Page 107 of Redemption

I chewed on my lip. “Do you… Did he say why?”

Jackson took my hand in his out of view of the camera. His touch was reassuring, and it grounded me.

Even though I’d been scared to ask, I wanted to know. I needed to understand why Sheldon had felt compelled to send me such nasty, terrifying notes. Maybe then I’d finally be able to put the matter to rest.

I doubted it, but I wanted to try.

“Sheldon’s aunt used to work in housekeeping,” Vaughn said. “When the Huxley brand changed the cleaning schedule after the pandemic, Sheldon claims it promoted an unsafe working environment. He believes it pushed housekeeping to complete too many tasks and too many rooms in too short of a time. And that led to a fall that broke her hip.”

“That’s terrible,” I said. “Is she okay?”

“She is. Or rather, she was. She’s since died, but she stopped working after the fall.”

I furrowed my brow. “Because of her injury?”

“Because of the time it took to heal, and the fact that she was no longer able to perform the tasks required for the role.”

“But surely we would’ve found an alternate position that would’ve accommodated her needs. The Huxley Hotels are a family. We don’t just—” I waved a hand through the air “—kick someone out, especially if they’ve been a loyal employee.”

Graham nodded. “I looked it up. She was offered another position, but she turned it down. During her treatment from the fall, the doctors discovered that she had Stage 4 cancer. She died a few months later.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s terrible.” My heart ached for this family and the suffering they’d endured. “But what does that have to do with Huxley and Sheldon’s threats?”

It was Vaughn who responded. “Sheldon believes the cleaning products used by Huxley employees were responsible for his aunt’s cancer and subsequent death.”

Suddenly, the threats made a lot more sense. Toxic Bitch. Poison. The skull and crossbones even looked like the ones you might find on a cleaning label.

“Is there any truth to that claim?” I asked, hoping like hell there wasn’t. Not just for the sake of limiting the brand’s liability, but for the well-being of our employees.

Graham shook his head. “Absolutely none. We use the best nontoxic cleaning products available, and we train our employees to use them safely.”

“He’s right,” one of the board members chimed in. “I’ve read studies and spoken to a number of top health officials.”

That was a relief, but still… “So why did Sheldon threaten me? What did he want?”

“He was clearly angry and grieving,” Jasper said with a meaningful look. We all knew what that felt like, and we could definitely relate. But still, my siblings and I had never sent anyone death threats regarding our parents’ deaths or our grandparents’.

“He claims she spent hours in pain on the floor of the hotel bathroom waiting for help when she broke her hip,” Vaughn said.

“What did the accident report say?” I asked. We always performed an internal investigation in cases like these—whether an employee or a guest was injured, not that it occurred frequently. But despite all our best efforts, accidents did happen.

It was Graham who answered. “She was lying there for an hour.”

“Why so long?” I asked. Housekeeping staff weren’t allowed to carry their personal devices, but they were issued radios each shift. “Did she use her radio to call for help?”

“It was hooked to her cart in the hall.”

I frowned. That went against protocol, and it was clearly something we should remind all housekeeping employees to keep on their person. “Did no one hear her call for help?”

Assuming she’d followed other protocol, her cleaning cart should’ve been parked in front of the room, blocking the door. But the door would’ve been open.

“Apparently not,” Graham said. “She was working a room at the end of a hall during the middle of the day when most people would be out.”

Everyone on the screen wore somber expressions that I knew matched my own.

“And he somehow thought I was responsible?” I asked.

Of course I was responsible for the care of my employees and their safety. And we’d definitely revisit training and protocol. But there wasn’t much I could do about an accident.