Chapter Fifteen – Landslide
Chapter Fifteen
Fallon
LANDSLIDE
Performed by Fleetwood Mac
FOUR YEARS AGO
HER: *** Link to Taylor Swift song***
HER: When you get back from wherever you’re at, doing whatever the hell you’re doing with your team, I want that to be the first thing you hear.
HIM: SEAL comes home safely, only to be mortally wounded by a pop song.
PRESENT DAY
The resort had five live-in staff at the hotel.
The manager, the head chef, two maids, and a maintenance person.
The remaining employees were locals who came on a rotating schedule, including many of our department heads.
We’d converted the old servants’ wing into a manager’s office, a conference room, and studio apartments for the live-in staff.
As I entered the back of the castle with Parker and Theo on my tail, I headed straight for the manager’s office.
The teasing smile Parker had brought to my face slipped away as I considered what he’d said about needing a bodyguard.
He might have been right, but as much as my body rejoiced at Parker here protecting me, I couldn’t let him be the one to take on the responsibility.
I needed him to leave, and it wasn’t just to keep them safe.
I wasn’t sure my heart could take him being here.
How many sweet exchanges and delightful teases could I handle before I was begging him to take me again? Especially with the way my emotions were zigzagging all over the place these days.
I knocked on Andie’s open office door and entered to find her pacing behind her desk.
Her dark-auburn hair was in a tight bun, and her tailored pants and silk button-down were neat and unrumpled, but her gray eyes were tired and worn in a creamy face dotted with freckles across the nose.
She had her phone to her ear, listening intently to the conversation on the other end.
She shot me a worried look before glancing behind me to Parker.
“I understand. We hope to see you next year,” she said before saying goodbye.
My stomach turned. “Was that a guest canceling their reservation?”
“No. It was the band we had planned for the Fourth of July celebration.”
Frustration returned in full force, squeezing my chest. “Hell of a way for you to return from vacation, Andie. I’m sorry things are such a mess, but if worse comes to worst, we can set up the outdoor speakers and manage a playlist ourselves. It won’t be the same, but it’ll be music.”
“We can, but I’ll go down our list of usual bands and see if anyone can take their place on such short notice.” Her eyes drifted to Parker again.
“You remember Parker Steele?” I asked.
“Of course. Nice to see you again.” Her eyes lingered on him as many eyes did. After all, he was something to behold. But it was Theo who brought the wide smile to her face. “Who’s this cutie?”
“I’m Feo,” he said with an innocent bravado that tugged at my heart.
“Nice to meet you, Theo.” She looked from him to Parker and then back to me, grin disappearing. “Where do you want to start?”
“We need to put out a press release, but I want to meet with the sheriff first and see what he does and doesn’t want us to say.
Can you call a meeting with all the department heads?
I’m pretty sure Olivia can keep our social media and ads focused on our summer activities instead of the bad news, but we need to brainstorm a canned response for the staff to have at the ready if they get questions. ”
“I already scheduled a meeting for eleven o’clock.” She nodded.
“How are the guests holding up?”
“Most have been very kind. They were sad something like this happened and sorry for our loss rather than concerned for themselves. They’re just grateful it was put out before it could spread. Do we know what happened?” Andie asked.
Some of the tightness in my chest eased knowing the guests weren’t running for the hills…or rather back to their city life. But would they feel the same way if they knew the truth? That it hadn’t been an accident? The resort was under attack on my watch, and I wasn’t even sure what to do about it.
I told Andie about the device Beckett had found, and her expression turned grim. Parker shifted beside me, a barely perceptible move, but I would always be a thousand times more aware of him than any other human.
“Parker was supposed to stay in the cabin for the next few days.” I barely held back the panic that tried to take hold at the thought of what might have happened if they’d already been there. I swallowed hard and then asked, “Do we have any other rooms open?”
“I’m staying with you,” Parker said. His voice brooked no argument, and his eyes dared me to try to fight with him about it.
The idea of Parker staying with me in my house was even worse than him staying at the ranch.
Before I could respond, Andie said, “We’re completely booked heading into the Fourth of July next week, but someone might cancel if the news that this wasn’t an accident leaks out.”
With a resigned sigh, I looked at Andie and asked, “Can you have one of the cots brought up to my house for Theo, and have Tami do a quick cleaning of Mom’s room?”
“We don’t need the cot,” Parker said. “Theo ends up in my bed more times than not anyway.”
Andie typed into her phone before looking up. “Done.”
My phone buzzed, and when I pulled it from my pocket, I saw a message from Kurt saying Sheriff Wylee had finished talking to Beckett and was ready to meet with me.
“Can you pull all the files of any employee who left within the last year?” I asked Andie. “Especially any who left on bad terms? I want to go through them personally, but I suspect Sheriff Wylee will want to see them also.”
She rubbed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who was upset when they left, Fallon.
And I especially can’t think of anyone who would come after us like this.
” She paused, looking out the window and then back.
“The staff will be as worried about their safety as the guests if this gets out.”
“I’m meeting with the security team now,” Parker said.
“And Dad has authorized me to increase the team in order to catch this bastard before they strike again. I’ll have more bodies here by tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Just intensifying our presence might be enough of a deterrent, but I also intend on closing whatever gaps they’ve been squeezing through. ”
As I headed for the door, I looked back and said, “Thanks for all you do, Andie. I’m sorry to throw more at you today, but I appreciate it.”
“It’s my job, Fallon, and you pay me generously to do it. This place runs so smoothly, I usually feel guilty taking your money.” She gave me a wide smile that was supposed to be reassuring, but it only tied me in knots more.
I gave her a curt nod. “I’ll see you at the meeting.”
Parker and Theo followed me as we headed back outside.
The scent of smoke, charred wood, and burnt plastic hung in the air. My throat closed up once more when I saw the ugly remains of the cabin. Damnit. Just damnit.
Kurt and Sheriff Wylee were standing where the porch had once been. We’d just joined them when a soft bark had Theo pulling away from Parker and barreling straight for Johnny as he and Teddy rounded the barn.
“Theo, stop!” Parker yelled, fear in his tone.
But it was too late. Theo had already reached the dog, who wagged his tail furiously in greeting.
Thankfully, Johnny was one of the friendliest animals I knew.
In general, chinooks were good with people, but Johnny tended to think he was more human than canine.
His short-haired, tawny coat shone, and dark, almond-shaped eyes glimmered with happiness at Theo’s excitement.
Johnny had a dusting of darker brown along both the ridge of his muzzle and the tips of his short, floppy ears, while his chest was almost white. His mate, June, was even lighter than him, and the puppies they’d had were a fuzzy, furball mix of both parents.
Johnny was already licking Theo’s face by the time Parker and I reached them. Theo giggled, a delighted, happy sound that rang through the seriousness of the air like magic.
“Theo, you can’t just run up to strange dogs. Not all of them are friendly.”
Theo certainly wasn’t learning his lesson from Johnny as he draped an arm around the dog’s neck and shoved his stuffed animal at him. “Dog meet dog!”
Teddy dropped to one knee by the boy. His beard had gotten thicker in the last few weeks, and it was smattered with gray streaks, just like his bright-red hair.
Tall and lanky, I’d always thought of him as a sunflower that had grown too tall for its stem and was likely to droop over at any second.
“You don’t have to worry about Johnny, Parker.
He makes lifelong friends with a mere brush of a hand.
” Teddy looked over at Theo. “Johnny, sit and say hello.”
The dog planted his butt on the ground and held up a paw. Theo giggled again and shook the paw. “I’m Feo, and this is Dog,” Theo told Johnny, and I swore the chinook grinned.
Teddy stuck his large hand in Theo’s direction. “Not that you care, son, but I’m Teddy.”
Theo smiled and shook his hand.
Teddy stood up, looked from Parker to me, and then behind us to the sheriff. “Why don’t I take Theo into the barn and show him June and the puppies while y’all take care of business?”
“You brought the puppies?” I asked, surprised, just as Theo shouted, “Puppies!”
“I didn’t know how long you’d need me here today after I heard what happened this morning, and I didn’t want to leave them unattended for too long at the house.”