by Jill Sanders
“Evening. I understand you’re getting ready for dinner, but wondered if you had a moment to talk?” she asked.
“Sure, come in.” The woman moved aside. “You’re the manager, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Lilith Brown.”
“What can I do for you?” She motioned for her to take a seat. Lilith moved over and sat on the settee.
“Well, it’s about lunch tomorrow. Our new guests will be occupying the dining room for their party, which had to be moved from the pool area to indoors due to the weather,” she started.
“And where do you expect our group will dine?” Mrs. Robinson broke in.
“We’ve arranged enough room in the morning room for a dozen to eat comfortably. We would have to take you in shifts, though.”
“Well, I suppose if it’s just for one day. I’ll speak to everyone.” The woman looked irritated, then stood up. “If that’s all…”
“Yes.” She stood to go.
“You know; I appreciate the way you handled my son the other day.” Her eyes bore into hers.
“Oh?” She stopped, her hand on the door handle.
“Tristen can be… a little wild. It’s one of the reasons we’re set on marrying him to Kaleen. Her family is well established.” The woman’s eyes roamed over her simple cotton dress. “They would make a good match.”
Lilith’s shoulders straightened. “I’m sure they would. Good evening.” She nodded, then stepped out into the hallway.
Once outside, she took a deep breath. Why would anyone want to be wound up so tight? She headed down to the main dining room to make sure everything was perfect for an oversized dinner group.
She stuck around until guests started arriving, then stepped into the hallway towards the back staircase, only to be stopped by the pretty brunette.
“I understand you’ve been talking to Tristen,” Kaleen said. The woman’s evening gown was even more exquisite than Tristen’s mother’s had been. Its emerald green material shined in the dim light of the hallway.
“I speak to all of my guests, it’s my job.” She waited patiently as the woman’s face went from kind to twisted.
“I don’t appreciate women trying to throw themselves on him. I understand a lot of…”—her eyes moved up and down her sundress— “women think that simply because he’s famous and a member of one of the richest families in the States, that they can throw themselves at him. I’m a very jealous woman. I won’t stand for it, nor will his family. I’ve already had a talk with his parents and they are quite aware of your… behavior.”
Lilith held in a smile. “I assure you, it won’t happen again.” She tried to step around the woman, only to have her arm grabbed in a surprisingly strong grip.
“See that it doesn’t, or I will have you fired.” She waited until Lilith nodded slightly, then dropped her arm and walked away.
Oh, there were times in her life where she desperately wished she could speak her mind. Either that or punch someone square in the nose. Taking several cleansing breaths, she moved on to completing her normal evening rounds before heading back upstairs to check on the rest of the staff. Then she swung back by the office and was relieved to see that the attic door was shut tight.
She spent the next hour pouring over new orders for the laundry service, setting schedules for staff members, and trying to create a plan for the new attic ballroom. She knew that, on occasions such as tomorrow’s lunch, the large room upstairs could double as a dining room. Then her mind turned to the practical side of having wait staff climb three flights of stairs with trays of food and drinks. She wanted to have a full bar built along one wall, but wondered how practical the rest would be.
Then she remembered the old dumbwaiter in the current dining room, the one that Tom Elliott, the last general manager of the resort, had updated.
She was so curious whether there was a dumbwaiter in the attic room that she logged out of the computer and headed into the ballroom to check.
She wished instantly that she had changed out of her cream dress, since she figured she’d have to move several piles of boxes just to check each wall.
First, she looked against the wall with the window. Doubting it would be there, she made a quick sweep. Then she moved to the wall on the left, the most likely location. If it wasn’t there, she wondered if Sarah had plans to the place somewhere so she could see about having one installed. Of course, that would cut heavily into the budget she’d already worked out.
She had talked to Sarah a few weeks back about the budget of the resort and knew there was an extra ten thousand dollars left over. She planned on using only a portion of it for the cleanup.
She had pushed most of the boxes away from the walls and was excited to see one wall completely covered with intricate wood paneling. She could just imagine a massive wood bar along the wall. It was a little too dark to see if there were any major repairs needed or if the paneling just needed a fresh coat of stain.
Moving on, she walked across the floor to the other wall and started pulling the heavy furniture aside. Glancing down at her watch, she figured she had about an hour before Adam would get off his shift. Just enough time to tackle clearing this wall.
She moved a large table that had been stacked high with boxes away from the back wall. When she moved aside a large wardrobe, she smiled. There was a door. Dusting off her hands, she opened it and reached inside for a switch.
She walked into a small room, and there in the back was the dumbwaiter she’d been searching for. It didn’t look like it was in working order, but at least it was here. Glancing around, she realized the room had once been used for food staging. At one point, the attic had served as a ballroom.
Her excitement level spiked. Then she heard a light creaking sound and her heart stilled. Her head spun around to the doorway and she watched it slowly swing closed by itself.
She laughed at herself for jumping at shadows. The door was clearly in need of oil and had just shut by itself.
Walking over, she reached for the handle and frowned when it didn’t budge. Then true panic set in and everything in the logical side of her brain shut down.
***
Adam climbed the three flights of stairs and felt every sore muscle in his body. Most people thought that being a chef was an easy job, but he was on his feet all day, usually standing over a hot stove, unloading and loading heavy crates of food. And that didn’t include the cleanup detail.
But with every sore muscle came the reminder that he was doing what he loved. In a place that he loved.
He’d done some digging into the new note. It appeared that the green notepaper was not stocked in the employees’ store. Which could just mean that someone had bought it from the mainland. The writing was blocked and in Sharpie. Nothing really stood out other than it pissed him off.
He knew from experience that Sarah’s office door was always locked. He had a key so he could deliver invoices once a day, and if Sarah wasn’t there, he could leave them in her inbox. There were three others besides him on the island that had a key: Lilly, Rodney, and Heather. He couldn’t see Rodney or Heather as being the person who’d written the notes or trashed her room.
As he reached the top of the stairs, his phone rang. Seeing his father’s number on the screen, he groaned. Just one more thing he had to deal with today.
“Bonjour, Papa.” He held in a sigh when his father started in on him immediately. Why didn’t he move to Bordeaux, closer to them? His father could pull some strings and get him a job in financing with a local winery.
His family may be old and high in politics, but there was no way he wanted to get pushed into a career just because he was his father’s son. He spent the next few minutes politely declining and explaining himself while his father’s voice grew angrier.
His father’s calls had become more frequent. His mother still called once a month and sounded more and more unhappy with each conversation. He’d visited them last Christmas, before taking the job at E
ast Haven. But, still, he wondered if another trip was in order.
Maybe his mother was having health issues? His father had hinted at visits to the doctor, but he’d assumed instantly that it had been his father. Maybe his Nana knew more?
Deciding to swing by and talk to her before heading back to the island tomorrow evening to set their trap, he pushed his family to the back of his mind and walked into his room, only to find it empty.
He turned back to the hallway and stormed down to her door. When there was no answer, he headed back out into the rain to the main building to see if she was still up in the office.
When he found that room empty as well, he walked through the dining room, asking every employee if they had seen her.
Some had seen her a few hours ago, making her normal evening rounds. After that, everyone thought she had disappeared upstairs into Sarah’s office.
Pulling out his cell phone, he tried her number for the hundredth time as he made his way up the stairs. When he reached the top, he heard her ring tone and rushed to the office, only to find it empty and her phone sitting under some papers on the desk.
He sat down as sheer panic washed over him. For as long as he’d known Lilly, he’d never been seen her without the phone in her hand or a pocket.
Where would she have gone? What was she working on? Did the person responsible for the break-in and for leaving the note have something to do with this? Fear caused his hands to shake as he reached for the house phone and dialed the main desk.
“Stacey, Lilly is missing, have you seen her?”
“Lilly? You mean Lilith?”
“Yes,” he growled, feeling the worry grow. “Her phone is in the office, but she’s not here or in the employees’ building.
“She talked about stopping off at the store.”
“The employees’?”
“Yes, she needed a few things.”
He remembered their conversation about the rubbers and felt relief wash over him. “I’ll check down there.”
“Okay, I’ll keep my eye out for her.”
“Thanks.” He hung up and rushed from the room, taking her phone with him.
He rushed through the rain, getting soaked this time and not caring. He pulled open the large shed door, and Nate, Rodney’s grandson was in there, a cigarette hanging from his mouth and several candy bars in his hands.
“Hey.” He looked around as if guilty.
“Have you seen Lilith?” He took a step closer.
Nate dropped the candy bars down on the shelf and shrugged. “I was going to pay for ’em, I swear.”
“I don’t give a damn about the candy bars,” he growled. “Have you seen Lilith?”
“No man. I’ve been busy today.” He puffed out smoke towards him. “Besides, I think the lady can…”
Adam ignored the kid and walked over to find the clipboard that held the honor system’s docket. Basic grocery items lined the shelves on either wall. The cost of each item taken would later be deducted from each person’s paycheck.
Adam scanned the names and items as he heard Nate leave. He noted the last time Lilly took anything from the store was three days ago.
Slamming the clipboard down, he ran back to the main building and started once more rushing around to each employee. This time he enlisted a few of his staff who had finished up their night shift to help him look for her, but none of them found a trace of her.
An hour later, he called the police as he sat in the office.
“What do you mean you can’t help us?” He almost screamed it into the phone. “She’s missing!”
“We can’t file a report until…”
“You said that already. What about sending someone out here to help look for her?” He thought about boats, helicopters, search dogs.
“I’m sorry, sir. Have you tried to look for her yourself?”
“Of course we have.” He looked around the room at the other concerned faces.
After another moment of listening to the woman’s explanation that they had to wait to file a report, he hung up the phone.
Standing up quickly, he walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness. Then for some reason he remembered the note in his back pocket. He’d been so concerned with finding Lilly, he hadn’t thought about it
“What about Tristen Robinson?” someone said, breaking into his thoughts and causing him to turn around and frown at the group.
“What about him?” he asked, feeling his heart skip.
“Well, it’s just...” Carmen, the head housekeeper, glanced down at her hands. “I saw them talking today, in the dining room.”
“And?” It came out as a growl.
“Well, I overheard him the other day talking to his friends. He seemed very interested in Lilith,” she said, glancing towards the door. “He’s in room two-oh-eight. It wouldn’t hurt to check.”
He stood up. “Keep looking. Check every room again,” he said and then left the room without another word. When he knocked on the door, he was even more determined than before.
A man in his early fifties answered, dress in silk pajamas and looking very annoyed at the interruption.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but one of our staff members has gone missing and…” He glanced over the man’s shoulder and saw the younger man standing behind his father. “When was the last time you saw Lilith?” he demanded, ignoring the other man.
“I haven’t seen her since earlier today.”
“I talked with the young woman just before dinner.” A woman stepped into view. Her long white nightgown flowed around her as she tied a robe around her waist. “Has something happened to her?”
“We aren’t sure. We’re trying to figure it out. Do you have any ideas where she headed after you talked to her?”
“I saw her in the dining room as we arrived for dinner. After that, I’m afraid I don’t know,” the woman said, walking over and laying a hand on her husband.
“Kaleen said she had a word with her,” Tristen added. “Maybe she told her her plans?”
“Which room?”
“Her family is next door,” the woman supplied. “Why don’t I go with you. It might smooth things over a little.”
This time, when he knocked, he kept it gentle. Lilith would want him to remember these were paying guests.
When the door opened, he allowed Tristen’s mother to speak, then waited in the hallway as Kaleen was woken. They waited almost ten minutes. Finally, a short brunette opened the door, a crimson robe wrapped loosely around her waist.
The woman looked like she had taken the time to comb her hair and apply makeup before coming to the door.
“Kaleen, dear. I know it’s late but we were wondering if you spoke with…” Tristen’s mother turned to him.
“Lilith Brown. She’s the general manager.”
“Yes, I know who she is.” The woman crossed her arms over her ample chest. “I spoke with her about her appalling behavior towards my Tristen. I mean, the woman practically threw herself at him.”
Adam held in a growl. “When I walked in on them the other day, the only one throwing themselves at the other was your Tristen. So much so that I had to restrain him,” he added.
He heard the women gasp, which shook his mind clear. He had to focus. “When and where did you have this talk with her?”
Kaleen glared at him. “The hallway outside the dining room. Just before dinner.” She lifted her chin. “If you’re done, I’d like to get my beauty rest.” She started to shut the door, but he put a hand up, holding it open.
“You didn’t speak with her after that?”
“No, as I’ve said… that was the only time I’ve seen her today.” She glared down at his hand until he removed it.
“Thank you,” he said to Tristen’s mother.
“I’m sorry about my son. I apologized to Miss Brown earlier about his behavior.”
He nodded quickly, then started walking back down the long hallway. His head was aching as he
climbed the stairs once more, unsure of his next move. As he passed the attic, he remembered her plans to have the place fixed up before Sarah’s return.
Opening the heavy door, he walked in and noticed the lights were all on. Calling out, he waited and listened. Nothing. He called again; the room was massive.
He noticed several things had been moved. Large boxes, furniture, and even the table he had set up for lunch had been pulled aside. He rushed around the room, searching for… something. He didn’t know what.
Then he heard a muffled cry and froze. He waited until the sound came again. Then he raced towards the back wall. He had to push aside a heavy wardrobe, but he found a door. Pushing it open, he looked into the room and saw a small white bundle huddled in the corner.
Chapter Twelve
Her mind had traveled through time and space, back to the time when she was young and didn’t believe that she would ever survive each night.
Back when she was afraid of the dark, of every unexplained noise in the night. Scared of things she couldn’t control, things she didn’t fully understand, but knew were wrong.
The air in the small room she’d been locked in until her mother’s return had grown stale and smelled of mold, sweat, and something else she didn’t dare think of.
Each time she’d been locked away, she’d wondered if maybe this time they would forget about her and she would die down in the darkness. Her mind screamed that she should fight each time the door opened, but she knew better. The marks and bruises she’d gained from fighting had never stopped anything. Instead, she allowed her mind to slip into another world. One where she did what she wanted, grew tall and strong, and learned how to protect herself. And no one ever touched her, unless she wanted them to.
Her body shook with the tears that slipped down her face, soaking her nightgown. Still, tears were better than the blood that sometimes covered her tiny body.
She tucked her body tight when she heard the door open, saw the light from the hallway. Her mind started to retreat into its safe place, when she heard the softest words calling out her name. But this time, it wasn’t Cara they were calling for, this time it was Lilly. The sweetest name she’d ever been called.
