Murdering the Roses (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) (2 page)

Bob began to leave the room laughing and shaking his head as he did.
Vicky tried to regain her composure after feeling so flustered.

"Aunt Ida, you really shouldn't have been screaming like that,"
Vicky said sternly. "We thought you were in serious danger."

"I was," Aunt Ida argued. "Didn't you see the size of that thing?"

"That's not serious danger," Sarah said sharply, though her irritation was softened by an affectionate chuckle. "Serious danger is when someone is coming at you with a knife, not when you are being faced with a spider that may or may not have even gone near you. With all that screaming I'm surprised the thing didn't run away and hide from you."

"Me too,"
Vicky agreed with a laugh.

"That's why I was so scared," Ida pointed out with a sigh. "It wasn't behaving in a frightened way. If I had stepped out of that shower, that sucker would have launched itself right at me, I know it!"

All three laughed a little at the idea of the spider attacking. Now that it was gone it seemed like something that could be laughed about.

"Well,
we have work to do," Sarah said with a sigh, as so far the morning had been a doozy. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?" she asked.

“O
f course I will, now that thing is gone,” Ida said with a shudder. “Thank you, for coming to my rescue girls.”

Sarah
and Vicky couldn't help but smile fondly at their aunt.

“Anytime,”
Vicky assured her as she stood up from the bed. Sarah leaned over to pick up one of the pillows that had been knocked onto the floor, and caught sight of something as Bob was stepping out of the room. Sarah nodded her head towards Vicky, and pointed to the tattoo that his rolled up sleeve had exposed. Vicky jumped up and followed after him, her anger building as she approached him.

"Bob!" she said sharply, and he spun swiftly around to face her.

"What?" he asked, still holding the paper towel carefully in his hand.

"I asked you to make sure that you covered that tattoo," she reminded him. The tattoo was of a snake wrapped around a blade. She didn't personally have a problem with it other than
that she thought it was rather ugly, but their discerning customers expected a certain level of professional decorum.

"Oh sorry," he muttered and gave a slight shrug. "I'll try to remember."

"Please do," Vicky said sternly as she looked at him. "We deal with very high end clients and I don't want them seeing you walking around the grounds with that tattoo showing, or they might think that you're some kind of criminal."

Bob smirked slightly. It was just a glimmer of an expression, but enough to make
Vicky wonder if she had done a thorough enough background check on him.

"Sure thing
, boss," he called back over his shoulder and used his free hand to tug the sleeve of his shirt down to his wrist. Sarah soon joined her in the hallway.

"Did you fire him?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Vicky said with a frown. "He just rescued us from a giant spider, it didn't feel like the right time."

"When is going to be the right time?"
Sarah frowned, her expression growing impatient. "When he has finished murdering the roses?"

Vicky
sighed and nodded. Bob did not have any kind of a green thumb and since his arrival the extensive gardens on the large property had been much worse for it. She couldn't think of anyone she had ever known that had a worse way with plants. Yet, she still felt if she gave him a little more time that maybe he could straighten himself out. He didn't have anyone to turn to, as his mother had passed and his brother was estranged. His father was useless, and always had been, he had never shown an ounce of affection to his boys or wife. Vicky felt so lucky in comparison to him. She had a stable life and so many people that cared about her, so she had been sympathetic enough to give him a chance. The question was, how long that sympathy was going to last. Was it going to last long enough to allow him to destroy their gardens! The gardens were one of the big draws of the inn. That along with the amazing mountain views that overlooked the most lush scenery in the area.

Weal
thy people from different countries all around the world would seek out the inn when they were visiting the United States. People would reserve their weddings two years in advance to ensure that they would have the chance to get married in such a beautiful place. It really was a gem nestled in the middle of wide open nature. Her parents had bought it on a lark when they were young. It was a deal that her father had been unable to pass up, even though he knew it would be a lot for him to handle. But they had done it, working together, while at the same time raising two young girls.

Vicky didn't know anyone else who had the chance to grow up amidst such beauty and history, so she really did consider herself lucky. At least she had, until the tragic accident had stolen her parents from her. After that she had felt a little more cautious about the world around her. Things no longer seemed so gentle or non-threatening.

"Ha
ve you seen Mitchell today?" Sarah asked, attempting to disguise her nosiness as casual curiosity.

"No, why would I?"
Vicky replied, gritting her teeth. She had had one date with the deputy sheriff, and Aunt Ida and Sarah had been on top of her about it ever since. Vicky liked Mitchell just fine, but she was gun shy about relationships. It wasn't that she had ever been scarred, it was that she wasn't sure she was ready to share her life with anyone else. Watching the way Sarah and Phil were together could be very beautiful at times, but sometimes it seemed very limiting. Sarah and Phil didn't often argue, but they did give up a lot in order to maintain their marriage, raise their children, and keep the inn afloat. It all seemed as if it might be a little too much of a struggle than it was worth. Vicky figured if the time was right she would know it. For now, Mitchell was a good companion and she was interested in getting to know him better, but she wasn't in any rush.

As she stepped out of the elevator with her sister beside her, she checked her phone. It didn't seem to her that Mitchell was interested in rushing things either, considering she hadn't heard from him in three days.
Vicky wondered if her feisty personality had frightened the homegrown deputy sheriff. Maybe her excursions into college life and the wild times she recounted to him had made him think twice about whether Vicky was the down- to-earth woman he was looking for. Or it could have been the fact that she had ordered a double dessert.

Vicky
was always herself, whether the person she was with liked it or not. Her thoughts were distracted by a striking gentleman who was waiting at the counter to be checked in. Sarah walked over to the counter and began to set him up with a room. Vicky overheard him volunteering to pay in cash, and leave a generous security deposit to cover any potential damages. It was not unusual to have well off clients at the inn but it was a little strange to have them pay in cash. As the man walked away Vicky wandered over to her sister.

"What was that about?" she asked with interest,
it had been a while since they had such a handsome young guest.

"His name is Timothy,"
Sarah said in a hushed tone, her eyes wide with intrigue. "I think he must be trying to hide out from the press, or maybe even on the run, because he didn't even want to give me his last name! He paid for everything in cash,” she tapped a few keys on the keyboard as she spoke.

"You don't think he's dangerous, do you?"
Vicky asked with a frown as she studied the man who was heading for the elevator.

"No
, I don't think so. He's probably one of those celebrities that gets hounded everywhere he goes, that, or maybe he is just trying to evade his wife or mistress," she pointed out with a distasteful grimace.

"I think you've been reading too many romance novels,"
Vicky giggled and Sarah shot her a glare.

"There's nothing wrong with believing in a little romance
Vicky. Maybe you should try it some time," she arched a brow knowingly. It was a bone of contention between the sisters that Vicky was so casual about being single, while Sarah seemed convinced that her sister needed to be more open to being swept off her feet.

"Ha ha,"
Vicky stuck out her tongue at her sister.

"Don't you have some romantic weddings to work on?"
Sarah reminded her with a mischievous smile as she turned back to the list of guests she was reviewing.

"Yes, actually, I do,"
Vicky nodded and walked off towards the banquet hall. The banquet hall was huge and took up one half of the inn. It had a ballroom dance floor that could be converted into just about anything to satisfy their guests. They had once even created an indoor ice skating rink for a woman who wanted a winter wedding in the middle of July. It really had been a beautiful ceremony, Vicky had to admit. Not exactly her taste, but amazing just the same. There was something very special about being the driving force behind someone having their fantasy wedding come true.

As she settled down with the information for the latest wedding she thought about the gardens. She really was going to have to do something
before Bob destroyed them. The inn had a lot to offer but the gardens were a big part of its allure especially for spring weddings. The blooms were in every shade imaginable and were huge, and with full and normally unbruised petals.

As her mind drifted through the plans and requests that the current bride had made for her wedding on the following weekend,
Vicky's mind slipped into an imaginative world. She had a knack for visualizing things, and then bringing them to life. She could see the trail of rose petals that the woman wanted to walk across, as well as hear the violins that she wanted to have playing. The ceremony would be perfect, Vicky would make sure of it. She might not believe so strongly in romance, but she did believe that anything could be accomplished with the right amount of focus and determination.

As she was in this peaceful state she was suddenly disrupted by what sounded like two men arguing. She stood up from the table and listened more closely. The flying insults seemed to be coming from the kitchen which was attached to the banquet hall. She frowned and walked toward
s the kitchen to see what the argument was about. That was another thing that neither she nor Sarah tolerated around guests. It was important that those who paid such high dollars to stay there were treated to an escape from their daily lives not an immersion in conflict between employees. When she stepped into the kitchen she found Henry, the head chef, and Bob going head to head. Both men looked so angry that they might be ready to deliver blows.

"What's going on in here?"
Vicky demanded as she looked between the two of them incredulously. Henry had worked for them for years, and she had never seen him so riled up. Bob on the other hand, she recalled, had a temper even in high school.

"Why don't you ask Bob?" Henry said sharply as he turned back toward
s the counter. "Ask him why I have to put up with visits and phone calls from his brother!" Vicky sighed as she realized that this was yet another consequence of her choice to hire Bob.

"Why is that?"
Vicky asked as she looked towards Bob. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No," Bob said with a deepening frown. "I just owe him a little bit of money, and I've been trying to duck him. But this genius told him I work here," Bob growled at Henry as if the entire situation was his fault. 

"Listen, how was I supposed to know that you would steal from your own family?" Henry hissed back. "I mean I knew that you were pathetic, but I didn't know that you would sink that low,” his eyes were flashing with fury as he slung his insults.

Henry had pulled
Vicky aside a few times to warn her about Bob. He had told Vicky time and time again not to trust the man, as he felt that Bob was hiding something. Vicky had attempted to defend Bob, but all of Henry's warnings were turning out to be true.

"Listen, I don't want you bringing any of this trouble here,"
Vicky said sharply as she glared at Bob. "You should have told me about this before I hired you Bob! I can't have family members stalking our employees.” 

"If
I had told you, then you wouldn't have hired me, and I need the money Vicky," he whined with such an annoying tone that Vicky had to look away to keep from glaring more fiercely. She was very tempted to fire him right then, but Vicky was not an impulsive person. She liked to think things through before taking action.

"Well,
no matter the reason, if he comes here again, I'm going to have to take action," Vicky warned. "I don't want any of my employees to be harassed."

"I'm sorry," Bob said with a sigh and scratched at the back of his neck. "I'll make sure he stays away, I promise."

"You do that," Henry snapped with annoyance at Bob.

Bob looked as if he might punch Henry right in the nose, which
Vicky couldn't let happen, as who would cook the fancy meals for their customers then? She stepped between the two of them.