Mara took the binoculars and looked, too. “Do you know how upset guests get when they see scavengers cleaning up a dead deer or a raccoon or whatever?”
“Some people are not meant to appreciate the fullness of an outdoor life.” Xander spread his fingers above Kellen’s shoulder and let them hover there. “You’re in pain. I have time on my schedule for a massage.”
“Thank you, Xander, but I’ve got another couple of appointments, then I need to see where we are on orders and bookings.”
“You will have time later for a run, won’t you?” Mara asked. “Not far—we’ll race each other back to our cottages.”
“You’ll win,” Kellen said. “My cottage is the last one.”
Mara smiled brightly. “I know!”
Xander’s hands settled over Kellen’s SC joint and massaged. “Something long denied is fighting to erupt from your spiritual center and to ignore it would have dire results on not only your well-being, but the well-being of the resort, which you now lead.”
Kellen questioned Mara with wide eyes and a pursed mouth.
“Better go for a quick massage,” Mara said. “Last time he said something like that, Destiny spilled a bottle of lavender massage oil on the rug and we had to have it cleaned twice before it stopped exuding inappropriate amounts of serenity into the air.”
Kellen stared at them both. “Inappropriate amounts of serenity?”
“The scent of lavender creates a tranquility of the spirit,” Xander explained.
Kellen realized again why she needed to succeed as the resort’s assistant manager. Mara might be a competent spa manager, but she knew nothing of real life and real combat. And a woman like Kellen, who didn’t realize lavender could exude inappropriate amounts of serenity, needed to stay on the practical side of the business.
Kellen followed Xander, eased herself onto his massage chair and put her face into the cradle. “I’ve got fifteen minutes. No more.”
“Time has no meaning in the boundless eternity of the universe.”
By which she guessed he meant she should set an alarm. So she did.
He applied a heating wrapping on her neck and worked his fingers into the rigid muscles of her shoulder. In that calm, soothing tone, he said, “Dismiss those thoughts that disturb you, and breathe with me.”
Thoughts that disturbed her… All of us out here are running away from something.
What did Mara mean by that? It was not like she knew Kellen had been running for the past seven years, from a past corroded by guilt and a year that had vanished from her mind.
“Breathe with me,” he said again. “In… Out… In…”
She concentrated on the slow breaths, blanking her mind as she relaxed…and dreamed.
*
Through the darkness, she could hear him calling her. “Ceecee. Ceecee. Where are you? Come back to me…”
She loved his voice. Unlike Gregory’s, this voice was deep and warm, loving and despairing.
“Ceecee, I love you. Come back.”
Who was he? Memory came in flashes, like a night sky split by lightning. Deep brown eyes surrounded by long dark lashes. Tall, over six foot. Fast, smooth, physical, accomplished.
“Ceecee…” His voice grew fainter, like a spirit’s fading into the gray lands.
She strained to open her eyes, but the darkness would not yield. The lightning was moving away, over the horizon.
She was alone in the night. Alone…
*
Kellen woke and sat straight up on the massage chair.
Her pocket was vibrating, her alarm going off.
She pulled out her phone and silenced it, then placed a hand over her racing heart. The dream. The man. The dark. Again.
On a stool across the room, Xander sat balanced in the lotus position.
“Did I say anything?” she demanded.
“You were silent, but your soul walked in a far, dark place where combat rages and death holds sway.” His large, sad eyes watched her as if he could see her pain. “You’ve returned from war to find your own battlefield still waits.”
“The war is over. Only the shadows remain.” Enough of that. If she hung around Xander much longer, she would start talking like a guru, too.
“Every hour, do one thing. Take a moment to stop and breathe.” He lifted a hand and breathed in, lowered his hand and breathed out.
“I do know how to inhale and exhale,” she snapped.
He looked a reproof.
Right. He didn’t deserve to have her snap at him. “I’ll do it. Thank you, I feel better. You are a magician.” She checked her texts.
Nothing back from Temo about the animal carcass. If she didn’t hear back soon, she’d give him a call.
She strode to the door, opened it and halted, her head cocked toward the commotion down the hall.
“She’s one of my best masseuses. She’s got appointments!” Mara shouted.
Mr. Gilfilen’s deep, distinctive voice sounded as if it was coming from the depths of a crypt. “She has stepped over the line.”
Beneath the sound of conversation, Kellen could hear a woman crying, and she headed out to intercept what sounded like a rip-roaring fight.
In the spa waiting room, Mara and Mr. Gilfilen had faced off, Mara furious, Mr. Gilfilen austere.
Mr. Gilfilen inclined his head. “Miss Adams, we have a security situation.” And just that quickly, her mind produced his information.
VINCENT GILFILEN:
GENDER UNDEFINED, POSSIBLY MALE, OF AFRICAN DESCENT, FRENCH ACCENT, 38, 6’1”, 145 LBS., FIT. FORMAL CLOTHING, ALWAYS BLACK. ECCENTRIC FACIAL HAIR CHOICES. MILITARY/SECURITY BACKGROUND, SPECIFICS UNKNOWN. OBSESSIVELY PRIVATE. POSSIBLY A VAMPIRE?
Today he wore a black turtleneck, slacks and loafers. His thin face started at the top with carefully styled curls and ended with a curling goatee that emphasized his long chin. His brows looked as if they’d been shaved and drawn back on to point at an angle toward his hairline. His deep voice rolled out like the clap of doom. “Miss Longacre left the outside door to the spa unlocked to allow a friend access.”
“Her boyfriend,” Mara said. “He’s from town. He’s not much. Of a threat, I mean.” The nearby town of Cape Charade was nothing more than a bump in the two-lane highway: eight hundred people, a ten-room motel built in the 1950s and one grocery store that sold food, swim gear and souvenir sweatshirts. But it did supply the resort with about half of their staff. Destiny Longacre was from Cape Charade; that alone guaranteed she would continue working at the resort until she’d saved enough for college.
Mr. Gilfilen offered not a shred of empathy. “Accidentally leaving the door unlocked is a violation of resort policy and warrants a reprimand. Deliberately leaving it unlocked could result in the loss of supplies and equipment and, most important, is a danger to the guests and the staff. Miss Longacre must go.”
“I can’t replace her right now,” Mara said.
“You’ll have to work around that,” Mr. Gilfilen answered.
Mara got on her toes to get into his face. “This is stupid. Did Destiny or her boyfriend steal anything? Did they threaten anybody?”
“I believe their intention was to have intercourse in the comfort of the spa.” Mr. Gilfilen appeared to feel bilious. “Regardless of her relatively innocuous intentions, she caused a security breach and she must. Be. Fired.”
Mara looked at Kellen in appeal.
Kellen shook her head. When it came to security, Mr. Gilfilen was clear in his rules, and on the rare occasion an employee challenged those rules, there was no appeal. Not even Annie or Leo went up against Mr. Gilfilen.
“All right. But she’s a nice kid. Losing her will put a kink in my schedule, and it’s going to devastate her. Plus I have to fire her!” Mara flounced away.
Kellen felt sorry for Mara and Destiny…
…Until Mr. Gilfilen said, “Miss Adams, I have an announcement. I am leaving on vacation.”
“What?”
“There’s no need to shout.”
She modulated her voice. “What?”
“I’m leaving on vacation,” he repeated.
“When?”
“Now.”
His audacity took her breath away. “You are kidding.”
“I never kid.”
“Does Annie know about this?”
“Yes. She did object on your behalf, but Leo and I agreed now was the time for me to take this action.”