Page 21 of A Taste of Paradise

But that hardly amounted to sabotage, did it? Besides, Daniel MacKenzie was a respected ecologist and, according to Grant, a bona fide nature lover and businessman, so why would he be involved in some plot to discredit the hotel to raze it to the ground?

Then again, what did Erin know about him really, other than what Grant had told her?

She guessed she should tell her superior about any such claims too, but she wanted to chew it all over a little more before she went running to him with Eugenie’s concerns, especially when Grant was having doubts about hiring her as it was.

No, best to wait until she had a better sense of whether the older woman’s suspicions were, in fact, valid. A stubborn corporate client and a few guest hiccups over the last few days were hardly tantamount to …

Before Erin could finish her train of thought, the sound of frantic cries filled the lobby as a selection of guests dressed in swimwear, some still dripping wet, swarmed through the double doors from the pool area. They looked for all the world like a wild stampede of animals as they all ran to safety, and she looked aghast at the frightened face of an older woman running with one hand on her head to keep her sunhat from flying off.

What the hell?

Erin took off herself through the lobby in the direction the guests were fleeing from. Despite her urgency, she needed to move carefully going against the crowd given her heels on the wet floor, and so she wouldn’t get trampled in their hurry to get away from whatever it was that had them all so terrified. Once she was able to make her way through the doors and out to the pool terrace, she found the typically packed area now empty, save for a couple of attendants.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked a younger staff member heading in her direction.

His expression was grim. ‘Snakes.’

What? Erin shivered involuntarily as she glanced around. She hated snakes. They had them in Nevada too, of course, but typically such creatures wouldn’t be found within an ass’s roar of Vegas Boulevard. But since they also were run-of-the-mill inhabitants of the tropics, she kinda knew she couldn’t avoid running into them for ever. And neither could guests.

The main pool terrace’s surrounding tropical planting and native flora meant that snakes and lizards had plenty of places to hide too. Erin had almost stepped on an iguana when doing the rounds through there on her first day.

‘In the water. There’s like … ten of them,’ the attendant continued.

Erin gulped. OK, that was a different prospect. The image of multiple snakes slithering around in the resort’s pristine pool was enough to galvanise her interest.

‘Ten?’ she repeated in a shaky voice.

‘At least. They seemed to appear out of nowhere,’ the guy continued, scratching his head, though typically he also seemed unfazed in that laid-back island way. ‘We tried to get everyone to stay calm, but once a guest that was swimming caught sight of one in the shallows …’ He nodded toward a couple of upturned sunloungers and spilled drinks as if to illustrate the resultant mayhem.

‘Don’t we have a net or something we can use to scoop them out of there – like with the frog in the Jacuzzi that time?’ Erin did her best to focus her mind on finding a solution, though taken along with what she’d learned last night from Molly, this whole scenario now seemed suspiciously out of whack.

‘We are trying, but they’re sort of … tricky to get a hold of.’

She shivered afresh as he then pointed to the pool behind them, but she didn’t want to look.

As much as the thought of snakes in the resort’s pool made her feel ill, Erin knew she needed to focus her mind on what this would mean for any other guests who happened upon the scene. Clearly, everyone who was already by the pool terrace this morning was afraid for their lives. She had to make sure this was handled quickly.

The sight of multiple creatures wriggling around in the pristine waters was surely enough to scare anyone from getting into the water ever again. Now, she felt a bit like Sheriff Brody in Jaws.

‘OK, let me radio the front desk first and foremost to ensure everyone knows the pool area is temporarily closed. Quick, put up as many caution signs around the perimeter as you can find.’

Closing off the pool area was one problem solved, Erin reassured herself once she’d radioed Makellah. Now for the much more terrifying one: figuring out how best to remove the damn creatures.

‘OK, about those nets …’ she reminded the attendant.

Instead of answering, he pointed to the pool again and now Erin knew she had no choice but to look closer. When her gaze landed on the scene, her stomach clenched so violently that she thought for a minute she was going to lose that morning’s breakfast.

At first, it looked as though someone had left a dark garden hose in there. Until she saw a couple of long black creatures scurry along the water’s surface.

Two larger snakes darted across the top of the water and began hurtling themselves along the side of the pool, as if frantically looking for an exit.

It seemed they were as happy about being in the water as everyone else was to see them there, and Erin couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for them as they struggled to make their way up and over the sides to freedom. Until the largest of the snakes turned and hissed at her, angrily flicking out his tongue, once again causing her to shudder.

‘Seriously, can’t we just scoop them out?’ she repeated in a trembling voice, stepping back quickly.

‘That’s what we’re trying to do. But we have to call animal services to check they aren’t an endangered species,’ her colleague informed her.

‘Endangered?’ She gulped. Surely they were the ones doing the endangering.