“I know, and it’s okay. You’ll never make me feel claustrophobic. I’m telling the truth, by the way.”
“Okay, good to know,” Miles smiled. “As long as you’re with me I won’t worry. My abilities now are so much stronger than they were when I was semi-transparent… I can’t imagine running up against anything I can’t protect you from.”
“I can’t either,” I said. “Strange how Troy described Elizabeth, though. That’s very different from the way that you were. You weren’t transparent, and you were in color. I could see how amazing your eyes were, even then. You looked normal unless you were in direct sunlight. She wasn’t, she was in the dimly lit restaurant when Troy saw her.”
“Yeah. Strange. But, remember that you were the only one who could see me. No one else could at all. A number of people have seen Elizabeth. So… there are definite differences here.”
“I wonder why she’s here,” I said. “Other than the fact that she was probably drawn here by the stories the previous owner used to market the place.”
“No idea, but we’ll find out. Right now we should head downstairs, though. We’ve got a meeting with our manager in five minutes. Sometime today we need to pick up Night and Pandora from our apartment, too.”
“Okay,” I said, giving Miles one last squeeze. He kissed me, then we said goodbye-for-now to Chip and Trixie. Locking the door behind us, we proceeded to our meeting.
Chapter 4
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Stevenson said, as he wiped the perspiration off his forehead with a handkerchief. “I truly am, but if you saw those eyes…”
“We understand,” said Miles. “There is something very strange happening here, and it would unnerve anyone. I do wish we could convince you to stay, while we determine a course of action to remedy this situation.”
“I’m sorry, I am. There is nothing that can induce me to stay, however.”
I squeezed Miles’ hand once.
“We hate to lose you,” said Miles, as he stood and shook hands with Mr. Stevenson. “We’ll let you know once this situation is resolved. Perhaps you’ll consider coming back at that time.”
“I’ll—think about it,” said Mr. Stevenson.
He picked up a banker’s box filled with his personal items, and then our manager was gone.
“I can’t say that meeting went as I expected it to,” said Miles.
“No kidding,” I said. “I hope the rest of our meetings go better.”
Two meetings and as many hours later, I was ready to panic.
I started talking as soon as the door closed behind our ex-chef.
“What are we going to do!”
“Honey, breathe. This isn’t our first business, or our first business crisis. I think you know exactly what to do.”
I looked into his eyes as I thought.
He was right.
“Okay. I’ll call Chef Antonio and Molly. Put on your Executive Director of the Bannerman Foundation cap, and pull some more strings at the university to get the appropriate internships lined up.”
“Done!” said Miles, as he kissed my forehead and started to stand. “Well, it will be in a few minutes anyway.”
I laughed, as I dialed.
“Hi, Chef Antonio? It’s Anika. How are you? Well, I have been a LOT better, let me tell you! I’m desperate, and need your help. Grandma Polly doesn’t need you since she’s traveling, but we do! Miles just bought me a lodge, it’s wonderful, you’ll love it. There’s an amazing restaurant, but the chef just quit. Yes, lunch is over, but we’re supposed to open for dinner at six o’ clock, and—oh Chef, thank you! You’re the best. I’ll text you the address.”
I gave Miles a thumbs up, he was also on the phone. Then I called Molly from Queen of Clean.
“Hi, Molly? It’s Anika Bannerman. How are you? Well, I’ve been better. Miles bought me a lodge, and—yes, it was very sweet of him. He’s doing well. Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Yes, it was lovely. We had a wonderful time. But anyway, do you have any girls who might be interested in working for us here? Lodging is provided. Really? You will? Oh, thank you! Yes, that’s perfect! As soon as possible, today, like right this second! I know you can’t get here that fast, I was joking. As soon as you can, though. I’ll text you the address. Thanks, Molly!”
I gave Miles another thumbs up, and took a moment to breathe as I texted the Lodge’s address to Chef and Molly.
Miles ended his phone call, and smiled.
“Done. Now we just have to convince our friends. But first, we need to meet with the employees we have left, and see if we can do some damage control and convince them to stay,” he said, as he picked up the phone. “Hi, Troy. It’s Mr. Bannerman. I need you to inform all employees that a mandatory meeting will take place in the main conference room at one-thirty. That’ll give you fifteen minutes, think you can get to everyone in that time? Great. Thanks, Troy.”
“So what are you going to say at the meeting?” I asked.
“I’m going to inform everyone they’re overdue for a raise. They are. You wouldn’t believe what the previous owner was paying. Less than industry standards, and the Lodge brings in enough profit to do better by our employees. So we’re going to do that, and hope it will generate enough goodwill, loyalty, and motivation so that our remaining staff will hold tight while you and I figure out what to do about Elizabeth.”
“And I guess you’ll be addressing her presence in some way?”
“Yes.”
“Well… how?”
“Honey, we don’t have to convince them she exists. They know. That’s what has them so disturbed. So… I intend to acknowledge their concerns, and reassure them that we take this seriously and that our number one priority is to deal with it head-on.”
“I’m so glad you’re on my side,” I said, and hugged him. “I have no idea what I’d do if I had to handle this on my own.”
“I do,” he said, hugging me back. “You’d step up and get the job done.”
“You’re telling the truth,” I said, and he laughed. “I’m glad I’m not having to do it on my own, though.”
“Me too,” said Miles. “We’re a team. We have different abilities and talents, and together we’ll take care of the Lodge, our employees, and put Elizabeth to rest. Or convince her to go elsewhere, I don’t know, since we’ve no idea why she’s here. We’ll figure it out, though.”
“I wonder where she’s from? Since there was never an Elizabeth here. Not that we know of, anyway. Do you think there was one, there’s just no record of it?”
“I’m hoping she can tell us,” said Miles. “I hope she knows why she’s here. I did. I knew it was because I prayed not to rest until I was proven innocent.”
“I hope she knows, too. It will make things a lot easier if she does.”
“No kidding,” said Miles. He kissed me, then took my hand. “Let’s go meet our employees, shall we?”
“Yes, let’s,” I said.
Miles opened the office door, which opened up behind the check-in counter. There was no one manning the counter. Fortunately there were no guests waiting to check in, either.
“I’m going to choose to believe that whoever works here is already at the meeting,” I said.
“Good for you, dear! Think positive,” Miles said, making me laugh.
We walked through the lobby and down a corridor, and into the main conference room. Several employees, including Troy, were already there waiting.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bannerman,” said Troy. “Everyone here at the Lodge has been notified.”
“Very good, thank you Troy,” said Miles.
Troy hesitated as if he had something else to say, then he turned and sat down.
“Exactly how many employees have yet to arrive?” asked Miles.
Three more people walked in and sat down nervously.
“This… is everyone,” said Troy apologetically.
This was hardly enough staff to run the Lodge! The others, whoever they were, had high-tailed it out of here without
giving notice. Most likely while the manager, cleaning crew, and chef were giving theirs.
“Let’s begin, then,” said Miles. He had such an air of confidence about him, and when he smiled it put everyone at ease. The energy in the room changed. “I’m Miles Bannerman, and this is my wife Anika. We now own the Lodge, and we understand there are several issues that need to be addressed.”
Everyone looked a little surprised. They could think of only one.
“Anika and I use a different pay scale to determine salary than your previous employer. Your pay has been adjusted to reflect that. As of yesterday, your salaries have all been increased by twenty-five percent.”
“Wh-what?” stuttered several employees. They looked from side to side at each other, then back at Miles.
Excited chatter broke out, and Miles let the employees talk. It wasn’t long before all eyes were back on him though, waiting to see what he’d say next.
“That’s one issue corrected,” said Miles. “There is another, however. Troy shared with us that there has been paranormal activity here recently. After hearing what he had to say and what it is that he witnessed, Anika and I don’t doubt that.”
Everyone looked apprehensive first, then surprised, and Miles continued.
“You may be unaware that there was never an Elizabeth living here before the mansion became the Lodge, and that no one named Elizabeth died here at any time.”
“What?” exclaimed more than one employee, but otherwise they were silent and appeared to be in shock at this revelation.
“The previous owner created the story of Elizabeth as a marketing tool for drawing in guests,” said Miles.
“That’s likely what drew Elizabeth here,” I added.
“Anika and I take this very seriously. Our top priority is to minimize her ability to adversely affect you, and our guests. In addition we will do what it takes either to free Elizabeth, or encourage her to move on. We ask that you bear with us as we do so. As we can all see, we’re operating on a skeleton crew right now. Today the Lodge lost a manager, chef, and cleaning crew. While the loss was regrettable, those vacancies have been filled.”
Everyone looked surprised to hear this, and encouraged.
“Anika and I are personally taking over management responsibilities. We have a replacement chef and cleaning crew on the way which will remedy some of what has been lost in the way of staff. Others will be arriving shortly to fill in additional gaps, as we are made aware of them. We will get through this.”
I saw with satisfaction that the look of relief tempering the anxiety in the eyes of our staff was growing. They’d needed a leader, and now they had one.
“I’d like each of you to introduce yourselves so that Anika and I can begin to learn your names. If you have questions, feel free to ask when it’s your turn.”
Miles motioned for Troy to begin.
“Hi, I’m Troy Adams, bellhop. I do have a question… if we see Elizabeth again, what should we do?”
“Tell her Miles wants to talk to her,” he said firmly, and without hesitation.
Troy looked surprised and so did everyone else.
“Okay, yeah… I’ll do that,” Troy said. He seemed relieved to have a concrete plan of action in case he did see her again. Everyone did.
We continued around the room until everyone had a chance to say their name, position, and ask any questions that they had. Then Miles thanked everyone for coming, and dismissed the meeting. We shook hands and spoke with each of them as they filed out, and I felt reassured that we would lose no more employees.
Because when they said they were staying, well… I knew they were telling the truth!
Miles instructed Troy to man the check-in counter. He looked a little terrified, but determined to rise to the occasion.
Miles and I then hurried out to our SUV which Victor had ready and waiting for us, and we were off to retrieve our cats and our friends.
“That went very well, I think,” said Miles.
“You were so amazing!” I said. “They love you. You’ve got their loyalty, and their trust. I felt so proud, listening to you and the way you handled this crisis.”
“Thank you,” Miles smiled.
“If I wasn’t already completely in love with you, I would be now,” I said. I didn’t have to look in the mirror to know my eyes were starry.
“Hm. You should come to meetings with me more often, since this is the effect it has on you,” he said, and I laughed. “So for Valentine’s Day would you prefer that, to roses and chocolate?”
“No! I definitely want the chocolate. You don’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day though, today is good.”
Miles laughed.
“I’m serious,” I said. “You mentioned chocolate, now I want some.”
“I know, honey. I’ll see that you get it.”
“If my mother had any idea how well you take care of me, she’d never worry again,” I said.
“Yeah, she would,” said Miles. “Moms have a tendency to do that.”
“Well if she knew about your superpowers, she might not!”
“Yes, but then she’d be in the unique position of worrying that her grandchildren would also have superpowers.”
“Well she can just join the club. I’m afraid her grandchildren will, too!” I laughed, and so did Miles.
“Do you realize, dear, our children will never get away with anything?” Miles pointed out. “You’ll know right away what the truth is.”
“Wow. I almost feel sorry for them,” I said, and Miles laughed.
We reached our apartment building, and Miles parked underneath our covered parking space.
“What are they doing?” I asked in surprise, pointing to the construction workers who were hard at work on one side of our building.
“They’re preparing to add the garage we talked about. We’ve got to have that before we can have the roof garden put in.”
“Perfect timing, having this done while we’re away for the semester,” I commented.
“I thought so too,” Miles smiled. “It all worked out very nicely.”
“You are so efficient, Mister!” I said. “You get more done in a day than the President.”
Miles just laughed.
We said hello to Steve, one of our security guards, on our way through the bullet-proof glass doors that guarded the elevator. We rode to our floor, then walked down the hall to our apartment.
“Pack first, or inform our friends?” I asked.
“Inform our friends,” said Miles. “Then we’ll all pack at the same time, and save time.”
We stopped at Jenny and Annette’s apartment and knocked. Within seconds, Xander answered the door.
“Hey, guys! How are you? Come on in,” he said, opening the door wide.
“Thanks,” smiled Miles. “We’re doing well, how about you?”
“Can’t complain,” he said. “Jenny’s been baking.”
I laughed, we all knew how much Xander loved Jenny’s cooking.
“Are John and Annette here?” asked Miles, as we entered the living room. We didn’t see them.
“No, they’re at John’s and my apartment. They’re spending the afternoon together watching movies.”
“Good, I’m glad they’re doing that,” I said. “Although, we need to talk to everyone.”
“I’ll call John,” said Miles, taking his phone out of his pocket.
“Hi, guys!” said Jenny, as she walked in from the kitchen with a tray loaded full of bite-size dessert samples.
“Hi, Jenny! Let me help you with that,” I said, as I took a napkin from the tray and loaded it with several of them. Jenny laughed.
“How was your New Year’s Eve party?” she asked, as we sat down, and Miles joined us.
“John and Annette will be over in a few minutes,” he said.
“Okay, good,” I replied, then answered Jenny’s question. “The party was amazing. We had the best time. We’ve decided to go away for a few days, just the
two of us, every time we complete a case. I feel so much better since doing that.”
“Good,” said Jenny. “And how’s the Lodge? Have you been there yet?”
“We just came from there, and we’ll tell you all about it when John and Annette get here,” I replied.
“This is amazing, Jenny,” said Miles, as he sampled some of the desserts.
“Thank you,” she smiled. “I’d do this all day if I could.”
“Really?” I asked, and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not just saying that? Because…”
“We have an offer you can’t refuse,” said Miles. “I mean it. You can’t. You’ve got to help us out. You too, Xander.”
“Alright, you’ve got my attention,” said Xander. “What’s going on?”
We heard the door to the apartment open, and John and Annette walked in, holding hands.
“Hi, guys,” said John, as they both had a seat and he put his arm around her.
“How was your New Year’s Eve party?” asked Annette.
“It was great,” I said, then turned to Miles. “Make them an offer they can’t refuse, dear.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” said Miles, looking around the room at each of our four friends. “How would you like to spend this semester at our new Lodge, interning?”
“Are you… serious?” asked Xander. “But, what about classes? How’s that going to work?”
“It’s already set up with the university. You planned on doing an internship at some point, right? Well, this one not only pays really well, it also offers opportunity and experience you won’t find anywhere else. Anika and I want to put in a workout and fitness center. We need your help in accomplishing that Xander, and we’re offering you the job of recreation and fitness coordinator. John, we desperately need you to manage all things computer and technology related.”
“Jenny, you love to cook, and bake, and you remember Chef Antonio. You know you’d love to work with him every day! Well, you can, if you accept the internship we’re offering you. And Annette, you still haven’t decided on a major, and I know you’re at the point you need to declare. So, take a semester off and work at the Lodge. Maybe you’ll figure out what you want to do while you’re there, and in the meantime you won’t be wasting time, money, and energy on classes that may not even go toward the major you eventually choose.”
The Lodge at Whispering Pines Page 5
