Sunset Waves (2 page)

Chapter Two

“How do we know the guy staying here is the only reservation that’s been hacked?” Summer looked glum as she stabbed at her fried egg. “There could be more.”

“I know,” Kyra said, as she added the oranges she’d just sliced into a bowl with cut apples and melon cubes. “Our reputation could be ruined.”

“What if this guy writes us a bad review on the resort before we’re even open?”

“I don’t think he’s like that.” Kyra shook her head.

“How do you know?” Summer asked with a raised brow.

“I don’t, but he seemed to understand something was going on here out of our control.”

“I guess you’d better make sure he doesn’t then.”

“Me?” Kyra protested. “Why me?”

“Because you were the one
here
when he showed up.” Summer must have realized what she’d said was a dumb statement because she grinned. “I know. It’s not your responsibility, but is he cute?”

Kyra paused for a second before saying, “Yes, ‘he’s cute,’ but what does that have to do with making sure that he has a pleasant stay here at the resort?”

“Nothing and I’ll let you call dibs on him since he’s the only guest. You never know when you might meet that special someone and it won’t happen because you never go out on dates. When exactly
was
your last date?” Summer leaned forward with a glint in her eyes. “You should offer to be his own private tour guide.”

“Give me a break,” Kyra cried and then rolled her eyes.

The office door creaked and a deep voice called, “Hey, is there anyone back there?”

“Coming!” Kyra called out before she set the bowl down and then added, “You’d better not embarrass me, or I swear I’ll bring out the photo album of pictures of you in junior high.”

“Oh, lighten up. I won’t be here. I have to leave for an appointment. I guess I’ll have to leave the two of you here…alone.” Summer sighed and then winked at her.

Kyra scowled at her friend and hurried out to meet him in the outer office. “Good morning, Mr. Medina. Did you find everything to your liking last night?” Kyra’s cheeks heated. “I mean, considering the circumstances?”

“Actually…it was great. The best night’s sleep I’ve had in months.” He stretched his long arms over his head and yawned.

“I can make you some French toast with fresh fruit. Fiona will be the cook when the resort opens, but she’s not around this morning.” She waved a hand toward the resort’s veranda. “If you’d please have a seat, I’ll bring out your breakfast with some coffee.”

“Mateo.”

“What?” She blinked.

“My name’s Mateo. Please, since I’m not officially a guest, we have to go on a first name basis and not all of this formality. And, you didn’t need to come back and make breakfast, but that was nice of you because I’m starving.”

Geesh, why was she blushing? She hadn’t blushed since junior high. It was Summer’s statement about how cute Mateo was. She couldn’t help but gawk at him. Besides his black hair and dark eyes, he had a sexual allure about him that ignited all her cylinders. “
Mateo
, can you please have a seat?”

“Since you asked so nicely. But, I’ll only agree to sit out there if you join me. I don’t want to eat all alone. If you drink coffee, bring a cup for yourself. I’ve given it up for a while. I’ll take some juice if you have it. Can I help?”

“No. No…this whole situation is bad enough. I’ll be there in a minute.” Kyra hurried off toward the kitchen. Summer was still at the counter with her laptop open scanning some data for the resort.

“Well?” Summer asked. “Is he upset, now that he’s slept on it?”

“It’s the opposite.” Kyra placed the toast and juice on a linen draped tray. “He said he had a great night’s sleep.”

“Huh…” Summer grinned. “Maybe we should consider only renting one room at a time.”

“You’re funny. I think we’d be bankrupt in a week.” She poured a cup of coffee and nestled it on the side of the tray.

When Kyra pushed the French doors open with her rear end, she found Mateo standing near the balustrade looking out over the water. He turned and smiled and then sat on one of the lounge chairs. “It’s even more beautiful here in the daylight. It’s a great place. How did you and your friends become owners?”

“We grew up here. When we came back for our high school reunion, we realized that the small town we ran away from was where we wanted to be.” Kyra sat beside him on one of the chaise lounges, pulled up her legs and rested her coffee cup on her knee. “We all had some money saved up from our jobs in the cities, and decided together it would be enough to get the loan.”

“This place could be a gold mine.”

“You think so?” She was surprised by his affirmation.

“Sure. Some strong marketing, and it can take off.” He cut into the toast and shoved a chunk into his mouth. His eyes fluttered closed. “Man…this is the best French toast I’ve ever eaten.”

“Thanks. It’s one of the only things I can cook. Good thing I’m not the main chef here at the resort or they we’d be in trouble.” She laughed.

“Don’t you miss the city?” he asked as he swirled his fork and ate another bite. “You know, moving from there to here? Were you in New York?”

“Yep, the Big Apple.”

“Surprised I haven’t seen you around,” he joked.

She laughed. “You mean we never met in the 8.4 million people who live there? Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. After I moved back here for good, I missed a few of the little things. I miss the street vendor food. I miss showing up at a club and listening to music at one in the morning if I feel like it, and there’s a little part of me that misses getting dressed up and going into work in the morning.”

“I assume the dress attire here is a little different?”

“Definitely. I traded in most of my formal work attire for shorts and sandals…except for one pair of Louis Vuittons.”

“Your favorite?” He glanced at her and grinned.

“Yeah, they are my favorite. But, I also kept them as a reminder that I worked for a half a month so I could afford to buy them. Usually I’d put in fourteen plus hour days and then justify the cost to buy something expensive with all my hard-earned money. They are beautiful, but was I
really
any happier after I bought them?”

“Were you?”

“For a few days, maybe. But then material stuff begins to wear thin. This resort is something solid. It’s my future and I like building on that.” They both sat in silence for a few moments listening to the sounds of the water and birds overhead. She looked down into her cup. “Unless it falls into a ball of flames before it starts.”

He stopped eating. “Why would it do that?”

“Because of what happened with your reservation, will it happen with others? What if more people show up and they all write bad reviews before we are even open?”

“You’re right. I was going to call my credit card company and stop payment, but I left it open. It will be easier to track the fraud. We need to find out what’s going on and get to the bottom of this.”

“There is no
we
. If you’re talking about getting involved, you’re on vacation and it’s already been screwed up enough for you.”

“I’m sitting in the sun eating the best French toast I’ve ever eaten with a beautiful woman. I don’t think my vacation is too screwed up.” He grinned again. It lit his handsome face and her stomach did a flip.

He thinks I’m beautiful?
Absently, Kyra tugged at her ponytail and ran a hand over her hair to make sure it wasn’t sticking out all over her head. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “What’s your profession?”

“I work in marketing and computer geek stuff. It’s a medium-sized firm, but they’ve had one hundred percent growth within the company last year.”

“That’s the field I work in too. It’s a high pressure job in the big city. But, the growth in your company is good, right?” she asked.

“Yeah…it’s good. Lots of overtime.”

“You probably don’t buy high heels with your hard-earned money, so I assume it was the car and maybe a few other guy toys? Does it make you happy?”

He looked at her as though her question surprised him. “The car or the job?”

“Both, I guess. I’m just curious what others think who are still in the situation I used to be in.”

“I have everything I want.”

“That’s good. Wife or girlfriend?”

“I wouldn’t be here by myself if that was the case.”

She was happy to hear that piece of information. Mateo reached for the glass of orange juice on his tray. There was a tremor in his hand. He stopped, frowned, and then rubbed at his hand.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. It’s just a little bit of left over work anxiety,” he grumbled as he clenched and unclenched his hand.

“I used to have terrible anxiety at my job in the city.”

“Really?” He looked surprised at her confession.

“I had no control over when it came on. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. My hands shook all the time. When my friends and I decided to buy this place and I moved back to town, all of the symptoms went away.”

“I’m not planning on anything drastic, I just needed a vacation and then everything will be fine.”

“Well, that’s good.” She decided to drop the subject. “A vacation always helps. Is there anything else I can get for you?” Kyra asked as she stood and gathered his plates onto the tray.

“There is one thing. It’s about the shower.”

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “Did I forget the towels?” -

“No…you forgot the water. When I went to take a shower this morning, there wasn’t any hot water in the sink or the shower and I wasn’t quite up for an arctic plunge.”

“Oh…ugh. Let me call the plumber.”

“Does the plumbing work in any of the other rooms?”

“No. There must be a problem in the main building. We had a problem with the hot water tanks last week. They flip off and then don’t come back on.”

“Any ideas in the meantime? Is there a YMCA or something like that in town?”

“Let me put the dishes in the sink and grab my car keys. You can come over to my place and use my shower.”

He looked at her for a second and then said, “Are you sure it’s not an inconvenience?”

“Are you kidding me? You’re our first guest. Somehow, we never received your reservation and now your room has no hot water. Summer―one of the other owners―said I should be nice to you or you’ll write us our first bad review.”

“I wouldn’t do that. It’s not really your fault, you’re not even open yet for business.”

“That’s what I told her. You seem like a nice guy. If you’d like, later this morning, I could show you around town.”

“Did she tell you to do that too?”

“Maybe…but, I’d be doing it because I wanted to.”

“How can I refuse an offer like that? Should I thank you or Summer?” Mateo’s deep voice whispered of tangled sheets and hot nights.

“You can thank me.” Kyra looked back at him as she headed off toward the kitchen. She put a little bounce in her step and a swing in her hips. She looked back and saw Mateo tip his head and watch her as a lazy, sexy grin spread across his face.

She had a million things to do for the town event that evening, but she could take a few hours to make sure their first guest was happy. It didn’t have anything at all to do with the fact that when he smiled at her, she felt lightheaded.

He looked like he could be way more sinful than spending the money to buy a pair of Louis Vuittons and a lot more trouble. Mateo looked like he could be a heartbreaker.

Chapter Three

Mateo stared at the number he’d just dialed on his cell phone. It was the number to cancel his credit card reservation at the resort. This was what he should do. This is what he should have done last night when he’d first found out about the charge. But, he was still mad as hell. He had more money than he needed right now, so revenge would be much sweeter.

He pictured Kyra when she’d told him that the resort might be closed before it had a chance to open if there were any more bad reservations. He didn’t care about the money now as much as catching the shithead that did this to Kyra and the others. Whoever this slimeball was, whatever they thought they knew, Mateo bet he knew just as much. When he’d been a kid, he hadn’t had the easiest time. His family always scraped by from paycheck to paycheck. Not being US citizens for their first few years in America, his mom and dad had trouble finding well-paying jobs. He loved his family, so to help, used his computer skills to hack some things to sell to his friends. That was probably why he was so driven in his job now. He would never be without money again.

But a few hacked PlayStation games didn’t purposely hurt someone just trying to start a business. Not like this had. He shook his head and frowned as he placed his phone back on the dresser and pulled his laptop from his duffle bag.

Those earlier troubled years of his youth led him to where he was now. On top of the world. There was a small tremor in his hand and he rubbed it stiffly, ignoring the symptoms. He flipped open the lid of the computer and powered it on. There might not be running water, but at least the resort had Wi-Fi.

“Little Piggy, Little Piggy, come out, come out, wherever you are.” He pulled up the resort’s website. Going to his favorite tried and true hack sites, he copied the IP address for the resort and then input the data to trace back where the IP was going.

There was a green blip on the screen. “Yes!” Mateo did a fist pump in the air. He clicked a few more buttons and then he had them. “You think you’re smarter than me? They are still in town,” he muttered under his breath. Ahhh…the Internet was a wonderful thing. Scary, but wonderful.

He plugged the address into his smartphone and then flipped the computer lid closed. After trotting down the stairs, he peeked from room to room guessing Kyra was still somewhere on the premises. He found her in a back office designing a flyer on a computer.

He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms.

She looked up. “Mateo. Do you need something?”

“Yeah, I need you to stop what you’re doing and come with me.”

“I know what I said about giving you a tour of the town, but I’m right in the middle of—”

He cut her off. “Well, I found out who hacked your website. But, if you’re not interested…” He started to turn away.

“You what?”

“You heard me.” He turned back and grinned. “I thought you might be up for a little adventure and track them down. The idiot’s right here in town.”

Kyra leaped from her chair and grabbed her purse. “I want to go! How did you find them?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I have my ways.”

“What are your ways?” She returned his smile.

She’d stopped next to him in the doorway. He placed a hand over her head, leaned down and said, “I guess you’ll have to get it out of me.”

Kyra visibly swallowed, as she looked up at him. “I think I’d like that.”

He tucked a flyaway strand of her hair behind her ear. “You’ve got a deal.” He wanted to kiss her, but this wasn’t the best time. They were on a tight schedule.

He loved her no-makeup, fresh-faced look. For some reason, he couldn’t remember what he liked so much about those makeup-caked women he’d dated for the past few years. In worn, soft jeans and a v-neck white T-shirt, Kyra was the sexiest woman he’d laid eyes on in months. And her curves rivaled any that he could think of.

His mouth felt dry as he forced himself to step away. One more second looking into her big blue eyes and he’d be a goner. “Come on, are you ready?”

“Hell, yeah!” Kyra said as she followed him through the front door and out to his car.

He opened her door, waited until she slid in, before he came around to his side and got in.

“And manners, too,” she said with a sweet smile.

“I didn’t have much growing up, but my mama would have slapped me if I didn’t open a door for a lady.”

“I appreciate manners Not many have them anymore, men
or
women.” As he started the car, she leaned forward and ran a hand over the dashboard and console. “Nice ride. Not as fancy as my fancy shoes I purchased with my hard-earned working money, but it’s nice.”

“Thanks. She’s my girl.”

“I assume you don’t have a girlfriend if you’re in love with your car.” Kyra laughed. “Wow, it must have all kinds of
special
features to be considered ‘your girl.’- Does it cuddle up with you at night?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“You’re right, I don’t have a girlfriend. My car has heated seats but can’t cuddle.” Mateo felt his cheeks heat. Why did he suddenly feel embarrassed by his expensive car? But Kyra was right, it was just a car and not something to curl up with at night.

“I had an Audi RS7,” she said looking out the window at the streets passing by.

“It’s a good ride.”

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I sold it when I moved here. I traded sanity for a pickup and some spare cash. Didn’t need it. Not really into that status thing anymore.”

He frowned and looked over at her. “Is that statement geared toward me?”

“No. I try not to judge others and their choices and it’s none of my business. Nothing personal. I’m talking about myself. Been there. Done that. Over it, is all I’m saying. I’ve been happier in Sunset Beach than I’ve been for the last few years…maybe, even longer. It’s just a different pace of life. I missed it here, and I’m happy we all came home to buy this place.”

He slowed the car down to a crawl. “That’s the place.”

“What?”

“That mobile home is where your website’s tracked to. I followed it back to find the exact address.” He drove around the corner, parked, and took the keys out of the ignition. “You coming?”

“You’re going to bust in and go all Jason Statham on them?”

“No. We’re just going to check it out. I’m not getting shot by some crazed computer hacker, even for you.”

Kyra followed him around the side of the house. He peered into the living room window. “No one’s there,” he said. They moved to the far end.

“Why do I feel like James Bond?” Kyra whispered, as she flattened her back against the metal siding.

“We can both be James, but you are the only one who could be that and a Bond girl.”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re full of it.”

He spotted the glowing light on a computer in the next room. Cupping his hands, he gazed through the window at the person with his back to them. The person had the resort’s website on the screen. “I changed my mind,” Mateo said. “I’ve decided I want to kick his ass.”

“But what about the ‘not getting shot for me’ plan?” she whispered.

“I don’t really plan on getting shot. But, I guess if this might be my last few minutes, I’m going to make the best of it.” Mateo grabbed Kyra and pulled her to him. She let out a tiny gasp of surprise as he lowered his head and kissed her. He wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy. He’d said earlier it wasn’t the right time, but there was no time like the present.

He expected her to push him away, but instead she softened and molded against him. Damn, she felt so good and tasted like sunshine. Mateo quickly broke the kiss.

Her cheeks were flushed a rosy shade and her lips were a deep, tantalizing shade of pink.

“I’m not really sure why I did that, except it’s kind of expected if I’m James and you’re a Bond girl.”

“I didn’t mind.”

He smiled, as he tugged her hand to pull her behind him. They moved toward the front of the house. “Stand over there.” He pointed next to the porch. Mateo waited until she was hidden and then knocked on the door.

The person inside didn’t even ask who it was before Mateo heard the doorknob rattle.
Small town.
It was a wonder any of the trusting townspeople were still alive. This would never happen in New York City.

When the man opened the door, Mateo took the opportunity to wedge his hip through and then step inside.

“Hey!” the man said in a startled tone.

Then he was on him. Mateo pushed him across the room and up against the wall, where he almost knocked over a pole lamp. “Are you the jerk who’s been hacking the Sunset Beach website?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m the guy you stole money from and messed up my whole vacation!” He grabbed a handful of the front of the guy’s T-shirt and wound it in his hand.

He was going to punch him when he heard Kyra cry, “Mateo! Stop! He’s just a kid.”

As adrenaline coursed through his body, he shook off his anger and tried to focus. Kyra was right. The blond, mop-top scruffy kid didn’t look old enough to drive much less do anything else. “How old are you and what’s your name?” He growled, not loosening his grip.

‘Brendon. I…I’m sixteen. Please. If you’re going to beat me up, take me somewhere else. Don’t break my mom’s stuff.”

Mateo pulled the boy by the shirt and shoved him into a gold and brown plaid recliner. “My friend and I are going to sit here until you explain what you were doing and why you thought it was such a damn brilliant idea to hack the Sunset Beach resort’s website.”

The kid looked as though he was going to cry. “I never thought I’d get caught.”

Mateo let out a dry laugh. “Said by every criminal ever.”

“How’d you trace me?” the kid asked.

“Believe it or not, there are some people who are better at what you do than you are. Lucky for Kyra and the resort, I happen to be one of them. You screwed with the wrong guy.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Now that we have you, I guess we’d better call the cops and have them head over here for the arrest.”

Brendon’s eyes widened to large brown saucers. “No…I mean…oh, shit.” He put his hands over his face.

Mateo paused. “Not that I really care, but why’d you do it? Did you need money for drugs?”

“No!” the boy dropped his hands and shook his head so vehemently his blond hair flew from side to side. “I don’t do that.”

“Video games? Girlfriend? Frisbees? Tell me, you little punk!” Mateo’s blood pressure skyrocketed.

“It’s my family.” The kid slumped back in his chair. “My family needs the money. It was the only way I could think of - to help them.”

That wasn’t the answer Mateo expected. He blinked. “Your family?”

“Wait,” Kyra said. “I know you. You’re Ed Smithton’s son, Brendon. They were talking about your dad at the diner last week. He’s sick.”

“Yeah, he’s sick.” The kid wiped at his nose. “He’s got some rare blood disease crap that the doctors can’t seem to figure out. He’s been in and out of hospitals for the last three months. The stupid plant where he works laid him off. He lost his job and his health insurance. Bill collectors, banks, they all want a piece of us. My mom’s been trying to find a job for the last two months, but it’s a small town without a lot of options.” Now the boy really was crying. Tears streamed down his face.

Mateo looked from Brendon to Kyra. “He’s telling the truth?” he asked.

Kyra nodded. “He’s telling the truth. Now that I’ve looked at him, I know him and I know his family.”

“Well…shit.” Mateo paused for a long moment calculating all the options. He’d played out this whole scenario in his mind and this was never one of the endings. He looked at this kid, and dammit if he didn’t see himself at the same age. He heard the kid’s words over again in his head,
it was the only way I could think of to help
. He abruptly stood and paced the small living room.

“Are you going to call the cops?” the boy asked.

“Where’s your computer?” Mateo asked.

“In my bedroom.”

Mateo glared at the kid. He knew where the room was since they’d spied inside already. “After you,” he said and followed the boy down the hall. Mateo sat on the edge of the bed and motioned to the screen. “You, Brendon, are going to pull up the resort’s hacked site. Then I am going to delete all of your hard work.

After a minute, the kid waved a hand at the screen. “Here’s the website and the reservation screen.”

Mateo stood and jabbed a finger at Brendon. “Sit,” he ordered. Mateo got up from his chair and sat where Brendon had been. Kyra stood near the doorway. “Don’t worry, I can fix this,” he said to Kyra before he asked the kid, “How many reservations did you hack?”

“Two. But one canceled. That’s all. I swear.”

“So just mine.” Mateo clicked on the screen. The kid had done some work, but they weren’t talking Pentagon-level hacking. He spent the next ten minutes clicking through screens and deleting data. When everything was clean, he swiveled in the chair. “Is this the bank account?” Mateo asked, motioning to a new screen he’d pulled up.

The kid nodded.

“What’s the password?”

The kid told him. Mateo pulled out his cell and typed in the account name and number. Then he looked at the name on the account. “This is your parent’s account?”

The boy nodded again.

Mateo shook his head.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
He slammed the lid on the computer. The boy shrank back. “Okay, this is what’s going to happen. What time do your mom and dad get home?”

“At five o’clock, after Mom takes Dad into the clinic. Please don’t tell them. They’re going to be so pissed.”

“Kyra and I will be back here tomorrow at three-thirty. You will be here. At that time I will let you know what I’ve decided.”