Page 22 of Master Cordell

“Yeah, that’s why I came over here. It was one of my guys—Kevin Scott. But before you go calling the cops to have him arrested, you need to come with me to talk to him. After that, if you want to press charges, then ... ” He shrugged, and Cordell got the impression the other man didn’t think they’d be going to the police after talking to this Kevin.

“Where is he?”

“In the hospital. C’mon. I’ll drive.”

Twenty minutes later, they were walking down a hallway on the third floor of the hospital in Marathon. Milo strode into one of the patient rooms, and Cordell and Mitch followed. They hadn’t known what to expect since Milo hadn’t been forthcoming with details, and Cordell was shocked when he saw the young man lying in the bed. He was about twenty-one years old and had been beaten to a pulp. Both eyes were black and blue and swollen shut, and his lip and cheek had been split open, requiring stitches. His nose was broken and off center, and there was a cast on his left arm. But the worst was the angry bruising around his throat. Cordell had seen it before and immediately recognized the finger markings. Someone had tried to strangle the guy with their bare hands, and from the looks of things, had almost succeeded.

Cordell took a deep breath and tamped down the rage he’d been feeling since finding out for certain that the explosion hadn’t been an accident. At Milo’s hand gesture, Cordell pivoted and then closed the door to the room.

Stepping around to the far side of the bed, Milo set a gentle hand on Kevin’s right arm which was also contused. The young man startled, his eyelids only opening a sliver. “No! Don’t—oh , shit. Shit. Milo, sorry ... I-I thought—”

“It’s okay. You’re safe.” When Kevin seemed to relax a little, Milo pointed toward the others. “This is the owner of the resort, Mitch Sawyer, and you remember the manager, Cordell Roberts, right?”

“Y-yeah. I-I’m so sorry. I—” A sob ripped from his chest, and tears spilled down his abused face.

“Easy,” Cordell said, letting sympathy for the guy push away his anger and settle into his tone. “Take a deep breath, and when you’re ready, tell us what happened.”

It took almost a full minute for the young man to regain his composure. “I-I didn’t want to do it—put the cameras in the resort—but my brother made me. He said if I didn’t, he’d ... well, he’d do this to me.” He gestured to his face and winced.

Milo patted Kevin’s arm and took over the explanation. “His older brother’s an asshole. Been in and out of jail since he was fifteen. Kevin didn’t want to follow in his footsteps and has done a great job working for me for the last three years, since he was eighteen. Never had an issue with him before this, and honestly, after meeting Kyle once, I don’t blame Kevin for giving in and doing what he said. Apparently, Kyle wanted to sell the videos to a porn site.”

“So, why’d he break into our cottage and torch the storage shed?” Cordell crossed his arms. “I assume Kyle did that since Kevin obviously wasn’t at the resort two hours ago.”

“What’re you talking about?” the younger man asked, confusion clear on his damaged face.

“Someone broke into my cottage on the island and trashed the place last week. Then, today, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the storage shed and blew it up.”

Kevin’s eyes widened as much as they could, which wasn’t a lot. “What? It wasn’t me!”

“I can see that—”

“And it wasn’t Kyle,” Milo interrupted. “At least not today. He was arrested last night after he did this,” he pointed at Kevin, “and he’s still in jail. Won’t be getting out anytime soon either—broke his parole. He wanted Kevin to give him his key card to the resort before he had to turn it back in.” There were still a few minor details the construction crew were working on out of view of the guests, so they still had limited access. “Kevin refused, so Kyle beat the shit out of him. Kevin’s landlord heard the yelling and called the police. Thankfully. If she hadn’t, I’m sure it would’ve been much worse.”

Much worse was an understatement. The bastard could’ve killed his brother.Jeez.

Cordell turned to Mitch. After hearing the guy’s story, Cordell didn’t want to have him arrested—he’d suffered enough—but the final decision belonged to the resort’s owners.

Mitch hesitated, clearly thinking things over, then shook his head. “We won’t be filing charges against you, Kevin. I get the impression Milo isn’t firing you over this either, and I don’t want him to. However, I can’t allow you to work on the resort anymore. I have my guests and employees to think about.”

“I really am sorry,” Kevin said miserably. “But I understand that you don’t want me working there. Not that I’ll be working for a while.” He lifted his casted arm an inch off the bed. “Thank you for not having me arrested.”

Cordell reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He retrieved one of his new business cards and placed it on the bedside tray. “Even though you’re not allowed at the resort anymore, if you have any problems with your brother or anyone else in the future, and you need help, you call me, okay?”

Shock filled the younger man’s bruised face. “Really? Why—why would you do that for me?”

He shrugged. “Because I can. We’ll leave you to get some rest. Feel better soon and stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, sir. T-thank you.”

As they walked down the hallway, Milo said, “Thanks for understanding and not throwing the book at him. He really is a good kid, but his mother’s dead, his father was a deadbeat dad and hasn’t seen Kevin since he was around six or seven, and Kyle’s his only sibling. There’s no other family around here. He’s a hard worker, and like I said, I’ve never had any problems with him before this.”

Cordell stabbed the call button for the elevator. “Keep an eye on him for me. If he needs anything let me know.”

“Well, he’s coming to stay with me for a week or two—just to make sure none of Kyle’s friends come looking for him.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is it possible his friends could’ve done the burglary and arson?”

Milo shook his head. “Kevin didn’t mention anyone else was involved in the camera thing, so I don’t think so, but anything’s possible.

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