Page 83 of Bad Seed

Larry glared. “I have no idea. Her mother came and got her. I have work to do.”

“So do I,” Liz said and winced when he banged the door behind him as he left.

But Liz knew something that Larry Beaumont didn’t. She’d had an email from her dad last night when she got home from work.

Darling daughter,

What a mess my health issues have caused, but I think we’re finally on the downhill slope. The fraud division of the FBI who’s been working with me found money trails from both new vendors to a Dallas bank account in Larry Beaumont’s name. Payments into that account varied according to money rendered by us, but the timeline was always the same. Three days after the vendors received payment from the Serenity Inn, half of the overage they were charging wound up in Larry’s account. Larry has been defrauding me to the tune of thousands, and at any time within the next few days, federal agents will be coming after him with an arrest warrant. Don’t worry about what happens next. I have it covered.

Love, Dad…

Mom says hello.

Liz read the email twice in disbelief. First a hit man,now the feds coming to arrest their manager. It was a hotelier’s worst nightmare.

“Oh my God… Michael! Come read Dad’s email.”

Michael stopped what he was doing and joined Liz on the sofa, leaned in to read, then shook his head and gave her a hug. “The underlying chaos is unbelievable. A fraudulent manager. A crime boss trying to tie up loose ends. It’s hard to know who to trust anymore,” he said.

“It’s sure taking the joy out of my job. I feel responsible because I’m the owner’s daughter, and yet I’m caught in the middle, knowing everything that’s happening, without the power to fix it.”

“Maybe Ray will sell, and you’ll have a new and capable owner.”

“I can only hope,” she said.

Michael kissed the back of her neck. “Come to bed, love. You need a cuddle and I need my wife.”

“Best offer I’ve had all day,” she said, and left work and worry behind as she followed him to their bedroom.

***

It was Sunday morning.

The police had finally taken her statement the day before.

Harley had just been released from the hospital.

She and Brendan were going to stop by his house to get some clothes on their way back to the hotel. As theywere riding, Harley reached across the console and put her hand on Brendan’s thigh.

“Thank you.”

He gave her a quick glance. “For what?”

“For standing by me. You’re putting yourself in danger because of this.”

He shook his head. “When you find your place in the world, you do everything you can to keep it. And when you find your forever person, you do whatever it takes to keep them. You’re my forever person, Sunshine. I was baking bread when you nearly died. That’s not happening again. We do this together. Understood?”

“Understood,” she said, and then shifted focus as he pulled up in a driveway and drove into the garage, then helped her out of the car and into the house.

“I’m going to pack some clothes. You can either rest on the bed while I’m doing it or here on the sofa,” he said.

“With you,” Harley said.

He swooped her off her feet into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, then eased her down on the bed.

“I could get lost on this thing. Big bed for a big man,” she said.

He grinned. “Trust me, if you get lost, I’ll find you. As for big beds, they are a necessity in our family. When my brothers and I were growing up, our feet were always hanging off the foot of the beds. We got used to sleeping that way, but it was hell in the winter—never couldkeep our feet warm enough. Now we all have beds made to fit.”

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