Page 48 of Sapphire Sunset

“You’re not going back there, son,” ChipMurdoch said.

For the third time.

Logan ignored him. Again. He’d overslept, and he needed tofind his jacket and shoes so he could get back to work. He’d tossed themsomewhere in this spacious, cluttered office before crashing on its leathersofa the night before.

The morning before.

Thatmorning, he corrected himself.

It had been three a.m. by the time he got to the Chip’s Kicksin Irvine for an emergency meeting with his new lawyer and his dad. That’s howlong it had taken to quell the shit storm at Sapphire Cove. Quelling was agenerous way to describe it. Corralling the media behind the legal propertyline had meant multiple calls with the city and the sheriff’s department toestablish where the legal property line actually was. Then he’d had to recruitsome maintenance guys to track down all the reporters who’d snuck on theproperty as guests. Then there were the real guests themselves, who cornered himin hallways, demanding to know why they shouldn’t check out. Demanding refundsif they already were checking out.

Then came the death threat phone calls that lit up thehotel’s switchboard as the news went international, reducing two of the hotel’soperators to tears. Even though he was sure the calls were cranks, he’d satwith the operators until two in the morning and brought in some plywood tocover the inside of the call center’s single window to make them feel safer.The whole thing had been a nightmare, forcing Logan to put off his scheduledsit-down with his lawyer hour by hour as the night raged on.

Finally, knowing full well he was about five hours late tohis meeting, Gloria Alvarez had insisted Logan leave the premises, and eventhen Logan had protested. But Gloria had been adamant, her refusal to leave herpost no doubt fueled by the decades she’d spent with the hotel.

And now time was of the essence.

He found the jacket lying on the floor behind the sofa, hisshoes pushed against the wall. Christ. Had he spontaneously combusted?

For the first time since jerking awake, he noticed his dadwas standing with his arms thrown across the office door. Outside he could hearthe pulse and throb of the morning workout crowd.

“You need sleep,” his dad said.

“I got sleep.” Logan punched his arm through one sleeve ofthe rumpled blazer he’d worn the night before. All day before, now that hethought of it.

“Sleep, my ass. You took a three-hour nap, and you were talkingfor most of it.”

“What did I say?” Logan asked.

“Something about Tom Holland that sounded personal. I triednot to listen.”

“That’s nice of you. Is there press here?”

“No,” his dad answered.

“Then why are you standing against the door like that?”Logan asked.

“’CauseI’m serious as cancer.You’re not fucking leaving.”

“You want me to stay in your office all day? Do somefiling?”

“You’re not going back to Sapphire Cove.”

“Dad, there’s no security staff. Do you understand what thatmeans when you’ve got media like that out front? On top of that, anybody who worksat the hotel who was worried about their immigration status hightailed it outof there the minute the cameras showed up. It’s a shit show, and we needeverybody we can get until we figure out what’s next. This is not the time fora day off.”

“Ever. You’re not going back thereever. You hearme? You’re done with that place, and it’s done with you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You heard what your lawyer said.”

“He said if the FBI had anything on me they would have arrestedme yesterday. They know I’m innocent.”

His father growled and looked to the floor between them.

“Youknow I’m innocent, right?”

“Aw, come on, son. Of course I do. That’s not the point.”

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