Chapter 39
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
“Ange, you got a minute?” Sy asked nervously.
Angelica paused in her quick walk from the bathroom where she’d barely managed to get a second to herself, toward the back offices. She was on a mission to finish what she’d started nearly two days ago, which was to beef up the policies for safety.
“Is this important?” she asked, trying to gauge just how necessary it was for her to take time out of her day for it.
“It’s about the hotel, so yes.” Sy wrung his hands together. “And I think it should be filmed.”
Angelica furrowed her brow, cocking her head to the side. “All right then.”
She followed Sy back toward the office behind the main reception desk.
He shut the door, turned the camera on, and then sat across from her in the chairs.
No one else was in there. Angelica crossed her legs and waited for some kind of explanation from him, but he didn’t immediately jump into the conversation.
“Last night, well yesterday, well, the night before—”
“Sy, I need some context about what we’re discussing.”
“Right, sorry.” His face was pale, his cheeks slack.
What the hell could he be so nervous about?
“I was curious if this was an issue this hotel has had before, safety and kids, whatever. So I went on a deep dive through the internet to see if the golf cart incident was something that had happened before.”
Angelica’s shoulders dropped, no longer tense. “And has it?”
“There’s been other issues that are similar, but that’s not what I found that you really need to know about.” Sy pulled out his phone and pulled up an image. Then he handed it over to Angelica.
She took the phone curiously. “What’s this?”
“Just read it.”
Angelica skimmed the headline. Her stomach dropped. A cold clammy sweat came over her body. “When was this?”
“Five years ago,” Sy answered.
She breathed slowly, that panic setting in. “Is he here today?”
“Not yet.”
Angelica handed the phone back. “Send that to me.”
Without another word, she stood up and walked behind the desk and turned the computer on.
She needed way more information than that small news article was going to give her.
When was he hired, what kind of background check had been done, what had been ignored and avoided, and did they know?
The questions rambled through her brain in a flash of a second, and she needed answers immediately.
Sy left the room at some point, but he did exactly as she’d asked and sent her the information.
Within an hour, Angelica had everything she needed.
She snagged her phone, Hope’s name lighting up the screen.
This was something they both needed to be in on.
Well, they didn’t, but having backup would be so helpful in this situation.
She hit the button and lifted the phone to her ear as she waited for Hope to answer.
“Yeah?” Hope said.
“Are you busy right now?” Angelica asked, glancing at the time on the computer. She actually had no idea where Hope was filming today. All that pertinent information had slipped from her brain the moment Sy had dropped the bomb in her lap.
“Yes.”
Angelica clenched her jaw. She wasn’t used to Hope being so short with her. “I could really use you to back me up with the owners in a few minutes.”
“Minutes? Not going to happen.” The sounds of the kitchen echoed through the phone.
Angelica furrowed her brow. Hope had actually never told her no like that before. Never a flat-out denial with no give at all. No alternative time or option. Angelica clenched her cell phone a little tighter in her hand.
“Please, Hope, this is important.”
“Is it about management or the kitchen?”
“Management, although depending on how deep it goes when I get proper time to research, it might involve the kitchen.” Angelica glanced at the computer screen with the news article pulled up.
“Then I think you can handle it.”
Angelica’s heart pattered rampantly again, only this time it wasn’t because of Sy.
It was because of whatever wall Hope had just put up between them.
This wasn’t the Hope that Angelica knew and understood.
Hope was easygoing, flirtatious, and always willing to lend a helping hand. What was so different now?
“Hope…” Angelica trailed her name off, not entirely sure how to ask what was wrong or what she’d done or if she even had the bandwidth to deal with whatever it was right now.
“Where were you yesterday?” Hope asked, something sizzling in the background.
“I can’t talk about that,” Angelica murmured. Her trip to Los Angeles had been impromptu and unexpectedly sudden. But it had also been necessary. She wasn’t sure if she’d been successful or not, but at least she’d done what she could.
“Can’t or won’t?” Hope charged back at her.
“Can’t,” Angelica reiterated. “I had a work trip that I needed to make back to Los Angeles, and I did that. I can’t tell you any more than that.”
“You didn’t tell me you were leaving.”
No, Angelica hadn’t. Because the thought of talking to Hope that night had wrecked her.
After the conversation with Rachel, the realization of how in love she was with Hope, and the deep-rooted understanding that they’d never have more than this, were still sitting heavily on her heart.
And she didn’t have the ability to sort it all out right now.
“It wasn’t planned,” Angelica answered, her voice quiet. “I could really use your help for this meeting.”
“Sorry.” Hope hung up.
Angelica bit the inside of her cheek and stared at her phone, realizing far too late that the camera was still on.
At least they hadn’t said anything that would be too easy to catch them at.
Angelica stepped out into the main reception area, finding Sy out there along with Rex, Josef, and the owner, Daniel.
She let go a huge sigh and plastered on a serious face. Pushing aside whatever was happening with her and Hope had to be a must right now because she couldn’t let it distract her from the conversation that needed to happen.
She could do this.
She didn’t need Hope. She just wanted the extra support, which she knew Hope would generally provide.
“Daniel, I need to have a conversation with you.”
“About the golf carts?” He could clearly sense the seriousness of the conversation, but he wasn’t aware of where Angelica was going to take it.
“No.” She nodded toward the office, and then looked directly at Rex. “You too.”
She walked back to the office she’d just come from, sitting behind the desk like she owned the place.
And in this case, she did. Daniel sat down across from her, and the crew crowded in behind, giving as much space for filming as they could.
Angelica looked directly at Sy and nodded at him.
She’d have to thank him later for giving her the tip.
“It came to my attention earlier this morning that your manager, Louis, is a registered sex offender.”
The air in the room tightened. She kept her gaze on Daniel, judging by his response how much he knew or didn’t know. When she saw nothing from him, she glanced around the room to find out who else might have known, but everyone seemed stunned.
That was a good thing at least. Even Josef didn’t seem like he knew.
“I left him out of this meeting because we need to figure out what we’re going to do about the situation.”
“What situation?” Daniel shook his head. “He wasn’t arrested for any crime with a minor.”
Angelica’s eyebrows rose, and she rocked back in her chair, staring at Daniel. “How long have you known about this arrest and his conviction?”
“Louis is a good manager.”
“He’s also a sex offender.” Angelica wasn’t going to let this one go.
“And you’re running a family-friendly resort.
I’m not above hiring felons to work in my hotels, but I am going to be very specific in where they work, what they have access to, and it will be entirely based on their offenses.
You cannot have a sex offender working where children are abundantly present. ”
“He hasn’t been a problem.”
“He might very well not have been or be one.” Angelica stared at him hard, trying to get her point through his tiny little head.
“But are you going to be the one who puts others at risk? Children, who are innocent. Children, who don’t know and understand the ways of the world.
Children, who you try to get here by luring them in with fun activities and childcare.
” Angelica breathed steadily. “You are a line of defense for them, and they and their parents trust you to hire people who should be around kids, not ones who have proven themselves otherwise.”
Daniel’s cheeks turned red, and he puffed them out with breath. “Louis wouldn’t hurt a kid.”
“But he has.” Angelica slid paperwork over in front of him.
But Daniel didn’t pick it up to look. “He was convicted—not just arrested—but convicted of sexual assault and harassment of a minor. And this isn’t a he turned eighteen and the girl was still sixteen type of case.
” Angelica pointed at the part of the report that had that in there.
“And your records show that you ran a background check on him, that this came back, and you still ignored it to hire him. That’s intentional negligence, and you should be held responsible for it. ”
Daniel stayed still.
“We came here to fix your hotel, to put into place policies and strategies to grow it. And I cannot in good conscience do that if you don’t understand the very basics of keeping children safe.
This is beyond a golf cart incident. And you need to understand that.
I’ll give you five minutes to figure out what you want to do and if you want to move forward. ”
She took the packet of information she’d printed for Daniel with her and stepped out of the room. Josef was hot on her heels, but she wasn’t playing games today. Not after this week. Not after everything—
“Ange!” Josef’s voice reverberated through her.
Angelica paused, turning around to face him. “You can yell at me later, Josef. But what I did in there was the right thing to do.”
“It was.” He nodded at her, his face forlorn. “It was. I can’t argue with you on that, and if Daniel doesn’t fire Louis, then I’ll fully support pulling out of this hotel.”
That was a relief. Maybe. Josef always had something up his sleeve, so what was it this time? Angelica crossed her arms, popped out her hip, and waited for the other shoe to drop.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Angelica glowered.
“What you were about to do in there?”
“You didn’t need to know.” It was more than that, though.
She’d gone to Los Angeles to meet with the studio in person to report on what Josef had done with Annalise and the golf cart, and his intentional negligence of a child.
They’d been shocked, but she also wasn’t convinced that they’d take any action beyond a slap on the wrist. Because Josef was the show runner, because he was the one pulling the strings, and they all loved him and hated her. All thanks to Josef and his loud mouth.
“You should have told me. Just like you should tell me what you did to Hope this week.”
“Excuse me?” Angelica’s shoulders tightened.
“She’s not been herself, and it’s showing on camera. She’s our star, and as a producer, you have a duty to make sure that she’s catered to.”
Angelica’s lips parted in surprise. “What makes you think I did anything?”
“Because it’s always you.” Josef scoffed and then turned back toward the office.
“What happened in there proves it. You’re always the one poking holes and taking the hard line.
And you’re always the one who misses opportunities for appreciation.
Sometimes people just need a little bit of love in their lives to make them feel good. ”
How fucking ironic coming from him?
Angelica hardened. All she wanted was exactly what he was espousing, and yet she’d been the last one to ever be on his list to receive it.
Did she need it from him? Hell no. But would it go a long way toward repairing their fractured relationship?
Maybe. But beyond that, it was all she’d wanted from Hope.
And in the end, she’d have to be the one to point that out, wouldn’t she?
Saying nothing, Angelica started back toward the office. “Time’s up!” she called over her shoulder at Josef. “Let’s see what Daniel has to say.”
She slid into the seat and crossed her legs and arms, giving Daniel a hard stare. “So?”
Daniel’s lower lip quivered. “I thought I was helping him out.”
Angelica didn’t say anything. She held her ground on this one. It wasn’t something she’d screw around with ever, and if she had to be the hard-ass because no one else was willing to step up, then she would be.
“I’ll talk to him when he gets in.”
“And tell him what exactly?” Angelica looked Daniel over.
“That he doesn’t work here anymore.”
She pursed her lips, satisfied that she’d at least gotten her way on one thing today.
She breathed slowly, launching into her second line of attack.
“You need to re-up everyone’s background checks.
Those who work directly with the children—lifeguards, babysitters, event staff—they all need regular and routine background checks. ”
Daniel nodded.
“Are you willing to work on that? Immediately?”
“Yes,” Daniel answered.
“Good.” Angelica sighed heavily and relaxed her stance. “Then let’s get to work, because we have a lot more of it now than we did before.”