Chapter 18
Patterns
Nick strode into the kitchen, a Cheshire smile plastered across his face, the warmth of the morning light pouring in through the windows and catching dust motes in golden suspension.
Zach and David sat at the island, with Marguerite busy at the stove, the sizzle of butter and eggs filling the air with savory promise, her cheerful humming adding to the cozy atmosphere. “Good morning, everyone!”
David glanced up from his omelet, a chuckle escaping him at Nick’s high spirits. “Well, if it isn’t Romeo himself. You’re looking happy this morning. I take it you didn’t scare Kate away with your bossy personality?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Hey, I’m not bossy. I’m commanding. There is a difference. Just ask any dictator.” He couldn’t help but grin, aware that they only teased.
“At least you chose a smart one,” Zach chimed in, tilting his head with a playful smirk. “A sexy one, too. She looked fabulous yesterday at the pool.”
A flicker of discomfort shot through Nick like a warning flare, and he frowned, narrowing his eyes at Zach. Even in jest, hearing his brother recognize Kate’s attractiveness pricked at something possessive and unexpectedly fierce within him. “Eyes off. She’s mine.”
“Nick and Kate, sitting in a tree, K—I—S—S—I—N—G,” David sang out, accompanying the tune with an exaggerated bounce. Marguerite responded swiftly, smacking him on the side of the head, and Nick couldn’t suppress his snicker, even if he wanted to.
“Knock that off, Davie,” Marguerite scolded, turning to Nick with eyes sparkling with genuine joy, the morning light highlighting the silver in her hair. “Kate is a wonderful lady. I am glad you realize that. You treat her right—she is not one of your Barbie dolls.”
Nick’s jaw dropped open while David erupted into laughter and Zach choked on his coffee, struggling to curb his own mirth.
“Just what do you know about his Barbie dolls?” Zach asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Marguerite’s smile turned mysterious. “Everything, of course. That is my job.” Her expression shifted to something more stern as she focused on Nick, pointing a wooden spoon at him like a weapon. “You can play all you want with those shallow creatures, but Kate is not a toy. She is genuine.”
Nick’s heart fluttered at her words, a strange tightness forming in his throat. “I know, Marguerite. I don’t know where, if anywhere, this might go, but I really enjoy her company.” As he admitted this, a wave of uncertainty washed over him, cold and disorienting. What was he doing with her?
He pushed those thoughts aside, determined to focus on the present. “It’s time for our interview with Lena. Are you two ready?”
He glanced at each of them, the last traces of humor slipping away like water through his fingers as they all nodded. Time to get serious.
The moment they stepped into the meeting room, the easy camaraderie from the kitchen evaporated, the mood shifting like a door closing behind them, air conditioning now too cold against his skin.
The great room smelled of leather and the coffee that Michael had brewed—dark and strong.
He addressed David first, his tone all business.
“David, you’ve been working with Lena on the reservations.
Anything new to report that might change our trajectory?
” Nick asked, though he doubted David could be completely objective.
David’s eyes—the softness around the edges, the way his gaze unfocused slightly when Lena’s name was mentioned—clearly showed that he was smitten with her.
“No. She’s been amazing to work with. She figured out almost immediately a simple way to fix all of this mess. It’ll still take some time, but we’re on the right track. I’ll let her tell you—it’s her idea, so she should get the credit for it.”
Nick nodded, respecting how Lena had handled the chaos. Her composure under pressure was remarkable, and that David trusted her judgment reinforced that impression. If David, with his Mensa-level intellect, thought her idea sound, then it was worth considering. Even though he was smitten.
Pulling his mind back to the reservation fiasco, Nick turned to Zach. “Any more information about that LLC?”
“Not yet,” Zach growled, frustration lacing his voice like barbed wire.
“Ninja is pissed he hasn’t been able to track it down.
He’s still working it. The guest at Tiki Beach, the male, was paid to stir up trouble.
The woman didn’t appear to know anything about the payment, but did know he was going to cause a scene. ”
Nick leaned forward, resting his elbows on the polished mahogany table, the wood cool beneath his forearms. “Before we move on, there’s something else I want to flag. The food shipment scheduled for yesterday never showed up. The restaurants scrambled to fill orders.”
David glanced up sharply, his fork clattering against his plate. “Never showed? Did they give a reason?”
“The vendor claimed the order was canceled,” Nick said, his jaw tightening to where tension radiated up into his temples.
“I checked the logs, and sure enough, there’s a cancellation notice in the system.
Obviously, it shouldn’t have been. It looked like it was processed internally—no flags, no authentication issues. ”
Zach’s expression darkened, storm clouds gathering behind his eyes. “You think someone’s tampering again.”
“I don’t know,” Nick admitted, the words tasting bitter. “However, I’m not about to chalk it up to coincidence. Can you dig into it? We need to discover if it was a genuine error or someone testing how far they can push.”
Zach nodded once, a sharp, military gesture. “I’ll pull the access records and cross-check vendor communications. If it’s sabotage, we’ll trace it.”
David slumped back, frowning, his fingers drumming an anxious rhythm on the table. “That’s what… the fifth incident? The tsunami alert, the spa swap, the review bombing, the false allergy attack—and now this food shipment.”
“Six,” Nick corrected, each incident a stone in his gut. “Don’t forget Kate’s reservation glitch. That was the first crack. There were also those other, more minor glitches we uncovered before that. They could have been trial runs to see how we responded.”
Zach folded his arms across his chest, muscles tensing beneath his shirt. “Pattern’s getting clearer. They’re not just poking holes. They’re trying to blow the whole thing up from the inside.”
“One glitch can be a mistake,” David muttered, his analytical mind racing. “Two’s a coincidence. But this many?”
Nick’s expression hardened, the muscles in his face setting like concrete.
“It’s coordinated, and these glitches have one thing in common: guest satisfaction.
Whoever this is, they’re going after our reputation, via our operations and now our supply chain, which also affects guest satisfaction. We’re being hit on all fronts.”