Page 11 of Sweeter Than Honey
Odd, whoever it was hadn’t moved away. Sitting up, she scurried to the foot of the bed and peered around the short wall between the bed and the entryway, glaring at the door as if she could see who was behind it. There was just enough space between the bottom of the door and the carpet to get a quick flash of a shadow.
The chime of her cell phone made her jump. It was Olive.
“Hello?”
What the hell was she going to tell Olive? The truth was too crazy, yet… she had a business to run.
"Hey, boss. Sorry to call so early. What time are you coming in today? There are a couple deliveries coming at noon that need your signature.”
Yes, her shipment of precious gemstones. She had twenty-grand worth of precious stones coming in. A wave of familiar anxiety rippled over her. Her business was her life, and here she’d jumped ship. She’d told Olive that she’d be in today, but instead she was in a mediocre hotel in Estes Park. Olive was a good worker, but she wasn’t the type to run the entire show. There was just too much to do.
“Something came up, Olive, and I ended up going out of town after all. You’ll have to sign.”
“Me?”
“Sign for the gemstone order and put them into the safe immediately.” Her mind switched into work mode. How had she gotten so distracted to not even think about the business? “Call and confirm that our design team receives their supply shipment today. I didn’t get an alert on my phone—” She took a quick peek. “And check in with Beverly to see how production is going. We’re almost at the end of this quarter and I need to personally inspect the completed samples for the spring line. We’re running out of time.”
There was a pause and Cara realized she was barking out orders for thingsshenormally took care of.
“You want me to do that, boss, or…?”
Damn it. “No, no, sorry I was talking out loud. I do want you to sign for the shipment and put the stones in the safe. I’ll do everything else.”
Olive worked the counter and assisted with operations at the Cara Neal Designs physical location in Kansas City, while two virtual assistants and a fulfillment office managed the online store. She had a team of women artisans producing her creations, and a design team to work on the new lines with her. Her business was a well-oiled machine, but it wouldn’t stay that way if she holed up in the hotel for too long.
“The president of Oakland Bank left a voicemail. She’d like to speak to you about designing bracelets for her executive team. I, uh, sent you a text a while ago.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No… so, will you be gone a week like you’d normally planned, or…?”
A week sounded like an eternity. “I’ll probably be back sooner. It depends on how long it takes to wrap up my business.”
Something knocked in the back of her mind, giving her pause. She’d managed to get out of Kansas City in one piece, but would the shady shifter follow her scent to her home and her business storefront? Olive was often alone in the store… was she at risk?
They had orders coming in from the sale. It would make things run more efficiently if she closed the physical store and allowed Olive to focus on helping to fill orders. Intruders might be less inclined to pay the business a visit if it were closed.
Shit, she hated to lose a week’s worth of in-store revenue, but Olive’s safety was more than worth it.
“Olive… listen, I’d like for you to keep the store closed this week and focus on helping the team with online orders. Please update the website that we’ll reopen next week. Keep the front lights off andallthe doors locked.”
She leaned around the wall again to see if the shadow was still beneath her door. It was gone.
There was a long pause. “Are… you serious? If you’re worried that I can’t handle the store and the website orders, I’ll just ask our part time lady to come in. I know this is your first vacation away from the business, but—”
“I’d prefer to do it this way.”
There was another pause. "Okay."
The stiffness of her tone bothered Cara, but there's little she could do about it. This felt like the right thing to do. Maybe it would keep Olive out of harm’s way.
“You’ll be perfectly efficient working from the computer in the order room. I’d rather you do that than work out front, okay? Olive, if anything suspicious happens, I want you to call 9-1-1 right away. I was informed of a potential plot to, um, rob jewelry stores in our area and I don’t feel safe having you alone in the store.”
There was another pause. She was shocking the young woman left and right. “I will. Is there something else wrong?”
Olive didn’t even know that Cara was pregnant. No sense in confessing the entire horror movie-worthy story.
“No, no. I’m just worried about the potential for crime in the area. Just keep an eye out. I’ll talk to you soon.”
