CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - 3

Oliver excused himself to tend to other business while Benjamin showed Isabelle the Cascade Inn section of the offices. “Everyone, this is Isabelle Fleming. She’s coming onboard to oversee the facilities. She’ll be traveling back and forth, making sure everything is running smoothly. Dad wanted all of us to have some backup support until he’s well enough to return to work. With the inns spread out along the interstate, we thought having a traveling manager would take some of the burden off of Oliver, and of course, me.” He chuckled. “Make Isabelle feel at home. Speaking of which, she will be using the apartment upstairs as her home base. She’ll be sharing it with Kat Lamont, who is our new swing-shift, on-call driver.”

“Welcome, Isabelle.” Isabelle guessed the woman who’d greeted her was sixty. She was well-dressed and had a current, smart hairstyle. “I’m Jessica. I’m in charge of linens, paper goods, and amenities. That’s Norman. He’s responsible for all perishable goods, such as food, and beverages. And I’m sure you’ve already met Oliver. He handles personnel, staffing, and the rest.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Isabelle replied. “Jessica, when you have a few free minutes, I’d like you to give me an overview of how things are managed. Daily routines, etc.”

“Sure thing. How about we chat over lunch?” Jessica suggested. “We have a couple of food trucks that pull in every day. Sometimes it’s pizza, sometimes Mexican. I think we have falafel today. Or if you’re into less exotic food, we have a cafeteria with freshly made sandwiches, soups, and a few hot items.”

“Whatever you prefer. I’m not fussy,” Isabelle responded.

Jessica checked her watch. “About a half hour?”

“Sounds good to me.” Isabelle looked at Benjamin. “What else do I need to do? Know?”

“I’ll show you your workspace and the rest of the offices, and then you can come back here and have lunch with Jess,” Benjamin replied.

“Sounds good.” Isabelle followed Benjamin to a cubicle on the other side of Jessica’s.

“Not glamorous, but workable,” he said.

“Thanks. It’s perfect. Nice view of the woods.”

“We are very conscious about trees, considering the business we’re in.” Benjamin walked her down the hall. “We are required to plant twenty trees for every one we fell, but we plant up to fifty per tree.”

“That’s very earth-friendly of you.” Isabelle was a big proponent of green areas, as well as protecting the planet from ruination. Sometimes she felt overwhelmed and outvoted when it came to the design of her commercial projects, but she would always manage to find a way to save a tree or two, and plant a few more than required. She decided she liked Benjamin. He had integrity.

* * *

After a quick glimpse of the executive offices, Benjamin walked Isabelle back to the Cascade Inn area. “I’m sure Jess will be able to get you settled in. If you need anything, just holler.” Benjamin smiled and went back to the executive suites.

“He seems like a very nice man,” Isabelle said to Jessica.

“He is.” She hesitated.

Isabelle cocked her head. “But?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Isabelle knew it was something, but she’d let Jessica tell her in her own sweet time. They had just met each other, but Isabelle thought there was a lot Jessica would like to reveal. Just a feeling, but over the years, the Sisters had relied a lot on their intuition, as well as their uncanny ability to often read each other’s minds. Inexplicable was the word they used to characterize it.

“You up for Mexican?” Jessica asked, as she pulled her sweater off the back of her chair.

“Love it!”

“The guy who runs the food truck is from Mexico. It’s the real deal.”

“So glad to hear it. Fake Mexican can be awful.”

“Norman, do you want us to bring anything back for you?” Jessica asked.

“Nah. I’ll grab a sandwich from the cafeteria. Juan’s food is delicious, but my stomach tends to disagree.”

“Thanks for that tidbit of information.” Jessica chuckled. “Come on, Iz. You don’t mind if I call you ‘Iz,’ do you?”

“No, not really.” What else could she say? I prefer Isabelle and sound like a snob? Nope.

“Most of us have nicknames, but some of us don’t know what they are!” Jessica cackled. “You know what I mean.”

“I sure do. I used to have a boss named Bruce Bristow. He was like a robot, so we called him Bris-toid. Not to his face!” Isabelle laughed. It wasn’t true. She’d never known a Bruce Bristow, but she was working her way into Jessica’s confidence.

“I like the way you think.” Jessica held the door that led to the parking lot.

If she only knew what I really thought , Isabelle mused. There was already a line in front of Grande Garcia’s truck. “What do you recommend?” she asked, while Jessica greeted her coworkers.

“I love his empanadas, especially the beef.”

The aroma from the food truck wafted through the air. “Smells delicious,” Isabelle noted.

“If you like tacos, he makes one with shredded chicken and guac.”

“Stop. You’re making me hungry!” Isabelle joked. Sorta. Actually, it was the scent of the food that was making her mouth water.

Jessica kept introducing Isabelle to everyone they came in contact with.

“I am never going to remember everyone’s name,” she whispered under her breath.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re either Joe, Jim, Mack, Bucky, or Jake. I’ve been here for twenty years and still haven’t figured it out. They call each other ‘dude’ or ‘bud,’ so it’s hard keeping up.” Jessica was finally at the front of the line. “Buenos Dias, Juan!”

“Buenos Dias, my favorite customer!” A very large man with a mustache grinned.

“Oh, I know you say that to everyone.” Jessica was almost blushing. Isabelle noticed there was no wedding band on Jessica’s left hand. That’s when she realized she was wearing hers. She needed a story just in case someone asked, and based on the few short minutes she’d spent with Jessica, Isabelle was sure Jess would notice, and ask. He travels a lot for business. True enough.

“Who is your new friend?” Juan asked.

“This is Isabelle. She’s going to be overseeing the facilities while Mr. Spangler is recuperating.”

“Bueno. Welcome!” Juan gave her a wide smile. “I have prepared something new today. Tinga tosta-dos. Muy bueno!”

“I’ll take two,” Jessica said.

“Me, too!”

“And a side of guac,” Jessica said. “For both of us.”

Isabelle reached into her purse to get her wallet.

“Oh, no, you don’t. This is on me. A welcome to S.E.I. lunch.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Isabelle said. “Thank you.” Isabelle remembered a conversation she’d had with Myra a few years before. When someone pays you a compliment or does you a favor, be gracious. Say thank you. No justifications. No explanations. Don’t diminish their observation or kindness. Just a simple thank you. They’ll appreciate it as much as you appreciate the gesture.

Juan handed them a box filled with their food, plus two bottles of Mexican soda. “Today, lunch is my pleasure. A welcome to Salem.” The women looked at each other. “You too, Jessica.”

“Thank you so much,” Isabelle cooed.

Jessica was dumbfounded. “Wow. I should stick with you, kiddo. Maybe we can score a few free beers at the bowling alley,” Jessica joked.

Isabelle laughed. “I’m not much of a bowler. More like a gutterer, if that’s a word.”

“Who cares? Free beer!” Jessica hooted. “Come on. There’s a nice patio in the back.”

The two women strolled through the well-landscaped area that led to a patio outside the cafeteria. “This is quite lovely for a lumbermill,” Isabelle commented.

“Mr. Milton has done a grand job with this place. I remember it from when I was a little girl. My father worked here.”

“And then you started twenty years ago?” Isabelle was trying to follow the timeline.

“Yep. I was a stay-at-home mom until the kids went off to school. Then my old man—not my dad, the guy I used to be married to—left me for some chippy at a strip club.”

Isabelle almost spit out her food. Jessica had no filter. “You’re kidding.”

“I kid you not, kiddo. And get this, she wasn’t that chipper, either. She had a face that could stop a truck. And she was the same age as me. I was thirty-seven. I think she was looking for a sugar daddy. But was she in for a surprise. He may have shoved a lot of bills into her garter belt, but when we got divorced, he had to pay alimony and child support.”

“Karma. Isn’t it a beautiful thing?” Isabelle took another bite of her spicy lunch.

“Sure is. She dumped him like a hot potato a year later. Boo-hoo.”

“Where is he now?”

“Somewhere up north. The checks are issued by the state, because they take it out of his pay. So as long as he has a job, I get two grand a month.”

“What about the kids?”

“One is twenty-five, and the other twenty-six. So that money train ended. And I am not planning on getting married any time soon. I’m putting that alimony money away for my retirement.”

“Smart move,” Isabelle replied. She was beginning to like Jessica. Down-to-earth. No bull. She knew it wouldn’t take long before she could uncork some information about Dickie. Maybe even Oliver.

They finished their lunch and went back inside through the cafeteria entrance. Isabelle was also impressed by how well-designed it was. The space had more of a café vibe than an industrial complex food court. “This is nice,” she commented, as they made their way around the tables.

“Yep. Mr. Milton and his sons really take good care of their employees.”

“I got that impression as soon as I walked in the door. There seems to be a nice sense of camaraderie here.”

“For sure. If anybody is in need of anything, home-wise or family-wise, most people pitch in. One of the fellas’ kids needed treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Mr. Milton paid for their hotel and airfare, and we took up a collection for the family so they could have some help at home.”

“Does everybody call him Mr. Milton?”

“Yeah. Something Sandy started. She’s been here longer than me.”

“Seems like a wonderful group of people.” Isabelle was quite sincere. Everyone seemed likable. Except for Oliver. And Dickie. As far as Isabelle was concerned, Dickie was a hot mess. Both of them needed to be tailed, from what she could gather. She was getting strange vibes about each of them when their names came up.

“I really couldn’t have asked for a better place. Especially after the divorce. Imagine how humiliated I was. But ya know somethin’? Nobody looked at me like I was pathetic. They showed respect. Not pity.”

Isabelle wanted to hear more about the overall feel of the company, but she thought it would be best if she familiarized herself with each of the inns.

“Jessica, thanks for making me feel at home. I really appreciate it.”

“Do as good as you can is what I say. You can’t expect kindness if you’re not willing to show it.” Jessica smiled and sat down at her desk.

“Do I need a special password for the computer?” Isabelle asked.

“Depends on what you’re looking for.”

“First, just a general idea of how the system works. I take it you log in all the invoices and bills of lading for the supplies?”

“Correct.”

“Would I be able to see those files?”

“Sure. No big secret there. Toilet paper, tissues, cleaning supplies. Not classified documents.” She chuckled.

“Maybe you could give me a quick tutorial?” Isabelle asked.

“Sure thing. Just give me a few minutes.”

Isabelle sat in front of a computer screen that had the company logo as the wallpaper. She clicked it. Up came the main website with company information, personnel, and back story. The usual things to be found on a company website.

Jessica rolled herself over to Isabelle’s desk. “See that S.E.I. icon on the bottom? Click there.” An entirely different menu appeared. “That’s our database.”

Isabelle wondered if it was secure enough. Given her newly acquired hacking skills, she could test the system after hours.

“At the top are all the individual tabs for each division. Click on Cascade. Okay, there you see each individual location. Click on Eugene. There you’ll see all the inventory, staff, schedules, and the rest.”

“Pretty streamlined.” Isabelle nodded.

“Everything on these tabs populates to another program where Mr. Milton can view things in a number of ways. Like, if he wants to know the total number of rolls of toilet paper used each month, and so on. Sorry if I use toilet paper as an example, but it seems like that’s what I spend most of my time chasing. Can you believe people actually steal rolls of it?”

“I guess if you’re a trucker, you might be worried about not making it to the next rest area,” Isabelle joked.

Jessica cackled. “Good point.”

“So, Mr. Milton is the only one with access to that part of the database?”

“All three Spangler men,” Jessica replied.

“Got it,” Isabelle said. “I think I can figure this out now. I’m going to go down to Eugene either tomorrow or the next day, so I’ll start with that database. Manager and assistant manager?” Isabelle asked.

“Doreen Finamore is the manager. Nice woman.”

Another nice person. The company was beginning to sound too good to be true.

“Assistant manager?” Isabelle asked.

“He left. I think it had something to do with that Lori George girl.”

Jackpot! “What do you mean?” Isabelle asked.

“We had a young woman. Student. She worked part-time. Showed up day before yesterday, punched in, but then disappeared.”

“Disappeared? How strange.” Isabelle reacted as if she had no idea.

“Yeah. Mr. Oliver wasn’t too happy about it. Her folks went on TV last night. Said she would never ditch her job. Or school. Or her family. She lived at home while she was working on her degree in the hospitality business.”

“No sign of her?” Isabelle furrowed her brow.

“Not a stitch. Such a shame. She’s the second person gone missing between here and Eugene in the past two weeks.”

“Wow. That’s scary,” Isabelle replied.

“Sure is. Nobody is sayin’ anything. Not the sheriff, the news people. Nobody. Her folks want to bring in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but local law enforcement said they should wait a day or two. They say she isn’t a missing person until she’s been gone for more than twenty-four hours.”

“Actually, that’s not true. Only on TV and in the movies. If anyone believes foul play is involved, they are urged to file a police report immediately.”

“Huh.” Jessica looked confused.

“I know someone who works for the U.S. Marshal’s office,” Isabelle said. “He specializes in missing kids. Or he used to.” Isabelle was referring to Myra’s friend Ellie, who had an art center in Asheville, North Carolina. One of her tenants was engaged to the marshal.

“Wow. That’s a pretty tough job, wouldn’t ya say?”

“I can only imagine. I don’t know him very well, but we had a discussion once during a fund-raising event.”

“Fund-raiser?” Jessica asked. “We call it a shindig.”

Isabelle laughed. “Same thing. So, tell me, why did the assistant manager leave?”

“Not sure, but first thing yesterday morning, Oliver told me to fill out the paperwork for his severance and send it to the accounting office.”

Isabelle made a mental note to bring up the missing persons myth when she met with the Sisters later. Also, the disappearance of the assistant manager. She wondered how deep the veneer of niceness went.

“Do you think the assistant manager had anything to do with the missing woman?”

“Maybe he just wasn’t paying attention.” Jessica shrugged. “You know how it goes, sometimes. There are people who can work on their own without having someone looking over their shoulder, and then there are others who take advantage.”

Isabelle thought back to her own employment situation, when one of her coworkers had framed her. “And there are those who take it even further.”

Jessica gave her a quizzical look.

“Nothing. Just remembering when I worked at another company and one of my colleagues took advantage of a situation. In a big way. But that’s the past, and I’m actually better for it.”

“Isn’t that the way things go? Seriously. When I found out my lousy husband was cheating on me, I thought my world was going to fall apart. And here I am twenty years later, happier than I ever was. Funny thing about life.”

“Yep. You never know where the road is going to lead.” Isabelle turned back to her computer. “I’ve taken up way too much of your time, Jess.”

“Don’t be silly. Nice change of pace having a new face around.”

“Thanks.” Isabelle smiled and began to click away at the Eugene Cascade Inn’s spreadsheets. When no one was looking, she plugged in a flash drive and downloaded all of the Cascade files. She planned to send the data to Fergus. See if there was some kind of pattern. Meanwhile, she brushed up on the Eugene file in particular. First and foremost, she had to find the blueprints.