Shane spoke through gritted teeth. “What the hell do you want, Newberry?”
“I want you to go into that office and tell Becker that I’m here to work. Explain to him that you made a mistake when you let me go, and that I’m back on the hotel staff. Permanently.”
“And if I don’t?”
“The choice is yours. But something tells me that if you know what’s good for you, you’re going make the right decision.”
After a very tense moment, Shane turned around. Leaving Ryan with the girls, he started down the hallway.
* * * *
Shane held his breath as he knocked on the door to Mark’s office. When he was told to come in, he entered the room and shut the door behind him.
Mark typed on his computer without looking up. “What’s all the shouting about?”
“Newberry’s back.”
The slightly older man smacked the keyboard with his fingers. “What does he want?”
“His job.”
“Give it to him,” Mark said after a moment.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“You’re not?”
Silence followed.
“This guy is trouble,” Shane insisted. “I understand your reasons for keeping him here, but I think you’re going to regret it. Don’t believe me? Just wait and see.”
Mark crossed his arms as he sat back. “The jerk wants to monitor traffic from the hotel lobby. Frankly, that’s a headache I don’t need. And it isn’t as if you’ve been picking up his slack.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“What, and I haven’t?” Mark threw back his chair as he stood. “You were hired to do a job. If you want to keep it, get to it, starting with telling Newberry he’s back on. Understand me?”
He understood perfectly, Shane reasoned as he wandered back to the front office. The question was, did Mark?
Chapter 25
“Good morning, Abigail,” Mr. Becker said as Abigail entered the lobby Monday morning. Apparently the manager was up front with the slaves today, instead of locked away in his office like he usually was. Dressed in a sharp blue collar shirt with the hotel’s name stitched into the front pocket, he stood behind one of the computers at the desk, typing.
“Hey, Mr. Be—Mark. What brings you to the front desk? I don’t suppose you want to help us check in guests?”
“Nah, I’ll leave the fun of that to you guys.” When Abigail stepped beside him, Mark cleared the screen he’d been viewing and said, “I was having some computer issues this morning, which hopefully Shane has worked out for me. Let me get this stuff out of your way.” He took a large clump of files from the shelf beneath the desk. Red instead of manila, the folders didn’t look much like anything else they used around the hotel. Though it wouldn’t exactly surprise Abigail to learn that the managers were keeping the more expensive supplies for themselves.
Several minutes later, Ryan stepped through the doors. Instinctively, Abigail smiled at him then kicked herself for doing so. Why should she be nice? Mr. Becker had officially given Ryan his job back, but that didn’t mean she needed to jump back into the swing of throwing herself at him daily.
“How are you, Abigail?” Ryan asked a moment later, inclining his head in her direction as he got on the computer to clock in.
Abigail shrugged. “All right, thanks.”
The two of them worked hard that morning, as several guests without reservations showed up. Thankfully there was no shortage of open rooms for them to occupy, but by eleven a.m., Abigail was grateful to see that their reinforcements—Julia and Sheldon—had arrived.
Around noon, she decided to break for lunch. Having no desire to eat in the staff lounge, she took the sandwich she’d packed and ventured outside. She walked to the far end of the property, coming past the old wing. There was a large section of woods behind it. Where a section of trees had long ago been cleared stood several picnic tables and a couple of barbecue grills. The managers didn’t encourage them to take lunch in the picnic grove, but they were allowed to do it as long as there weren’t a lot of guests around.
Abigail picked out one of the tables, selecting the side that faced the woods for her seat. As she listened to the sounds of birds and chipmunks, she dug into her lunch bag, which contained a sandwich, a bottle of water, and an apple. She had worked up quite an appetite and she finished her meal quickly, ending up with several minutes to spare. She attempted to use the remaining time to meditate, but soon found her eyes drifting toward the old wing. Thinking about the fact that she’d never really gotten a fair chance to look around in there, she gave the worn-looking building a double take. Recalling the last time she was in there, the moment that man had stopped in front of the vending machine, she shivered something fierce.
Shoes crunched against the ground. Abigail turned around, realizing that someone was hovering over her. “Ryan.” She released a breath. “You scared me.”
“I scared you?” He took the seat opposite her. “That’s a switch, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure you’d think so.” She looked at his hands. “You brought lunch? I thought you always make a point of eating out.”
He shrugged. “I’m trying something different today.”
“Oh.” Tapping the picnic table with her fingers a few minutes later, Abigail asked, “So, how does it feel to be back at work?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know when it sinks in.”
They sat for a while, saying nothing. The silence was maddening but Abigail decided it had to be better than arguing. When she saw that she only had a couple of minutes left in her break, she stood up and took a long stretch.
“Has anything exciting happened since I’ve been away?” Ryan asked her suddenly.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I assume that’s what you’re asking me, whether or not something out of the ordinary happened?”
“Glad to hear that it hasn’t.”
Whirling around, Abigail said, “Just because it hasn’t, that doesn’t mean that it won’t. I’m not going to stop until I know why my father died. It’s what he would have wanted, Ryan.”
“I’m sure you believe that it is. When someone you love is taken from you, you wonder how things will ever be the same. I wish I could tell you they will, but the truth is, I can’t. You just have to find a way to let it go.”
“You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”
Ryan looked away. He took a long, deep breath before saying, “Not every father is like yours, Abigail. Some are self-centered addicts who do everything in their power to drive away the people they love. Sometimes their children pick up on their habits. And in some cases”—he swallowed—“it costs them everything.”
Before she could ask him what that meant, Ryan continued, “Several years ago, my younger sister Rachel was killed in a car accident. She was coming home with her friends from a party and they’d been drinking. Heavily. The driver lost control of the car and she crashed into a telephone pole. Rachel made it to the hospital, but she died in a matter of hours.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” Abigail said.
“Rachel was such an amazing young woman. She always saw the good in people, even when they didn’t deserve it. She never even yelled back when my father screamed at her. I guess that’s why in one ironic way, she became just like him.”
Ryan didn’t say any more, just stared into the thick of the woods. Abigail watched him, hardly believing what had just happened. Ryan had opened up to her. At last, he was sharing what was inside. And the man she’d thought wasn’t fazed by anything was carrying around demons as large as hers.
“Is that why you were always so afraid when you found me wandering around in the old wing?” she asked. “You thought I might get hurt?”
Ryan’s fidgeted with his fingers.
“Do you care about me?” Abigail asked.
“You’re putting words in my mouth.”
“I don’t think I am. We b
oth lost someone we love. And I believe”—she breathed in and out—“that I’m saying what you want to yourself. But, you’re afraid because you think that if you admit what you really feel, I’ll get hurt. That somehow, I’ll end up like Rachel.”
“Dammit, Abigail. I tried to protect you because you made it your mission in life to walk into danger. Because you were up in my face and because you almost got the both of us killed. For no other reason did I—”
“I don’t believe you,” she insisted, tears forming at the base of her eyes.
Ryan released a long, loud breath. “Abigail.” He softened his tone. “I understand why solving this case is so important to you. Now you know why I understand it better than anyone. But it isn’t what you’ve made it out to be. I”—he glanced upward—“I looked into your father’s witness. Christopher Barrows, the real Christopher Barrows who saw your father get shot, died of a heart attack two years ago.”
“No!” Abigail cried. “No, I don’t believe that. It can’t be true—you’re lying to me!”
“I wish I was. But it’s true. The connection you thought was between your father’s shooting and the hotel murders doesn’t exist.”
“I suppose you’re going to tell me that I imagined the ledgers, too. That maybe I was dreaming when I saw those men in the file room, and in the old wing. You’re making up a story because you want me to stop investigating. Admit it!”
“Abigail.” Ryan blew out a long breath. “I care about you. As your supervisor, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“But that’s it…right?”
He smiled tightly.
“Fine,” she said after a moment. “Fine about all of it. Keep your secrets—all of them. But so help me God I am going to find out why my father was shot. And I’m going to do that with or without your help.”
Abigail refused to look at Ryan as she got up from the bench. Without turning around, she snatched up her lunch bag and walked back to the lobby.
* * * *
You look so sexy today I just want to take you out right now. Let’s say we forget about waiting until later and start our evening early.
Julia blushed as she read Shane’s text a second time. Sending flirtatious messages during working hours was definitely against protocol. But she didn’t object to getting a little aroused on the job, so long as no one was watching.
Shane was a lot bolder than the other men she’d dated. It was as if he’d swooped into town from some alternate universe and fate had brought them together. She felt like she’d been waiting for tonight forever.
“Where should we put these brochures?” Sheldon, suddenly behind her, asked.
“Um…I don’t know. Over by the fireplace I guess. And watch where you’re going, all right?”
Realizing that Sheldon had probably caught of glimpse of Shane’s message, Julia shoved her phone into her pocket. She was sure that the teenage boy was only curious. But she wasn’t about to stake her job on that assumption.
“Everything all right, Julia?” Sheldon asked when he came back to the desk.
“Just peachy.” Julia moved some papers around in an attempt to make it look like she was working. “Why do you ask?”
Sheldon shrugged. “Word on the floor is that you’re going out with Shane Dempsey tonight. Is it true?”
“It’s”—Julia nearly choked—“I’m sorry, what?”
“Right, okay. Well I don’t suppose you want to know what I think of your date, then, since you obviously don’t have one.”
“Hold up there, four-eyes. Just what is it you have to say about this date I don’t have?”
“Well,” Sheldon answered, “aside from the fact that your relationship would be strictly forbidden in the employee handbook?”
“Yea, fast forward to the main course, please.”
“It’s nothing, I guess. But I don’t entirely trust our assistant manager. Every time he’s on a break, he’s outside on the phone. I’ve heard him get pretty loud, too.”
Okay, Julia’s curiosity was peaked. “Loud about what?”
“I only hear a few words at a time. But the guy’s got issues. If you plan on going out with him—well—whatever you do or don’t do, I think you ought to be careful.”
So this was the big revelation? Julia released the breath she had been holding. “You’re sweet. But like I said before, there’s nothing going on between Shane and me. We’re just friends. All right?”
Sheldon looked skeptical but he wandered off, giving Julia a moment to gather her thoughts. Shaking her head, she picked up her phone and returned Shane’s text. The elation she’d been feeling had petered out, but she refused to get upset on her big day.
So Shane got angry every now and then—what guy didn’t? It was a little disturbing that Sheldon had just said the same things about Shane that Ryan Newberry had, but Julia chose to believe that it was only jealousy on the part of the subordinates. Men were always competing with one another for position. It made perfect sense that both guys would be envious of Shane. That certainly explained why they’d want to attack him.
But why wasn’t that making her feel any better?
* * * *
“It’s about time. I don’t think I should need to remind you that I am not a patient man.”
The man on the phone shivered at the sound of his boss’s voice. Speaking quietly as he stared at the Washington Valley Hotel from his restaurant booth across the street, he said, “I understand, sir. And I apologize for not being in touch with you for a couple of days. I needed to keep a low profile.”
“Discretion is your most important responsibility. So I sincerely hope you’ve stopped letting your associates walk in and out of your allotted station to pick up paperwork like it’s the goddamn Ritz Carlton!”
“It’s under control, sir.”
“Nevertheless. You do not wait three days before speaking with me, unless you’re looking to find yourself in a set of very unfortunate circumstances. Do you understand me?”
“I understand perfectly, sir. And I promise it won’t happen again.”
“What do you have to report to me?”
“Everything’s being delivered on schedule. I’ve managed to coordinate fifteen shipments in the last week in spite of the challenge of working from such a remote location. I did as you asked—I kept your partner out of it.”
“And my elusive partner. What has he been up to?”
“Tried to manage a couple of private sales. But we’ve been keeping him in line, sir.”
“Excellent.”
The man on the phone stood as a family with young children was seated beside him in the upstairs section of the mom-and-pop restaurant he’d chosen to eat in. Relocating himself to the booth in the farthest corner back, he said in a low voice, “There was another minor snag. But I’m pretty sure we’ve—”
“Why am I only hearing about it now?”
“Because I’ve taken care of it, sir. Barrows has a wife”—he covered his mouth—“or should I say had. She knew about MacKenzie, too.”
“You’ve taken care of the situation? Or do you need me to make it look like a suicide, as my forensics insider did with Barrows?”
“Already taken care of.” Smiling at the waitress as she refilled his coffee cup, the man on the phone said, “Will that be all, sir?”
“We’re finished when I say we are. I want daily updates on my partner’s activities. Is that understood?”
“Absolutely.”
“And concerning MacKenzie’s daughter…”
The man of the phone tensed. “Yes?”
“Keep a close eye on her.”
Chapter 26
The front office wasn’t especially busy Thursday night. A few guests checked in, and a couple brought their kids to play checkers by the fireplace, but that was about it as far as activity went.
Kimberly definitely appreciated the break. Aside from the fact that she’d been asked to cover the front office alone for several hours, Shane had
given her a number of administrative duties to complete. Considering her recent injury, accounting and payroll assistance was asking a lot.
Not that anyone else around the hotel was aware of how it had happened, but Kim found the fact that her shoulder had been injured while being shoved to be positively humiliating. Her partner wasn’t at all the man she’d once thought he was, which made the fact that she’d cheated on Ryan with him even more devastating.
Ryan was finished with her, of that Kim was sure. She didn’t know how it had happened, but her ex-boyfriend had fallen in love with Abigail MacKenzie. And as much as that killed her, she had no intention of continuing to pursue a man who thought she was yesterday’s news.
The doctor had taken the bandage off and he’d told her to leave her shoulder alone, but Kim couldn’t resist giving it a brief massage. Mildly satisfied with the way it was feeling, she took a stool from the file room and used her good arm to carry it to the computer up front. Maybe processing checks wouldn’t be so painful if she wasn’t doing it standing up.
“Just the woman I was looking for,” a deep voice from inside the lobby said.
Kim looked up to find the voice’s owner approaching the desk. He was strikingly handsome, and he had wavy black hair and sharp blues. Dressed way too nicely to be walking around in their place, his long black coat almost touched the ground.
She could have sworn she’d seen him someplace before. But the pain medication in her system seemed to be dulling her memory,
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m sure you can. Your managers have the night off and I’m here to sign checks. Alec Westwood.” He flashed her a soft, sexy smile.
“Yes, of course,” Kim stammered. “How do you do, sir? I have the checks in the other room. They’re all together and ready for you to sign.”
“Excellent.” His eyes grazed her upper arm. “That’s some bruise you’ve got there. I hope it wasn’t an on-the-job injury.”
Dangerous Secret [The Pinnacles of Power Prequel] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 22