The Grudge by Kathi Daley Read Free Book Online

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    “Hey, Andi. What’s up?” A man in a blue uniform greeted her as they made their way into the large warehouse that was used to repair equipment and store maintenance supplies.
    “Hey, Charlie. I was out with my friends and noticed that the roads are getting really bad. Any idea when we can expect a plow to come through?”
    “Most of the crew is helping out with the slide, but Bret Robbins stayed behind to take care of the village. I don’t know where he is, though. He’s not answering his radio. I’ve been trying to contact him for over an hour.”
    “Maybe the storm’s interfering with the signal,” Andi guessed.
    “Maybe, but I’ve been able to reach everyone else all right. I’m betting he’s home napping. I was thinking of heading over to his cabin to check it out. Now that Mario’s gone the boss left me in charge. I want to do a good job.”
    “Speaking of Mario, I was wondering if you saw anything on the day of the accident.”
    Charlie shook his head. “I went home early; case of food poisoning. It was bad, stuff coming out from both ends. Mario was covering for me. He wasn’t even supposed to be on shift that day. I can’t tell you how bad I felt when I heard about the explosion.”
    “Do you happen to know how you got the food poisoning?” Andi asked.
    “Must have been the roast beef sandwich I had for lunch. I was fine until I ate it.”
    “Where did you get it?” Andi pressed.
    “Had it delivered from the staff cafeteria. It’s been real busy the past few weeks with the resort being so crowded, so I decided to work while I ate.”
    “And you started feeling sick immediately after you ate?” Andi confirmed.
    “Yeah. I called Mario and he came in to cover for me. I guess if it weren’t for that sandwich I’d be the one in the hospital. I’ve really got to go check on Bret. It’s important to me to do a good job, for Mario. He’d be having a coronary if he were here and the roads weren’t plowed.”
    “Sure, go ahead. I’ll talk to you later,” Andi said, excusing him.
    “Is there any way we can get a look at Mario’s personnel file?” Alyson asked Andi.
    “Yeah, later. After the human resources department closes. We could sneak in after dinner.”
    “It might be worth taking a peek. I doubt we’ll find anything, but at this point we shouldn’t leave any stone unturned,” Alyson decided.
    “HR is in the main lodge. We could have dinner there and then sneak over to the office after closing. I’ll have Tony save us a table by the window and I’ll ask Cookie to prepare us something special. He’s the head chef for the resort. He can coax ordinary food into tasting like manna from heaven. He’s an absolute genius in the kitchen. He’s also quite a character. I’ll introduce you. Say around eight?”
    “Sounds good. Is there a specific dress code we should keep in mind?” Alyson asked.
    “Not really. We’re pretty casual around here. People usually dress sort of dressy casual in the lodge, but there’s no real rule. I’m sure whatever you decide on will be fine.”
    “So what now?” Devon asked. “Should we look around to see if we can find anything related to the explosion?”
    “Might as well. I wouldn’t risk waking Hank up for at least another hour. He’s the nicest guy in the world, but wake him up before he’s ready and you’re taking your life in your own hands. I should know; I tried it when I was eight. Scared the living daylights out of me. Since then I’ve never come a knocking until at least noon.”
    “It sounds like Hank’s worked here for a long time,” Mac commented as they sorted through drawers and cabinets.
    “Since before I was born. Quite a few of the staff have been here since the early days with my grandfather.”
    “How about Mario?” Alyson asked as she opened and closed cabinet doors.
    “He’s only been here about five years. The supervisor before him had been here more than twenty years, though. As I’ve said,