Chapter 6

Sara had changed for bed and was fixing herself a cup of tea when she broke down. Little sobs escaped while she waited for the water to boil. She was such an idiot; how could this have happened again. She was in love with her boss. Justifying it all in her mind, she knew that Sloan was nothing like Steve Johnson and she had never really loved Steve. Making the tea and heading for her bed she tried to convince her self that this would all go away when the case was over, and they were back to normal. Sara slipped between the covers and sipped her tea. Maybe if she explained to Sloan about Steve, he could help her control the situation better. But telling him about Steve would be too embarrassing. She felt like a slut just thinking that she had been involved with a married man. She reminded herself that she hadn’t known he was married but it was still a fact. Sara knew that by taking this case she was trying to build up her own self-confidence, something that Steve had taken from her. She had heard the rumors that she had only gotten the job as Steve’s right-hand woman because he was attracted to her. She had told herself repeatedly that she was the right person for the job and the attraction had nothing to do with it, but in the end, of course in the end, all she had left was doubt. And now here she was again fighting a strong attraction to her boss and trying to prove she was capable of the job.

In the morning she had a fresh out look on things. She would stay away from romantic moments with Sloan and if after the case was over, things were still uncomfortable she would have to move on. Maybe she could work for a woman or even be her own boss. There were things she could do. She was a very competent and capable person, if she had to step away from Sloan and this job, well she would figure out something. Maybe she would consider a new career, her new friend Linda had talked to her about decorating, maybe she would have to try something like that. She was meeting Linda for breakfast and maybe she could give her some ideas.

Sara and Linda had spent many hours on the beach together and really got along great. Linda had told her that she was an interior decorator and Sara was full of questions. She had always wanted to try interior decorating but just wasn’t sure how to get started. Linda had given her lots of ideas and said she would help her get started. Linda’s business was in Miami and as long as Sara didn’t plan to open up shop down there, Linda was more than glad to help her. But she warned her that competition was stiff, and she needed to be very accurate on her jobs to keep her customers. Other wise they would move on to another decorator and that would affect her reputation and future jobs. Linda had suggested that she get written references from at least her first ten jobs. Sara gave all that some thought. She could start out small, work out of her house, on weekends and evenings. She would talk to Sloan about it later and see if he would be ok with her working on the side like this. Linda had told her to find a good, local upholsterer, and she suggested that she didn’t go with the one everybody was talking about because he would be too busy to handle her business. A large furniture supplier would be good too. Then all she needed would be customers who loved her taste. Yes, it was all about what they wanted but her ideas would always reflect her taste and she needed to be able to adjust that some. Maybe some classes would be necessary but that would-be Sara’s choice.

The View had offered several tours and day trips that Sara went on with Linda and others. That afternoon they rented bicycles and rode around the island. She and Linda had even played bingo just this morning. They had returned their bicycles and Sara was walking back to her unit when she had a strange feeling wash over her. Someone was watching her, she turned and spotted Carlos. It seemed strange to her and maybe it was just coincidences that she kept seeing Carlos everywhere they went. To her knowledge, he didn’t work for the resort, but he was always around.

Two days had since passed, and Sara had kept herself busy and tried to avoid Sloan. She was not being rude, she was just avoiding. She knew she needed to focus on this case and not Sloan but when he was around, she had a hard time doing that. Spending lots of time on the beach, and in-group activities with other vacationers was the only thing she could do now. She would keep her eyes and ears open and wait for something to happen but in the meantime, she would take tours and join group activities to make sure she had no free time.

Sloan seemed to understand and was almost relieved. Sara would get information from other guests and even staff and Sloan would follow up on it. Sara started being extremely active around the resort. She tried to get involved in every activity, took as many tours as possible and spread the word that she was just out of a bad marriage. One day she even took a bus trip with several guests to several of the coastal attractions. Like Folly Beach and Mt Pleasant, Sullivan Island and even Daniel Island. She had lots of lunch dates with the guests and became a social butterfly. Everything seemed to be normal, but Sara had the feeling that someone was always watching her. That she was being followed, and it wasn’t Slone. The first real clue they got was an accident. Sara had gone shopping at some of the local stores. While browsing in a bookstore she overheard the owner telling another patron about a bus tour for Botany Bay. As she described it Sara decided it sounded like a nice trip and maybe she would sign up to go along.

The trip was very nice, and the scenery was breathtaking. They drove down a long sandy road winding and curving until they reached a small shack. This very sweet man sat by the shack and passed out maps and gave out information about the tour ahead. This was mostly a couple’s tour but there were a few singles and just before the bus left the bookstore parking lot, a very nice-looking man asked if he could sit with Sara. As the tour continued, they talked and visited with the others on the bus. At the first stop, everyone left the bus and walked down a wooden sidewalk across Marshland to a beautiful secluded beach. The tide was coming in so there wasn’t much time until the beach would be gobbled up. Everyone snapped pictures and gathered shells. They walked back the same board walk to the bus and continued the tour. Botany Bay was a working plantation. It had the remains of the original plantation but was still being used. They were growing tobacco, corn and sunflowers, fields of them. Sara relaxed into her seat to enjoy the scenery until their next stop. That was when the man sitting next to her mentioned how much he needed this relaxing tour. Sara asked if he had just arrived on the island and he responded no that he had been there nearly 2 weeks. But that last week his condo had been broken into and he had been robbed. The resort had moved him to a new condo, but he was still uneasy. When she asked him for details all he would say was that he had been out on a date and when he returned to his condo it had been robbed. One of the other couples sitting up a row suddenly joined the conversation. The wife had mentioned that she had been away on a day tour on Monday and on Tuesday morning when she got dressed and went to the safe to get her favorite earrings, they were gone. Her husband had tried to convince her that she had not brought them, but she knew she had. She wanted to call the police but nothing else was disturbed or missing. Then she linked her arm through her husband’s and went on,” then the dear man offered to buy me a new pair, so how could I be upset. I guess I must’ve lost them.” So, although the information didn’t tell her anything, she had two unreported burglaries within a week. Someone at the resort should have reported them, for some reason they did not. Maybe they knew who the thief was or maybe it was them. Sara reported all of this to Sloan and he investigated.

Sara and Liz had started spending a lot of time together and Sara had even managed to help some with ‘Save the Bay’. Liz had taken her to a meeting and introduced her to her friends. The entire meeting was about the monster dredge in the bay and how it was not good for the wild life. After the meeting, refreshments were served, and Liz pulled her along from group to group assuring everyone that they would work out something.

“We have a court order.” She declared, “that thing will not move until this is all over.”

Everyone there was really nice, however; Sara noticed Liz’s brother sitting in the corner with three other men and he seemed to be watching her. One of the older men had pointed at her and Carlos nodded his head. Liz noticed too and told Sara that her brother was something of a Casanova and had an eye for the ladies, and that she should just ignore him. But later when Liz went off to get more posters, she noticed Carlos fighting with one of the men and it looked like the guy was going to strangle Carlos, so she moved closer but all she heard was ‘Pay up.’ And then the man left.

That Saturday Sara and Linda had spent on a tour of the bays and backwaters.

Sara had not seen Sloan in over two days, but they had made dinner arrangements over the phone. She may not have seen him, but he had kept an eye on her. Linda and Bob had talked them into another evening out but this time they controlled themselves better. Bob and Linda were heading home in the morning and promised to stay in touch. Sara honestly planned to stay friends with Linda and when the time arrived, she would tell her the whole truth about what she was really doing at the resort, but in the meantime, she still had a job to do. As Sloan walked Sara back to her condo, he took her hand. She smiled at him and just assumed that someone was watching them. The sexual tension between them had grown to the point that just handholding made her want to rip his clothes off.

“I’m giving this one more week.” He said quietly as they walked.

“A week, are you kidding? Oh, I know this is just your way to send me home. Do we have to go through this again?”

“Calm down now, I am just being practical. We have no real leads and very few suspects so I’m just thinking that we are wasting our time. They are either on to us or just laying low for a while.”

“Why must I fight you so to stay on this job? I’m beginning to think that I care more about your business than you do.”

“No, I care more about you than my business. I have a bad feeling about this one and I can’t stand the thought that you might get hurt, I’m worried about you.” He said kissing her hand. Sara turned and looked into his eyes. What was he saying? Was he trying to tell her something? Could he tell how she was feeling?

“Oh, you are such a sweet man.” And, without thinking she leaned in and gently brushed the corner of his lips with hers.

He folded her into his arms and kissed her back, it was like slow motion and neither of them wanted it to end. But at that moment, the door to her condo opened and they realized they were still standing on her porch.

“Oh, I am sooo sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt but I promise I had no idea you were out here.”