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“Doesn’t that seem odd? These places usually have high turnover rates.”
“Let me call them,” she said, dialing the number.
“Good afternoon, Maison Soleil, the last home you’ll ever need.” She rolled her eyes and then plastered on a smile to help with her tone.
“Yes, I’m interested in coming to work for your facility. I’m a trained physician, licensed in the state, and looking for something a little slower.”
“I’m sorry. We have no need for any doctors at this time.”
“Okay, what about nurses? I have a friend in the same boat.”
“I’m sorry. We are not hiring at this time.” The woman abruptly hung up, and Gabi looked at Wilson.
“That seems more than a little odd,” he frowned. He tapped on the wall, and Victoria walked over, smiling at him.
“Yes, sir.” He could only chuckle.
“Victoria, would you run reports on electricians, plumbers, air-conditioning repair, all of it, and see how many times they’ve been called out to Maison Soleil since it opened?”
“Oh, I’ve already done that,” she said, smiling.
“You did? Why?”
“Well, you guys were saying that it was all cops on the inside. Sometimes, cops have side hustles, you know, second jobs.” Gabi and Wilson nodded. “A lot of them are skilled in things like plumbing, carpentry, roofing, that sort of thing. So, at first, I just looked for any calls or repairs made at the facility. Nothing. Not even a pizza delivery.
“Then I looked for any major repairs done that would have needed permits from the city or parish. Nothing. Either it’s the most well-made facility in the state, or the cops working there are doing all the repairs and not calling in any strangers.”
“You didn’t happen to check on security cameras?” smirked Wilson.
“Of course I did,” she smiled. “The facility has a multitude of cameras, inside and out. It’s all monitored internally and does not send any signals to local law enforcement, fire, or any other agency. None. Not even if there is a catastrophic fire.”
“Well, that’s not suspicious at all, is it?” asked Gabi.
“One more thing,” said Victoria. “Code and Hannah are on their way back from the cruise. Maureen died of food poisoning early this morning. Her body is being sent back on a medical chopper.”
“And her grieving husband?” asked Wilson.
“He’s already back at Maison Soleil.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“What happened?” Gaspar asked Code and Hannah.
“She was in the clinic, and the doctor said that she had a mild case of food poisoning,” said Hannah. “I’d been near her when she first got sick, so just tried to be a friend and concerned passenger. He gave her an over-the-counter medication and told her to drink plenty of fluids.”
“Then what?”
“Code was upstairs searching their room, and I signaled through comms that they were on their way back. I walked up with them, but when we got to the room, I offered to sit with her, but Al said he had it all taken care of and I should mind my own business.”
“Did he threaten you?” asked Nine.
“He didn’t give me any threatening words, but I damn sure wasn’t going to stick around. Our cabin was two levels down, so we had no way of watching them closely except for the small camera Code placed in the hallway. Everything happened so quickly, he didn’t have a listening device with him or a micro-camera.
“Around three a.m., he woke me to say that the doctor had entered the cabin again. About an hour or so later, Al was in the hallway shaking his head, appearing to be distressed. It was nearly five by that time, and Code got up on the pretense of going for a run.” She turned to her husband to let him finish.
“I had to go on their floor to get to the running track, so it made it easy for me to offer assistance and be concerned with all the commotion in the hallway. I offered to help pack their bags,” said Code. “He must have thought it wasn’t going to stick out to me that he only had one small suitcase, and she had two massive bags. Unless he planned a very expensive shopping excursion, there wasn’t enough there for a week, let alone months.”
“Did he have any explanation?” asked Gaspar.
