Read Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds for Free Online Page A

was still a mess.
    Did the person behind this intend for it to look like there was a struggle? Somehow, I just didn’t buy that. Everything was too strewn, as if it had been done on purpose. A couple of pictures on the wall had been broken. A bottle of perfume had been smashed. There wasn’t a clear path of destruction or point of ground zero. The mess was an equal opportunity offender.
    Then there was the note.
    I slowly walked into the room. I tried to be careful not to touch or move too much. You know, just in case the police ever did show up. The last thing I wanted them finding were my fingerprints.
    Something on the nightstand caught my eye. Jackie’s phone.
    Why would she go on a hike alone without a cell phone? Even if the signal was spotty, I’d still think she’d want to have it with her. I would.
    I picked it up. The screen showed several missed calls. I’d bet the number that kept reappearing was Clint’s. Spontaneously, I slid the phone into my pocket. Someone needed to monitor the device, just in case someone of significance called. Until the police were pulled into this, that person would be me.
    It was just out of consideration, I reminded myself. Because I was Gabby “Most Considerate Woman of the Year” St. Claire.
    Yeah, right.
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 5
    Since I felt wide-awake, I went back to my room and threw on some jeans, a red sweatshirt, and flip-flops, and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.
    I slipped my keycard into my pocket, grabbed my purse, and stepped into the hallway. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just knew I had to go somewhere. My brain was too active to sleep.
    I bypassed the elevator again and took the stairs down to the first floor. One lone attendant stood behind the check-in counter. I moseyed up to her and plastered on my brightest smile.
    “I was hoping you could help me,” I started. “I need to find out if someone other than me has been into my room today. Do you have that information?”
    The woman, probably in her early twenties, nodded. Her sleek blond hair bobbed with the movement. “We do. Is everything okay?”
    “Someone said they saw a man leaving my room. It was probably a member of your staff, but my work has a very high security clearance, so I want to make sure that’s correct.” I leaned closer. “I’d tell you what I do but then, you know, I’d have to … ”
    The check-in clerk’s eyes widened, before she nodded quickly and began tapping away at the computer. “Of course, ma’am.”
    Ma’am? It wasn’t every day I got called that.
    “I need your name and ID and room number.”
    I pulled out my driver’s license and slid it across the granite countertop toward her. As she typed, I marveled at the massive columns making up the inside of this room. The marble structures had to stretch at least four stories high. Twenty of my apartments could fit inside the entryway of this place alone—maybe more.
    “It looks like a key assigned to a Jackie Harrington was used at 9:42, 1:12, 3:15, and 7:05 today. You also had maid service come at 12:30. It appears you used your key at 8:41. Does that help?”
    I nodded. “Immensely. Thank you.”
    Had whoever kidnapped Jackie taken her keycard and used it to break into the room? That was my best theory.
    I started to wander the downstairs level. Past the grand entryway, there was a little café and marketplace, a huge dining room, rows of shops, and every other thing a person of means could imagine. And this was just in the East Wing. Apparently, the West Wing had a spa, swimming pool, bowling alley and movie theater.
    I took another hallway, one that led away from the social hub of the hotel. Based on the signs I was seeing and the sheets of plastic, this area was under construction. That didn’t stop me from wandering deeper and deeper down the wing.
    I stopped wandering when I spotted someone familiar in the distance.
    Clint.
    He was in the corner, whispering to a rough-looking man in