Page 19 of Bad Seed

Horrified beyond words at what she read, she felt as if she had no options. Now shehadto call her dad. This was still his hotel, and he needed to know what was going on and make changes, if necessary. But not tonight and have him worry to the point of not being able to rest. First thing tomorrow would be soon enough.

She sighed, closed her laptop, but stayed at her desk, staring off into space.

***

Michael Devon was in the elevator on his way up to the penthouse. He’d just finished a dinner meeting in a private dining area of the hotel and was ready to see Liz and catch up on their day together.

As he walked into the quiet, all the hassles of the day fell away. The place smelled of lavender and cinnamon. He smiled, guessing Liz had indulged in her favorite lavender bath salts, and the cinnamon was most likely from her penchant for the cinnamon rolls from Granny Annie’s Bakery downtown. He loved Liz deeply, but he was also worried for her and about his father-in-law, Ray.

“Liz, honey! I’m home,” he called out.

She answered. “In the office!”

He took off his tie as he was walking and draped it over the doorknob to their bedroom before moving across the hall into the office, then took one look at her pale face and slumped shoulders and hurried to her, fearing the worst.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Is it Ray?”

She stood up and walked into his arms. “Yes, and no, but not what you think. There’s trouble at the hotel…even more than I knew about. I just got an email from Brendan and found out even more. It’s gotten to the point that I’m going to have to tell Dad, but I dread it. I don’t want to make things worse for him.”

Michael hugged her closer. “Let me get out of thissuit and I’ll meet you in the living room. We’ll talk, and if there’s anything I can do to help, you know I will.”

Liz was close to tears. “Thank you, love. You’re the best.” She followed him out of the office, but when he went to change clothes, she headed for the wet bar in the living room, poured each of them a glass of wine, and was waiting for him when he came back.

Michael sat down beside her, leaned over, and kissed her full on the lips, then stroked his finger down the side of her face.

“We don’t do this nearly often enough,” he said, and then picked up his glass of wine and took a quick sip. “Okay, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Liz cradled her wineglass in both hands, debating about what to share, and then sighed. Michael was her father’s competitor, but he was her husband. He would never betray her confidences.

“It’s Larry Beaumont, the manager Dad hired. As you know, his twentysomething daughter came with him, and it appears that she’s been running roughshod over everyone for months, throwing her weight around with all the staff when she has no business interfering. They’re at the point of rebellion. Brendan emailed me this evening. The daughter has been harassing him to the point that it’s come to sexual harassment and stalking. He has rebuffed her attention and she’s angry. He found a threatening note taped to his front door when he got home tonight. It was unsigned, but he suspects it was her. He’s considering turning it overto the police. If her fingerprints are on it… Well, then I guess he has the option of filing charges against her for stalking, and from everything else I know, there’s a whole hotel of staff who would testify on his behalf about what she’s been doing.”

“Good lord,” Michael said.

“That’s not all,” Liz said. “The manager has changed things without approval and has changed vendors. We’re still paying the same price for everything, but I’m questioning the reasons for why he took it upon himself to switch. Dad had good working relationships with all of them. And that’s not all. Beaumont and I had a meeting this afternoon and wound up in a row. I have special food and wine and some specific decor I needed to order for an upcoming event. I was given a very generous budget from the host for arranging everything to her request, and Beaumont told me he’d do the ordering. I challenged that and won the argument, but he was furious. I feel like something’s going on and I can’t see it. I’m going to call Dad in the morning. He needs to know this. It’s still his hotel, but the man he hired to run it is sketchy. I feel it.”

“Ah, honey, what a mess. I’m so sorry,” Michael said. “And yes, I agree with you. Ray needs to know. This may be the tipping point for your dad.”

“What do you mean?” Liz asked.

“Ray’s well-being is more important than that hotel, and after this health scare, he may be thinking about selling it.”

“I’ve thought the same, but I wouldn’t ask,” she said.

“You don’t have to. Ray will decide what’s best for him and for the hotel. You’ll call him in the morning, and I promise you, Ray Caldwell will have a solution for your problem, because that’s the kind of man he is.”

Chapter 4

Unaware of the ongoing drama at his hotel, Ray Caldwell was at breakfast with his wife, Patricia, when his cell phone rang.

Still on guard about Ray’s well-being, Patricia frowned. “Let it go to voicemail, dear. Eat your breakfast.”

But Ray had already seen caller ID. “It’s Liz,” he said, then put his food aside to answer. “Good morning, darling! What a wonderful way to begin my day. It’s cold and blustery here. What’s happening in Jubilee?”

“It’s been snowing a bit off and on, but today looks clear. It’s so good to hear your voice, Dad. Is Mom there, too?”

“Yes, she is. I’ll put you on speaker.”

Liz sighed. Her mom was going to be angry with her for calling, but there was no help for it.

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