Free Boston Cream Killer: Book 8 in The INNcredibly Sweet Series by Summer Prescott Page B

scattered within Hannah Folsom’s hotel room.
    ***
    Down the hall from Jim Reubens, Chas Beckett sat numbly at his desk, the stacks of paperwork mocking him. He dialed his cellphone, and the call was picked up on the first ring.
    “Master Beckett, I was expecting your call,” the cultured voice of Chalmers, his deceased father’s former valet, and present overseer of Beckett Holdings Corp., said calmly. His familiar voice gave Chas a moment of relief, a brief glimpse of the possibility that everything might just turn out to be okay.
    “Chalmers, there are some things going on here that have me more than a little concerned,” the detective dispatched with formalities, getting straight to the point.
    “Yes sir, I’m aware, and I’m working diligently to determine how and why the unfortunate events occurred,” the former servant assured him.
    “I, along with Missy, Spencer, and a dear friend, have become the focus of a murder investigation,” Chas explained in a low voice. “We need to work quickly to get this figured out. They haven’t suspended me just yet, but I’ve been relegated to desk work until this whole mess gets figured out.”
    “I understand sir, and I have marshaled a formidable force to get to the bottom of this. I assure you, we will get this matter resolved before undue harm is caused to anyone in the family or inner circle,” Chalmers promised.
    “The reporter implied that BHC was doing business with criminals… any idea who she may have been talking about?”
    “I have a couple of leads that I’m working on, sir,” was the cagey reply.
    “Care to share?” Chas raised an eyebrow, annoyed by the lack of information.
    “I’m sorry sir, but disclosing that information to you might put you in harm’s way, and I cannot have that,” Chalmers said with quiet authority.
    The detective knew that his father’s representative would protect him at all costs, so he didn’t press the matter.
    “Is Reggie involved?” he asked. His brother, Reginald Beckett, had gotten himself into messes on an international level, and Chas wouldn’t be surprised if his brother had jeopardized the integrity of the company somehow. His father had been smart to name Chalmers as the company watchdog when Chas had refused to actively participate. It was a position that Reggie couldn’t have handled responsibly.
    “Mercifully, no,” the dignified elderly man replied. “I’ve tasked your brother with managing a handful of our South American accounts, and he’s been doing remarkably well. I think perhaps his run-ins with those rough characters in Monaco may have set him on a bit of a straighter path.”
    “Let’s hope so,” Chas agreed. “Do you think that what’s happening now has anything to do with his trips to Monaco?”
    “Difficult to say. I certainly hope not, but I have extra security personnel in place, just as a precaution.”
    Reggie had made an ill-fated trip to Monaco a few weeks ago, and Chas, with Spencer’s help, had gone over to disentangle him from the claws of a greedy British earl, who had hoped to avoid poverty by swindling the younger Beckett son out of a healthy part of the family fortune. Someone around that time had nearly killed Chalmers with poison, but a direct link between the earl and the assassination attempt had never been uncovered, and his assailant remained a mystery. The detective strongly suspected that there had to be a connection between the attempt on Chalmers’s life and the attempted assassination of the family name and reputation by Hannah Folsom. He let the overseer know about his suspicions, and told him that he was searching for the source of Hannah’s information.
    “Begging your pardon sir, but I really would prefer that you let me and my team handle this situation.”
    “I know you would, Chalmers, but you know me well enough to know that I refuse to sit by and do nothing, when my family is at risk. Is Spencer with you?”
    “Is he not with you?” the