Page 78 of Backwater Justice
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At the same time, Bart called Dickie to let him know he’d taken the women to dinner and he was now parked a few hundred yards away from Isabelle’s car. “She can’t go nowhere without me noticing.” Bart was somewhat enjoying playing secret agent man.
“Well, don’t lose her,” Dickie replied. “I’m on my way to Blaine.”
“I thought you were gonna do that tomorrow.”
“Oliver is having a nervous breakdown, so I gotta get her out of there.”
“Where you takin’ her?” Bart asked.
“My cabin.” Dickie was not in the mood for idle chatter. “Listen, let me go do what I gotta do, and you do what you gotta do.”
“Right, boss. I won’t let her out of my sight.” He didn’t realize Dickie had already ended the call.
Sasha had a feeling Bart was either tailing Kathryn or Isabelle. She figured she’d find out soon enough. She slouched down and pulled the bill of her cap over her eyes. She was going to get a little shut-eye. The GPS she’d planted on Bart’s truck also had a signaling device to alert her when the vehicle was set in motion. By the way Bart was positioned, Sasha didn’t think he was going anywhere, by truck or by foot. If he was secretly keeping an eye on the inn, then he couldn’t afford to be recognized.
Kat and Isabelle went to the main office to get keys to their rooms. There was only one double bed per room, so it would be uncomfortable for them to stay together.
From where he sat, Bart watched Isabelle walk up the flight of stairs to her room; Kat was on the floor below. He tried not to have fantasies about the two women together. He didn’t consider himself a pervert. Didn’t all men have that fantasy? Especially if they were included in the fun? Most of his pals had mentioned it on one or two occasions when they saw two attractive women together without male companionship. In high school, when you saw two girls together, you hoped one would go for you, and the other for your friend. Now that he was over thirty, two women at a time was much more intriguing. He had to stop his thoughts from wandering. Females were what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. Not that he’d had any plans whatsoever for that teenager. He just liked being a hero to a cute young thing. So much for that idea.
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Isabelle phoned Kat on her burner. “I just got a text from Charles. Sasha is tailing Bart, but he drove around the neighborhood, and is parked a block or so from here. According to Sasha, it looks like he may be tailing one of us.”
Kat laughed. “That’s a riot! I wonder which one.”
“My guess would be me. Everyone seemed a bit jumpy about my coming down here.”
“Considering someone disappeared from this inn, yeah, that sounds about right.”
“Bart told me the laundry room was locked because there had been a flood, and it’s in the process of being cleaned up.”
“And you don’t believe him?”
“Would you?” Isabelle asked.
“Good point. So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to look at the blueprints and then take a stroll to the laundry room.”
“You plan on breaking in?” Kat asked.
“If necessary. You game?”
“Aren’t I always?” Kat replied. “So if he’s got eyes on the front of the inn, how do we leave our rooms without being seen?”
“You’re on the first floor. Is there a rear window?”
“Hang on, let me check.” Kat went into the small bathroom. “Just a vent window in the bathroom. I doubt I could fit through it.”
“Well, then, I’m going to go to the main office and take a closer look around. Pretend I need a bottle of water.”
“Alright. I’ll wait a few minutes and meet you there. I’ll go to the truck and scoot around the front so he won’t see me go inside.”
“Okay. See you in a few.” Isabelle hung up and went to the front office.
“Hi. You’re Bethany, right?” Isabelle greeted the substitute night manager.