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“So… who else works this job? And what time does his shift start?”

“Six. That’s Mike. Donny works the graveyard. Neither of them is very friendly, though. They’re straight by the book, don’t talk to anyone, come in, do their job, and leave. You were lucky to get me today to show you this room. They’d probably both kick my ass for letting you in.”

So much for that idea.

“Well, I appreciate it. You’ve alleviated my fears.” I sighed, and looked back at the monitors. Reeve’s room wasn’t there I noticed now. “I’m guessing that Reeve’s suite isn’t actively watched?”

“Ah, Mr. Sallis’s room is recorded, but the screen for his room is locked in his office in a cabinet like those.” He pointed to the ones behind us. “The recorders to those are in there too. Only one who has access to that is the man himself.”

Now this news was better. Because I had a better shot at getting into Reeve’s office. All I needed was his key ring.

Cade leaned toward me and winked. “So no one’s seeing anything inappropriate.”

I pretended that was exactly the reason I’d asked. “Thank God. No one’s selling our sex tapes.”

He covered his ears with his hands and said, “Too much information, too much information.”

I took that as my cue to leave.

The rest of the afternoon was spent inconspicuously searching through Reeve’s suite. I knew no one was watching me over the cameras, but Reeve could watch the recording later and find out I’d done it. If he later came to me with accusations, I’d man up and tell him I was snooping, as many girlfriends do. I wouldn’t have to tell him I was looking for something specific.

My search ended fruitlessly, but I wasn’t that disheartened. I’d seen Reeve pocket his keys when he’d first gotten them from the security room, and I guessed he likely kept them on him at all times. Which just meant I had to wait until he got home to try to confiscate his office key. All I had to do was get his jeans off of him and wait for him to sleep, right?

Lucky for me, getting Reeve out of his pants hadn’t ever been a problem.

CHAPTER 24

When I arrived at dinner that night, Charlie and Parker beckoned me to join them at their corner table. Brent was with them as well, and though I felt a pinch of guilt about eating with him, I figured it would be strange if I ignored their invitation, seeing how they were really the only three people I knew at the ranch.

Besides, this was my chance to see if they’d say anything useful now that Reeve wasn’t here to give warning looks any time the conversation got interesting.

Unfortunately, they were just as tight-lipped, just as evading. Every leading question I asked got ignored. Every prompt turned into a story about something else.

And then Parker slipped.

All three of them had consumed a number of beers during the meal, and by the end, Parker, at least, was closer to drunk than not.

Without any elicitation from me, he put his elbow on the table, leaned on his hand, and, looking up at me with glazed eyes, said, “You know, Emily’s the first woman our man’s brought here who doesn’t have a drug problem. That’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”

“Parker,” Brent warned.

“I’m just saying it’s nice to have a decent woman for a change.” Parker gave me a sloppy smile. “You’re a nice change, Emily.”

Charlie had been quiet for most of the meal, but now he said, “You never liked the last one, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t decent.”

Parker sat up and thumped his fist on the table. “No, she wasn’t. And you’re right – I didn’t like her. Because she was a high-maintenance pain in the ass. I’m glad she’s off our hands, even ending the way it d—”

“Parker!” Brent thwacked the younger man across the head. “You’ve got a loose tongue. Shut it.”

I hadn’t realized how much I’d begun to believe that Reeve really didn’t have anything to do with Amber’s death until that moment. “What does he mean, ‘ending the way it did’?”

“Forget it. He shouldn’t have said anything,” Brent said.

“But he did say it, and now I want to know.” I needed to know. “What did you mean, Parker?”

Parker looked from Brent to Charlie and then at me. “I don’t really know. I’m drunk.”

Charlie stepped in. “He just meant it was a bad breakup. For lots of reasons that are too personal for an employee to get into about his boss. If you want to know more, you’re going to have to ask Reeve.”