back into a low ponytail. The outfit was meant to project confidence and power. Her eyes, however, gave her away. At least to him.
“Ready?” he asked, taking her hand in his.
She nodded. “Thank you for staying with me last night.”
He opened his mouth to explain that his uncle had requested he stick around, then thought better of it. After all, he didn’t want it to sound like she had been a burden. She hadn’t been. He only wished that the circumstances of his overnight stay had been different.
“I’m glad I did,” he said instead. He walked with her to the elevator.
“How about we take the stairs?” she asked, pulling him to a stop.
He turned and looked at her.
“It’s not… it has nothing to do with last night. I normally take the stairs in the morning for exercise. Once I sit down, some days I don’t get back up for hours.”
He shrugged and nodded, then followed her to the staircase.
“Of course,” she said as they headed down, “I should be climbing these at the end of the day. Going downstairs isn’t as good of a workout as going up.”
“Still, it’s something. Don’t you guys have a gym around here?” he asked once they reached the bottom floor.
“Not yet.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I have plans to put one in, though. It’s going to have state-of-the-art equipment. I plan on putting in a few walking paths outside as well, for summer guests.” She turned to him, and he saw a slight smile on her lips. “And those bike paths you mentioned. I had a talk with Jake about it, and he sounded very excited about the possibility of using the paths himself.”
Cade chuckled. “Jake’s one of the guys I went to Colorado with that summer. Trust me, he’d be first in line to test the runs out.”
She turned, and he noticed the moment she remembered yesterday. The slight spark in her eyes disappeared quickly, and her gaze darted to the large plastic sheeting hiding the view of the area where she’d found Joseph.
“Hey.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m here.” He nodded towards the bar area. “Let’s order some breakfast, shall we?”
The moment after they ordered their food, his uncle strolled in with Blue by his side. The dog paused at the doors and looked up at Sean, as if to make sure it was okay to come inside. God, he had such a good dog.
“Oh!” Raven smiled. “Blue’s here.”
“Yeah, I had my uncle bring him. He watched him last night. I thought he could help you get through today.”
“Thank you.” She got out of her chair and gave his dog a warm greeting while he greeted his uncle.
“Morning,” Sean said. He took the seat Cade offered.
“We just ordered food, if you want something,” Raven said, sitting again.
“No, Blue and I stopped for baked goods in town before heading out here,” Sean answered.
Cade snapped his fingers, and Blue sat beside him. He bent down to give his dog a little love while Sean talked with Raven.
“I’m not sure if Cade filled you in yet. We have confirmed that it was Joseph Ramsey you found yesterday,” Sean said.
“Yes.” Raven sighed and looked towards Cade. “He mentioned something about murder?”
“We found scratch marks on his hands and arms. His associate claims they weren’t there before they parted ways in the lobby shortly after their meeting with you,” Sean said. “I know you’ve been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours, but if you could answer a few more questions?”
“Of course.” Raven nodded.
Sean continued, “Yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to ask you why you hired Mr. Ramsey. His office is in Redding, not to mention he’s retired.”
“Joe was a good friend of my parents.” Raven shifted and crossed her legs. Cade noticed instantly that she was trying to reclaim some form of control by being professional. “He used to live in Cannon Falls, before the fire.” Raven’s eyes changed slightly. “Then he moved his office to Redding and, a few years back, retired. When I returned, I noticed a few discrepancies on the books and called him to help out.”
His uncle had been writing in his notebook and glanced up. “Discrepancies?” Sean’s eyes moved to his quickly, then returned to Raven’s.
“Joe and his assistant, Ruth, informed me yesterday that over the past ten years, more than three million dollars has gone missing out of the general fund.” She paused and took a sip of her water.
Sean whistled. “Wow, that’s a lot of change.”
“Yes.