Page 11 of Under Fire in Big Sky

The guards were spreading out, covering the property, which left little to no coverage in the lobby.

Eli pounded a fist on the front desk. His composure was cracking. He never should’ve left Olivia’s side, even for a minute, no matter how much she wanted to be rid of him. His sole purpose here, the reason she’d brought him, was to cover her back, and he was failing.

He hoped this sabotage was the extent of the ecoterrorists’ plans and that Olivia was somewhere safe, albeit contained. But deep in his gut, he sensed this was only the beginning.

Pounding footsteps from the corridor that led to the stairwell caught his attention. Jason hurried back into the lobby.

Eli was glad the security guard hadn’t been caught in the elevator when the power went out, otherwise he would’ve been trapped.

“What did the management office upstairs say?” Eli asked.

“Dempsey and Chip Whitney went to meet Lane. The executive assistant, Audrey, was supposed to show her where she could set up and interview the staff, but none of the others in the main office know which room it was going to be.”

Eli’s heart sank.

“Mr. Whitney passed by a few minutes ago,” the receptionist said.

The woman had given him trouble about paging Olivia, stating it went against hotel procedure. He’d finally convinced her, only after she’d wasted precious time, but at least now she was doing her best to be helpful.

“Was he alone?” Eli asked.

“He was with two of his bodyguards.”

“Do you have any idea where he went?”

“Mr. Whitney mentioned he needed to speak with the other investors and how he didn’t want to be late. I know he had the corporate meeting room booked for today and I saw him head in that general direction,” the receptionist said.

Backing away, ready to take off, Eli asked, “Where is it?”

“On the west side of the building.” She showed him which way to go. “You’ll pass the lounge, the gym, the pool, and spa, then turn the corner and you’ll see it.”

Turning to leave, Eli sniffed the air and caught the scent of smoke. “Do you smell that? Where is it coming from?”

“Oh, my God,” someone shouted as people hurried from the bar area, funneling into the lobby.

“A huge fire broke out in the kitchen,” another person said, making a beeline for the front doors of the hotel.

“Go check it out,” Eli said to Jason. This couldn’t be a coincidence.

Jason nodded and they separated, with Eli heading for the west side of the building.

“Smoke is coming from the east wing!” someone else shouted in the lobby behind him. “I think there’s a fire down there.”

Eli kept moving to find Whitney.

More than one fire meant it most certainly wasn’t happenstance. Was Gloriosa code for arson?

It wasn’t an uncommon method for ecoterrorists to use, but they usually set empty buildings on fire to avoid hurting anyone. Multiple fires during the soft launch had to be designed to ensure pandemonium with no regard for casualties.

Even worse, they must’ve gotten to Olivia. It was the only explanation for why she didn’t come to the front desk after he’d paged her twice.

How could they have gotten the drop on her? Was she all right?

If anything happened to her on his watch… He erased the thought, refused to consider it.

Following the signs for the gym and spa, he raced down the corridor, bobbing and weaving around guests and staff. Eli needed to get to Whitney. The man might be the only person who could tell him where Olivia was.

Contending with a group of granola-munching environmentalists should’ve been easy-peasy. Instead, this was turning into a nightmare.