“You think Bernard was worried the employee would say something he doesn’t want us to know?”
“That’s exactly what I believe.”
“But why ask for my help if he’s hiding something?” Why pull Granny into this…whatever this is? “And why hire us if he doesn’t want us to discover anything?”
This all makes as much sense as dipping curly fries in vanilla ice cream.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Jayden says, a sudden tension rolling off him in waves.
His hold on my hand tightens. Not enough to crush bones, but enough for me to notice.
“I’ll attempt to access his computer tonight and see what I can find,” Landon says. “And then one of us should fly out to interview the alleged victims. Maybe they can shed more light on what’s been going on. And by one of us, I mean me. You two are busy with whatever you’re doing in those mysterious group sessions you’ve been attending.” The corner of his mouth tugs up to one side.
“They’re classes to ensure the participants have a long and happy marriage,” I say, my tone slightly defensive, surprisingly.
Even though the focus of the sessions is still on having a healthy sex life, there’s been a slight shift in them during the past two days. Yesterday, Gabrielle talked about respecting your partner for who they are, not trying to change them.
To which one wife had asked if that meant she should give up trying to get her husband to put down the toilet seat.
“All right,” Gabrielle said, grinning. “I give you full permission to keep working on that.” Her comment resulted in snickers from the rest of the women.
“Glad to see you find the classes so enlightening.” Landon winks at me, and Jayden chuckles. “But either way, unless you’re both planning to bail so you can talk to the victims, it’ll make more sense if I’m the one interviewing them. People will wonder what’s going on if one of you stays at the resort while the other one leaves. Could cause quite the scandal.”
A duck waddles up to us and quacks.
Jayden laughs even harder, but I have no idea if he’s laughing at what Landon said or at the bird. “I’m sure Bradshaw wouldn’t appreciate that. It might hurt the resort’s reputation more than if news of the alleged break-ins went public.”
He’s got a point there.
I move to the side as a jogger approaches and wait until she has passed before risking saying anything more. “It would help if we knew what the victims have in common, beyond their political connection. If Caroline doesn’t share that commonality between them, that might be why no one has attempted to break into hers and Davis’s room.”
“The only way we’ll know for sure is by interviewing each of them.” Landon’s body jerks as if he stepped on a thumbtack. Scowling, he looks at the duck pecking at his leg but continues talking as though it’s not there. “You two can start with Caroline.” He steps to the side, covering a wide distance thanks to his long legs. The duck waddles after him. “Maybe she can give you some insights. I’ll make arrangements to fly out tomorrow morning to meet with Wiseberger in Colorado.”
The duck pecks at his leg again. Landon glares at it. “Do that again, buddy, and we’ll be eating duck liverpâtéfor lunch.”
Jayden and I both crack up laughing.
The bird gives him one more loud quack and waddles back to its companions.
“Are you telling Bernard about the plan, so he can let the senator know you’re hoping to talk to him about the case?” I ask. “Or maybe it would be better if we keep the plan to ourselves, just in case your gut feeling about him is correct. But if there’s more to this case than he’s told us, then the question is, what exactly is he after?”
“That’s what I’d like to know, too,” Jayden says. “Why drag us down here if there weren’t any break-ins, other than the missing memory stick—which might not have actually been stolen. On the other hand, if what he told us is true, we might not have much time before all shit goes to hell.”
Landon resumes walking again. “If only we knew what kind of hell we’re dealing with.”
* * *
At the resort,Jayden and I locate Caroline and her husband sunbathing by the pool. For once, her fan club is noticeably absent, but who knows how long that’ll last?
She smiles at us as we approach their loungers. “You didn’t join everyone else on their excursions today?”
I laugh. “Me and heights aren’t a good combination. So that would be a no when it comes to paragliding with Demek and Anthony. And I have no idea what Blake and Virginia are up to. The last I heard, they were heading into town to do some shopping.”
“If you two don’t have plans before group session this afternoon,” Jayden says, “would you be interested in having lunch with us? We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I’m assuming this has to do with why you’re at the resort?” Davis’s tone is friendly and optimistic, but not enough to distract from the underlying concern in his eyes.
I nod. “That’s right.”
