by Elle Dalton
“Chloe,” I kept my composure, “what are you doing here?”
I glanced over at the security guard at the front door. He must have sensed the tension because he kept his gaze on me, on alert, waiting for my command.
“I know,” Chloe said with giggle that sounded like nails dragging on a blackboard. “I should have talked to you before coming. I can see how this would seem inappropriate, especially after how I stormed out when I quit.”
“Storming out seems like the polite way of putting it,” I told her. She had shouted several profanities at me and Ervin before kicking a trash can over and screaming on her way out.
“Look, I want to apologize for what happened that day. It was inappropriate.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I hate to admit it, but I was jealous. Ervin chose you instead of me. The person you saw that day was not me. I was out of character.”
I had to swallow down a laugh. The person I saw that day was her real self. Her rudeness had just boiled over.
“Well, thank you for your apology,” I cleared my throat. “But I’m not sure this is the right time to apologize.” I was still sure that she came to trash my tea party.
“Right, of course. Coming today was a foolish idea. I’ll go.” She turned to walk away, then she halted and turned back to me with tears in her eyes. “I actually… There’s one thing I need to ask.”
“Yes?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Can I please have my job back?” A tear trickled down her right cheek. “I feel so stupid asking for this. I know I don’t deserve my job, but I haven’t been able to find work anywhere else in town. Word has spread about how I acted and nobody wants to hire me. It’s a small town, you know, and… I have bills to pay. I can’t afford rent. I don’t want to end up on the street.”
She was being so loud that a few guests from the banquet hall started to look toward the lobby.
I smiled at them and cleared my throat. “Uhm, I’m not sure, Chloe.”
I didn’t want to deal with her jealousy. She had already tried to keep me from Ervin and I wasn’t going to let her get in the way of our relationship anymore.
As if reading my mind, she spoke up. “I’m over Ervin. I promise. It was a stupid little crush, not true love. If you give me another chance, I’ll be nothing but pleasant to you both. Please, Diana, I just need to pay my bills.” She pressed her fingertips against her eyes to stop the flow of tears.
Despite my better judgment, I felt bad for her. She was right, Shadow Creek was a small town. When something happened, word got around pretty fast. Someone’s reputation could be ruined overnight, just like the hotel’s.
On top of feeling bad for her, I didn’t want her to make a scene. A woman crying in the lobby wasn’t how I wanted the tea party to begin.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, uh, sure,” I said without thinking, eager to get the conversation over with.
“Oh my God! Really? Diana, thank you.” She pulled me in for a tight hug. “You won’t regret this decision, I promise.”
“Okay.” I broke the embrace and forced a smile. “You can start again on Monday, but our staff has gone over a new training regimen, so you’ll need to be retrained as well.”
“No problem at all. I’ll do anything you want me to.” Her lips curled into a bright smile. “I’m going to be your new favorite employee.”
Considering both my best friend and my boyfriend were my employees, I doubted it. But I gave her a small nod.
“Well,” she said, “I’ll get out of your hair. I know this is a big day for the hotel.”
“You know what? Why don’t you stay?” I asked.
Her mouth dropped. “Really? You want me to stay for the tea party?”
“Sure, enjoy the festivities.”
If I was being honest, I wasn’t making the offer to be kind to her. But I didn’t want my guests chattering about why I’d sent away a woman who was crying in the lobby. If I invited her to stay, it would mitigate the drama and hopefully kill the gossip.
I walked Chloe into the banquet hall just as tea was being served. We had several empty seats for unexpected guests and she took one of them.
“Have fun,” I said and walked over to the window in the corner of the room, where Karen was watching us.
“What in the world did you just do?” she asked, her eyes still on Chloe.
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. She came to beg for her job back and to apologize.”
“And you told her to get lost, right?” Karen muttered under her breath.
“Not exactly…”
“Please tell me you didn’t give her a job, Diana.”
“She looked really sad, and she has bills to pay. She was also really apologetic. She promised she wouldn’t give me and Ervin any trouble.”
Karen shook her head. “Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for one second.”
“I didn’t either, but if she needs the job as bad as she claims, I would expect her to be on her best behavior. She knows if she gives me any attitude, she’s out.”
Karen shrugged. “I guess…”
We didn’t have time to argue about it any longer because Aunt Jolene stood up from her seat and tapped her fork to her glass to get the attention of all the guests.
“Excuse me, everyone, I’d like to have a word.”
The guests turned their heads to face her.
“I want to formally thank all of you for attending the reopening of the Ivory Rose Hotel. We have worked very hard to renew the hotel, and it’s a pleasure to have you all celebrating with us. As many of you know, I’ve had many great years running this place, but it’s finally time for me to retire and put my niece in charge. I’d like to toast to Diana, who has put tremendous work into the hotel a fresh new look. To Diana!” She raised her tea cup and everyone else followed before bringing their cups to their lips.
I bowed and stepped forward to speak.
“Thank you so much, Aunt Jolene.” I blinked away tears. “I’d also like to thank you all for attending this tea party on this beautiful evening. We have a lot of delicious food prepared for you tonight by Donny Cahill, a dear friend of mine from New York. Some of you may know him.”
The crowd cheered at hearing Donny’s name. Donny was a prestigious celebrity chef who owned his own restaurant in New York City. When I told him about the reopening of the hotel, he was more than happy to come work the weekend for me.
It was all part of my effort to upgrade the hotel’s image. It thrilled me that the guests seemed impressed.
“Speaking of which,” I continued, “excuse me as I have to check on the first batch of baked goods that we have prepared for you.”
It had suddenly occurred to me that the crêpes should have been out a few minutes ago, but I could not see them on the baked treats table.
“Is everything okay?” Karen asked when the guests returned to talking and enjoying their drinks.
“I’m sure everything’s fine. I’m just wondering where the crêpes are. Let me go to the kitchen.”
Karen nodded. “Sure. I’ll oversee everything here.”
“Thanks, Karen.”
As I stepped out of the banquet hall, Clover rubbed against the side of my right leg.
“Come with me,” I said to him. “I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on with the crepes too.”
He let out a soft meow and followed me.
A minute later, I stepped through the swinging kitchen doors, Clover still at my heels.
Several of my servers stood around with no plates in hand.
“What’s going on?” I frowned. “The crepes are supposed to be sent out right away.”
“We… uh, we don’t have any,” Linda, one of my servers, replied.
“What do you mean? Where’s Donny?”
“We don’t actually know. We haven’t seen him since brunch.”
A wave of panic swept through me. It was unlike Donny to neglect his work. His reputation meant everything to him
and he was always punctual.
“Okay, somebody go to his room,” I instructed. “He’s staying in 304.”
“I’ll go,” another server, Brian, volunteered.
“Thank you. In the meantime, I’m going to see if we’ve got anything in the freezer we can heat up and use as an appetizer.”
The thought of heating up rolls of bread and sending them out to my guests made my heart sink. I promised them fine dining. My plan had been to blow them out of the water if I was to bring business back to the hotel.
As I walked into the freezer, my entire body was tense from stress.
And it was about to get much worse. I didn’t find any rolls in the freezer. But I did find my missing chef.
Lying on the floor of the freezer, his skin tinged blue, was Donny.
Chapter 3
I wasn’t aware that I was screaming. Not until Karen started yelling over me.
“Calm down, Diana, calm down!”
But, how could I? Donny was lying dead on the floor at my feet.
It wasn’t my first time finding a dead body. On the contrary, the Ivory Rose had exposed me to quite a few murder victims. But this was different. Donny wasn’t a stranger, or simply a guest of the hotel. He had been one of my friends in New York and had come to Shadow Creek to do me a favor.
He had paid for that favor with his life.
I tried to take a deep breath, but ended up hyperventilating. I could barely hear Karen speak, though I did make out her asking the servers to call the police right away. Then she led me into the break room in the kitchen, sitting with me until Ervin arrived. Karen had called him.
Once Ervin reached me, I started to come back to myself.
“What happened? What’s going on?” He looked from Karen to me.
“He’s dead.” I swallowed a sob.
“What? Who’s dead?”
“Her friend,” Karen cut in, “the chef who flew in for the weekend. We found him… in the freezer…”
Ervin’s eyes grew wide and he clenched his fists at his sides. “What? That’s impossible.”
“No, it’s not impossible for me. I just bring death into this place.”
I knew what I was saying wasn’t rational, but there had never been a death at the Ivory Rose before I came along. And in such a short time, there were so many. I was a bad luck charm for the place. I attracted tragedy.
“Have you called 911?” Ervin asked Karen.
“Yes, but I’ll meet the police out front. Can you stay with her?”
“Of course,” Ervin nodded as she stepped aside.
He sat down in the chair next to me, taking my hands in his, bringing them to his lips so he could kiss the knuckles.
“It’s going to be okay.” His attempt to soothe me failed.
“How?” I croaked. “How is it going to be okay? My friend is dead. There has been another death at the hotel. Ervin, how can this keep happening to me?”
“You don’t know that. Maybe this was an accident or some kind of medical emergency. We have no idea what happened. You can’t assume the worst.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “The worst has already happened. My friend is dead. I invited him here and he’s gone.”
“This isn’t your fault…” His voice was firm now.
But I felt it was. Even if it was a medical emergency, perhaps he would have gotten the proper treatment if he hadn’t come to my event, if he hadn’t been in the freezer in search of ingredients that he needed to prepare food for my guests.
In my gut, though, I didn’t think it was a natural occurrence. In his mid-thirties, Donny was young and healthy. He also made sure he was physically fit and went jogging almost every morning. He always ensured that his body was ready for the television cameras.
Foul play was involved. There was no other explanation.
I still didn’t understand how it was possible, how such a tragedy could strike again at the Ivory Rose.
Ervin held me tight and I fell to pieces in his arms.
“Ervin, what am I going to do? I can’t handle this again.” I whispered.
“Yes, you can. You always do. You’re the strongest person I know.”
It was true, I had previously kept my composure in the face of such unexpected crimes. This time, though, it was my friend I found lying dead. This time, I was the sole owner of the Ivory Rose. It was my job to make sure my employees were safe. This time, my entire future was riding on the success of the hotel.
If the hotel wasn’t returned to its former glory, I couldn’t stay in Shadow Creek. I spent all my savings on renovations, and there were no other jobs for me in town. I’d have to go back to New York and return to modeling in order to make ends meet.
What would happen if I had to leave? Would Ervin follow me to New York? He had never been shy about the fact that he wasn’t a big fan of the city and preferred to live in our hometown.
“The tabloids are going to be all over this again. I’ll be become the face of the murder hotel. Nobody will ever want to stay here and Donny… Donny’s life is over.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Ervin rubbed my back. There was nothing else he could do, nothing he could say to make me feel better. Once again, my life was falling to pieces. It was over.
“Diana, we need to speak to you.”
I had been crying so hard, I didn’t notice Chief Conrad entering the break room.
We knew each other well by now. Although I was shaken up, I didn’t mind being questioned. If anything, I was eager for them to get to the bottom of what had happened to Donny. I hoped with all my heart that it was a medical incident, so that Donny’s life wouldn’t be on my conscience forever.
“Want me to come with you?” Ervin asked.
“No, no. I’ll be fine. Come and see me after.”
Ervin nodded, but his worried expression told me that he was hesitant to let me out of his sight. It was sweet, but I could handle myself with the police.
I explained to the chief everything I knew, which wasn’t much. But I gave him information on Donny and how we knew each other. He was familiar with his cooking show already and evidently the cops had already been in touch with his family. Other than that, I didn’t have much to say except that I had seen him earlier in the morning and then encountered him deceased in the freezer.
“Well, this may come as no shock to you, but I’ll be locking down the hotel immediately. Nobody is to return home until we’ve investigated more. It may be that this was an accident, but considering all the previous crimes committed at the hotel…”
“Of course,” I said before he could twist the invisible knife in my heart. “I understand. I will… inform the guests.”
“I believe your aunt may already be doing that. She said she will organize rooms for everybody.”
I nodded and lowered my gaze. I was grateful to Aunt Jolene. She was no longer the hotel owner, but she’d never leave me to deal with the tragedy on my own, especially after the death of one of my friends.
“We will be in touch,” Chief Conrad said. “Take care of yourself, Diana.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
I led him out of my office and saw my mother walking toward me, a stern look on her face.
“Do you need something, Mom? I’m a little busy.” She was the last person I wanted to discuss Donny’s death with.
“No, I just wanted to speak with you.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I’m so sorry about what has happened.”
But she didn’t look sorry. She wasn’t smiling exactly, but her tone was triumphant.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. I’m horrified to hear about Donny. He was always such a sweet man. The entire world will be shaken by his death. He didn’t deserve this.”
“No, he didn’t,” I said softly, anticipating that she’d soon say something hurtful.
She didn’t disappoint.
“That’s what I meant when I said that this hotel was cursed.”
“Really, Mother? You want to do this now?”
“Well, there have been too many deaths, dear.”
My nails dug into my palms as my hands curled into fists. “So? That doesn’t mean there’s a curse. What are you saying, that there are ghosts lingering around murdering people?”
“That would be haunted, dear, not cursed.”
She never failed to baffle me. I had lost an old friend and was at risk of losing my entire business and she wanted to argue semantics.
When I didn’t say anything more, she shrugged. “Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry for your loss.”
“Yeah, you sound really sorry,” I glared at her.
She didn’t get time to hurl another hurtful remark at my heart. Ervin must have seen me speaking to her from across the room and rushed over to intervene.
“Is everything all right?”
“Fine, fine, I was just leaving my daughter so she can grieve in peace.”
“Yes,” I said to her. “I’d appreciate that.”
She threw me a judgmental glance before walking away.
Ervin tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “You okay?”
“She’s just so… I don’t know.” I couldn’t even find the words.
“I know. I’m sorry. I promised I’d run interference tonight. I just thought you were still speaking with the officers.”
“It’s fine. How could you know?”
He reached for my hand. “Come on, let me walk you back to your room before people bombard you with questions.”
“Wait, I need to figure some things out. I have to make sure the guests all have rooms and—”
“You don’t, actually. I ran into your aunt and Karen on the way over. They both wanted me to tell you not to worry, that they have it completely covered tonight. All you need to worry about is getting some rest.”
I felt a twinge of guilt. “My aunt and Karen shouldn’t be doing all the work. They don’t own the hotel. It’s not their responsibility. In fact, Aunt Jolene sold the hotels because she didn’t want to be doing the work anymore.”
Ervin placed a hand on the small of my back and nudged me forward down the hall.