Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
Angelica pulled her AirPods out of her ears and put them in their case, sliding them into the pocket of her leggings.
That run had been exactly what she’d needed.
Her muscles burned from the exercise, from the strain, but the rest of her body felt warm and right.
She stepped around the fence to the large pool on the property, the scent of chlorine hitting her hard and nearly making her sneeze.
Squeals of laughter echoed, and she found herself smiling as she heard the voices. This was exactly what a hotel like this should sound like, and she was glad that the voices were here for that. She turned the corner and had to jump back.
The golf cart’s wheels squealed as it turned too sharply, nearly toppling over.
Angelica’s heart raced as she watched it overcorrect and turn the other way, this time falling flat on its side.
She raced toward it, her hands trembling as she peered through the darkness to find none other than Annalise lying on the grass.
“Oh my God!” Angelica looked around, trying to find Rachel or Hope or anyone else nearby, but she didn’t find anyone. She touched Annalise’s cheek lightly, but Annalise was already wiggling around and moving. “You shouldn’t get up!”
The tears started, sliding down Annalise’s cheeks as the cries of fear and pain ramped up. Angelica touched her cheek more firmly, trying to get Annalise’s attention. “Annalise, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Mama!”
Angelica looked up, trying desperately to find someone, anyone, who was nearby and could actually help.
Annalise pulled herself up onto her knees and climbed her way closer to Angelica, crawling into her lap and pressing her face against Angelica’s chest. On instinct, Angelica wrapped her arms around Annalise’s small frame and hugged her tight.
She didn’t seem hurt. More shook up. She was moving fine.
Angelica moved her hands along Annalise’s arms and over her legs briefly before she pulled away to look Annalise in the eye. “Are you hurt?”
Annalise nodded, eyes clenched tight. Then, as if the question finally registered, she shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Angelica asked again, trying to see anything that she could, but it was so dark outside and on this side of the building. There were hardly any lights to help her out.
“Yeah. Where’s my mom?”
“I don’t know,” Angelica said, her voice rushed as the panic and adrenaline hit her harder than it had before.
Annalise sniffled and rubbed her tiny fists against her face.
Angelica had no idea how old she even was, but she was smaller than Eva.
Then again, that didn’t necessarily mean anything either.
She stayed where she was, her ass damp from the grass where the sprinklers had gone off earlier, and her muscles now protesting not being able to move.
She kept Annalise against her chest until the girl started to move and shift.
“Do you think you can stand up?” Angelica asked.
“Yeah,” Annalise said, her voice so small.
“Okay.” Angelica helped her stand, keeping her hands on Annalise’s sides until she knew that Annalise would be steady on her feet. Then she pulled out her phone and turned the flashlight on. “Let me look you over.”
Moving onto her knees, Angelica flashed the light all over Annalise, but she didn’t see any injuries.
That was at least a good sign. Turning the light off, she pocketed the phone and stood up.
She had so many questions running through her head, but she had no idea where to even start.
And she didn’t want Annalise to shut down because she suddenly thought she was in trouble either.
“Come on, let’s find your mom.” Angelica took Annalise by the hand and then walked slowly back toward the main reception building.
When she walked in, she was surprised to find no one worried or frantic.
“Anyone want to tell me how a six-year-old ended up stealing a golf cart and crashing it without any of you knowing what was going on?” Angelica’s voice cracked through the room.
They jerked with a start.
“No?” Angelica asked, pushing for an answer. “Get the night manager out here right now.”
“Annalise?” Rachel stepped into the main lobby.
Annalise instantly started crying as she raced for her mom, who picked her up and held her tightly.
Angelica’s heart eased a little. That was one problem solved already.
What she was confused about was the fact that there was a camera following Rachel, Sy positioned behind it and Lyric off to the side.
Angelica walked forward slowly, unsure of exactly what to do. These interpersonal conversations weren’t something she excelled at. That was Hope’s area of expertise.
“What happened?” Rachel cooed before raising up a glare in Angelica’s direction as if she was the reason Annalise was crying and the reason everything was wrong.
“I’m trying to figure that out as well,” Angelica said, trying to ease the tension.
“I found Annalise driving one of the golf carts behind the reception building. She toppled it over when she lost control.” Angelica glanced from Rachel to the camera and pursed her lips.
“But I haven’t talked to her yet about what happened. ”
“Crashed a golf cart?” Rachel’s eyebrows rose so high they nearly disappeared into her hair line. She immediately squatted down and looked Annalise over, but just like Angelica, she didn’t find any injuries. “Why did you get in a golf cart?”
“I’d rather know how.” Angelica looked back toward the front desk where the night manager finally showed up.
She sighed, nodding to him to come closer.
She hadn’t dealt with him too much in the few days they’d been there, so he was about to get a cold dose of reality. “Was the key in the golf cart?”
Annalise nodded. Angelica clenched her jaw hard.
“And I’m assuming no one was around?”
Annalise shook her head.
“And why weren’t you supervised?”
“She and her sister got into a fight,” Rachel answered. “And she bolted out the patio door. I was just coming down here to try and find her.”
Angelica hummed annoyance. She pointed at the night manager. “Go see if there are any other golf carts that have had keys left in them unexpectedly. Find someone to turn the rolled one upright, and then I want a lock on all of them for the rest of tonight until I can dig deeper into the policies.”
“Wh-what policies?” The night manager asked.
Angelica turned on him fully, her entire body rigid.
“The policies you have about safety and golf carts, not to mention the policies you have about lost children, and any other safety procedures that you have.” Her voice snapped, and the man jerked with a sudden start.
Now that she knew Annalise was all right, she had much bigger fish to fry.
And she damn well wasn’t going to let them get out of it.
She turned away from Rachel and Annalise and started to focus on the staff who were there.
This she could do. This she could fix. Annalise’s broken and scared heart?
Not so much. Angelica walked directly to the front counter and leaned against it, waiting for the night manager to get back with the standard operating procedures books.
He handed them over and she slapped them onto the counter.
“Pop quiz time.” She frowned and opened the first one. “Who is to have access to the golf carts?”
“E-employees only,” he stuttered.
Angelica shot him a glare. “All employees?” It’d been somewhat of a trick question, but it wasn’t that hard to answer.
And when he nodded, she knew he hadn’t been properly trained at all.
“Wrong. Only employees with a certification are to drive the golf carts. When not in use, where are the keys supposed to be?”
“In the cabinet in the office,” he said firmly.
At least he had that one right. “And where’s the log for the golf carts?”
“What log?”
“The log that says who took what vehicle in case there’s damage, or in this case, negligence.” Angelica popped her fist on her hip, completely ignoring the fact that Sy was coming in closer to catch this on camera. How the hell had he even known this was going to happen?
“There isn’t a log, ma’am.”
“There isn’t a log.” Angelica’s jaw dropped in shock.
“So you have no idea who took that golf cart before Annalise got into it? You have no idea who was negligent enough to leave keys within easy access of a child? You have no idea who risked the safety of a child because there’s no log?
” She got louder with each question, her voice reaching a pinnacle as she pressed her hand on the folder.
“No, ma’am.” He swallowed hard, clearly nervous.
“Your lost child policy, where is it?”
He grabbed for another folder and handed it over to her.
Angelica skimmed it quickly. Everything was here, for the most part.
There were a few things that she’d change, but all in all, everything they needed was there.
“When Rachel got here, what would you have done when she reported her kid missing?”
“Put out a call on the radio and notified the gates.”
At least he knew that. Angelica sighed heavily.
“Put these on the desk. I’m going to talk with everyone about it tomorrow.
” She was too tired to deal with that tonight, and it wasn’t the night manager’s fault either.
This was a bigger systemic issue. But she also had a sneaking suspicion that something else was going on, and when she caught sight of Josef standing in the back hall, her stomach dropped again.
Breathing deeply, Angelica stared at him and said nothing until he got closer. “I’m not sure I even want to ask,” she said.
“Ask what?”
“Are you behind this?” Her voice nearly cracked on that last word. “Did you give Annalise the idea to get in the golf cart? Did you give her the key?”
Josef clenched his jaw and squared his shoulders, but he didn’t answer her.
“What the fuck, Josef?” Her voice rang through the lobby for the third time that night.
“Are you insane?” She stepped away from him.
“You willingly endangered a child all for what? To prove a point about safety?” She stopped herself, shaking her head.
“This wasn’t about safety. You wanted drama.
You wanted this. You wanted me to run in here all hot-headed and tear into someone.
You wanted me to be the bad guy in this. ”
She flung her hand out to her side in anger.
“I can’t believe that you’d risk injuring a kid all for the sake of a show.” She shook her head, stepping away. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”
Turning on her toes to leave, she stopped short.
Rachel was still standing there, a hand on Annalise’s chest as they watched everything go down.
Angelica clenched her jaw hard and pushed her toes into the ground, walking around Rachel and Annalise and slamming her hand into the door when she was outside.
“Fuck!” she shouted loudly, as soon as she was outdoors and away from all of that. The rest of the producers would be hearing about this. She wasn’t going to let Josef get away with this bullshit. Not when he deliberately put a kid at risk.
“Angelica?” Rachel’s voice echoed toward her, far more timid than Angelica had ever heard it.
Angelica winced, turning around and facing Rachel. “I’m so sorry about him.”
Rachel walked closer, taking her time, as if Angelica was a rabid wolf who needed to be approached with care. Angelica settled in for another confrontation, her shoulders set.
“Annalise’s fine.”
“By luck,” Angelica answered.
“Yes, by luck, but she’s not injured.”
Angelica scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I have a lot of work to do tonight, was there something else you needed?”
Rachel looked over her shoulder toward the lobby, the large windows showing Annalise sitting on a coach, and Sy ignoring Josef as he stood there flabbergasted.
“I don’t like you,” Rachel said, her voice ringing through the slightly chilly air.
“Excuse me?” Angelica tensed. She hadn’t expected another attack. Well, she had, but not one of this nature.
“I don’t like you. You’re mean, you’re cruel, and I don’t think you have a kind bone in your body.”
Angelica’s heart sank. This was coming out of nowhere. Rachel hadn’t shown any signs that she didn’t like Angelica, or that she felt this oppositional to her.
“You talk about rules and regulations as if the world should live by them, but you’re such a hypocrite.” Rachel’s voice lowered dangerously.
Angelica bit the inside of her cheek. She knew exactly where this was going. She knew that Rachel knew. How? Not one clue. But that’s where all of this was stemming from. Protecting her baby sister. And the only way to do that was to demonize Angelica, the other woman, the home wrecker.
“Hope loves her family. She’ll never give them up. You, on the other hand, have all the advantages. You’re her boss. You’re her coworker. You’re experienced.” Rachel’s fingers curled into fists, as she stood nearly nose to nose with Angelica. “You’re taking advantage of her.”
Angelica held every emotion tightly in her chest. Now wasn’t the time to let them loose. This was for Rachel to feel as though she’d made her point, as though she’d stated her purpose and swayed Angelica to change her mind and back the fuck off.
“You’re ruining everything she’s worked so damn hard for.” Rachel crossed her arms and glared. “And she’s about to lose everything.”
Angelica swallowed hard. She glanced toward the lobby and Annalise, and then Josef and Sy. She held her breath as she looked back at Rachel, this fiery woman who was so much like her sister. Angelica stepped to the side to make space between them.
“Excuse me,” she murmured.
Without a second glance, she left. She walked straight back to her room and locked herself inside.
Stripping out of her dirty and wet clothes, she flung them onto the floor of the bathroom and climbed into the shower, tears falling down her cheeks as sobs wracked through her.
She pressed her hands against the tiled wall as the hot water rained down on her shoulders.
She was so stupid.
She was so lost.
She was in love.
Angelica breathed deeply, her voice echoing in the small confines of the shower, the sob piercing her ears as she clenched her eyes tightly.
Pain seared through her, overwhelming her.
Standing directly under the water, she pushed her hair back from her face and tugged on the strands to feel that last bite of pain.
She was in love.
And Hope couldn’t love her back.