He smiled. “She was directly under your parents for years.”
“She’s hired,” Raven said and laid back down. “If she wants the job.”
“What do you say we invite her over here for breakfast? I guarantee Sean will be here at sunup anyway with donuts and coffee. I’ll text her in the morning. But for now…” He pulled her close again. “Sleep.”
“Yeah.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you. For everything.”
Just as Cade had expected, his uncle walked in with a box of donuts and coffee shortly after sunup. Cade had texted his mother the moment he’d woken up with his alarm.
He had a few meetings that morning but guessed that he was needed here more, so he called Tony and asked him to fill in for him until he could make it into work.
After hanging out with the man last night, Cade was pretty sure the guy was going to move up in the job quickly. Not only was he smart, but he was easily one of the hardest workers he’d ever trained.
By the time his mother walked into the house, all the ladies were showered and sitting at the kitchen table, nibbling on the donuts and sipping freshly made coffee.
Darby and Carrie had changed out of their dresses into casual clothes, while Raven sat at his kitchen table in a pair of his rolled-up sweats and a sweatshirt, her long red hair still wet from the shower he wished he could have shared with her.
“I’m so sorry about Rachelle,” his mother said, walking over and placing a hand on Raven’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” Raven replied softly.
“How are you three holding up?” his mother asked, sitting next to Sean and reaching for a donut.
“It helped staying here last night,” Darby said.
“I think we needed each other,” Carrie added.
“I know last night was tough on you three, but I’m still going to need to ask you some questions,” Sean broke in.
“Oh, Sean, do you have to right now?” his mother asked.
A look passed between his uncle and his mother, one he’d seen plenty of times before.
“If it was up to me,” Sean finally said with a shrug. “Rachelle’s family deserves answers.”
“Ask your questions,” Raven broke in.
Cade reached over and took her hand at the same time Darby took Raven’s other hand. Then Darby took Carrie’s hand, as well.
“Okay.” His mother nodded. “How about I make something better than sugar to eat?” she suggested as she stood up.
She disappeared into his kitchen, Blue on her heels, no doubt hoping that she’d drop something on the floor. Sean pulled out his notepad and flipped through it.
“I’ve pretty much narrowed the timeline down. The three of you left the bar at twelve-twenty, shortly after the bar closed. You said your goodbyes to Cade”—his uncle nodded towards him— “Tony and Andre, whom Cade drove home.” His uncle flipped the page. “I called Cade at five after one, which means he’d probably just made it in the door.”
“I still had my coat on,” Cade supplied.
His uncle nodded. “The three of you found Rachelle at twelve-twenty-two and called 9-1-1 at that time.”
“I called,” Darby said softly. “I was the first one to notice Rachelle.”
His uncle wrote something down in the notepad.
Sean ran his eyes over the four of them. “Did any of you notice anyone else leave the bar while you were there?”
“Just the employees leaving shortly after midnight,” Raven answered.
“On shift last night was…” His uncle flipped a couple pages and listed off the seven employees for the bar area and the kitchen staff.
“I’d have to check my schedule, but it sounds about right.” Raven nodded.
“Do you know of any employees who had issues with Miss Braun?” Sean asked.
“No.” Raven shook her head. “Rachelle was well liked. She could be tough on employees who goofed off, but for the most part, everyone liked her. It was one of the reasons I’d just given her a raise and a promotion.”
Sean’s eyebrows rose. “How long ago was that?”
“Hours.” Raven shut her eyes. “Hours before she was…” She shook her head. “Earlier that morning.” She pulled out her phone and gave Sean the exact time. “During our Friday morning meeting, I had officially made her Resort Director.”
“Was this common knowledge?” Sean asked, not taking his eyes from the notepad.
“No. I mean, I’m not sure who Rachelle told, but it wasn’t something I spread around. Honestly, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Rachelle had been doing so well around here. She saved my butt a few times since I was being pulled in so many directions due to all the construction. I figured I’d better show her my appreciation before someone else snatched her away.”
“Was she looking for another job?” Sean asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” Raven shook her head.
“Miss Braun was hired by your aunt. Do you happen to know when?” Sean asked.
“I’d have to look at her employee record,” Raven answered.
“Do you know anything about the relationship between Miss Braun and your family?” Sean asked.
“I know that my aunt and uncle used Rachelle and didn’t fully appreciate her.”
“Have you given any other employees raises?” Sean asked.
“Some,” she said after she thought about it.
“Have you fired any?” Sean asked.
Raven’s eyes moved to his before she answered. “A few. You don’t think that someone…” Then she shifted and her eyes grew wide. “Is this your way of saying that Rachelle was murdered?”
Chapter Twenty-One
If you can’t handle her fire, let someone else enjoy the flames.
Raven began to feel light-headed until Darby squeezed her hand. Then she gulped in a deep breath of air and waited for Sean to answer her question.
“At this point, I can’t confirm anything. I’m just covering my bases,” he said smoothly.
“Do you think it was an employee at the resort?” Carrie asked.
“I’m not saying that.” Sean glanced towards Carrie. “I’m also checking into Miss Braun’s personal life.” Sean flipped a few more pages in his notebook before looking up at her. “Do you happen to know if Miss Braun was seeing anyone? Personally?”
Raven shook her head. She felt bad that she hadn’t gotten to know Rachelle a little better. The woman had been almost twenty years older than her. The age gap, along with the fact that she had been the woman’s boss, had forced Raven to keep their relationship from growing too personal.
Still, she could have asked the woman a few personal questions.
“Hey.” Cade squeezed her hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and swallowed the guilt that was building in her gut. Guilt so much like she had felt all those years ago after the fire.
“How about we break for some breakfast?” Cade’s mother stepped into the room and set a plate of eggs down on the table. “Sean, why don’t you come grab some plates for everyone.”