Jinxed- Chapter Four

Finn fears that someone wants Jinx dead.

 

CHAPTER FOUR
 

     A few minutes later, Finn was inside the large industrial kitchen. They had tried to tell him that the kitchen wasoff limits to guests and only employees were allowed access, but a few well worded threats about who would own this hotel if Jinx decided to sue gained him entrance, along with an escort from the kitchen staff’s manager. 

     The staff might lie to him, but if they wanted to keep their jobs, they would tell their boss the truth. He spotted Stacy instantly, assisting in preparations for the next morning, going wherever she was needed. There must have been twenty employees in the kitchen all dressed in their vested uniforms; cooking, cleaning, restocking, taking phone orders and filling silver carts with said orders.     

     Finn had never realized room service could be so busy at night. Didn’t anybody sleep anymore? Between the midnight trysts and after hours snacking, the staff was plenty busy. Running this hotel was clearly a twenty four hour a day operation.   

     Finn pointed to Stacy. “Let’s see what she knows.”      

     “Miss Thomas?” The portly, balding middle aged manager commanded her attention. “It has come to my attention that you witnessed an incident between Ms. Mallory and Ms. Jinx at the welcome reception this evening.”      
   
     “Yes, Mr. Giorgio. There were words exchanged and Ms. Jinx accidentally spilled wine on Ms. Mallory.”    

     "Have you seen Ms. Mallory since this incident?”      

     Stacy bit her lip uncertainly.      

     “Get on with it, girl. You won’t lose your job for telling the truth.” The manager snapped in annoyance. “This is a very serious situation we have here and it must be handled immediately.”        

     “Ms. Mallory was here in the kitchen talking to Raul. He was the one who took Ms. Jinx’s room service order.”      

     “Did you see Raul or Ms. Mallory put nuts in the sundae?”    

     “Not personally, no, but they did leave together.”      

     “Are they together now?” Finn asked     

     “I would assume so.” Stacy shrugged.     

     “What is her room number?” Finn demanded.      

     “We cannot give out personal information about our guests.” The manager refused.      

     “You are just going to let her get away with it? She encouraged your employee to poison someone.”     

     “You are understandably upset, but it could have been a simple misunderstanding. A miscommunication to be sure, but I can’t believe there was intent to harm. As soon as Raul returns we will ask him…”     

     “Ask me what?” The missing employee suddenly appeared behind them.     

     “Where have you been Raul?” The manager demanded.

     
     “I was on a break, sir.”      
 
     “Were you with Ms. Mallory?”  

     “Yes.” The young man flushed, before defiance entered his eyes.   

     “Are you aware that you could lose your job for fraternizing with the guests?”     

     “Yes, Sir. It won’t happen again sir.” The defiance left his expression as quickly as it came. Clearly he needed this job desperately. “She approached me. I was flattered when she came into the kitchen and started talking to me. She’s famous. She could have anybody.”   

     “Can and does.” Finn muttered under his breath.    “Was Ms. Mallory with you when Ms. Jinx’s room service order came in?”     
  
     “Yes.” Raul frowned.  
 

     “Did Ms. Jinx tell you specifically that she was allergic to nuts?”    

     “Yes.”     

     “Did you use nuts when filling her order?”

     
     “Of course not! Has something happened to Ms. Jinx?”

     
     “There were nuts in her order, an order that you filled and she has suffered a severe allergic reaction.”

     
     “That’s impossible! I made the order myself. There were no nuts. I swear to you, Mr. Giorgio, I would never do such a thing. Why would I?”

     
      “Perhaps you made a mistake.” 

     "There was no mistake.”  He crossed over to a hook where his apron hung and pulled a small order book out of the pocket. He showed them the carbon page with Jinx’s name and room number. It specified a sundae with no nuts. The word allergic was written underneath and underlined twice. “I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget.”

     
     “Where is the original?”

     
     “It was attached to the cart, so the order would make it to the correct room, as is procedure.” 

     
     “Did Constance see it?” Finn added.

     
     “It’s possible, but why would she care?”

     
     “She had an altercation with Ms. Jinx earlier in the evening. Mr. Mackenzie here suspects she came here with the intent to harm Ms. Jinx.”

     
     “But that doesn’t make any sense. How would she know that Ms. Jinx was going to call for room service?”

     
     “A very good point, Raul.” Mr. Giorgio nodded approvingly.

     
     “Perhaps she just took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself.” Finn suggested.

     
     “Impossible. She was never left alone with the food and we left together as soon as the order was placed on the cart.”

     
     “Who took the order to the room?” Finn persisted.

 
    “The quickest way to find out would be to ask Ms. Jinx herself, although anybody in the kitchen could have tampered with the order before it was delivered.”

     Damned if he wasn’t right, Finn fumed silently. Either he was lying to protect himself or Constance or anyone could have sabotaged Jinx’s order, which was worse, because there was no way to discover who or why. As reluctant as he was to do so, he was going to have to let this one go.

     “Thank you for your assistance, Raul. Sorry to have taken up so much of your time.” Finn had done all he could here. It was time to call in reinforcements.

     “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help. I hope Ms. Jinx is feeling better soon.”

      Finn nodded absently, flipping open his cell phone as he walked away. Julie Grace needed to know about this latest development immediately. She answered on the first ring.

     “Talk to me.”

     “Ms. Grace? This is Finn Mackenzie calling. I’m sorry to be calling so late, but I need to talk to you about Jezebel Jinx.”

     “What trouble has she got herself into this time?” 

     “I think she’s in danger here. Maybe I should take her home.”

     “Whoa. Let’s take this one step at a time. What makes you think she’s in danger?”

     “Someone sabotaged her room service order and she had a pretty severe allergic reaction.”

     “Is she okay?” Jules asked worriedly.

     “Luckily, they keep a doctor on staff here or I just don’t know what would have happened.”

 
      “I think we better continue this talk face to face.” Jules decided. “Come up to room 305. It’s across the hall from you and Jinx.”

     “You’re here!” Finn was shocked.

     “After your last phone call, I thought it best if I come down to check on things personally. I just got here this evening.”

     “That’s great. Jinx will be so happy you’re here.”

 

     “Jinx can’t know. I’ll explain when I see you. Don’t let Jinx catch you coming to my room or the jig will be up.”

     “No chance of that. She’s sedated.”

     “Perfect. I’ll see you in a few.” Jules replied, before hanging up.

 

     A brief elevator ride later, Finn stepped out on the third floor. He was tempted to check on Jinx first, but if she woke, he’d have to explain why he was leaving again. After a quick glance to make certain the hall was clear, he rapped on Jules’ door. She quickly yanked him inside and kicked the door closed behind him.

     Julie Grace did not look like the same tightly buttoned woman that he had met at Eternity publishing. Her chestnut hair was thrown carelessly into a lopsided topknot and she was dressed in a fluffy white hotel robe, which did not hide her ample curves. It covered more than most clothing, but Finn still felt uncomfortable seeing his boss this way.

      What would Jezebel think if she caught them in what appeared to be an intimate rendezvous? She would feel betrayed by both of them. Despite being completely innocent of any wrongdoing, Finn didn’t want to risk even the appearance of unprofessional conduct.

     “I’ll wait if you want to go change into some clothes.”

     “Don’t be such a prude, Mr. Mackenzie. I didn’t invite you here to sexually harass you.” She sat down at the small table for two, which was an exact replica to the one in his room. “Neither am I going to dress like I’m going to a business meeting, just to make you more comfortable.”

     “Ms. Grace…” He persisted.

     “I’ve told you to call me Jules. Every one else does.” She waved off the formality. “Sit.”

     He sat.

     “What would Jezebel think if she found out I was meeting you in secret?”

     “Jezebel, now is it? Funny. She doesn’t allow anyone to call her by that name. Those of us closest to her call her Jinx. Therefore, as her dearest friend, if there are any feelings of betrayal, they would be directed at me. Unless you have something going with her?”

She almost sounded hopeful.

     “Of course not.” He flushed. “Our relationship is strictly professional.”

 

     “Once burned, twice shy?” Jules shrugged. “I suppose that would be fast work getting personally involved with a client you’ve known little more than a day” Her words belied her attitude. She was saying all the right things, yet he sensed her disappointment.  Finn hoped her intent in hiring him for this job wasn’t to pimp him out to her friend.      

     “I know better than to make the same mistake twice.” Finn replied stiffly.

“Miss Jinx is simply a client. Nothing more.” The words were ashes of lies in his mouth.

Whatever she was to him and he wasn’t quite certain what that was yet, it was far from nothing. 

     “I knew you wouldn’t take advantage of Jinx’s fragile state.”

     “Fragile?” He laughed. Fragile was the last word he would use to describe Jezebel. Even in the midst of one of her panic attacks, caught up in the maelstrom of her emotions, she was never weak. He admired the courage she’d displayed since arriving here, facing her fears head on. Now it was his turn to be afraid.

     “This is her first time venturing out in the real world in a long while. She might become dependent on you and mistake that feeling for something deeper. You aren’t in love with her, are you?”

 

     “Of course not.” That was the truth. Wasn’t it? “ I barely know her.”

     “You don’t believe in love at first sight then? It’s true you’ve known her for a short time, but despite that you seem to know her very well.” Jules remarked suspiciously.

 

    “I like her is all.” He was defensive. “She’s not like Constance at all. The woman has no guile. She’s open and honest and a good sport.”

     “She’s all of those things and more.” Jules agreed fondly. “She’s one of my best friends.”

     “If you’re so close, why don’t you want her to know you are here?”

     “The second she sees me, she’ll use our friendship as an excuse to get out of the convention and go back into isolation.”

 

     “I really think that would be the best thing.” Finn argued. “She’s not safe here.”

 

     “I trust you to keep her safe. Besides, we don’t know for certain that tonight’s incident means someone’s out to get her.”

     “We don’t know that it doesn’t. So why would you take the risk? Is this convention worth putting her out there in the open where anything could happen?”

     “You don’t know Jinx like I do, Finn, so don’t presume to think you do. You’ve only known her for one day. I’ve known her for years. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll never get her out of the house again. I’ve only got one shot to show her what she’s

missing and I don’t intend to blow it. You better not either.” 

     Jules casual attitude suddenly became fierce. This was too important. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake in choosing Finn Mackenzie for the job. His relationship with Constance was the determining factor in choosing him. He had been a romantic once, falling for his writer. 

     Unlike most of her colleagues, Jules admired his willingness to put it all on the line for love. He’d just fallen for the wrong writer. Jinx had more integrity in her little pinky than Constance had in her whole body. They would be perfect together. Unfortunately, his newly formed hang up about mixing business with pleasure could become a serious problem. She only had three days to make a love match and that time was dwindling fast.  

     “I never signed on to be a bodyguard.”

 

     “I’m not asking you to. Just do your job. Stick close to Jinx and if anything else happens, I’ll reconsider sending her home.”

     “I guess that sounds reasonable.” Finn agreed. 

 

     “Good. Now get out of here, before Jinx wakes and finds you gone.”

Jules ordered. “And don’t forget mums the word about me being here. Now I’m going to get some shut eye. Jet leg and all that.”   She rose and walked back to the bedroom, leaving Finn to see himself out.