Unraveled by Jennifer Estep Page A

out of her jeans pocket and sent a text.
    â€œWho’s Ira?” Bria asked.
    Roxy hesitated and wet her lips, as if what she was about to say made her uncomfortable. “Ira Morris was the resort manager before me.”
    â€œBefore you?” Owen asked. “And he still works here?”
    â€œYou might say that Ira is rather . . . attached to the place. He’s been here for years and is quite the character. Why, I imagine that one day the old codger will drop dead in the middle of the theme park with his boots on.” She let out a laugh, but a harsh, mocking undercurrent rippled through the sound.
    â€œBut if this Ira guy cares about the resort so much, then why did Deirdre hire you as the new manager?” Bria asked.
    Roxy shrugged. “With the economy the way it’s been the past few years, the hotel and theme park haven’t been doing so well. People have been cutting back, and vacations are often the first things to go when folks are trying to save money. One of the reasons that Ms. Shaw decided to remodel the hotel and turn it into a luxury resort was to attract higher income folks, people who can still afford to spend money on trips, spa services, gourmet food, and the like.”
    â€œI suppose that makes sense,” Finn said.
    Roxy nodded. “Plus, poor Ira is a bit . . . old-school, shall we say, when it comes to things like marketing and publicity and getting folks to come to Bullet Pointe. He thinks that just putting up billboards along the interstates is advertising enough, but that just doesn’t cut it in this day and age.” She shook her head. “Ira did the best he could, bless his heart. But Ms. Shaw thought that it was time for some new ideas, new leadership, so that’s why she brought me in.”
    Bless his heart? Well, that was the classic Southern insult and put-down. Roxy’s voice practically dripped with sympathy, but I could hear what she wasn’t saying. Ira hadn’t been making enough money for Deirdre’s liking, so she’d demoted him.
    â€œAnyway,” Roxy continued, “if y’all will follow me, I’ll take you down to the lobby and show you where Ira’s office is.”
    We all got to our feet. Roxy grabbed her white Stetson and plopped it on top of her head, completing her cowgirl outfit. She gave us all another bright smile and stepped out into the hallway. The others followed her, but I trailed behind, glancing around her office again. I realized something—the window beside her desk overlooked the main hotel entrance.
    I went over, pulled back the white curtain, and glanced down. Sure enough, it was the same window and twitching curtain that I’d noticed from down on the ground. Hmm. Perhaps I hadn’t imagined my earlier watcher after all. It made sense that Roxy would have been up here keeping an eye out for Finn, since he was her new boss and she probably wanted to keep her job. Still, the simple explanation didn’t make me feel any better, and that uneasy dread once again bubbled up in my stomach.
    â€œGin!” Finn called out from the hallway. “Let’s go!”
    I could do nothing at the moment to ease my worry, so I let the curtain drop back into place and left the office.
    *   *   *
    My friends and I crowded into the elevator with Roxy and rode down to the lobby. Roxy chattered on the whole time about the hotel, the theme park, and the surrounding lake, spouting out so many facts and figures that my eyes quickly glazed over. Finn paid rapt attention, soaking up every single word she said, but I wasn’t so enamored of our hostess. By the time the elevators doors opened less than a minute later, I was seriously considering snatching that white Stetson off her head and shoving the hat into her mouth just to get her to be quiet.
    Owen noticed my annoyed expression and grinned and nudged me with his elbow. I rolled my eyes and shrugged at