Sighing happily, Teddy wrapped a fluffy towel around her recently buffed and polished body and padded to the private steam room set aside for her at the spa. She couldn’t stop the sensual images invading her mind of Leo’s lovemaking last night. During their shower together he’d been frisky and excitingly playful, but later he had tenderly made love to her, calling her mi amor, which meant “my love” in Spanish.
Her skin felt baby soft after the sea salt and honey scrub she had just enjoyed. Too bad she hadn’t had the scrub before their shower yesterday, but there was always tonight, she thought with a dreamy smile. Next up was a steam session to sweat out any impurities and soften her tissues for the Riviera’s signature four hand massage. She could hardly wait to emerge feeling renewed.
For the first time since having to stay in the small room assigned to her, Teddy was happy about its convenient location next to the spa. She’d have to indulge in more of the luxurious treatments soon.
She entered the steamy confines of the lavender infused room and looked for a place to sit. Visibility was an issue as she searched for a spot at the far end of the room. Settling on the lower ledge, she removed her towel and laid it lengthwise on the marble surface before stretching out on it. Breathing in deeply, she welcomed the steam as it seeped into her lungs and every pore of her damp skin.
She was there to relax, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the incident yesterday in Jove’s bathroom. She was greatly relieved she hadn’t gotten any urgent phone calls this morning, but the sooner she showed Martha and Leo the tape, the better.
Teddy had a lunch date with Martha later in the afternoon. She would use that time to tell her about the panic button idea for the housekeeping staff. Feeling a bit better now that she had that plan in sight, Teddy forced all external thoughts away.
She closed her eyes as her temperature rose until she broke out in a full body sweat. Olga, the attendant had told her she had the room for an hour, so she could go in and out as she liked. She could alternate between hot and cold treatments to rev up her circulation by steaming for five to ten minutes, taking a cool shower and then repeating it. She could also leave to get a cool drink of water if she desired so she wouldn’t feel claustrophobic.
Minutes later, she heard a shuffling noise in the room. Teddy wiped her wet eyes with a corner of the towel and sat up, trying to focus on where the sound was coming from. Icy chills spread over her wet skin when she saw a naked man approach her. What the hell? This was the private steam room Leo had reserved for her. No one else was supposed to be in there with her, especially not a naked man!
Trembling from head to toe, she wrapped her towel around her and slipped her feet in the rubber flip flops. She was going to give the intruder a piece of her mind, but when she got a good look at the man, all the blood drained from her face.
Jove was alone with her in a steam room! Had he seen her come in? Was he planning on attacking her? In a panic, she struggled to breathe as her heart thumped in her chest.
“Get away from me!” Teddy cried as he began to lower his body next to hers on the ledge.
Jove’s head shot up and he straightened abruptly. “What? Who are you?” A thick hand closed around her wrist in an iron grip as he tugged her forward to get a better look.
“You know who I am. Let go of me, pervert!” Teddy cried, shaking him off violently. “Don’t touch me.”
“You!” Jove roared in the frenzied moment of instant recognition. “Don’t come near me or I’ll alert security. You’ve done enough damage, young lady. I’m going to report you. This private room was reserved for me!”
“No, it wasn’t. You get away from me or you’ll be sorry!” she yelled. Who did Jove think he was fooling? He had followed her in and was acting surprised now to disarm her. Teddy was filled with such fury she wanted to strike him, but instead she bolted out of the room with only a towel shielding her naked body. She ran as fast as she could, adrenaline and fear fueling her until she reached her room next to the spa entrance.
Out of breath and frantic, she threw on a sundress and grabbed her iPhone. Glancing at the screen, she noticed several missed calls from Martha. Frowning, she listened to her voice message telling her to meet at her office right away.
The moment she entered Martha’s office, Teddy felt the high tension in the room. Martha sat behind her desk with her hands tightly clasped and Leo stood near the window overlooking the ocean with his hands in his pockets, his face somber.
“I’m here,” Teddy said, drawing their immediate attention as she entered. “Sorry to keep you waiting, but I just heard your message, Martha. What’s going on?”
Martha handed her a manila envelope. “Here is your copy of Charles’s report on Lola. Leo has already read it.”
“Oh good.” Teddy slid the report and photographs out of the envelope. Her brows drew together as she stared at a picture of a girl with wild, curly blond hair. “Wait a minute. Is this a picture of Ashley?” she said, holding it up. “The hair isn’t as straight as Ashley always wears it, but it looks exactly like her.”
“It is,” Martha confirmed. “To save time, let me sum things up for you.”
Teddy set the photo down and stared at Martha with quizzical eyes. “Please do.” She waited for Martha to continue, but Leo spoke first.
“It seems we have a mole here and it’s not Lola, but Ashley,” he said succinctly, his features tight with anger.
“Ashley,” Teddy repeated, astounded by the revelation. “How did Charles find out?”
“While he was investigating Lola, he noticed Ashley coming and going from Brent Corzo’s office and penthouse. It turns out she is his girlfriend,” Martha said, pressing her lips together contemptuously.
“What? This gets crazier by the minute,” Teddy said, sinking onto the small sofa beside Martha’s desk.
“Leo and I have discussed everything that went wrong this week and it all leads back to Ashley. The latest thing was when our backup crew from Orlando was canceled yesterday. According to the scheduling officer, a young woman called to switch the date to next Sunday. Other than me, the only person who would have made that call is Lola and she has a pronounced Brazilian accent. It had to have been Ashley.”
“That is insane.” Teddy shook her head and tried to make sense of things. Ashley had been fawning over Leo to the point of adulation and she had bent over backwards to gain his trust so he’d give her enough responsibility to sabotage the hotel behind the scenes. “It’s hard to make sense of all this. How did Brent have such power over two women?”
“Two evil women,” Martha added, her eyes flashing indignantly. “When you read the full report, everything will make sense.”
“So Ashley was planted here by Brent to sabotage the Riviera,” Teddy concluded in a hushed tone. “And to think we thought The Amoeba was the villain. Does she know about Ashley?”
“I doubt it. She wouldn’t tolerate being second choice,” Leo said.
“Maybe Lola thinks he’s going to marry her,” Martha mused. “God only knows.”
“After I leave here, I’ll go to Randolph and tell him about Lola and Brent…and Ashley,” Leo said with a grim shake of his head.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Teddy said gratefully. “I’m worried about how Daddy is going to take the news.”
Martha eyed their interaction, but kept silent.
“Lola is going to be homicidal when she finds out that Brent was using her and Ashley to do his dirty work,” Teddy said. “I wish I could be there to see it.”
Martha started to speak, but Leo’s phone rang and he answered it right away. His face drained of color as he listened, his dark eyes widening with alarm as he swallowed hard. “Was it an accident?” He listened for a short time and then said, “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and turned to them, stunned. “I’ll have to talk to Randolph later. We have an emergency on our hands.”
“What happened?” Martha and Teddy asked in unison.
“Lionel Jove was found dead in the steam room.”
Teddy gasped.
“Did he have an accident?” Martha asked.
“It doesn’t sound like it,” Leo said grimly. “Olga, the spa attendant, said that when she went to open the door for the next client, it was locked from the outside and the temperature in the room was dangerously high.”
“Oh my God! I can’t believe he’s dead,” Teddy said, chills running up and down her spine. “I just saw him a while ago.”
“Where?” Leo asked.
Teddy swallowed against her constricted throat, barely able to form words with her parched lips. “He walked into my private steam room. Naked.”
Leo’s jaw tightened, forming a tough ridge. “Did he try to harm you?”
Teddy shook her head vigorously. “No. I ran out of the room when I saw him.”
“Did anyone see you leave?” Leo asked tensely.
“I don’t know. I got out of there so fast, I left only wearing my towel.”
Leo turned to Martha, his face set in grave lines. “Martha, tell Ashley and Lola to report to the spa. Meet me there and bring the report with you. Teddy, you’re coming with me,” he said and sprinted out of the room.
Teddy raced after Leo as he headed to the elevator. “Leo, stop, I have to tell you something that happened yesterday.”
“Later,” he said, briskly striding forward. “There is a dead guest in the spa.”
The elevator doors opened and they entered it. Several people were inside, so Teddy held her tongue until they got off on the ground floor.
“Leo, please listen. It’s about Jove.”
He turned to stare at her, his black eyes penetrating. “What is it?”
“It’s faster if I show you.” Teddy’s hands shook as she played the damning video on her iPhone that she’d filmed of Jove the previous day.
“When did you film this?” Leo asked in a chilling tone.
“Yesterday, when I was assigned to housekeeping. Rosa was terrified of Jove, but Phillip told her she had to serve him no matter what. When he started to get raunchy, I taped him because she was afraid of getting fired like Carmen.”
Leo gaped her as if she’d lost her mind. “Don’t you know it’s illegal to tape someone without their knowledge?”
Teddy gulped. “I didn’t know that.”
“For God’s sake, do you ever listen to anyone?” he exploded. “I told you not to go near him yesterday and what did you do? You took it upon yourself to film him naked in a bathtub. He could have attacked you. Of all the lame things you’ve done this takes the cake.”
“It wasn’t lame,” she protested, cut to the quick. “I did it to protect Rosa and to incriminate Jove.”
“You should have called security and not taken things into your own hands. How many times did I tell you to stay away from Jove?” His tone was dangerously low and contemptuous.
“A few times,” she admitted, chastened. “But I did it to put an end to Jove’s sexual bullying. That film will do it.”
Leo stood before her, his eyes clenched shut as he strove to contain his fury. When he opened them, they were black icicles. “You have an incriminating video on your phone and you were the last one with Jove before he died,” he said tersely.
“Not necessarily. Someone else could have gone in after I ran out.”
“Olga said the door was locked from the outside. Only a staff member could have done that. And someone had tampered with the heating gauge. When she unlocked the door, Jove was dead on the floor. It doesn’t sound like he died by accident.”
A shockwave of terror paralyzed Teddy. Someone must have murdered Jove!
“Do you know what that means?” Hard as steel, Leo’s eyes bored into hers with stark conviction. “It means you are the prime suspect,” he bit out.