‘Oh, I didn’t know I could make it until this morning—but I’d be grateful if we could go over one or two things for an hour, Kevin…and we’d like lunch first, please,’ he said.
‘Of course—the dining room is not full,’ the manager said, ‘and Max is the chef on duty.’
‘Ah, Max…’ Jed turned to Cryssie. ‘Max is fully qualified, of course, but he’s also proving to be an ingenious chef. I’m very impressed with the guy.’
‘I hope he serves lobster and pigeon,’ Cryssie murmured, out of Kevin’s earshot, as Jed guided her towards the dining room.
As they ate, Jed found himself wishing fervently that they were here to enjoy themselves—perhaps go for a long walk later, then dinner, and maybe an early night! But that was taking wishful thinking too far! He had enjoyed the long drive in her company, and the easy conversation that had flowed. He found her uniqueness totally appealing. She was the proverbial breath of fresh air, he concluded.
Presently Jed went into the manager’s office for discussion with Kevin, and Cryssie was invited to go off by herself for an unofficial tour of the hotel. As she wandered around she hoped that Jed was finding out all he wanted to know about the problem he’d mentioned, and that it wasn’t going to take for ever to solve. She’d told him that she didn’t want to be late getting home, but exploring another of the Hunter ownerships was proving quite interesting, she thought, as she wandered the long corridors.
Eventually she found her way back to the reception area—via one of the lounges, where she was offered tea—to find Jed just coming out from the office. And soon they were on their way back home.
‘Did you manage to sort everything out?’ she asked
‘Well, I suppose it was a useful enough exercise,’ he replied. ‘Though I didn’t discover what, if anything, is going on behind the scenes.’
‘Who told you that anything was?’ Cryssie asked.
‘Oh…didn’t I say? I received an anonymous tip-off in the post this morning. That’s why I wanted to act at once. But although I asked Kevin many searching questions, hopefully without arousing suspicion, he assured me that everything is “cracking along just fine”—his words. So perhaps the tip-off was just a bit of malicious nonsense after all.’ He waited to overtake a lorry before accelerating sharply away again. ‘Kevin’s so good at everything,’ he went on. ‘Managers like him are hard to find.’
Cryssie waited for a few seconds before speaking. ‘No one’s indispensable,’ she said. ‘You’d probably find a good enough replacement if you had to.’
He glanced across at her. ‘What makes you say a thing like that?’
‘Well, while I was wandering around—and eavesdropping, I’m afraid—I overheard a discussion in the corridor between two of the female staff upstairs…’
‘And?’
‘I think you’ve got real problems, Jed.’ She paused. ‘Apparently your wonderful Kevin is having an affair—with Max’s wife. She works there too, doesn’t she? One of the waitresses? Well, poor Max is in the dark, and his wife is acting Lady Muck—not pulling her weight, and Kevin’s always giving her time off, spending some of it with her in private. The atmosphere amongst the rest of the staff is understandably tense and resentful. Especially as they all seem to like Max—much more than they like Kevin—and don’t want to see him hurt.’ She glanced across. ‘Your name was mentioned—plus the fact that they all know Kevin’s your “golden boy”…No one’s got the guts to tell you, because they’re afraid of causing even more trouble. So there you have it. In a not-very-nice nutshell.’
She could see that Jed was gobsmacked at this piece of information. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he said at last. ‘Kevin’s married—with four kids! The man gave such a good account of himself today—and of everybody else.’ He whistled briefly through his teeth. ‘I thought him trustworthy—in all respects. How wrong can you be?’
They drove in silence for a few seconds, Jed’s brows knitted in the formidable way that Cryssie knew only too well.
He cursed under his breath. ‘Well, that’s a hell of a dilemma,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to lose either Max or Kevin, but from what you’ve told me I’ve got to do something about this—and fast.’ The strong mouth was set in a grim line, and Cryssie could understand what the women she’d overheard had meant about not wanting to be the one to pass on bad news!