Chapter 24
Gary checked his watch. It was a few minutes before six. Reaching for his phone, he called Tiffany. “Hey, baby.”
“Gary, where are you? They will be lighting the tree soon.”
“Sorry, but I need to make an important call. One of the guys from the office texted and asked that I call him. He’s closing up everything until the day after Christmas, and evidently, something important came up. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay. They are serving donuts and hot chocolate afterwards. We will be here for a while, since the tree lighting ceremony will be followed by a decorative laser display. The kids are going to love that.”
“I bet they will. Were you able to get your dad to leave his room and come down?”
“Yes, both Mom and Dad are here. In fact, it looks like everybody’s here, so handle that phone call and hurry on down.”
“I will.”
Gary smiled as he slid into his coat. The Mountain-Scape Lake Lodge was massive, and its layout included separate areas for detached cabins, cottages, suites, and lodge rooms. All accommodations were spread wide across the mountain, providing a spectacular view of the surrounding areas.
In addition to the floors, the lodge also had wings where some of the elevators operated sideways, as well as up and down.
He knew Tiffany’s parents’ cottage was on the north wing.
That meant he would need to take an elevator to the eighth floor and then use one of the side elevators to get there.
He left his room and got on the elevator.
The entire building was empty since everyone was outdoors attending the tree lighting.
He had a special code that had been sent to his phone, allowing him entry to Chance Steele’s room.
Getting off the elevator, he noted that this area was significantly larger and more spacious, likely because the accommodations were cottages rather than regular lodge rooms. He noted the cottages had access to their own pavilion, clubhouse, and swimming pool.
He smiled when he saw that he was within a few feet of Chance Steele’s cottage when a voice suddenly stopped him. “Hey, man, you’re headed in the wrong direction, aren’t you?”
Gary swallowed hard as he slowly turned around. It was Tiffany’s uncle Sebastian. Where had he come from? Hadn’t Tiffany said all her family was in the courtyard? “Yes, I think I am lost. Must have caught the wrong elevator.”
“Yes, you must have,” Sebastian Steele said. “That’s understandable. This is the first time I’ve heard of elevators going sideways. I’ve gotten mixed up a few times myself. I came back to my cottage to get this,” he said, pulling gloves from his pocket. “Susan forgot them.”
“Susan?”
“Yes. My daughter.”
“Oh.”
‘Come on. We’ll find our way to the courtyard together,” Sebastian said, moving in the opposite direction from Chance Steele’s room. Gary had no alternative but to follow him.
“So, how do you like being an engaged man?” Sebastian asked.
“Love it. Can’t wait until the wedding. Tiffany is a great girl.”
“I agree wholeheartedly, but then as her uncle, I’m a little biased.”
For some reason, this particular uncle made him nervous. Unlike his brother Morgan, he hadn’t asked a lot of questions at dinner yesterday, but he had a way of looking at a guy that was unnerving. Clearing his throat, Gary asked, “Do you recall how things were when you were engaged?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Depends on which time.”
“You were engaged more than once?” he asked as they stepped on the elevator.
“Yes. The first time, I did it because I felt that getting married was the thing to do, but the second time was for love. There’s no sense in being engaged if it’s not for love.”
“Well, I guess I’m doing it right, then. Because I definitely love Tiffany.”
It seemed they reached the courtyard in no time. The Christmas tree had been lit, and the laser show was in full effect. Tiffany smiled when she saw him and her uncle. “The two of you missed the tree lighting.”
“I regret that,” Gary said, regretting even more that he’d missed the opportunity to get into Chance Steele’s computer. He glanced around, trying to remember the last time he had truly enjoyed the holidays. It had been years. He forced the reasons for that to the back of his mind.
“Hey, guys, we’re playing several board games with the older kids after dinner. Would you two like to help out?” Natalie, who was married to Donovan, asked.
“We would love to,” Tiffany said, excitedly.
“Great! We’re meeting in that huge game room. The sooner we can tire the kiddies out, the better. Then maybe they will sleep through the night and not stare out the windows looking for Santa.”
Once they were alone, walking back toward the building where their rooms were located, Gary said, “I don’t appreciate you volunteering me for anything without asking me first, Tiffany.
She stopped walking. “Excuse me, Mr. Palmer, but didn’t you say, just this morning, while walking me to breakfast, that you wanted to spend more time around my family?”
“Yes, but─”
“But nothing. You either want to spend more time with them or you don’t. Make up your mind. When you decide which way you want to go, let me know.”
Then Tiffany walked away from him, moving to where her brother, Marcus, was talking to their father. Both men looked up when she approached. Marcus raised a brow when he saw the angry look on her face. “Are you, okay, sis?”
Tiffany forced a smile. She loved it when he called her that.
They became best friends in high school, and together they plotted to get his father with her mother.
It worked better than either of them had ever dreamed.
Now, eleven years later, they were family.
“I’m fine. I thought I would just hang out with my two favorite men for a little while. ”
“Hmm, Dad. Sounds like there is trouble in paradise,” Marcus said, grinning.
Tiffany frowned. “What makes you think that?”
“Well, if Dad and I are your two favorite men, where does your fiancé fit in the mix?”
Before she could answer, their father said, “Stop baiting your sister, Marcus. Besides, it’s normal for couples to have disagreements. You’ll find that out when you get serious about someone.”
“That’s not going to happen any time soon, Dad.”
“And why is that?” Chance asked.
Tiffany smiled when her father winked at her. He had intentionally shifted the conversation off her to Marcus, who was now giving them his spiel—something they had all heard before ─as to why he didn’t intend to get serious about a woman until his mid-forties.
She glanced over to where she had left Gary moments earlier, and he was gone.
**
An hour later, Gary surprised her by showing up to walk her to dinner. “I wasn’t sure you would be coming to dinner,” she said, closing her room door.
“I’m sorry if I seemed a little moody earlier, but I told you about that call I had to place into the office.”
“Yes, what about it?” she asked.
“There are some work-related issues that set me off.”
She glanced at him. “No harm done, but you’ve been moody a lot lately. Are you sure you want to be here?”
He raised a brow. “If I told you that I didn’t, would you leave with me?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Tiffany stopped walking. “It seems you have issues regarding my family, Gary. I understand they can be overwhelming, but─”
“If I marry you, do I also marry your family?”
“No, but there’s no reason for you not to try to get to know them.”
“Okay, I will do better.”
She decided not to remind him that he had said that very same thing yesterday. “Thanks. That’s all I ask.”
He took her hand in his. “Tomorrow is Christmas, and I don’t want us to spend the day upset with each other.”
“We won’t,” she said, leaning over to brush a kiss on his lips. “Several Steeles got married on Christmas Day, so we will be getting together later to celebrate their anniversaries.”
“Sounds like fun,” he said, smiling.
She returned his smile. “It will be.”
**
Later that night, after the men had helped the women place all the kids’ gifts under the huge Christmas tree in the lodge’s massive indoor pavilion, Sebastian asked York, Quade, Morgan, and Donovan to meet with him.
To ensure total privacy, they were meeting in an empty cabin on the premises, far from the other buildings.
“Okay, what’s up, Bas?” Quade asked.
“Well, if we find out that Gary Palmer is up to no good, I might have a possible motive,” Sebastian said.
York lifted a brow. “Really? What?”
“It’s got to be something connected to the Steele Corporation.”
“What makes you think that?” Morgan asked.
Seeing he had everyone’s total attention, he said, “Because right before the Christmas tree lighting, I had to go back inside to grab Susan’s gloves.
As I was leaving my cottage, I noticed him walking down the hall that led straight to Chance’s room.
I watched him for a while and became suspicious when I noticed he had his phone out, and he seemed to be reading something.
I knew Chance wasn’t in his cottage, since I had left him in the courtyard, so what was he doing? I had to check it out.”
“How?” Donovan asked.
“I called out to him, making light of the fact that I found him nowhere near his own room. I told him he was going the wrong way. He seemed to quickly grab onto that excuse—too quickly ─and said that he must have taken the wrong elevator.”
“To the north wing?” Morgan asked. “That’s BS. You don’t take the wrong elevator there unless you’re really a nitwit.”
“Especially when you have to take two different elevators,” Quade said.
“Precisely,” Sebastian agreed. “I could tell he was nervous about me finding him in an area he clearly didn’t belong, so I got him talking about something, so he wouldn’t think I suspected him of anything.”
“Good,” York said. He then looked at Morgan. “Is the Steele Corporation working on something top secret now?”
Morgan nodded. “We were recently awarded a government contract to produce a certain type of military tire, but we don’t consider it top secret.”
“However,” Donovan added, “Although it’s not a new development, there’s a reason we were awarded that government contract.
A few years ago, the Steele Corporation created a special type of rubber that has made our tires long-lasting and incredibly durable.
The government wants us to produce enough tires that they can replace those currently on military vehicles. ”
York rubbed his chin in thought. “Your possible motive is definitely different than the one Quade and I had been tossing around.”
“Which is?” Sebastian asked.
“That Palmer’s interest in Tiffany is due to her getting her trust fund in a few years. Otherwise, why would he ask her to marry him?” York said. Glancing over at Quade, he asked, “What do you think?”
“Either is possible. Hell, both are plausible. So let’s not narrow things down to any one possibility until we start hearing back from our contacts. Then we’ll know for certain what we’re up against. I got Palmer’s DNA off today, and hope to have something back in a couple of days.”
York nodded. “I don’t like the thought of him having his phone out when he was approaching Chance’s door.”
“Why?” Morgan asked curiously.
“All the doors here are digitally coded. There’s a security software that allows you to unlock a hotel room door with a coded signal sent through your phone. That’s how I got into Palmer’s room the other night.”
“But the authorization for its use is limited to government law enforcement agencies,” Quade said.
“You think he has access to that same software?” Donovan asked.
“If he does, I’d like to know how he got it and who he is working with,” Quade replied.
York released a deep breath. “Tomorrow is Christmas. Let’s enjoy the day with our families, but keep a close eye on Palmer. If he suddenly disappears, sound the alarm. If he failed to get into Chance’s cottage last night because of Bas, he might try again.”
“In the meantime,” Quade said, “I intend to find out from Seth Bohannon what kind of security software the lodge uses, then I’ll look into which private security companies have access to it, legally or otherwise. Of course, there’s a possibility it was sold on the black market.”
York stood. “Okay, guys. It’s almost midnight. Let’s get back to our wives before they suspect something.”