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Roxie laughed. “No. I think she’s gone all out this year. See you in the morning.”
“Night, Roxie.”
The next morning when Kayla and Roxie arrived with Rosco and Buttercup at the lodge, a smiling Blake raised a handful of pink-and-black envelopes and waved them at them. He was beaming.
Kayla quickly removed Rosco’s leash so he could settle in his dog bed next to the fireplace. Kayla ran to get her invitation from her brother. Blake laughed and handed another to Roxie. She ripped hers open like Kayla did.
“Did you read yours already?” Kayla asked Blake.
“No. Landon and I were waiting for you both to get here.” Blake opened his invitation.
Landon came out of a ballroom to get his invitation and opened the envelope addressed to him. He laughed. “A fifties rock ‘n’ roll party. That should be fun.”
CJ dropped by the lodge and joined them with news about the man who claimed he was Durham Manning. “I don’t have the best of news. The mystery guy overcame the FBI agents and escaped.”
“No way,” Kayla said, shocked that he’d escaped.
“Yeah, the agents were pretty incensed that they lost him. They hadn’t been able to get fingerprints or DNA on him, and they weren’t able to learn who he truly was,” CJ said. “He had been careful not to have any ID on him.”
“Wow,” Kayla said. “That’s not good, but at least he won’t be coming back here. The agents still have the ring of keys, right?”
“They couldn’t find them.”
“Okay, but if he took them, he still won’t be returning here,” Kayla said. The man still needed to be apprehended, but at least it would no longer involve them here.
“Correct,” CJ said. “They have search parties looking for him because he attacked the agents. They hope to still bring him in to learn who he is.”
“But what about Durham Manning?” Kayla asked. “He’s still at large too?”
“As far as we could confirm, he is,” CJ said. “But we looked into the booking of the room, and he might not have actually booked it. Maybe the guy claiming to be him had actually registered the room in Manning’s name. Maybe the keys really belonged to the shaved-headed guy who came for them. We’re still checking into it.”
“Roxie said she’d smelled the black-haired man had been here at the lodge, but not the blond-haired guy. Have there been any more robberies that you know of?” Kayla asked.
“No, they’re probably lying low or got caught at something else or somewhere else, but we still haven’t been able to connect the crimes to them,” CJ said.
The next day, Kayla and Nate concentrated on doing their respective jobs, but Kayla was too excited about the party that evening. She didn’t know when she’d been this happy. Nicole had even sent over the outfits for the fifties party that afternoon, and Roxie and Kayla changed into pink poodle skirts, black-and-white oxford saddle shoes, and white shirts. They pulled their hair back into ponytails.
And then Nicole arrived at the office dressed as if she were their triplet—though she had anexpanded waistline because of the twins—and they hugged her.
“This is so much fun, Nicole. Thanks so much,” Kayla said.
“We’ve had a blast getting ready for this. Mom, Dad, and Nate are in the Mountain View banquet room setting up. I need to go help them.”
“We will too,” Kayla said, eager to assist them. “I can’t believe you were able to keep the party location a secret when it’s at our lodge.”
Nicole laughed. “We had to work at it. But it’s your birthday surprise. We’ll set it all up.”
“All right.” Kayla and Roxie went out to help at the front desk until the party began.
Their guests were snapping pictures of the three ladies in their poodle skirts.
Kayla smiled. “This is so neat.” She felt like the party had already begun once she had put on the fifties-era clothes.
Wearing a black leather jacket, jeans with the cuffs rolled up, sneakers, and a white T-shirt, his hair all greased up in a ducktail, Nate came to escort them to the banquet room. “It’s time to party.”
“Ohmigod, you look just great,” Kayla said, adoring him for going all out for this.
“He does!” Roxie hurried off ahead of them.
