Chapter 4 - THE RESORT THAT DIDN'T EXIST
“A completely different property?”
I examined the photographer's invoice again.
The address was on the opposite side of a coastal highway from Harborlight Resort.
I checked the map on my laptop.
There were two large parcels.
Our company owned one.
The other belonged to Blue Heron Land Development.
The same name I'd seen on the construction fence.
Jason had already returned to his office, claiming he needed to speak with the bank.
I didn't follow him.
Instead, I asked Daniel to secure our financial records and contact an independent forensic accountant.
Then I booked a flight to Florida.
By the next morning, I was standing outside the property where nearly ten million dollars had supposedly been spent.
And I wanted to cry.
Harborlight Resort was not a luxury destination.
It was a collection of aging seaside cottages, a damaged reception building, and an abandoned restaurant overlooking a narrow beach.
We had purchased the property years earlier with the intention of restoring it.
I'd wanted something different from the enormous resorts that swallowed coastal towns.
A place where families could afford a vacation.
A place where employees could build careers.
My father had visited with me before he died.
I still had a photograph of us standing beside the original wooden welcome sign.
He was smiling.
I was holding a rolled-up set of architectural plans.
Neither of us imagined what would happen.
Now weeds grew through the parking lot.
Several windows were boarded shut.
The swimming pool was empty.
Near the entrance, a woman in her fifties was carrying a toolbox.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Are you Rosa Vega?”
She turned.
Her expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“I'm Natalie Reed.”
For a moment, she stared at me.
Then she set down the toolbox.
“So you finally decided to come.”
The bitterness in her voice surprised me.
“I'm here to understand what's happened.”
Rosa laughed without humor.
“That's interesting. Because we've been trying to understand it for two years.”
She'd managed Harborlight's maintenance operations since we purchased the property.
She knew every building.
Every employee.
Every family who depended on the place.
According to our corporate reports, Rosa's department had received major infrastructure upgrades.
Standing beside her, I could see that almost nothing had been repaired.
“Where did the construction money go?” I asked.
“You tell me.”
I showed her the invoices.
She shook her head.
“We never had those contractors here.”
“What about the new guest buildings?”
“There aren't any.”
I felt sick.
Rosa led me through the reception building.
A bucket collected water from a leaking ceiling.
A handwritten schedule hung beside a broken office printer.
Fourteen employees were still maintaining the property.
Others had been laid off.
“We used to have sixty-three people working here,” Rosa said.
“Sixty-three?”
She nodded.
“Housekeepers, cooks, groundskeepers, front desk staff. Some had been here longer than I've been alive.”
“Why were they dismissed?”
“Budget cuts.”
I looked at her.
“Our reports said staffing increased.”
“Your reports were wrong.”
Then her expression changed.
“Don't pretend you didn't know, Mrs. Reed.”
I stopped.
“What do you mean?”
Rosa opened a filing cabinet.
She removed a notice on company letterhead.
It announced a workforce reduction and suspension of the resort's renovation program.
At the bottom was a statement.
Approved under executive cost-reduction authority.
The notice had been issued by Jason's office.
But Rosa pointed to a paragraph.
“Your husband told us you demanded these cuts. Said the majority shareholder wasn't willing to spend another dollar on the property.”
My hands began trembling.
“I never said that.”
“Then why didn't you answer our letters?”
I looked up sharply.
“What letters?”
Rosa opened another drawer.
Inside was a stack of copies.
Employee petitions.
Safety complaints.
Requests for meetings.
Every one addressed to me.
Every one marked as received by the executive office.
I had never seen them.
Rosa watched my face.
For the first time, her anger softened.
“You really didn't know.”
I couldn't speak.
Then she reached for the window shade and pointed across the highway.
“Mrs. Reed, if you want to know where the money went, stop looking at this place.”
Across the road stood a magnificent new resort.
Fresh white buildings.
Imported palm trees.
An enormous swimming pool.
Construction workers everywhere.
Rosa looked directly at me.
“That's where our contractors have been working.”
May you like
She paused.
“And the trucks delivering their materials have been charging everything to Harborlight.”
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