Chapter 55
Erin broke away, stunned. She could forgive Mack taking advantage of her; that was partly her own fault for being attracted to him in the first place and stupid enough to believe his lies or fail to see through the charm.
But manipulating poor Molly was unforgivable.
‘What’s wrong?’ the other woman asked, confused. ‘I thought you’d be happy? This helps me do exactly what my mother wanted, to get out there and live life to the full. You said you wanted to help with that too.’
Erin’s heart broke at her innocence, not to mention she was doubly furious at herself for introducing Mack to Molly and Trevor in the first place.
And what of Trevor, Erin couldn’t help but wonder now.
Could he have been working alongside Mack on all of this too?
She’d assumed he was beyond suspicion given he was one of Molly’s old school friends, but perhaps that had been part of an elaborate ruse too?
How else would Mack have managed to so smoothly and successfully inveigle himself into the lives of all his apparent targets in his quest to bring down The Palms?
And to think that Erin had been dutifully dealing with a litany of crises, attending to every last problem that had cropped up, determined to keep the show on the road and the hotel’s reputation intact despite some supposed faceless saboteur. When all along he had been right under her nose.
Was Mack even involved in the eco-tourism business, or was that a cover story too? Now she remembered him mentioning something about having venture capitalist partners that time at Tanzie’s. Had that backing come with particular strings attached?
‘I … I need to talk to you for a second,’ she said, taking Molly gently by the arm.
She needed to break it to her that selling her shareholding to Mack was actually playing right into the hands of her late mother’s opponents. And Erin also needed to find out if they’d actually completed the sale or were simply preparing for it.
As well as the nature of Trevor’s involvement. Because Erin knew the poor woman’s heart, to say nothing of Molly’s confidence, would be utterly shattered if they were to discover that her supposed old friend and potential new beau was in on this too.
As she pulled Molly aside, she tried to gauge the men’s reaction and thought they seemed perplexed, as opposed to worried or suspicious. While Erin didn’t think either could be dangerous, she wasn’t going to take any chances either.
‘Molly, have you actually signed the shares over to anyone yet?’ she asked, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice.
‘No, but like I said, I picked up the certificates from the safety deposit box and made all the arrangements for the transfer. Why – what’s the problem?
This ensures The Palms’ future is in safe hands, doesn’t it?
Mack loves this place; he wouldn’t do anything to …
’ But studying Erin’s expression, her eyes quickly widened in hesitation.
‘Oh no, have I done something stupid? Trevor was adamant that Mack was best placed to protect the resort from outside interference … that he would keep it going as is, and help make it even better! He wouldn’t lie about that, would he?
Anyway, I don’t understand, I thought Mack was your friend. ’
‘So did I,’ Erin said through gritted teeth, but in truth, she no longer knew what to think.
But there was only one way to find out.
She strode back over to where Mack and Trevor were still standing by the bonfire, shooting the breeze, and was about to confront them both and demand they tell her everything, when the first explosion went off.