Page 26 of A Taste of Paradise

Mack took off the linen jacket he was wearing and rolled up his shirt sleeves.

‘Like I was saying, these mostly live in trees so are great at climbing. We need to find them something to climb. Is this the longest net you have?’ he asked, picking up one the pool attendants used from the ground.

‘Yes, we use that to clean the deep end.’

‘But we’re not supposed to scoop them …’ Erin’s protestation trailed off as Mack took the net and walked to the side of the pool where four of the snakes were currently gathered. Holding the net side closest to his body, he lowered the long handle, more of a pole really, into the water.

Erin was almost too terrified to speak as one of the wet shiny snakes wrapped its body around the pole, though Mack’s grip remained firm as the creature slithered its way up along and close to his arm. Once the snake was fully wrapped around the pole, he hoisted it out of the water.

She took a few steps away, as he carried both creature and pole away from the pool area. Then stopped once he reached the tropical plant border framing the outer perimeter of the terrace. He set the net down and the snake uncoiled itself and headed for safety.

Erin let out a sigh of relief as she watched the creature depart into the bushes. One down, nine or so more to go.

‘See, great climbers,’ Mack commented as he carried the net back towards the water. He lowered the pole into the water same as before and sure enough, another snake hurried towards it and began wrapping its body tightly around it.

‘Thank you, Mack, I’m sure our attendants can handle it from here.’ Erin glanced meaningfully towards the staff member closest to her, who was watching with his mouth agape.

‘That’s OK. I’m happy to stick around and make sure they remain unharmed. They’re beautiful creatures.’

‘Well, since you seem to have it all under control, I’d better check in on our guests …’ Grant muttered, evidently happy not to have to get his hands dirty. ‘Make sure nobody filmed anything.’

‘Good idea.’ Erin swallowed. She hadn’t thought of that. Still, recalling the frenzied rush, she very much doubted that anyone would have bothered to stop and record proceedings, but yet wasn’t that par for the course these days?

‘Can I help with anything?’ she asked Mack after his fifth or so rescue.

‘You want to hold the pole?’ he said, a grin on his face. She took a step in his direction at the edge of the water right as a massive snake turned and hissed at them.

‘I uh …’ She tried to think of a logical excuse as to why she wouldn’t go that far, but Mack’s laughter reassured her he was only kidding.

‘These guys are pretty heavy. Don’t worry, I’ll get the rest.’

She continued to watch with some relief as Mack once again lifted out the net, this time with two large snakes wrapped around it. She could tell their weight was indeed significant by the way the muscles in his back flexed through his white cotton shirt that was now streaked with sweat.

‘OK, well, I really owe you one for this,’ Erin commented, grateful that at least there was someone on the premises qualified to solve the latest crisis.

But taken with Eugenie Cooke’s warning, and Mack’s assurance that they weren’t water creatures, she couldn’t help but wonder how on earth all those snakes had got in the pool in the first place.

Chapter 19

‘I don’t understand. Why do you need to search Shay’s room?’ Lily asked, perplexed.

Erin had this morning asked Lily if she could maybe keep Shay preoccupied again today, ‘preferably as far away from the resort as possible’, so that the coast was clear for her to search his room. It was all more than a little weird.

‘It’s actually not his room, or at least it wasn’t supposed to be. Remember when the system was down and you had him moved from the honeymoon suite?’ Erin went on to explain how the room Shay was in now was originally reserved for another guest, who had apparently left something important in the room for her daughter to find.

The same guest who was also insistent that someone was plotting against the hotel.

‘Are you sure about all of this?’ Lily asked, a little concerned as she sat in Erin’s office, her colleague insisting on locking the door behind them, as if afraid of being interrupted or overheard even. ‘I mean, it’s not exactly kosher to carry out searches of registered guest’s rooms in their absence.’

‘But what else am I supposed to do?’ Erin complained, and once she’d given a rundown of the (admittedly disturbing) snake incident the day before, plus a host of other things that had been going wrong in the hotel lately, Lily was beginning to wonder if the new guest relations manager might be in way over her head.

Until Erin told her about a letter, and she learned who had written it.

‘Eugenie’s passed?’ Lily gasped, her voice faint with shock. ‘I knew her well, she was a close friend of my parents. My dad had a lot of dealings with her at the bank … he worked in Barclays,’ she informed her. ‘I had no idea she’d passed away this year too, though I remember now that she wasn’t at his funeral.’

Erin’s head snapped up. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise that you’d lost a parent recently. That must be so tough.’

‘Thanks, it’s a few months ago now, but yes, it’s not easy.’