She pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and sent a text.

   “Who’s Ira?” Bria asked.

   Roxy hesitated and wet her lips, as if what she was about to say made her uncomfortable. “Ira Morris was the resort manager before me.”

   “Before you?” Owen asked. “And he still works here?”

   “You might say that Ira is rather . . . attached to the place. He’s been here for years and is quite the character. Why, I imagine that one day the old codger will drop dead in the middle of the theme park with his boots on.” She let out a laugh, but a harsh, mocking undercurrent rippled through the sound.

   “But if this Ira guy cares about the resort so much, then why did Deirdre hire you as the new manager?” Bria asked.

   Roxy shrugged. “With the economy the way it’s been the past few years, the hotel and theme park haven’t been doing so well. People have been cutting back, and vacations are often the first things to go when folks are trying to save money. One of the reasons that Ms. Shaw decided to remodel the hotel and turn it into a luxury resort was to attract higher income folks, people who can still afford to spend money on trips, spa services, gourmet food, and the like.”

   “I suppose that makes sense,” Finn said.

   Roxy nodded. “Plus, poor Ira is a bit . . . old-school, shall we say, when it comes to things like marketing and publicity and getting folks to come to Bullet Pointe. He thinks that just putting up billboards along the interstates is advertising enough, but that just doesn’t cut it in this day and age.” She shook her head. “Ira did the best he could, bless his heart. But Ms. Shaw thought that it was time for some new ideas, new leadership, so that’s why she brought me in.”

   Bless his heart? Well, that was the classic Southern insult and put-down. Roxy’s voice practically dripped with sympathy, but I could hear what she wasn’t saying. Ira hadn’t been making enough money for Deirdre’s liking, so she’d demoted him.

   “Anyway,” Roxy continued, “if y’all will follow me, I’ll take you down to the lobby and show you where Ira’s office is.”

   We all got to our feet. Roxy grabbed her white Stetson and plopped it on top of her head, completing her cowgirl outfit. She gave us all another bright smile and stepped out into the hallway. The others followed her, but I trailed behind, glancing around her office again. I realized something—the window beside her desk overlooked the main hotel entrance.

   I went over, pulled back the white curtain, and glanced down. Sure enough, it was the same window and twitching curtain that I’d noticed from down on the ground. Hmm. Perhaps I hadn’t imagined my earlier watcher after all. It made sense that Roxy would have been up here keeping an eye out for Finn, since he was her new boss and she probably wanted to keep her job. Still, the simple explanation didn’t make me feel any better, and that uneasy dread once again bubbled up in my stomach.

   “Gin!” Finn called out from the hallway. “Let’s go!”

   I could do nothing at the moment to ease my worry, so I let the curtain drop back into place and left the office.

   * * *

   My friends and I crowded into the elevator with Roxy and rode down to the lobby. Roxy chattered on the whole time about the hotel, the theme park, and the surrounding lake, spouting out so many facts and figures that my eyes quickly glazed over. Finn paid rapt attention, soaking up every single word she said, but I wasn’t so enamored of our hostess. By the time the elevators doors opened less than a minute later, I was seriously considering snatching that white Stetson off her head and shoving the hat into her mouth just to get her to be quiet.

   Owen noticed my annoyed expression and grinned and nudged me with his elbow. I rolled my eyes and shrugged at him.

   “Of course y’all have seen the lobby already,” Roxy said, stepping out of the elevator. “We have a fully stocked bar here, as well as lots of places where folks can sit and enjoy the decorations, along with the view.”

   She gestured at the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the back wall of the lobby. Through the glass, I spotted several paved paths that curved from the hotel down the hill to the theme park below. Neon lights flashed on a variety of rides, including several carousels, a couple of small roller coasters, and the dreaded swing ride that had made me puke my guts out way back when, as Finn had so gleefully reminded me. But the centerpiece of the park was a wide street with wooden storefronts and sidewalks, fashioned to look like something right out of the Old West, although I couldn’t make out all the details from this height.

   In the distance, off to the far west side of the park, the surface of Bullet Pointe Lake shimmered and rippled under the steady breeze. A large wooden dock stretched out like a finger into the lake, pointing to the dense woods on the opposite shore. Sleek, modern boats lined either side of the dock, along with a few canoes and kayaks. All the vessels bobbed up and down on the choppy waves, but no one was out on the lake, given how cold it was.

   “And of course, our world-class spa is also located on this level,” Roxy chirped again, pointing to a hallway that branched off the left side of the lobby. She looked at Bria and me. “Ladies, feel free to take advantage of any services and packages you like. I made you both standing reservations, so all you have to do is call down and let the spa folks know that you’re coming.”

   “Oh, Gin definitely needs a seaweed wrap and some cucumber slices,” Finn said. “At the very least. Maybe that’ll get her to loosen up and relax this weekend.”

   Bria and Owen both snickered, while Roxy plastered a neutral smile on her face, not getting his joke. I glared at Finn, but he’d already stuck his hands in his pants pockets and was whistling as he strode away.

   Roxy spouted off a few more facts about the hotel’s amenities, and eventually we wound up in the center of the lobby, close to the wooden display case that talked about Sweet Sally Sue and her legendary jewels.

   “The treasure hunt seems like a great promotional tool,” Finn said, eyeing the couple who were staring down into the case and using their phones to snap photos of the empty jewelry settings.