by Elle Dalton
I finally gave up and returned to my room. Ever since Karen mentioned it, my finger felt odd without my ring to accompany it. The first thing I did was head to my nightstand to get it.
But when I opened the box that was supposed to hold the ring, I found it empty. I dropped it in horror.
Had I taken the ring out of the room and forgotten about it? No, it couldn’t be. I definitely put the ring back in its box before bed. I was terrified to do anything else with it in fear of losing it.
Someone took it. I saw no other explanation. Chloe’s face sneaked it into my mind. She was in my room. With Jordan wrapped around her finger, it was easy for her to get a key to any room she wanted.
I glanced at my cellphone screen. It was 6:00 p.m., the time Jordan left and Kasey took over for the night shift.
I marched out of my room, slamming the door behind me. I didn’t care who heard me. I had officially lost my cool. Chloe had gone too far. How dare she steal my ring? Did she really think having it would change anything? Our engagement didn’t need a ring to make it valid.
I was to blame. I should have kept it on my finger. That was the only way to keep it safe from Chloe. But it wasn’t like I expected her to break into my room to take it.
It hurt to think that Jordan might have helped Chloe get what she wanted. He was a nice guy and a good employee, but I couldn’t allow him to stay on my staff if he was going to give out room keys to any woman who took the time to kiss him.
It all made sense now. I understood what Chloe saw in Jordan and what she was using him for. Jordan played an important role at the hotel. He was responsible for keeping track of so much hotel information. That made him a valuable asset in Chloe’s crazy plots.
I didn’t want to have to let go of him, so I would not jump the gun. Perhaps she had stolen the key when Jordan wasn’t around.
When I arrived at reception, Jordan was already gone, replaced by Kasey.
“Kasey, you already relieved Jordan?”
“Yep,” she smiled. “He left not too long ago.”
“Did he say if he was going back to his room?” I was not about to search the entire hotel for him as I did for Chloe.
Kasey’s smile wavered and she made a jerky movement with her hand that knocked down a cup of pens that was next to the computer. When she picked them up, I saw a slight tremble in her hand.
“Is something wrong, Kasey?” I asked, leaning my body against the reception desk.
Kasey looked up again. “I just don’t like conflict, and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
“Who would you get in trouble? Is there something I should know?”
She wrapped her black braid around her hand and sighed. “It’s just that Jordan wasn’t actually here when I arrived. He left before I could clock in.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe he would do that after I asked him not to leave his post.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to say anything, but you asked so directly and… I just don’t know where he went because he already wasn’t here. You’re not going to tell him I told you, are you?”
“Of course not. I’ll keep it between you and me. Thank you for your honesty.”
I’d find Jordan and have a serious talk with him, but first, I’d go on the search for Chloe again. She was my priority.
During my search, I came across Karen in the garden. She called my name twice before I heard her.
“What the heck is going on? Are you okay?” Karen could always read my mood easily.
“No, I’m not okay. That woman stole my ring.”
“She stole your ring? Your engagement ring? Do you mean Chloe?”
“Yes.” I rubbed my tired eyes. “She found a way into my room and took my engagement ring. She left the empty box.”
Karen’s mouth dropped. “Wow, the woman is obsessed. How did she react when you fired her?”
“I didn’t, not yet.” I shut my eyes and opened them again. “But something else happened and we ended up having an argument. I only remembered that I had planned to fire her afterwards.”
“What else did she do?” Karen asked.
In a few words, I broke down the whole story for her. How I had caught her kissing with Jordan and how I wasn’t sure at first why she would do something like that. “But now I know. She wanted to use him to get the key to my room. At least, that’s what I suspect.”
“This woman is sick. I swear, she’s a psychopath, and she definitely is responsible for the murders.”
“Maybe, I don’t know. I don’t have any evidence for that right now. All I know is that she took my ring. I’m positive about that. I need to find her, but I have no idea where she is.”
“What will you do now?” Karen asked.
“I’ll threaten to call the cops on her if she doesn’t give my ring back. Then I’ll fire her on the spot.”
“That’s perfect because if we report her to the cops for the ring, maybe they’ll search her room and find more evidence.”
For the first time, I noticed the droplets of sweat on Karen’s forehead and the wet marks peeking out of armpits.
“Are you all right? What were you doing out here anyway?” I asked.
“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t I be? I was just taking a stroll in the garden.”
“You look really sweaty. Were you at the gym?”
“No.” She pulled a tissue from her jeans pocket and dried her forehead. “I just got worked up after what you told me about Chloe.”
I was pretty sure she was sweaty before we started talking, but I couldn’t be sure.
It didn’t matter. There was no reason for me to pursue the topic further.
“Come on,” Karen said. “I’ll help you find her.”
“That would be a great help. I can’t find her anywhere. How about we start at the spa?”
“Sounds great.”
Before we could start the search, Ervin showed up, out of breath and desperate to talk to me.
“It’s important,” he said.
“So is this,” Karen argued. “We need to find Chloe. She stole Diana’s engagement ring. We need to get to her before she flushes it down a toilet or something. Who knows what more she’s capable of?”
I held my breath as I waited for Ervin to respond. He would definitely be upset that I lost his ring. When he didn’t even flinch, my stomach dropped.
“What is it?” I asked in a near whisper, terrified of more bad news.
“Somebody just found Jordan at the back of the hotel.”
“Found him?” Karen took a step closer.
But I didn’t need to ask. I could already tell from the look in Ervin’s eyes. I knew what he meant.
“He was found dead.”
Chapter 13
You’d think it would get easier to hear about a murder. After all, I’d done it so many times already. But it didn’t. It was more horrifying each time.
The paramedics and authorities had already been called. Jordan was officially pronounced dead. I was expecting to learn he was poisoned, but he was hit over the head with a blunt object.
“Nobody saw who did it?” I asked Ervin in a monotone voice.
I may have seemed calm outside, but I was falling apart inside. I understood now why my aunt was eager to sell the hotels. The weight of such tragedies was too much to bear. And it just kept happening over and over again.
Ervin pulled me closer. “Nobody saw anything.”
“We don’t need a witness,” Karen blurted out. “We already know who did it.”
“You do?” Ervin stiffened next to me.
This time, I wholeheartedly with Karen. All my doubt had been erased. It wasn’t my mother and I regretted that I’d spent so much time trying to investigate her. I should have listened to Karen from the beginning. This could have only been Chloe.
“It’s Chloe,” I answered for Karen.
Ervin frowned. “How do you know?”
“Let’s get a drink at the bar,” Karen int
erjected. “We can explain everything to you. I think a bit of alcohol would do us good.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that. I wanted a drink too to numb the pain I felt.
On our way to the bar, Ervin kept his arm firmly around my waist. He refused to let me crumble.
We settled at an empty table in the corner of the bar while Karen ordered us a couple of whiskey sours. When she brought them over, I took a huge gulp. I wasn’t a strong liquor girl, but today, I needed something strong. For a moment, my mind went to my mother and how she too drowned her sorrows with alcohol.
I lowered the glass to the table before I drank it all in one go.
“Okay,” Ervin said, “why do you think it’s Chloe?”
“I caught Chloe with Jordan today,” I said. “She was making out with him in the linen closet.” I closed my eyes in an attempt to erase Jordan’s innocent face from my mind. “I spoke to him after. It was clear he was head over heels in love with her. I know she had no interest in him. She’s only obsessed with one man, you.”
“Well, her obsession will lead her nowhere.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Why would she kiss Jordan?”
“I wondered about that myself at first, then I found my ring missing and put two and two together. With Jordan, she had access to the entire hotel. I have no doubt she was using him.”
“Maybe he realized it too after you talked to him,” Karen pointed out. “He could have confronted Chloe and she lashed out at him.”
Guilt stabbed me in the chest.
I only spoke to Jordan to try and protect him, to encourage him not to spend his time messing around with Chloe. I didn’t want to hear that I may have been the reason Chloe killed him.
“Once again, it’s all my fault.” Hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
“No, Dee, that’s not what I meant!” Karen tried to backtrack, but it was too late.
“It’s all my fault. If I had fired Chloe earlier, like you told me to, she would have been off the premises. I gave her job back to her once again even though she didn’t deserve it. I let her manipulate me. And then I pushed Jordan to question her behavior. All I wanted to do was keep him safe.” My body shook with sobs.
Ervin took both my hands. “Which is why this isn’t your fault, babe. You were only doing your best. You didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
But people did get hurt. They kept getting hurt.
I had to put an end to it. I would tell the police that I suspected Chloe was responsible and that she had definitely stolen my engagement ring. That would give them cause to search her room. I doubted Chloe was smart enough to hide all evidence of her crimes.
“Are the cops still around?”
“I think so,” Ervin said. “You should probably talk to them. They might be looking for you.”
“Absolutely. I want to end Chloe’s reign of terror once and for all.”
I wasn’t sure if Ervin believed me yet, that Chloe was responsible for all of this, but I didn’t care. I knew it to be true and so did Karen. All my doubts had melted away.
“Oh, looks like they’re coming this way already,” Karen pointed behind me. Sure enough, two officers were approaching our table.
I wiped my eyes and got to my feet, ready for them.
“I think I know who’s responsible for the murder,” I told them before they said a word.
“We already know,” the female police officer said, barely looking at me.
My shoulders sank with relief. Perhaps Chloe had left a vital piece of evidence at the scene of the crime.
“Thank God,” I said. “Have you already arrested her?”
“Are you Karen Roberts?” The woman asked Karen, ignoring my question.
“Yes?” Karen glanced from me to the officers, confusion written all over her face.
“Please stand up, Miss Roberts. You are under arrest for the murder of Jordan Smith.”
My stomach dropped and I clutched it.
“What? No. I… What are you talking about?” Karen’s words came out in broken pieces. “You’re making a huge mistake. I had nothing to do with Jordan’s murder.”
“Please stand, miss,” the male officer demanded.
Karen stayed put, too shocked to comply. She didn’t understand what was going on and neither did Ervin and I. He looked as shocked as I was.
To my horror, the police lifted Karen from her chair and brought her hands behind her back.
“What are you doing? She didn’t… oh my God…” My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a cry.
“Ouch,” Karen winced as the handcuffs clicked.
Blood pounded in my ears. “You’re hurting her. She didn’t do it. You’re arresting the wrong person.” I took a step closer to the police, but Ervin reached for me and pulled me back, holding me tight.
“Baby, don’t.”
“But she didn’t do it.” Fresh tears flooded my throat. “She’s not the person I was talking about.”
“Miss, we found the murder weapon, and your friend was out on the beach earlier burying it.”
“What murder weapon?” Ervin asked.
“A golf club. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we need to do our jobs.”
As they took Karen away, she shook her head at me.
“I didn’t do it, Diana, I swear. You have to believe me.”
I was too heartbroken to speak as my friend was being treated like a criminal.
Chapter 14
Apparently, one of the servers who had been questioned by the police informed them that on her lunch break, she had walked along the private beach and saw Karen burying something. The police went to the area she described and discovered a golf club underneath the sand.
It didn’t make any sense to me. Why would Karen kill Jordan? Why would she kill anyone?
“She didn’t do it,” I told Ervin when we got back to my room. “I know she didn’t.”
“I know, babe, but…”
“But what?” I asked.
“Why was she seen burying that club?”
“I don’t know.” I groaned and buried my hands into my hair. “Maybe she was burying something else. You can’t seriously be suggesting that my best friend murdered someone? You know Karen. She’s not capable of doing something like that.”
“You’re right.” Ervin rubbed one side of his face. “I’m sorry. It’s just that she’s been acting a bit weird lately, but she’s not a murderer. She couldn’t have done it.”
Ervin was right about one thing. Karen had not been herself the past few days. But my mind didn’t jump to murder. There must be some other explanation for her behavior.
“I feel so guilty. Karen pushed me to fire Chloe and I didn’t. And now she killed Jordan and is nowhere to be found.”
“We don’t know that yet,” Ervin pointed out.
“Then who did?” I asked. “The only other suspect is my mom. Neither of us think she did it either.”
My mother had no motive whatsoever to kill Jordan.
“Let’s just sit down and take a breather, okay? This is all too much to take in.”
I nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Should I get you something for dinner?” Ervin asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t eat right now. I feel sick to my stomach.”
“My love, you should eat something.”
“I can’t, I just can’t.” The tears started to flow again and Ervin held me.
It felt like my life was falling apart and his arms were the only thing holding me together.
“I don’t want to lose Karen,” I wept.
“And you won’t. The police will figure out who the real killer is. The evidence will set Karen free.”
“And I don’t want to lose the hotel… or you.”
“What?” Ervin gripped my shoulders tight. “Why would you lose me?”
“Because when the hotel goes under, I’ll have no career here. I don’t have enough money left from my modeling days to completely sustain my
self. I’d have to go back to New York.”
“Then I’ll go with you. Diana, come on, I’ve asked you to marry me. That’s not dependent on whether or not you’re living in Shadow Creek. It’s not just my life I’m thinking about anymore. It’s yours too. I want to be wherever you are.” He pressed his warm lips to my forehead and I inhaled his soothing cologne.
His love for me only made me cry harder. But it was a relief to know that he already saw us as a united front.
Knowing that he would follow me anywhere did not mean I wanted to return to New York. My plan had been to stay in Shadow Creek with Ervin. I couldn’t imagine us living our lives being followed by the paparazzi. The tabloids would gossip about us.
How could we ever raise children that way? I didn’t want kids right away, but when it happened, I’d never be able to do it while working as a model. It would be too exhausting trying to hide our kids from the press.
“I just want to stay here with you, Karen, and Aunt Jolene.”
“You still can,” Ervin smiled. “I know there’s a lot going on right now, but we’ll figure it out. You can build the life of your dreams right here with me.”
I wished that were true. But I already wasn’t living the life of my dreams. My dreams did not include losing one friend to poison and another to prison.
“I think you need to sleep.” Ervin massaged the back of my neck.
“I don’t think I can.”
Going to bed now would also mean that Ervin would retire to his own room, and I’d toss and turn for hours, tortured by thoughts of everything that had happened.
“Why don’t you want to sleep?” Ervin asked.
“It’s not that I don’t want to sleep, I just don’t want you to go.”
“Then I don’t have to,” Ervin looked at me curiously.
“Come on, Ervin. We agreed to sleep in separate rooms. I want to respect my aunt.”
Saying the words made me feel like a teenager considering whether or not to sneak around.
