Page 6 of Bodyguard Crush
“I’m interviewing the staff. I need to cross them off my suspect list.”
“Gordon, will you excuse us please?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says, getting up and rushing back to the kitchen.
When he’s gone, I walk over to the table. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry, Abby, but any one of them could be behind this. I have to clear their names.”
“No, they couldn’t be behind this. They were all inside when the window was busted.”
“Are you sure of that, or did they all run into the living room after it was broken?”
“Well, after, but they were already in the house.”
“Are you sure? If they ran into the living room from another room, they could have run to the living room from outside,” he points out.
I shake my head. “No, they wouldn’t do that. These staff members have been with my family for years.”
“What that says to me is that they were in California when the problem started, and they’re here now. Still isn’t clearing their names.” He shrugs.
Anger fills my chest. I’m very protective of my staff and him saying these things makes me feel like he’s attacking them. I want to defend them, but a part of me knows that he could be right. I know I need to let him continue his work, but I don’t want to just give in to him either. “Don’t keep them from their work. They’re being paid to complete a job here just like you.” Without another word, I turn and walk out of the room. Marching up the stairs to my bedroom, I change into my bathing suit. It’s so hot and humid outside today that I don’t want to think about anything other than floating in the pool and sipping on margaritas. And that’s exactly how I’m going to spend the rest of the day. If I have it my way, I’ll be drunk by lunch.
4
KADEN
“Where were you when the brick came through the window?” I ask the groundskeeper.
He lifts his brow, leans back in his chair, and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m not exactly sure, to be completely honest with you. I may have been outside. I may not have even been here that day.”
“Have you been here during any of the incidents?”
He nods his head. “The first one.” He sits up. “I had just finished planting flowers in the pots that line the steps in the front of the house. I went around the house to do the plants back there, and it wasn’t twenty minutes later before I heard the sound of breaking glass. I ran around to the front to see what was happening, but I was too late. All the potted plants had been thrown on the ground and busted.”
“Was there a note that time as well?”
He nods.
“What did it say?”
“I believe it said something like, how long will it take before you notice me?”
“How many pots were broken?”
He thinks back. “Eight. There are four steps with two pots on each step.”
“How do you think it’s possible for one person to break eight pots and get away before you can run around the house and catch them?”
“Well, I don’t move very fast anymore…not since the hip replacement. That’s why I’ve had to fall back on my love of gardening for income. I only take on small jobs. I’m no longer able to work like I did before. I consider my job to be more for appearances than anything else.”
“What else do you do here?” I drop my paper and pen onto the table and sit back in my chair.
He shrugs. “Just whatever needs done. If trash blows into the yard, I pick it up. I do the outdoor decorating for the seasons and holidays or parties. I manage the mowing crew.”
“The mowing crew, how often are they here?”
“The actual yard gets done every week while the pastures and such get done monthly. The rest of the property has only been done once so far this summer, but I assume it will be done again before fall.”
