A man was yanking a struggling Tessa out of the kitchen. She was fighting him, but he was half carrying, half dragging her across the restaurant. They weren’t heading to the front door to the lobby, they were going the other way toward the windows, then they moved out of sight.
I leaned forward. “Where did they go?”
“He took her outside,” Caden said.
“Who the fuck is he?” The smoke haze made it hard to get a clear view and he was careful not to look at the main cameras.
This was him. This was our saboteur.
The man who’d poisoned Tessa.
“Wait, let me check the other cameras.” Caden tapped on the keyboard.
Enzo frowned at the screen. “He’s familiar.”
The image switched to an outside camera. I caught a brief glimpse of Tessa and her captor. I had a clear view of Tessa’s enraged face, while the man holding her was half out of the frame, his face in profile.
Enzo sucked in a sharp breath and swore in Italian.
I knew that guy. I frowned. “The IT guy.”
Enzo nodded. “Rupert. Rupert Fairbanks. As far as I know he’s quiet, mild-mannered, shy.”
“It’s him.” I ground my teeth together. “He’s the one who did all of this. All the accidents, the dead deer, Tessa’s poisoning. It washim.”
“And now he started a fire and abducted her,” Caden said darkly.
My body locked. “Caden, where the hell did he take her?”
“I can’t see. I’ll search all the outside cameras and see if I can get another glimpse of them.”
Fear bit at me. This guy was unhinged, and he had Tessa.
“Rupert’s always had a crush on Tessa,” Enzo said. “She never noticed.”
“Yeah, I clocked that the first time I met him.”
“I’ll also check his social media accounts.” Caden’s hands flew. The screens filled with images from the outside cameras, then another screen filled with social media. “I’ll see if I can get a read on him. What he likes, where he goes.”
“He designed the hotel’s damn computer system,” I bit out. “That’s how it was so easy for him to hack it and shut off the cameras the night he poisoned our food.”
“Shit.” Caden slapped a hand on the desk. “There’s an old post on his social media. He has a history with the Windward Resort.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Tessa mentioned it. His great-grandfather co-founded the resort with Chester Clarence. Clarence swindled the guy out of his share. Left him with nothing.”
Caden looked up. “It sounds like Rupert wasn’t thrilled about that.” Caden cursed. “Some of the language here…I can’t be sure but I think he’s the author of the hate mail I’ve been worried about.”
I straightened, my chest tight. “He feels the hotel should be his. And Tessa.”
“And you took them both,” Caden added.
“Find him.” He could hurt her.God.No. I couldn’t lose her.
“There.” Enzo pointed at the screen.
I saw an ATV tearing out of the maintenance bay. Tessa was on the back with her hands tied together.
“I know where he’s taking her.” I spun and sprinted out of the security office.
