A/N: Hello, lovelies. I told myself I wouldn't apologize any more for the length of time between updates, please just know that if I could have them to you quicker, I would. Thank you to everyone who is still reading, despite the delays. I adore each of you.
BPOV
"Just write down whatever you need, dear, and I'll run to the shops and get it for you."
I grinned at Mrs. Mavis. She'd been utterly distraught when I'd told her about the cats and I'd had to reassure her more than once that I was fine. I loved the older woman, she fretted but didn't smother. And now she was excited that I was making dinner for Edward that evening. She'd actually let out a little dreamy sigh when I'd shown her a picture of him on my phone, declaring him 'quite fit indeed'.
"I was thinking I might make that herb roasted chicken you showed me, and mushroom risotto. Maybe some sugar snap peas."
"Oh, that sounds lovely! I'll get you some fresh herbs and the good mushrooms from Tony's."
"He eats as much as Emmett does, so we'll need a good sized chicken."
"Leave it to me, dear! Just write that list and I'll take care of the rest."
I wrote down everything I needed for dinner, and decided ice cream sundaes would be fun for dessert, so I added all the stuff for those too, and handed Mrs. Mavis the list. She genuinely loved going to all of her favorite markets and shops around town to get what she needed. Truthfully, I think she enjoyed chatting with all the shop-owners and catching up on her gossip, too. I'd also told her about the strange text, and she'd promised to be extra alert when going about her errands. Just in case. I hated this weird feeling of limbo, not knowing what level of worry to treat the situation with. Edward's instincts were rarely wrong, he said it himself, and I trusted him completely, even if I was still a little hopeful that maybe the text and the cats weren't related at all.
After Mrs. Mavis left, I went for a run. My schedule wasn't as packed as the day before, so I had time. Luxe wasn't hosting any events, and I knew I'd be able to take care of everything I needed to and still be able to make a nice dinner, once again thankful that I had such a wonderfully capable staff that ensured everything ran smoothly even when I wasn't physically present downstairs.
A brisk four miles through downtown and along the river left me sweaty, but satisfied. It was a great start to the day. Especially since I'd had trouble falling asleep the night before. That stupid text with the picture of my home. How could that not be creepy? I'd told Edward the truth when I'd said I wasn't scared to be alone, but I'd be flat-out lying if I said I wasn't concerned. Was someone watching me? I'd called down to the front desk after hanging up from Edward the night before, and told Alec to simply be alert, and to tell me if anything strange happened, but the night had passed uneventfully.
After my run, I showered and dressed and headed downstairs. I knew I needed to talk to Jake and Alice, to tell them about the text, at least, and I would call Emmett, too, knowing that if he found out later he'd be upset that I'd kept it from him.
All three of them were as concerned as I was, and were glad that Edward and the police were aware, in case it did end up being related to the cats in my car. Speaking of cars, I needed to start shopping for a new one.
At about two-thirty, just as I was finishing up for the afternoon, there came a knock on my open office door. I looked up and was surprised to see Carmen standing there, a distraught look on her face. My stomach dropped and I immediately stood up.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
She entered the room slowly, wringing her hands.
"Miss Swan, I have to talk to you about something." Her voice was on the verge of tears and I was at a loss of what could be causing her such distress.
"Close the door and come sit down, Carmen, please." I gestured to the love seat, while I sat back down in the chair behind my desk.
The older woman sat and I waited for her to begin talking. She cleared her throat a few times and then straightened up and met my eyes.
"My Luis. . ."
"Your son?" I knew Luis was her second oldest child, a tall, shy teenager that occasionally drove her home. "Is he okay?"
"Yes. But last night, he came to me and he was very, very upset, and he told me something. And you know he's a good boy, Miss Swan. He would never hurt a fly, and he was just feeling so awful and I finally got him to tell me."
"Tell you what?" I was honestly baffled.
"When. . . the. . . the night that you were attacked by James Chaser?"
My stomach lurched at her words.
"Yes?"
"That day, Luis came to pick me up from work, you know like he sometimes does. He was early and when he came in I told him I wasn't ready yet, so he went back outside to wait for me in the car. He said that when he was walking back to the car a man approached him. And. . . and. . ." Carmen looked down at her hands, struggling to speak.
"It's okay," I told her. "Just tell me, please."
She nodded and met my eyes once more, taking a deep breath.
"This man. He offered my Luis money. He told Luis he would pay him fifty dollars if Luis would go inside the hotel and unlock the back maintenance door, you know the one behind the kitchen?"
I nodded, my skin prickling with cold goosebumps. That door was so rarely used that I tended to forget it was even there, tucked next to a big air conditioner unit.
"Luis said he didn't want to, but the man explained that he worked here, as an electrician. He had a uniform on and a name badge. He said he had lost his key to open the maintenance door. He didn't want to tell anyone inside, because it was the second time he had lost it and he thought he would get in trouble, but he needed to get inside to fix something important. That's the story he told him. Luis said this man knew where everything was, and he even gave him instructions on how to get to the door. And. . .and. . . my son, he wanted the money because my birthday was coming up and he was saving up to buy me my favorite perfume, and he. . . he did it, Miss Swan. The stranger paid him fifty dollars and Luis unlocked the door for him."
"Was it James?" I asked, but she shook her head.
"No. He said he saw the pictures on the news, but it was not him, he is certain."
"And Luis is positive this is the same day that James attacked me? September twentieth?"
"Yes. School let out early that day because there was a fire alarm issue. That's why he was early to pick me up. It was definitely the twentieth, and it was around two-thirty in the afternoon."
I thought about everything she had told me. If it was true, then maybe this is how someone had been able to slip into my hotel undetected and hack the elevator system, allowing James to override it later that evening. No one had seen James enter Luxe at all that night, but perhaps the same person who had paid Luis to unlock the door had also somehow managed to let James in.
A thought occurred to me.
"Carmen, what made Luis decide to come forward now? It's been over a month."
"He has been scared, Miss Swan. Apparently, few weeks ago he overheard me talking to my husband, about how the police had questioned us all about the thing that was found hooked up to your elevator, and that no one knew where it had came from, and no one knew how James Chaser had been able to get in without someone seeing him. He was scared to say anything at the time because he thought maybe the man would somehow know he told someone, and might find him and hurt him. But he's sensitive, my Luis, and he just could not keep this secret anymore. He feels so very guilty. I promise you, he would never have done that if he thought he would be putting you in harm! He just thought he was being helpful. You must believe me, Miss Swan, he's a good boy and he's never, ever been in trouble before and, and-"
The poor woman was on the verge of hyperventilating, and my heart went out to her.
"Hey, hey, calm down, Carmen." I stood and made my way around the desk to where she sat on the love seat, sitting down next to her. "I know Luis is a good boy. Whoever this was, they took advantage of his sweet nature. Please, you need to just breathe."
"Miss Swan, I am so, so, sorry!" she cried, gripping my hands. "He feels just absolutely terrible, and he is so scared. I swear to you, I did not know any of this until last night!"
"I believe you, Carmen, honestly I do. But, I'm going to have to tell the police about this."
"What will happen to my boy, Miss Swan?" she fretted.
"Nothing," I promised. "I won't let him get in trouble for this. But, he actually might be able to help the police, by giving them a description. I want to thank you for telling me this; I know it had to be so very hard for you."
"I love working here for you, it's the best job I have ever had, but I understand if-"
"Hey now, none of that." I cut her off. "I don't want to hear any talk of you not working here for me. I'd be simply lost without you."
Carmen smiled though her tears, and I once again assured her that everything would be okay, but that the police would probably want to talk to Luis. She nodded and then stood and made her way to the door.
"Thank you, Miss Swan. You have every reason to very angry with my son, but your heart is too kind."
"He's barely more than a child, Carmen, and I know that he wished me no harm. Please tell him that I'm thankful he came forward with this information."
"I will."
After she left, I blew out a long breath, my head spinning with this new turn of events. I pulled up the program on my computer that kept track of employees, and which days they worked. It also listed all the maintenance and repairs performed. I was able to see that Christopher, one of our on-staff electricians, had been working on the day of September twentieth. He had taken care of a malfunctioning electrical socket in the kitchen that morning, followed by the replacement of an exterior light a little bit later, but he'd finished both by one. No other electrical issues had been reported for the whole rest of the day, and there was nothing "important" to fix around two-thirty in the afternoon.
I reached for my phone and texted Edward.
Are you busy?
I drummed my fingernails on my desk, waiting for his reply. He might be in a meeting, or talking to a witness, or chasing a bad guy, or any number of things detectives do. Maybe-
My phone beeped.
No what's up? Another text?
No but can you call me?
It rang less than five seconds later.
"Hey," I said.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes, but boy, do I have a story for you."
I relayed to him everything that Carmen had told me. Edward listened intently, asking a few questions, and getting me to repeat certain things.
"And it definitely wasn't Chaser?" he asked when I finished.
"He says no."
"Wow."
"I know, right? I checked the log before I called you, and one of our electricians was doing some work that day, but he was done before one. And I know Christopher, he wouldn't be careless enough to lose his key, he never has before, and even if he did, there's no way he'd pay a kid to sneak him back inside. He's worked for me from the very beginning, and is an extremely reliable employee."
"Okay, well, I can tell you that we will definitely be wanting to talk to Luis. I'll get that scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be able to provide us with a decent description. It would be fucking excellent if we were finally able to wrap up that last loose end."
"According to Carmen, Luis is absolutely terrified. I mean, I can't say that I'm happy with what he did, but I've met him before and he's just a sweet, naive kid."
"Well, it took a lot of guts for him to come forward with this."
"Here's what I don't understand, though. None of the security footage in the entire hotel picked up this guy at all. And wouldn't it have raised suspicions if one of the cameras had shown Luis unlocking the back door?"
"Bella, with the right tools, it would be really easy for an experienced hacker to manipulate the security footage. Believe me, they're ingenious. After he was done planting the device, he could definitely go back and clean up after himself, so to speak. Get into the system and get rid of anything incriminating that showed either he or James or even Luis entering the hotel."
"Well," I said, "Now I'm extra glad that the whole security system has been completely overhauled and updated."
"Me too. What it sounds like to me is that he got a hold of the building blueprints and was searching for the most inconspicuous way to enter. Even if he could mess with the surveillance video, he wouldn't want to take the risk of being seen throughout the hotel. So my guess is he slipped in that back door, went directly to the elevator system, planted the device, slipped right back out again, and then covered his tracks."
"But he somehow made it so that James could also get in undetected."
"Possibly through the same door. You said it's so rarely used, would anyone be checking to see if it was locked or not?"
"The security guards make their rounds every night, but I'm honestly not sure if they check the locks on that door every time," I admitted. "They definitely will from now on, though."
"Okay. Well, there's a lot of info to work with here. I'm gonna have someone review the videos, too, just to see if we missed something. Hey, hang on a second, okay?"
I heard muffled voices in the background before Edward came back on the line.
"I gotta go, angel. But, I'll see you at seven. Let me know if anything else comes up."
"I will, baby. See you tonight."
After hanging up with Edward, I knew I needed to call Emmett and tell him about this. He'd made me promise to keep him up to date on any new developments having to do with Chaser or the cats in my car. I only got his voicemail, though, so I left a brief message.
Knowing there was nothing else to be done right now, I headed upstairs to begin prepping dinner.
*EotN
My kitchen smelled amazing. Mrs. Mavis had shown me how to make her delicious herb roasted chicken a while back, but this was the first time I attempted it on my own. The chicken was approaching perfection in the oven, the mushroom risotto was already finished, and the sugar snap peas were ready to be steamed in buttery broth.
It was a balmy, breezy evening, perfect for dining alfresco on the terrace. Among the outdoor furniture under my pergola was a square table with matching high-backed chairs, and earlier I had set it with a pretty turquoise tablecloth, woven place mats, china, and silverware. I'd also added an old-fashioned hurricane lamp, since it was a bit too breezy for candles.
Emmett had called me back as I was prepping the food, and I'd filled him in on everything Carmen had revealed. He'd been just as stunned as I was, and though the big brother in him wanted to be upset with Luis, he knew just as well as I did that the young boy had never meant to cause any harm.
Edward texted me while I was making the risotto to tell me he was leaving the station and heading home to get showered and should be at my place on time. Now, the clock showed I had about ten minutes before he would arrive, so I took the white wine out of the fridge and grabbed a couple glasses, setting them on the bar. I poured myself some wine and wandered around as I waited, ending up in the foyer and studying my reflection in the full length mirror there. I'd chosen a casual outfit for our evening in; drawstring-waisted lounging pants in a shade of light blue, and a soft, ribbed tank top that matched. My hair was up in a simple bun, and I had just a little bit of makeup on.
The intercom buzzed, startling me.
"Yes?"
"I'm starving down here, woman."
I laughed.
"Well, come on up, handsome and I'll feed you."
Two minutes later, I was in his embrace and all was right with my world again.
A/N: So there are some. . . developments? I'd love to hear your thoughts.