Free Frosted by Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin Page B

which is outside the lodge. There’s a small cement shed, between here and the garage. Telephone systems, power systems, Internet—all power for this building, the garage and the storage locker goes through the power shed.”
    “Staff—six here now?” Scarlet asked.
    “We brought in three extra for the wedding. Chad Hopkins, the valet who is also helping Vince with maintenance and physical labor. Nicole Martinez, the niece of our head housekeeper. She’s worked here every summer for the past three years while she’s in college, and we needed someone for the wedding party to help Joelle with clean-up duties. And Connie Adair, to help Janice in the kitchen.
    “Do you know Chad and Connie well?” Krista asked.
    “No—I don’t know either of them. They’re both new. Both were recommended by the employment agency we use for extra staffing.” He looked both worried and agitated. “Is this power outage connected to why Mr. Brock hired you? Is there something I need to be made aware of?”
    Krista said, “I told you earlier that someone had broken into his suite using a card key. Mr. Brock believes he’s being stalked, and we agree—but we don’t think it’s a fan. We’re investigating every possible option.”
    Scarlet added, “I came in through the back during the power outage, walked through the lobby and went out the front—someone bolted when they saw me and jumped off the porch to the south. That’s the direction of the garage. Does all your staff stay above the garage?”
    “Everyone except myself and Diana Martinez, our head housekeeper. I have a suite on this floor, and Diana has a small cabin down the road. It used to be where my parents lived, before they grew too infirm and moved into town. Diana has been with us for twenty-two years.”
    Scarlet glanced at Krista, and she nodded. Scarlet said, “We’d like to talk to Diana.”
    “She works from six a.m. until five p.m. I’m not going to call her now—I would wake her.”
    “Would you please give her permission to speak with us tomorrow morning?”
    He hesitated then said, “This wedding is very important for us. With the economy, we’ve really been struggling—we’re a specialty resort. Small, specialized service. But everyone wants bargains. Having someone like the McKinleys here and Mr. Brock—it helps us. If anyone thinks that there’s a danger here ...”
    “We’ll do everything we can to ensure that no one but Mr. Brock is aware of the situation,” Krista said. “If we can have your cooperation, it would help us find out who’s responsible.” She added, “Mr. Brock’s apartment in L.A. was broken into. The police are investigating. We think that whoever broke into his apartment is involved with whoever is following him here. They may be one and the same. Was any of your staff off either Thursday or today?”
    He shook his head. “Everyone, even the temporary employees, have been here since Wednesday. The wedding party started to arrive Thursday morning, and we needed all hands.”
    They thanked Mr. Oliver for his time and walked away from the registration desk.
    “We need to track whoever ran,” Scarlet said. “Even if we don’t confront him, we should know where he went.”
    “Two people,” Krista said. “One in L.A. and one who’s here.”
    “Someone who knows this place well.”
    “Could be a temp employee. Could be a regular employee.”
    “What are the chances that they’d know Adam was coming here this weekend?”
    “Dave,” Krista said.
    “We need to ask him how he picked this place. And why. But first—let’s track that sneaky bastard and see where he went after he fled.”
    Scarlet didn’t give Krista a chance to argue. She led the way outside. The snow was heavier than before and they couldn’t even see their Jeep parked at one end of the roundabout. Krista followed Scarlet to the edge of the wide porch and they shined their lights to the ground below. The flashlight beams barely penetrated