Touch of Paradise

“Excuse me?”

“Actually, there have been three mishaps. These two were just the latest. The first one involved the digital file for the event. It somehow got corrupted, but fortunately there was a backup.”

“Hmm.”

“She really sounded upset on the phone about what’s happening.”

Aaron groaned. “I hate this. You know my plan was to stay as far away as possible over these next several days while our resort is overrun with over-indulged, self-interested parasites.”

Harvey held out his hands. “I know you had a bad experience with models—”

“Bad? Would you call the sinking of the Titanic merely bad? The stock market crash of 1929 a mere miscalculation?”

Harvey sighed. “I’m sorry. I know how bad...I mean awful—” he quickly corrected “—it was for you. But that was more than nine years ago. This isn’t about vanity. I’ve seen some of what they’re putting together and it’s really beautiful, and the people I’ve met have been very nice. We’re dealing with professionals, and I’ll help as much as I can, but I think your sister’s concern shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Aaron slowly stood to his feet. “You’re a good man, H.C.” Aaron walked around the desk, then leaned against it with his arms folded. “I love my sister, but she has a habit of causing trouble, and my mother indulges her. But maybe there is something to this. When is my mother coming?”

Harvey nervously cleared his throat, wishing Wethers would return to his seat. He hated having to look up at him. “Your—your mother?”

“Yes, my mother. This is right up her alley. If she’s as concerned as my sister, she’ll love to be here and make sure everything is spectacular. She’s been a fashion hound since I was a kid. She’ll use this opportunity to indulge her personal hobby. I don’t care if she wants to come and boss me around a bit while I look into what’s going on.”

Harvey unfolded his damp handkerchief and wiped his forehead, his cheeks and his neck, then crumpled it in his fist. This was the news he didn’t want to deliver. “That’s the problem.”

Aaron stilled. “What is?”

“Your mother needs you to be in charge.”

“Me? Why?”

“She broke her ankle while vacationing in Switzerland and won’t be able to be here, either.”

Wethers looked out the window at the swaying palm trees and said in a low voice, “How convenient.”

“It doesn’t sound very convenient to me.”

Wethers shifted his gaze back to Harvey. “You missed the ring of sarcasm. I’ll try to be clearer next time.” He tapped a finger against his lips and said in a quiet voice, “I wonder what those two are up to?”

“I really think your sister’s frightened.”

“Then why didn’t she tell me directly?”

“She didn’t think you’d believe her. And this event is very important to her. This new designer is making waves around the globe. Red Beacon Villa Resorts will make a name for itself hosting the Cromwell Collection.”

“I don’t care what his name is—”

“Her. Her name is Rebecca Cromwell,” Harvey continued, ignoring Aaron’s obvious boredom with the topic.

Aaron stared at him for a long moment, making it clear he didn’t care.

Harvey swallowed. He hated when Wethers pinned him with that penetrating look. “I just thought you should know.”

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“What you really think. Should I be concerned?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Harvey said, relieved that at least that was the truth. “There are a lot of people involved in this event—volunteers, caterers, photographers, the stage crew, the stylists. Mistakes are bound to happen.”

“You’re giving me excuses, not an opinion. What do you really think?”

“I think that if what Candace believes is true, we have a serious problem because things seem to be escalating. The corrupted file and lost props were an annoyance, but tampering with the model’s makeup makes things more dangerous. Only the top three models were affected, and they were to be the key draw for the event, since one of them is a local girl. If anything else goes wrong, it’s possible we’ll have to cancel.”

“I’m not going to let that happen. We may have lost three days, but we have eleven days left.”

“Yes, sir,” Harvey said, feeling his heart cheer. He knew Wethers would do whatever it took to save the show.

“I want to meet with security in an hour.”

“Yes.” Harvey nodded, then left the room, wiping his forehead again when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“What does he think?” Candace Wethers said.

Harvey lowered his voice. “You should have told him yourself.”

“You know I couldn’t. Was he angry?”

“Yes, at first, then he said he’ll look into it.”

“Did you tell him about Rebecca?”

“Only briefly. I thought it best to focus on the show. I don’t think he’ll believe she’s the one being targeted. Besides, there’s no proof.”

“I know, but I just have a bad feeling about this. I think whoever is trying to sabotage the show is trying to hurt her.”

“You think her life’s in danger?”

Candace sighed. “I really don’t know. It doesn’t make sense, but I have a horrible feeling that Rebecca could get hurt in more ways than one.”

“Do you think perhaps we should reschedule or cancel the show?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Don’t even think that. I know that Aaron can do this.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Candace laughed in a way that made Harvey nervous. “I always know what I’m doing.”

* * *