbance.
David crouched at an open panel, tool kit beside him.
Zach took in the scene in one sweep. Panel open. Screws removed—one in the dirt. Cover leaning off-angle.
He knelt beside David, focus narrowed. Fresh tool marks on the terminals. Clean, not rushed.
David shifted, pointing. “Here.” A feeder line had been moved from its original circuit and rerouted to a secondary distribution branch. A bypass jumper installed with expert precision.
“That line shouldn’t be pulling from the secondary branch. Someone physically rerouted it.” David said, his voice tight with concern.Someone accessed the panel, as you can see.
Are you sure it was originally wired right?
Yes. I checked it myself last week.
“Implications?”
David blew out a breath. “Under normal load? It would hold. Hit it with a surge—generator switch, peak HVAC draw, anything that spikes the system—and it’ll overload. Fail hard.” David’s jaw tightened.
