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“I’m going to talk to them,” Kelli said. “Eat the salmon.”
“Not without you,” Xander assured her and leaped to his feet, following her across the ballroom to greet the officers.
“Evening, Kelli.” Bobby, the first officer, stepped back to lead Kelli deeper into the foyer.
“Evening,” Kelli said. “Bobby. Tristan. What’s this about?”
“Why don’t we step into your office?” Bobby suggested. “It’s a delicate matter.”
Kelli’s heart pounded. Xander paused for a moment to tell the host that they needed to leave their table and to return the salmon to the kitchen for the time being. Afterward, Kelli and Xander led the officers to the back staircase, which they took to Kelli’s office.
“I hope everything’s okay?” Kelli sounded timid as she rounded her desk and sat. Xander remained standing beside her.
Bobby and Tristan shifted uneasily in front of them.
“We got an anonymous tip regarding one of your employees,” Bobby began. “Piper Billings?”
Kelli frowned. “Piper’s a fantastic employee. I just promoted her to middle-manager.”
“It seems that she’s been involved in criminal dealings here on the island,” Bobby went on.
“What kind of criminal dealings?” Kelli demanded.
“We aren’t at liberty to reveal that at this time,” Bobby said. “Suffice it to say, we wouldn’t recommend that she remain here at the hotel. She seems dangerous.”
Kelli’s eyes widened. All she could think of was beautiful Piper, who treated all the guests with patience and kindness and genuinely kept Kelli above water when she struggled.
“That’s impossible,” Kelli suggested.
“It’s true, ma’am,” Tristan chimed in. “Piper Billings could possibly turn out to be the mastermind of a string of robberies across the island. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s currently figuring out new and creative ways to take from this very hotel.”
Kelli’s heartbeat quickened.How was this possible? Hadn’t she looked at every background check herself? Hadn’t she and Piper just swapped recipes that morning, laughing as the sunlight glittered through the two-story windows around the ballroom?
“Do you have proof?” Kelli asked.
Bobby nodded. “We’re gathering evidence against her and plan to make an arrest within the next few days.”
“But we wanted to give you a heads-up first,” Tristan explained. “This hotel’s success is important to the island. We don’t want some wayward criminal making a mess of things.”
Kelli couldn’t breathe. “I just promoted her. I just gave her the master key!”
“I would take that away from her as quickly as you can,” Tristan urged her.
“We can stay right here until then,” Bobby said.
“I don’t know. I don’t want her to feel like I’m accusing her of anything yet,” Kelli said. “If she walks into my office and two cops are behind my desk, she’ll…” Kelli trailed off, embarrassed of what she wanted to say. In truth, she just didn’t want Piper to hate her. A part of her heart still considered Piper a friend.
“We could step into the closet,” Bobby said, glancing at the door to the right of Kelli’s desk. “Just in case things go south.”
Kelli nodded, feeling at a loss. Just hours ago, she’d figured out how to delegate— and she’d managed to delegate to a wanted criminal.How could she have gotten it so wrong?
After the officers were safely concealed in her closet, Kelli texted Piper to say she needed to see her in her office. Xander wanted to stay, but Kelli shooed him out, saying that it would look strange with both of them there. “Go! Eat the salmon. Someone has to.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Xander said before he disappeared.
When Piper breezed through the door, her ponytail bounced, and she chatted excitedly about Miss Jennings, the old woman from Room 401 who hadn’t been able to stop complaining since her arrival the previous weekend.
“I just don’t know why she wants to stay here a day more. You would have thought she was in prison or something,” Piper said.
