Chapter 24
Sean was hesitant to leave Stuart, but he felt better knowing the mother was there. She seemed to show renewed strength in protecting her son after Sean made her husband back down.
Perhaps it was a reminder to her that Frank wasn’t invincible or all-powerful. Sometimes, all it took to remind people of their strength was to amplify their voice.
Sean figured the rose that Karla had been excited to see with her secret visitor was the Angel’s Kiss.
Before Sean returned to the garden, he enlisted Roger’s help to learn more about the roses and what made them so special. And if there was anyone else in the hotel who shared Karla’s admiration for the flowers.
“Well, if you’re looking for the hotel’s biggest horticulturist, that’d be me,” Roger said.
“You grow these flowers?” Sean asked flatly.
Roger laughed. “I know I don’t look like the typical gardener, but it’s something I got into later in life.” He shrugged. “I was a bit of a troublemaker back in the day. Gardening helped calm my mind, taught me patience and dedication, and taught me to know that it took time to grow things.”
“Tell me about the Angel Kiss,” Sean replied.
“Ah, yes,” Roger said. “Now, that’s a special flower. Only blooms once a year for less than forty-eight hours.”
“Is it in bloom now?” Sean asked.
“Not yet, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on it,” Roger answered. “It’s actually quite remarkable when it does bloom. The petals are almost translucent, and they glow. It’s extraordinary.”
Sean wondered if Karla had been unable to sleep and snuck out of her parents’ room to see if the rose had bloomed yet. If she had, maybe she had come across something she shouldn’t have seen.
“I’d like to see it,” Sean said.
Roger led Sean to the atrium, which was located off the lobby near the front of the hotel. When they entered, snow covered the glass, blocking out the sunlight. Without the candles they’d set up, it would have been pitch black inside.
“It’s crazy to see that,” Roger said, gesturing up at the snow. “I’m glad I invested in the strong glass. I’m not sure the cheap stuff would have been able to hold all that weight.”
Sean walked over to the small section of the rose garden that held the Angel’s Kiss and saw the buds all still closed.
“I get it. You’re not impressed,” Roger said, standing next to Sean. “But I can promise you it’s the most amazing thing.”
Sean could hear the passion in Roger’s voice, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the man Karla had gone to meet was him. “Why roses? Why gardening?” Sean asked.
Roger sighed, taking a deep breath and then crossed his arms. “Well, I guess I got tired of doing bad in the world and wanted to start showing my appreciation for life. I wanted to bring beauty into the world, not ugliness.”
It was a nice sentiment, but Sean couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a practiced line. But when Rivers did the background checks, she said the hotel staff was clean.
“What did you do?” Sean asked. “Before the hotel.”
“Nothing, good,” Roger answered, grimacing. “I had a penchant for trouble. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m ashamed of it now, but back then I couldn’t care less.”
“You ever do any time?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, a stretch in my twenties,” Roger answered, and his face slackened as he recalled that time in his life.
“Armed robbery. It’s a miracle I’m not dead right now.
” He gestured to the gardens around him.
“It’s why I wanted to bring this life into the world, even in the dead of winter.
” He looked up at the snow. “This atrium is my little corner of brightness in a dark world. I’m glad for it.
It helps remind me that good things take time. ”
Sean took a moment to walk around the garden, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He checked under the garden beds down each row, looked for anything in the dirt, but everything turned up empty.
Until he reached the red roses.
Sean almost didn’t notice it at first, but then a shimmer from the candlelight reflected something metallic in the soil.
It was hidden between a cluster of rose stems. Sean retrieved one of the plastic bags that Roger had given him when he first started the case and used it to pick up the item.
A gold-hooped earring dangled from Sean’s fingertips. Blood touched the tip of it, and Sean remembered how the bride’s sister, Julie, was missing an earring that looked just like this one.
Sean would need to find Julie and speak to her, but before he had the chance, Sean and Roger jumped at a glass-shattering scream.