Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I get a few second glances, but everyone is too involved with laughing and having a lovely time to stare at me. Or they’re too polite. I see some faces that look strangely familiar, but everyone’s so glammed up and airbrushed I’d have to get really close to know where I’ve seen them before.
“What is this event?” I ask Hamish.
“An after party for the Miss Olympus beauty pageant. Filming ended yesterday.”
I nearly trip on my boots. “So all these ladies—”
“Were this year’s contestants. Or past contestants. A few celebrities.”
That explains the familiar faces. I feel even more grubby in my work clothes. Everyone here is camera-ready, and I’m not even wearing makeup.
By the time we reach the end of the room, I feel like we’ve walked miles. And maybe we have.
“Is this the main ballroom?”
“Not at all,” Hamish says in his too-proper-for-the-Queen tone. “This is the third largest. Suitable for more intimate events.”
“Right.” Rich people and their mansions. I will not let this intimidate me. I will not.
It doesn’t help that I can feel Rex watching me. Like a spider studying the fly in its web. He’d have security cameras throughout his house and a secret lair where he could surveil everyone to his heart’s content.
He’s waiting for me. And when I reach him, I don’t know what he’ll do. It makes my heart beat faster.
My shoulders relax when we exit the ballroom by a small door in the corner and enter a dimly lit hallway. Hamish pauses and appraises me in a way that makes me think he made me walk through the party on purpose. He wanted to see whether I’d emerge from the gauntlet of high society with my head held high.
I give him a long stare. Yes, Hamish, I know you think I’m not good enough to be here. Any woman in that ballroom would make a better date for Rex than me. But I don’t want to date Rex. I want to arrest him.
Hamish must pick up on some of my silent conversation because he straightens further and harrumphs.
I wave a hand at the hall. “Shall we?”
He presses a panel and uncovers a hidden keypad. After keying in a code, he leans down and allows a blue light to scan his retinas.
Goosebumps break over my arms. This is some high-level security.
Paranoid much, Rex?
The door yawns open, leading to another dark hallway. “Where is Rex?”
“Mr. Roy is in his office. This part of the mansion is off-limits to most guests.”
I guess I’m not most guests. I roll my lips together so I don’t snark at the snobby butler.
“Alfie will see you the rest of the way.”
“Who’s—”
A little robot exits an alcove and rolls up, not much bigger than a robot vacuum cleaner. “Detective Inara Ramos,” it says in a recorded, gender-neutral voice. “Follow me.” It reverses gears and speeds up the hall.
Hamish closes the door behind me, and the lights dim even further. This isn’t ominous at all.
I follow the little robot, feeling the shadows close in on me. I’m getting close to Rex’s lair. Of course, he has all the security and tech a nerd can dream of.
“Alfie?” I ask to see if the robot responds. It chirps encouragingly. “Does Rex use a lot of robots around the estate?”
“That’s classified, security level nine. Override code: Swallow.”
“Swallow” is my submissive avatar. Rex told Ivan to help me in any way he could. Maybe I have security clearance in his home, too.
I can do all sorts of things with that access.
“Answer: yes,” the robot continues, “Over twelve hundred robots or android functions are enabled around the estate.”
I don’t know what that means, but I know that’s a lot of tech. I try to think of more useful questions. I can’t believe I’m interrogating a robot.
“Is this Rex’s only office?”
“Negative. This is the one in closest proximity to the Blue Ballroom.”
I would ask more, but the robot halts outside a polished wooden door and squeaks out some sort of code. The door opens automatically.
I can hear Rex’s murmur inside. Prickles break out over my skin. I can’t help but be affected by him. I wish I could inoculate myself against him because the more exposure to him I have, the worse it gets.
“Thank you, Alfie.” It never hurts to be polite, even to a robot.
The office is really a wing of several rooms. I wander through an impressive library, following the deep rumble of Rex’s voice.
He’s with someone, but it’s not until I’m just outside his open door that I realize he’s entertaining several people.
A rail-thin woman with dark skin and a wealth of shining black hair stands in the middle of the room. Her dress looks like it’s covered with diamonds, and she’s wearing a tiara high on her proud head. The second guest is in the corner. I can’t see her, but I can hear her bubbling giggles in contrast to the Diamond Diva’s rich and husky laugh.