Fortunately, I didn’t encounter Sonia on my way back. The kitchen staff and other hostesses looked at me curiously as I made my way back to the service elevator, but they were too busy with other things to bother with me when I was clearly getting out of their way. They didn’t seem to care about the box of whiskey glasses.
My phone went off with a text as the elevator climbed out of the basement.
‘I am at the room with a pretty. Where are you?’
The elevator dinged, depositing me on the correct floor.
‘On my way. Or should I take the long way around while you entertain your pretty?’
‘Business before pleasure.’
That’s not a good sign, really. Nikki has always found time for pleasure during business.
I couldn’t really speed up, though. The Fairhaven Club, while it conducted business, was a place of leisure. Walking fast, unless I was one of the help, would be noticed and remarked. Unfortunately, the service elevator was pretty far from the specific room, so it took several minutes of walking. Once again, the club seemed much bigger on the inside than it should. This time, however, I had a GPS signal. I was going in a different direction from the corridor in the basement, but I could see that my position had strayed beyond the walls of the original Fairhaven Club building.
Fairhaven was one of the oldest parts of Belport, going back to the 19th century, and some of the buildings were jutted up close like in older parts of Boston or Philadelphia. From what I could tell, while the surrounding buildings on this block also housed shops, the Fairhaven Club had likely acquired them over the years and expanded beyond its walls into those buildings as well. Unlike the basement, they had seamlessly decorated the member areas to resemble that of the original club.
With a little work, I should be able to figure out where that corridor ended up.