As a horrible thought occurred to her, she looked down. Relief flooded her and she smiled. Thank goodness, she wasn’t naked. For a second, she thought she’d stripped to sleep, as she usually did, but she was still wearing the yoga pants and camisole she’d donned for her stakeout.
“I take it back,” Logan drawled as he watched her. “Looks like you were sleeping on the job after all.” He didn’t so much push past her as stroll into the room.
“I didn’t invite you in.” But she did shut the door behind him and put the towel back along the bottom of it.
“I’m not a vampire, so I don’t need an invitation to enter. What are you doing with the towel?”
“Blocking out light.” Her head was a little foggy, but she was pretty sure he was supposed to be the one experienced in subterfuge.
Agnes walked over and pointed at her bedside alarm clock. “Ha! I was only asleep for fifteen minutes.” She flopped into the armchair in the corner of the room. “Stakeouts are the worst. How do people do this? It’s mind-numbing.”
Logan took off his leather jacket and tossed it over the desk chair. “How long have you been staring at the screens?” he asked as he checked the monitors.
“Years,” she groaned.
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Fine, about an hour.”
That made him gri
n. “Amateur. You couldn’t even stay awake for more than an hour.”
She wasn’t about to admit she’d fallen asleep twice in that time. In fact, she would probably still be asleep if he hadn’t come knocking. And right now, she wished he hadn’t.
Although…
“How about we do this in shifts?” She batted her lashes at him and flashed, what she hoped was, a non-threatening smile. “You watch while I nap, and then I’ll watch while you nap.”
“How about you come over here and explain exactly what you’ve set up that makes you so sure someone will try to steal from the hotel tonight?”
“And then naps?” she asked hopefully.
There wasn’t much reassurance in his answering grin.
“Fine,” she grumbled as she crossed the room to sit on the end of the bed facing the screens. She pointed at room ten, where the Dutch couple had been staying. “The de Jongs checked out this morning, but I didn’t have their room prepped for a new arrival. Instead, I spread the word that they were away for the night but would be back tomorrow to pick up their belongings. I made sure to tell housekeeping to keep an eye on the room because there were valuables inside.”
“Why housekeeping? They go home mid-afternoon.” His eyes were on her and not on the screens.
“Because they chat and I figured they’d get the word out. Meanwhile, I made sure everyone knew about the new delivery of sundries this morning.” She’d been proud of that part of her plan—it’d gone like clockwork.
Logan obviously wasn’t as impressed as she was. “You think new soap will attract the thief?”
“These soaps are handcrafted using pure goat’s milk and organic fragrances. There’s a waiting list of boutique hotels wanting to get this range. The only reason we have it is that I’ve dealt with the company a lot in the past and have a good relationship with them.” And because they hadn’t heard she’d been blacklisted. But she kept that part to herself. “These toiletries are so good that I even bought extra for my personal use.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I get it. This is the gold standard of hotel soap. How did you get them here so fast?”
“I ordered them my first week in the job. Their delivery just happened to coincide with my plan.”
“Your plan to trap a thief using soap?”
She ignored him. “I have the de Jong room set up as a trap and a stock cupboard full of top-rate goodies. Now, we just have to wait.” She looked up at him. “This is the part I hate. I thought if I had snacks and caffeine, it would be fine. But this is duller than dishwater. I can actually feel my brain atrophy as I sit here. How do cops do this?”
“Generally, they sleep during the day, so they can stay awake at night.” He reached for a bag of salted nuts, popped it open and took a handful. “Plus, cops tend to work in pairs, which means they have someone to talk to and keep them awake. Then there’s the radio. Never underestimate a good late-night DJ. And there’s peeing in a bottle. That kills a good five minutes.” The sparkle in his eye said he was messing with her again. At least one of them was having fun.
“Peeing in a bottle? I’m guessing your partner was male too. Makes me wonder how you even managed to stretch that to five minutes.”
“Too much coffee.” He passed the bag of nuts to her. “What I’m wondering is what you thought you’d do with a thief if one turned up. You were going to call the cops, right?”