Page 79 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

He shook the man’s hand. “Not a problem. I’m happy to hear you did that. If you’ve got some time, I was hoping you could show me around. It’s nothing more than that. I thought I’d pick your brain while I was at it.”

“Absolutely,” Ryan said. “I want to say how sorry I am for your loss. Barry was a great guy.”

“Thanks,” he said. There wasn’t much more he could say without airing out dirty laundry.

“I just find it funny that Christian didn’t tell me that you’d be coming in. Does he know?” Ryan asked.

“No,” he said. “I did meet with Christian a week ago. Kyle too. It was the three of us. I’m trying to get a feel for things and have some questions. Christian did answer them all, but I wanted to check out some things for myself.”

“Of course,” Ryan said. “Ask away.”

He wanted to put the man at ease who was eager to please. Nothing like Christian.

He did have to admit he found it odd that Christian hadn’t shared the news about him with some of the other management but would file that away for another day.

“I’ve got a background in law enforcement,” he said. “I’m a retired detective. Early retirement.”

“I don’t blame you with your grandfather’s inheritance. I think your background will come in handy here with security. It seems we’ve had some hiccups lately. I’m sure the other hotels will tell you the same. But we are the biggest and it feels as if it’s more of a problem here.”

“What issues?” he asked. “The response times?”

“Yes,” Ryan said. “I’ve brought it up several times to Christian. I know we are short-staffed, but I’ve passed on applications to him and nothing is being done.”

“You’re not doing the hiring for those positions?” he asked. He wasn’t sure but would have figured that the manager would. Kyle had said it was taken care of at the hotels themselves.

“I wish,” Ryan said. “I’d get it done faster, but Christian wanted to do it and he’s not around much. I know he’s overseeing all the hotels, but still. I’m glad things are slowing down, but this summer had multiple issues later at night and those working were less than competent.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Let’s walk the grounds,” Ryan said. “Sometimes it’s easier to talk that way and no one will notice. They might think you’re a guest.”

Van had dressed like he did every day. He didn’t need to come in in a suit to intimidate or impress.

“Explain the less-than-competent comment.”

“It’s just that I feel they aren’t trained well or not qualified. Most end up being people that Christian knows personally. During the day there aren’t issues for the most part. Maybe because I’m here and I run a tighter ship than my night or weekend manager. Not that they don’t know their jobs, because they do, but it’s a different management style.”

“Understood,” he said.

“I have no problem going to Christian with my concerns, but it feels as if they fall on deaf ears at times. He says he’ll take care of it and he talks to people and I see an improvement and then it happens again.”

“For example?” he asked.

“One of the security guards at night is never around. I’m not sure what he is doing or where he is going. Maybe he’s sleeping. No clue. Christian talked to him and it got better and then two months later the person slipped back.”

“Have you talked to Kyle about this at all?” he asked.

“No. Barry always said that he ran these three hotels and Kyle was just a silent partner. Kyle has said the same for years. When Christian was hired, we understood why.”

He found this odd that Kyle would step back this much. “If things weren’t getting resolved though, you didn’t want to try to reach out to Kyle?”

“I wanted to a few times, but Christian would tell us not to. Listen, I’m not trying to cause problems. Christian and Barry were close. Everyone knew it. Most of us just wanted to protect our jobs at the same time.”

“How do you know Christian and my grandfather were close? Did it come from my grandfather or Christian?”

“A little bit of both. Mainly Christian. When he was hired, Barry let it be known a few times that he’d watched Christian grow up. Through bits and pieces of conversation, I gathered Barry was friends with Christian’s grandfather.”

“Got it,” he said. He’d store that away for a bit. “Why don’t you show me around and tell me any concerns you might have. Even if you’ve told Christian. I’m just trying to catch up and learn the ropes, nothing more.”

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