“My shift is about to start,” Javier said, looking at the small clock on a box in the corner of the room. “If I’m late it’s more demerits.”
“Thanks, Javier,” Aria said, pulling him in for a hug as he passed. “I’ll see you later. I hope you have a good shift.”
He didn’t say another word as he slipped out the bungalow door and left Monroe and Aria standing inches from each other, but feeling miles apart. “I never promised,” Monroe started, but she waved him off.
“I know you didn’t,” Aria cut in, trying desperately to not look hurt. “You don’t owe any of us anything. I just thought you’d be more sensitive when you heard him out.”
“Sensitive isn’t my usual speed,” Monroe admitted. “I have to ask tough questions.”
“I understand.” Aria sighed. “I have a couple other people who have agreed to talk with you.”
“And you’re still fine with that?” Monroe asked. “I understand why you might want to back out now.”
“It’s important. They’ll talk with you. If I tell them to, I know they will.”
“They love you,” he said, looking fondly at her gentle face. “People follow you because you care for them.”
“It gets us nothing in the end,” she said flatly.
“Dinner,” Monroe said, snapping his fingers together as he remembered his conversation with James. “Tomorrow night. I have to make reservations for dinner. An associate and his wife are coming in, and I told them I would. Any suggestions?”
“Just eat at one of the places on the resort,” Aria shrugged, her face flushed with an emotion Monroe couldn’t nail down.
“That won’t work,” he said, taking her delicate hand in his. “You said you can’t eat on property. So we’ll need something off the beaten path.”
“You want me at a dinner with you and other people? Associates?” Her eyes were wide and untrusting. “I wouldn’t fit in around that table. I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“You’re the perfect addition to any table. Any room.” He leaned down and nibbled at her earlobe. “Any bed.”
“I know a place,” Aria said, brightening some. “How fancy should it be? What do they like?”
“I actually haven’t met them before,” Monroe explained. “You pick something, and I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“I know a place I’m sure they’d love, but I don’t have anything to wear.” She looked down at her current outfit like it was a potato sack. Unworthy.
“I’ll have something perfect for you. I have an eye for dress sizes. You make the reservation, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
“Everything else,” Aria said, falling into his now open arms. “I hope you do.”
Chapter 12
“This is Elena,” Aria said as she gestured to the meek woman shuffling toward them. “She’s a housekeeper at the resort.” Aria could practically read Monroe’s mind. How could a woman so skinny and hunched over do a job like that? The answer was simple, she had no other choice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Monroe smiled, extending his hand and offering her a gentle handshake. “I’m grateful you’ve made some time to speak with me today.”
“Are you with ICE?” she asked nervously, looking back and forth between them. “You want my papers?”
“No, Elena, he’s not with Immigration Enforcement. He’s my friend; remember I told you he wants to hear about how you came to be here.”
“I’d also like to see a copy of any contract or paperwork you signed,” Monroe offered. “I’d like to look into things a little deeper.”
Aria cut in, “They didn’t give us copies of our contracts. They reference them often enough. Use them against us. But I haven’t seen mine in full since the day I signed it.”
“Same for me,” Elena said, nodding her head and frowning, which made her wrinkles deepen. “But I know where they are.”
“You do?” Aria asked, looking surprised.
“Yes.” She beamed suddenly. “I have to clean the top floor when the staff up there is sick. There is an office that faces the lazy river, and in there they have all of our paperwork. Files. Everything about us.”
“Could you get me in there?” Monroe asked, and Aria momentarily lost her breath at the terrible idea.
“We can’t break into an office and steal paperwork. We can’t ask that of Elena. It wouldn’t be safe or fair,” Aria insisted.
“In an hour,” Elena said with a casual shrug. “The cleaning crew will be finished. Everyone else is at lunch. My card works there.”
“You’d do that?” Aria asked hesitantly. “Aren’t you worried about getting in trouble?”
“They threaten me all the time that I’ll be turned over to ICE if I screw up. Sent to some prison somewhere. I’m old. I’m tired, and I’m starting to think any way out of here is better than staying.”
“If you get me in that office, I’ll need twenty minutes,” Monroe calculated quickly, seeming to brush over the emotion and desperation in her voice. “Can you get me that much time?”
“Don’t you want to hear her story?” Aria tried redirecting the conversation. “She has grown children in the states. Grandchildren she’s never met. Elena has been here for two years. They found her working at another hotel in Texas. You can’t imagine the pressure they put on her. They made her think this was her only choice, and they would help her gain legal citizenship if she would come work.”
“I’m sure it’s been difficult,” Monroe offered, but it sounded hollow. “You get me what I need, and I’ll do what I can to help you.”
“Sounds like what they said.” Elena laughed, exposing a few missing teeth in her kind smile. “But I have less to lose this time.”
“I’m not here to trick you,” Monroe assured her. “Immigration and citizenship issues are not easily solved. I don’t pretend to offer any kind of hope there. Whatever I can do to help, I will. But first I need what I can get out of that office.”
“Meet me up there in an hour. I’ll swipe you in. From there it’ll be up to you.” Elena was already shuffling away from the bunk area and back toward the resort.
“If you get caught up there, it won’t really matter,” Aria said flatly. “If she gets caught letting you in, the consequences will be severe. She’s not a pawn in a game.”
“I could hear every story by every person on staff and it still wouldn’t be enough. It doesn’t prove that anything illegal has taken place. I need to see the contracts and determine if what they are doing is unlawful or just unethical.”
“Just unethical,” Aria huffed. “Don’t ethics mean anything?”
“Of course they do. But bait and switch doesn’t hold as much water as actual fraud. Something you can prove if you look at the contracts that were signed. If I see documentation they have on each employee, we can get an NGO in here to investigate.”
“NGO?” Aria asked, furrowing her brows.
“A non-government organization. Some have the capacity to come in and investigate a situation and help bring the issues to light. It doesn’t mean they have the power to take immediate action, but I’ve seen a few NGOs with some punch to them. But they don’t show up for nothing. They need a starting point.”
“And you think that can be in the office you’re about to break into?” Aria asked, propping a hand up on her hip and eyeing him.
“Don’t know until we try.” Monroe shrugged coolly. “Life is full of risks. But that’s how we get to the reward.”
Chapter 13
“I should go with you,” Aria groaned as she held tight to Monroe’s arm. “I don’t want you to get in any trouble.”
“I’ll be fine. Getting information is my specialty. Just head to my room and be ready to welcome me back.” He pulled her in for an intense embrace and cupped a handful of her ass. “This will be easy. I’ll give you something hard later.”
He loved how her cheeks flushed and her mouth snapped shut to stifle a giggle. “Fill t
he bath. I’ll be back before you know it.”
As he glanced over his shoulder at her, Monroe had to fight a smile. Aria was genuinely nervous that he’d get caught. What she didn’t know was just how many offices Monroe had broken into over the years. Actually, he liked to think of it more as visiting prior to an invitation.
There was one key to getting in and out of a place with what you wanted. Look like you belong there. A skill Monroe mastered ages ago. No eyes darting around nervously. No fidgeting. No fumbling. People didn’t spend their time assuming they were about to be broken into.
Monroe busied himself on his phone as he rode the elevator up with Elena, pretending they hadn’t just spoken. Two other people exited on the floor below and left them alone but Monroe didn’t look up. “Cameras?” he whispered. And she gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
They stepped off the elevator, and she began to push her heavy cart down the hallway to their left. “Are you lost?” she asked him, pulling her badge from her shirt and swiping it under the access pad.
“I’m fine,” Monroe answered evenly as he pushed open the door that led to the office Elena had described. With his head high and his chin jutted out, he moved through the hallway as though he were on his way to a scheduled meeting. As two men passed, chatting about a group coming for a convention, Monroe looked them straight in the face and greeted them.
When they rounded a corner, Monroe found himself alone in the hallway, and he made his move. The office was not locked. The security to get on this wing seemed to be what they relied on.
Pushing the door open, Monroe stepped inside the room and found it was far more storage than office. Document boxes were piled high against each wall and file cabinets were crammed into the remaining available space. Making quick sense of the filing system wouldn’t be easy. He thought twenty minutes would be pushing it, but he knew now he’d need more.
When the door squeaked open he readied himself for some explanation. But at the sight of Aria’s flushed cheeks he knew it would be all right. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, as he quietly tugged her in and closed the door.
“I couldn’t sit down there. Look at this place,” she said, spinning around and lifting the lid off a box. “What a mess.”
“I need to snap some shots of the employment contracts. Some documentation of payroll. Any infringement on international labor treaties. Where they hell should I start?” Monroe checked his watch and bit anxiously at his cheek.
“Contracts are about twenty pages long if I remember,” she said as she began pulling open file cabinet drawers. “Here are a few.” She pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to him. “Start with those, and I’ll find some payroll documents.”
“Thanks,” he said, spreading the papers out and snapping pictures with his phone. “You shouldn’t have risked coming up here, but I’m glad you did.”
“We make a good team.” She grinned as she flipped the covers off a few boxes and began rifling through.
“Think of how much fun we could have in Paris,” he said, looking up for only a second then returning to the job at hand. Even with that quick glance he could see her perk up at the suggestion, then suddenly her face fell flat.
“Don’t say things like that,” she scolded. “You’re here for something. I’m helping. Then you’ll be gone, and I’ll be right here. There’s no Paris. Not for me.”
“By choice,” he reminded her. “I have no problem clearing a path for you out of here. Anything is possible when you’re with me.”
“I admire your confidence and the way you can suspend reality long enough to think you and I might have a future. I’m sorry to say, this is the best place for me,” she said, resigned. “Look here are some payroll documents.” She passed them over, looking relieved to change the subject. “They show the pay rates, and here they list what the employee has been docked. Sometimes it’s literally a negative balance. Can you imagine?”
Monroe took some quick shots of everything he could and checked his watch again. “We have to clear out of here.”
“Do you have what you need?” she asked breathlessly, putting everything back where she found it.
“This will do from here,” he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the door. “There are other financial documents I need, but I have a source for those. We’re cutting it a little close, according to Elena.” They slipped from the door and spilled awkwardly into the hallway. About halfway back to the elevator a voice boomed out her name.
“Aria?” a stern-looking woman called. She had a thick masculine brow and a mole by her chin. “What are you doing up here? And who is this?”
“Play along,” Monroe whispered. “The incompetence is out of control in this place.” His voice raised sharply and the approaching angry woman stopped in her tracks. “I want my suit. I want to know if it’s ruined or not, so I can figure out whose ass to kick.”
“Sir.” The woman tried to soothe. “My name is Carla, and I’m senior staff here. I can assure you I can help you find what you need.”
“I tried to tell him that his suit wouldn’t be on this floor. This is just for senior staff.” Aria’s voice was timid, and it pained Monroe to see her flinching like a beaten dog.
“You should not have let him up here,” Carla reprimanded. “You know his suit would not be up here. Sir, I will take you downstairs, and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“No,” Monroe bellowed angrily. “I’ll see myself down. I’m done with this. I shouldn’t have bothered forcing her to bring me up here. I should have assumed it would be another fool’s errand.”
“Sorry, sir,” Carla repeated with extreme urgency as Monroe passed through the door and stepped into the elevator. When the doors closed he groaned and tossed his head up in aggravation. He’d just complicated things for Aria, but he knew the only thing worse for her than getting in trouble for bending to a guest’s demands would be the real reason they were up there.
Pulling out his phone, he skimmed through all the documents he’d just snapped pictures of. He’d use this information to validate what Aria and her friends had told him. Then he’d decide if the resort was a safe investment or if it was time to walk away.
Walk away. It took on a new meaning now that he wanted Aria to walk away with him. And by all accounts she wouldn’t.
Chapter 14
Aria paced the hallway for a few moments before she decided to tap on his door. Monroe had actually protected her by yelling at her. It was a smart, strategic move. Yet for some reason, the boom in his voice and the way he’d dismissed her whole existence was lingering over her like a dark cloud. Monroe slipped so easily into the type of people who’d wielded power over her and the other employees at the resort. How quickly he could sound like a demanding, never satisfied monster.
“There you are,” Monroe said, looking instantly relieved as he snatched up her hand and pulled her into the room. Closing the door quickly, Monroe looked at her from head to toe. “How bad did it go after I left?”
“Just some demerits and a stern talking to,” she said, dismissing his worry with a wave of her hand. “Nothing I can’t handle. It was a smart move on your part. Certainly put her off the trail. Have you had a chance to look at the documents?”
He poured her a glass of rich red wine and handed it over with a look of apology. “I was just thinking about that. You risked a lot to go up there.”
“I told you, I couldn’t sit around and wait for you.” Her face flushed as his stare grew more intense.
“Even if patience wasn’t your strength, it wouldn’t make much sense for you to put yourself in the line of fire like that. So I started thinking about why you went up. And you know what I realized?” Monroe had a tiny mischievous smile on his face.
“What?”
“You wanted to make sure I didn’t come across your file. Very smart. I should have known you had a hidden agenda.”
“That’s not it at all,” she lied, taking a lar
ge swig of her wine and hoping when she was finished he wouldn’t still be staring at her.
“I won’t underestimate you in the future. What exactly would I have found in your file? Why are you here?” His wide shoulders and expanded chest were enough to have her pulsing with desire, but circumstances killed that quickly. These were the questions she could do without.
“Why does it matter?” she asked, propping a hand up on her hip and trying to look like she couldn’t be rattled.
“Because somewhere in that story is the reason you think you can’t leave. Somewhere in that truth is the objection I need to overrule. Until I know what is going on in your head I can’t convince you of your options.” He sat in the large leather chair in the corner and ran a hand through his hair. “So what do I need to do for you to tell me the truth?”
“Why do you care where I go or don’t go?” She gulped back the nerves brewing and kept her chin tipped back proudly. “I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue me.”
“Fine.” Monroe sighed. “But I still want to know. I’m a stubborn bastard, and I’ll keep finding new ways to try to find out. I’ll start by being a real pain in the ass.”
“Start?” she asked playfully.
“I’m not going to let up,” he promised. “I always get what I want.”
“Fine,” she huffed, flopping down on the couch across from him. “But you’ll need to top this glass off.”
“You’ve hardly had a sip,” he countered as she raised it to her lips and chugged the wine down.
“I see you have many hidden talents.” Monroe laughed as he stood, grabbed the bottle of wine, and obliged her request. “Now start talking.”
She nibbled at the inside of her cheek as she considered telling the story she’d been holding secret for over six years. She hadn’t been practicing the narrative. She’d been pretending it had never happened. She opened her mouth, hoping the story would take shape, instead a jumble of thoughts poured out.
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