Welcome to Paths Not Taken, the thirteenth Operation Quickline story. When a sting operation is set up on the resort owned by Lisa Wycherly’s father, she and Sid Hackbirn find themselves revisiting their high school jobs. And hoping their covers don’t get blown. You can read the first chapter here.
Sid’s Voice –
I should have seen it sooner, but being worried about Lisa, I missed it until that Thursday morning. Nick showed up on time for work and he didn’t slack off. I have to say, as much as he hated that job, he didn’t use that as an excuse to be sloppy about it. In fact, he was one of the best bussers we had.
Still, the boy wasn’t smiling, and I could see that something had him down, and that’s when I realized what day it was. I waited until he came off duty at two, then pulled him away to the apartment. He went reluctantly, but he went.
“It’s the anniversary, isn’t it?” I said softly, once I’d shut the door.
“I’ll be fine,” he grumbled.
“I know. But it’s only been three years since your first mom died. That’s not an easy loss to deal with.”
“I’ll be okay!” He glared at me for a moment, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so grumpy.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” He did not use a defensive tone, and I could tell that he was really wondering if I did.
“I admit, I don’t remember my mother.” My mother had been killed when I was two. “But I have lost people I care about. And even if they weren’t as close as your mom was to you, I still think about them when the anniversary of their deaths rolls around. It doesn’t surprise me that you’re feeling down about your mother.”
The truth was, Lisa and I had always known that Nick had some very conflicted feelings about his first mother. It would have been hard to imagine that he didn’t. Rachel… Well, she had been pretty shitty about how she handled him. She was distant, letting her mother mostly raise Nick, and we’d heard from one of Rachel’s friends that Rachel and Nick hadn’t gotten along that well. She lied to him that I had run out on her when I’d found out she was pregnant. I had no idea she’d gotten pregnant, let alone by me, until she dropped Nick on Lisa’s and my doorstep when the boy was eleven. Then, when her mother died, Rachel left Nick alone a lot while she worked as an emergency room doctor. When Rachel was diagnosed with leukemia (which was why she brought him to meet me), she forced Nick to keep it a secret, especially from me and Lisa. Nick did, but it had been a hell of a burden for the boy to carry.
At the same time, Nick had deeply loved her. She was his mother. She had loved her son, as well, no matter how badly she’d sucked at the parenting thing. Lisa and I had agreed very early on that we had no right to put Rachel down in front of Nick or otherwise question his love for her. Which was why we had both decided that we’d let Nick decide when to talk to us about any conflicted feelings.
“I don’t want to be,” he said softly. “I mean, come on. It’s been three years.”
“It’s how you feel.”
He made a face. “It’s okay to be really mad at someone you love, right?”
“Of course it is.”
I pulled him into my arms and just held him. He held me back and sniffed a little. That’s when I realized that he hadn’t been talking about being mad at me, and if he didn’t want to talk to Lisa or me about being angry at his first mother, it was because he didn’t want to admit to himself that he was.
Lisa’s Voice –
The Thursday management meeting started out smoothly. Then Irene brought up that there had been a problem the previous Saturday because some of the cabins and rooms hadn’t been cleaned in time for the first check-ins. Before I could point out that there had been a problem with Cabin Eleven, thanks to the executives, and the one late check-out with the sick kids, Lourdes took offense and snapped that she knew what she was doing.
Daddy pointed out the problems with the check-outs and that mollified Lourdes somewhat, but the meeting remained tense. I wanted to be anywhere but there. Dusty’s pager had shown him leaving the resort while Sid and I were out the day before. Lita had done the tailing, and I wanted to know if she’d found anything.
Not that Lita had anything for me when I finally got a chance to talk to her. Dusty had just wandered around, looking morose. I thanked Lita and moved on.
It looked like it was going to be yet another frustrating day. I winced. I had also remembered that it was the anniversary of the death of Nick’s mother. That had always been a difficult day for him, but he was still at work in the restaurant.
I went back to the main lodge, hoping to find a minute of peace in the office behind the front desk. I did not get my minute. Shortly after I settled into the desk chair at the reservations desk, I heard voices floating in from the front desk.
“I just don’t get any respect,” Lourdes said to somebody.
“It’s the same with me,” Lyle replied.
Their voices were not all that loud, and when I got up and peeked out to the front, they were standing near the door. The lobby was empty of people.
“I have been here for more than forty years,” Lyle continued. “I know how to take care of guests. They put that new computer in and now Irene treats me like a two-year-old.”
“And computers are confusing, too. My son got me one, and I was completely lost at first.”
“You know how to work one of them things?”
Lourdes snorted. “Yes. And I’ll bet Mira doesn’t know how. But she sure knows how to boss people around.”
“And you can make a computer work?” Lyle sighed deeply. “Maybe I am too old.”
“Lyle. Don’t. My son taught me about the computer. And I still need him to program my VCR. My son keeps telling me that computers aren’t that hard. They’re confusing. Very confusing. But see, it’s like what my son says. Computers are pretty stupid. They can only do what you tell them to do, which isn’t the same thing as what you want them to do all the time. That’s why you have to do things in just the right way, or they can’t understand. It’s like when you check somebody in, you can see if the person who took the reservation spelled something wrong. You just re-write it and go. Computers have to have the name match perfectly or they can’t find the name.”
Lyle snorted. “Well, no wonder things are so messed up since that damn thing got put in.”
“I’ll bet I can help you make it work. Come here.”
I looked out the door. Lyle and Lourdes were focused on the front desk computer. Irene came up from the other side of the lobby. She looked over at Lourdes and Lyle, then at me. I put my finger to my lips.
A minute later, Irene and I watched as Lourdes checked a young couple in. She looked happy and confident. Lyle smiled at her.
Irene and I slid back into the office and shut the door.
“I think we may have solved the front desk problem,” I said.
“Who would have thought Lourdes could make the computer work?” Irene gaped happily. “And she knows how to work with Lyle.”
“Yeah, she’s helping him learn the system.” I looked back at the door. “Actually, it’s not that surprising. She’s the one who came up with putting all the time sheets on the new system, along with personnel notes and performance scores.”
Irene bit her lip. “Will she consider moving to the front desk a promotion?”
“We can make her an assistant manager, can’t we?”
“That would probably work, since moving from housekeeping to the front desk is a promotion in and of itself. But what do we do about Lyle?”
I opened the door and peeked out. Lyle, with Lourdes behind him, was writing on one of the paper maps of the area that we kept for guests, directing Mr. Lane somewhere. I pulled back and looked at Irene.
“What are the odds that Lyle scored some good tickets for one of the shows across the line?” I asked.
“Better than good.” Irene grinned. “That’s one of the reasons the guests love him so much. Honestly, Lisa, nobody knows this area like he does, and he can get any show at any time. At a discount.” She laughed. “If Lyle doesn’t want to work on the computer, why don’t we make him our concierge? He mostly does that now, and that’s what he’s really good at.”
“With Lourdes as the front desk manager.” I grinned. “Do you want me to talk to Daddy?”
“Let’s both do it.” Irene went straight to Daddy’s office.
The door was closed, and Daddy looked entirely exhausted, but perked up considerably when he heard Irene’s idea for Lourdes and Lyle.
He smiled at me. “That means you’re going to have to find and train a new housekeeping manager.”
I grimaced, then went to talk to Mira. She was ecstatic.
“I am so happy for Lourdes,” she crowed. “That’s perfect. She totally deserves it. And Lyle will be right there to help her manage the other clerks. Maybe she’ll grow a backbone.”
“Well, I do have to let the others know that there’s an opening for the housekeeping manager. It’s only fair if someone else wants a shot at the job, too.” I patted Mira on the back. “And if you get the job, then we’ll have to work on training and you’ll have to find an assistant manager to run things on your days off.”
“Beatrice.” Mira grinned.
“But I thought…”
“I know! Beatrice goofed off when Lourdes was running things because she felt like Lourdes didn’t appreciate her. She knows I do, and she’s good. Plus, she’s been around longer than the others.”
“Well, we’ll see. And please don’t say anything to Beatrice or the others until everything is official.”
“Of course not.” Mira was almost dancing, she was so happy. “And don’t worry about Lourdes as a manager up front. She won’t have as many people to supervise, and she’ll be able to grow into the job with Lyle there. While your mother was here and before that, Mary, Lourdes didn’t have to do that much. They ran the department. Then when your mother left, Lourdes got tossed into the deep end, and she was not ready for it.”
“Yeah, I know.” I couldn’t help grinning, myself.
Mira would be great at the job, which meant I would not be stuck running things, nor would my mother. I couldn’t wait to go home.
My elation was, however, to run a very short course. As I walked past the horse barn on the way to my parents’ place, I saw Janey feeding one of the horses in the paddock. She looked so sad and so listless, which was completely unlike her. I went over.
“Janey?” I asked softly.
She patted the horse’s nose one last time, then looked up.
“Oh. Hi, Aunt Lisa.”
“You seem really upset.”
She made a face. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “It’s nothing I can do anything about. It just sucks is all.”
“You want to tell me about it?”
“Sure.” She frowned. “It was this afternoon in the activities center. Krystal Washington? She’s one of the kids here, and she’s a really good artist. So, today, Ms. Wannamaker said so and that she should become a professional one. Which Krystal totally wants to do. And everybody was encouraging her. I don’t want her not to be. She deserves the encouragement.” She sighed. “It’s just that no one is going to encourage me to be what I want when I grow up.”
“Why not?”
Janey looked at me and hesitated. “I want to be a priest.”
“Oh.” My heart sank. “Yeah, that one is going to be pretty difficult. I suppose it is possible that they’ll change things by the time you get to be a grown-up.”
“Uh-huh.” Janey looked away sadly. “I suppose. Sister Casey at church? She doesn’t think that will happen any too soon. But she did say that I could be a pastoral associate. With all the priest shortages, they’re going to need them. It’s almost there, but not quite the same thing.”
“No. It’s not.” I reached over and pulled her into my arms. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a terrific priest.”
“Thanks, Aunt Lisa.” She hugged me tighter. “It doesn’t usually get to me. I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever thought it would be possible.”
“Yeah. Kinda like me wanting to be a superhero when I grew up. Your grandpa and I were talking about that last week. He figures I went into English Literature because I could still pretend to be one.”
Janey laughed a little. We went back to the house for lunch. Daddy was there and the three of us had a lovely time, even if Janey was still feeling sad about her career prospects. Daddy told me that Lourdes was thrilled with moving to the front desk, and was not only picking it up very quickly, she’d helped Irene resolve Lyle’s latest overbooking goof. Lyle had been bemused by the fancy title of concierge, but loved the idea of doing that as his job and not having to worry about reservations. I told Daddy that I’d get a notice up in the housekeeping office right after lunch just in case somebody wanted Lourdes’ job, but that I really wanted Mira for it.
I got the notice up and talked to most of the staff as they came in at the end of their shifts. It was actually reassuring that nobody really wanted the manager job. Well, Donna told me that she might.
“Why?” I asked.
She frowned. “I’m thinking about dropping out of school. It just, like, feels like a big waste of time.”
“What are you majoring in?”
“Business. It’s really boring.”
I looked at her. “What do you like doing?”
“Partying.” She shrugged.
“That’s a hard way to make a living.”
“Yeah, I know.” She cocked her head. “But the thing is, all I need is a living. It doesn’t matter what I do to get it. Get my money, then go party at night. That’s what’s fun. Working here full-time would get me that.”
“Maybe. But the first time you come into work hung-over, you’ll get your backside fired.”
“Oh, I don’t drink that much and I don’t do drugs. I just like being at parties.”
“Well, I’ll think it over.”
I was so glad to finally be at the end of my day. I turned the walkie-talkie off and went to find Nick. He was at my parents’ house, reading in the living room.
“You doing okay, my sweet guy?” I asked, sitting next to where he was sprawled on the couch. I ran my fingers through the lock on his forehead.
“Okay enough.” He winced. “I mean, I’m sad, and that’s just the way it’s going to be at this time of year. It’s like Dad said earlier. It’s okay to be sad, and I just have to get through it. Talking about it helps a little, but it doesn’t change things, and that’s what I’m sad about.”
“I get that. I’m here and I’ll always be here, one way or another.”
He smiled softly. “Thanks, Mom.”
We got in a solid hug, then Daddy came in and asked about dinner. Sid was already in the kitchen working on it.
After dinner, Janey and I did the cleanup. Nick said that he wanted to go for a walk, and got Bowser out of his crate. Darkness finally settled on the resort. The smell of pork ribs filled the air, as Daddy and Bracha checked the BBQ rig for the next night’s picnic and outdoor movie. Sid and I walked slowly to the staff lodge.
Gunfire erupted near the playground. Sid and I ran as fast as we could, never mind that we didn’t have any guns on us. We couldn’t. Shooting at a bad guy would immediately peg us as operatives. We had them back at the staff lodge, but it would have taken too long to get them.
Dusty stumbled out of the trees as the echo from the shots faded away.
“Someone shooting at me,” he squeaked, and sank to the ground.
“Are you alright?” Sid asked.
Dusty nodded. “Not hit. Scared.”
“Where’s Nick?” I shrieked.
Nick, breathing heavily, came out of the trees, holding Bowser.
“He got loose,” Nick said, setting the puppy on the ground. “He ran at the person with the gun. Probably saved Dusty’s life. Dusty saw the man and ran.”
“Did you see him?” Sid asked.
Nick shook his head. “Only sort of. He was wearing a mask. But he was maybe a little taller than you? Not sure.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, and several people came out of their cabins.
“What’s going on?” Mr. Winslow demanded from outside his cabin door.
“It’s alright,” Daddy hollered back. I was a little surprised that he was almost on top of us. “Looks like everyone is fine. Lisle, you and Sid check the outside buildings, make sure nothing went through a window. Nick? Dusty? You two come with me.”
It took a while to canvas the outsides, but there didn’t appear to be any bullet holes anywhere. The police arrived, took a bunch of statements, somehow missing Dusty and Nick, and came to the conclusion that it was some idiot hunting out of season or drunk and shooting for the fun of it. That sort of thing happened in the area, but had never happened at the resort.
Worse yet, the gunman had fired from off the resort, according to the officers who found some casings, as in we couldn’t have done anything regarding signage. Not that it would have helped if there really had been some drunk idiot with a gun shooting for the fun of it.
Several families gathered in the dark at the playground, waiting to talk to the cops. That’s when the woman screamed.
Two bullets had pierced the playground slide.
Thank you for reading. For more information about the Operation Quickline series, click here.
Please check out the Fiction page for the latest on all my novels. Or look me up at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Vroman’s, in Pasadena, California.