Raven Falls

by Jill Sanders

  He quickly told his uncle about Colin sending the grainy image to Raven last night.

  “Do you think you could get me a copy of it for evidence?” Sean asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll have Raven send it over to you.” He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not Raven,” he warned. “You can clearly see that if you look closely enough.”

  “Right.” Sean nodded. “The question is, why do her aunt and uncle believe it is?”

  “It’s the red hair,” he admitted. “I suppose they assume she was the only young redhead in town.”

  “Back then?” Sean looked like he was thinking about it. “I doubt it. There are four other females with hair as red as Raven’s in town now.” He shrugged.

  “None of them naturally red-haired though. Raven takes after Ellen. She’s the spitting image of her grandmother.” His grandmother interrupted as she set a large platter down on the table.

  All talk of the murders and of Raven or her family’s part in them stopped when his grandmother sat down. Instead, the men let her go on about how she and Ellen had been best friends growing up. How they’d married within months of each other and then had gone their separate ways.

  Both Sean and Cade knew better than to discuss anything close to business at the table when there was food present.

  After brunch, however, he and his uncle stepped out into his grandmother’s garden and finished the conversation.

  Sean informed him that he was bringing in a forensic specialist from the city to help go over all the evidence.

  “It’s hard to admit, but I’m way over my head with these murders.” Sean sat on the bench they had built together a few years back. “In the past eight years, since I took the job, the closest we had to a murder was when someone ran over the Hawthorn’s prized sheep.”

  Cade sighed. “The murder of Snowflake.” He shook his head.

  Sean chuckled. “Finding a teenager who’d snuck out and taken a joyride on a four-wheeler and hit a sheep was a lot easier than finding a murderer who would hit a man over the head, killing him, and then rig it so an elevator would snap his head right off. Or one that would know how much poison and what kind to put in a woman’s tea so that she wouldn’t taste it and spit it back out too quickly.”

  “Are those the official causes of death?” he asked.

  Sean looked at him. “Yes and no. The elevator is a little trickier than that.” He sighed. “Damned if I know how someone bypassed all the security measures on the old thing. The best we can tell is that, at some point, the power to the elevator had stopped. Ramsey was locked inside and had pried open the doors. He was in the process of climbing out of the cabin when someone hit him over the head with something heavy, which was the official cause of death. Then the elevator’s power came back on, and when Raven hit the button…” Sean made a motion with his hands, simulating doors sliding shut. Cade winced when he realized that if the doors hadn’t done the trick, the elevator cabin going between floors would have finished the job. “Ramsey had been dead at that point for almost an hour,” Sean added. “Or so the coroner claims.”

  “Don’t most elevators have security measures in place to stop the doors from closing and the cabin from moving if something is in the door?” he asked.

  “Yup, which is why I said it gets tricky.” He sighed.

  They grew silent for a moment, then Cade glanced over at his uncle.

  “So, you and my mom?”

  Sean tensed.

  “Where’s that going?” He let the question hang in the air.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Fire that’s closest kept burns most of all.” ~ William Shakespeare

  Spending her day off working wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her lately, so Raven figured she might as well go through the day with a smile on her face.

  It helped that she got to enjoy the fabulous lunch Tim had made specifically for her. He was trying out a few new menu options, and she didn’t mind that he was using her as a guinea pig.

  After stuffing herself with delicious fresh veggie lasagna and homemade garlic bread, she balanced a plate with a large slice of French silk pie with fresh cream on top in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Her laptop was tucked under her arm as she made her way back to her office.

  She was halfway down the hallway to her office when Cemal came rushing out of the bathroom and bumped into her.

  Thankfully, she managed to save her laptop and the pie, but her coffee mug toppled over and spilled down the front of her shirt and slacks.

  “I’m so sorry,” Cemal began as she wiped frantically at Raven’s blouse.

  “Cemal, it’s okay.” Raven stopped her. “At least you didn’t get my pie,” she joked.

  “Or your laptop.” Cemal sighed. “Your shirt is probably stained though.”

  “It’s fine. I have another one in my office I can change into.” She shifted her laptop to her other arm. “Are you in a hurry?” she asked, when Cemal glanced down the hallway.

  “No, yes,” she corrected quickly. Then she sighed and her shoulders slumped. “It’s just… That man makes me nervous.”

  Raven’s eyebrows shot up with concern. “Which man?”

  “Tom,” Cemal answered, looking over her shoulder again. Tom? Tommy? The bellboy? He wasn’t a man. Wasn’t he still in school? So far Raven had seen nothing but professionalism from the kid, after her first encounter with him. He’d not only appeared to appreciate his uniform, but since her aunt’s departure, the kid had blossomed in his job. Actually, Raven was thinking of moving him up to head bellboy.

  Raven took a step closer to Cemal. “Has he done something to…” Cemal’s head jerked around and Raven watched horror then humor cross the girl’s face.

  “No, nothing like that. It’s just…” She sighed. “Gosh, he’s just so…”—Raven noticed the attraction in the girl’s eyes before she even finished the sentence— “dreamy.”

  Smiling, Raven started towards her office again. “Well, the two of you work together. It’s going to be hard to avoid him for long.”

  “I know, it’s just… I sort of embarrassed myself this morning.” Cemal followed her into her office where Raven set her laptop and the piece of pie down. She opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out the bag containing another shirt she could change into.

  “What happened?” Raven asked.

  “I…” Cemal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I dropped a very important receipt behind the copy machine, and he helped me move the heavy thing so I could get it.”

  “That doesn’t seem so bad,” Raven replied.

  “I had tried to move the copier myself and… well, I was stuck when he found me like that,” Cemal said.

  “Stuck?”

  “I thought that if I could wedge myself between it and the wall I could… push. But instead, I got stuck. When he walked in and found me…” She glanced down at herself. “My skirt was… higher.”

  Raven glanced down at the simple black pencil skirt Cemal was wearing now. It came to just above the girl’s knees.

  “Higher?” Raven tried to hold in a chuckle. She knew that Cemal was more modest than most of her other employees. She figured it was the girl’s age.

  Cemal’s eyes moved back to hers before she nodded slowly.

  “What did Tommy…” she shook her head. “What did Tom do?”

  Cemal’s caramel skin turned a deep shade of red. “He looked at me and froze in place. I had to ask him twice before he finally moved to help me.” She looked back down at her hands. “It was so embarrassing.”

  Raven smiled and walked over to the girl to set her hand on her shoulder. “Cemal, take it from me, Tom wasn’t… He was…” She didn’t quite understand how to explain that the boy was probably turned on by what he’d seen. Taking a deep breath, Raven shook her head. “If you ask me, I think Tom likes you.”

  “He does?” Cemal’s head jerked up. “How do you know?”

  The conversation confirmed to R
aven that Cemal hadn’t had much experience with dating. Not that she was an expert at it herself.

  “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she suggested.

  “Oh, I couldn’t do that.” Cemal shook her head.

  “Okay,” she said after a moment of thinking, “you don’t necessarily have to verbally ask him. There are trivial things men do when they are interested in a woman.” She sat on the edge of her desk and, for the next few minutes, enlightened the girl on everything she knew about flirting.

  She would have loved to stick around and watch the two young people progress, but after changing her shirt, she sat at her desk and ran over the multi-page spreadsheet containing every single dime she’d spent on fixing up the resort to date.

  By the time the sugar from the pie had worn off, she had a better handle on her finances. Or lack thereof. Personally, she was broke. Since returning to the resort, she had yet to take a paycheck for herself. She’d not only sunk every dime she’d saved over the years into the place, but her inheritance from her grandmother was earmarked to finish up all the other repairs and changes.

  By the time the place was done, she would have only a few hundred dollars left. Which meant there wasn’t a lot of room for errors or extras.

  Her aunt and uncle’s high salaries easily paid for the extra workers Rachelle had hired.

  Fiona had filled Rachelle’s position and had immediately suggested lowering the pay to a standard rate. Raven couldn’t with a clear conscious pay a woman less for the same amount of work.

  She supposed it was Fiona’s way of trying to help, but the fact was, the woman was making a big difference. Raven knew her worth would really be obvious when they finally opened the doors again for guests.

  She’d worried at first that working with Cade’s mother would be odd. But so far, she’d only had a pleasant experience. Over the last week, she’d had several lunches with Fiona and had enjoyed the woman’s company immensely.

  When a knock sounded at her door, she glanced up and waved Gloria, her new head of housekeeping, into her office.

  “Afternoon, Miss Brooks.” The woman stood in her dark grey uniform just inside her doorway.

  “Gloria, what can I do for you?” she asked, closing the screen with all her numbers on it. Not that the woman could see her computer screen, or that it really mattered, but Raven wanted to get in the practice of keeping things like that to herself. Why let the employees worry when they didn’t have to?

  “I was hoping to have a talk with you. Several of my employees are worried about some rumors going around,” Gloria started.

  Raven waved the woman to the chair across from her desk.

  “Rumors?” Raven asked after the woman sat down.

  “About Mr. and Mrs. Brooks,” Gloria answered as she rung her hands together.

  “My aunt and uncle no longer—”

  “No, I’m sorry, I’m not talking about them,” Gloria interrupted.

  Raven frowned. “My parents?” She shook her head. “They’ve been dead for over ten years.”

  “Yes, but before then, the rumors say they were members of…” The woman crossed herself quickly. “Members of a group that openly hated people like me, and over half your staff.”

  It took Raven a few moments to understand what the woman was talking about. Then it dawned on her.

  “Are you saying that my parents were racists?” she asked, trying to keep a calm tone.

  Gloria nodded. “Some of the staff have been around for a long time. I was only a housekeeper when your parents ran this place.”

  Raven laid her hands on the desk and took several deep breaths. “What do you remember of my parents?”

  Gloria met her eyes. “Your parents were good people. Which is why I’m coming to you now. I don’t like what I’m hearing from my staff. I didn’t want this to get back to you, but figured…”

  Raven relaxed and finished for her. “That it would be better coming from you.”

  Gloria nodded. “You have been so wonderful to all of us. Regardless of… who we are or how we live.” She waved her hand in the air. “When you made Tim sous chef…” Gloria smiled. “That boy deserves his own kitchen, and even though your uncle was trying to fire him after your uncle found out about his personal life, you stepped in and promoted him.”

  “Tim is easily one of the best chefs I have ever had the pleasure of knowing,” she replied, making Gloria’s smile grow.

  “I’ve done what I could to stop the rumors among my employees, but my reach only goes so far.” Gloria stood up suddenly.

  “Thank you.” Raven stood as well. “Do you happen to know where the rumors started?”

  Gloria frowned. “I’m afraid I do. Thankfully, you have already fired the girl,” Gloria answered.

  “Kim?” she guessed. Gloria nodded. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”

  After Gloria left her office, Raven sat at her desk and tried to think of her next move. If employees were gossiping about her dead parents, it really didn’t bother her. Or so she tried to tell herself.

  But the longer she sat there staring at her dark computer screen, the more irritated she grew.

  She glanced down at her watch and decided that a short walk would help her clear her mind. She changed out of her low dress heels and pulled on her tennis shoes, then locked up her office and headed outside.

  It was the peak of the summer. The flowers in the courtyard were still in bloom and the grass that had been planted a few weeks back was now green and plush.

  If she hadn’t known better, she would have guessed that the grounds had always looked this good.

  Taking the pathway that would lead her to the base of the ski runs, she tried to figure out why it bothered her so much what people thought of her parents. They had always been good to her. Sure, there had been plenty of fights. But the quibbles they’d had had been the standard parents-versus-teenage-angst variety—being grounded due to bad grades or for not completing her chores.

  Looking back at her life with her parents, she could only really remember the good or the happy times.

  She hadn’t realized she’d reached the base of the slopes until she heard a dog barking, which shook her out of her haze.

  Glancing around, she somehow expected to see Blue rushing towards her. Instead, a pure white husky with piercing blue eyes jogged over to her, it’s tail wagging and its tongue dangling from its mouth.

  “Hi.” She bent down and gave the dog some attention. “Who do you belong to?”

  “Skid?” a man’s voice called out. “Leave the boss lady alone.” Raven glanced up to see Eddie Mimms walking towards her, a smile on his face.

  “Hey,” she said, standing up and shielding her eyes from the sun. “Is this your dog?”

  “Yeah, we were just out for a walk. You?” he said, as Skid wandered off slowly.

  “Yes.” She glanced up at the hill. During the summer months, the hillside looked less intimidating. Sure, it was an almost straight upwards climb, but it was something anyone in decent healthy shape could enjoy. Raven knew full well that, after first snow, the hillside she was looking at was one of the scariest and hardest runs at Cannon Falls.

  “It looks so harmless,” Eddie said, getting her attention.

  She chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “Does it remind you of anyone?” he asked.

  She glanced over at him, and he chuckled. “When you returned, a lot of us around here thought you’d last a week.” He shook his head and they started walking down the pathway towards the lifts. “Then you stood up to your family and fired them.” He whistled slightly. “Which took as much guts as it took brains.” He stopped at the base of the lifts and laid a hand on the large metal base. The chairs were off the lifts, currently getting repairs or being replaced, leaving long poles hanging from the thick wires above. “Then you started putting money back into this place.” He tapped the metal, sending an echoing sound vibrating from the base. “Sma
rtest move yet.”

  “Thank you,” she said easily, and he chuckled.

  “Whatever has you out here, looking worried, it shouldn’t matter. You’ve proven yourself in the three months you’ve been back here.”

  “Gosh, has it only been three months?” she said, jokingly.

  He smiled back. “Three more and this place will be covered in snow and full of tourists. I can almost guarantee it.”

  “I’m excited to see what you come up with for next summer’s outdoor ventures around here. Will you be sticking around until the season starts?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. After several meetings with him, she believed that he could be a big asset to the summer ventures they were adding. He was very excited about the prospect of having downhill racing year-round.

  “Nope.” He smiled. “Skid and I are heading up to spend a few days in Montana after this. We just came back here to send Rachelle off.” The man’s smile faltered.

  “Were the two of you close?” she asked.

  “You could say that,” he answered with a sigh. “I should have asked her to marry me a few years back.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Raven felt her heart slide to the bottom of her stomach. How had she not known Eddie and Rachelle had been a thing? Did Sean know?

  “No one else knew.” He broke into her thoughts. “Rachelle feared that if your aunt and uncle found out, they’d find some way to use it against us.”

  “They really are assholes,” she admitted, and he smiled.

  “Skid and I were up in Montana when we got the news.” He glanced over to where his dog was peeing on a tree. The man’s eyes filled with sadness. “Who would do such a thing? Rachelle was always so good to her employees. Kind to everyone she knew.” He shook his head.

  “I’m sure the police will find out who killed them,” she said softly.

  He glanced over at her. “So, you think the murders are connected?”

  She sighed. “I’m not sure, but there has only been one murder in Cannon Falls in the last thirty years. Now we have two murders within a month of each other and under the same roof.” She shrugged. “It stands to reason.”