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Back Sunset Beach Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. Epilogue
  71. Also by Mary Kay Andrews
  72. About the Author
  73. Newsletter Sign-up

He rubbed the stubble on his cheek. “What’s that got to do with you? Yvonne Howington is no longer a client of the law firm.”

“You took your legal fee from that crappy settlement you got her,” Drue said. “Yvonne deserved better than you gave her. Jazmin deserved better. So yeah, I started poking into it. And I found something. Something you and Rae need to hear about.”

“Nobody asked you to go breaking and entering. And trespassing,” Hernandez said.

Brice shifted into attorney mode. “From what I’ve heard she didn’t actually break into or enter any premises.”

Drue sighed. “Can we just take this someplace else to talk about? Preferably some place with coffee?”

“Waffle House okay?” Brice asked, looking at Rae Hernandez.

She shrugged. “Why not? I’ll follow you over there.”

50

Brice waited until Drue had worked most of her way through a platter of scattered, covered and smothered hash browns along with a side of bacon.

“I still don’t understand what would possess you to break into that hotel. Zee looked into Jazmin’s murder very thoroughly. And so did the police. It’s tragic, but there was nothing there.”

Hernandez set her coffee mug down. “Actually, the hotel employees we talked to at the time were less than forthcoming. Management at Gulf Vista stonewalled our investigation right from the beginning. From what we’re now hearing, several male supervisors were sexually harassing and preying on female employees, including Jazmin Mayes.”

“Is that true?” Brice asked his daughter. “Where did you hear this?”

“I tracked down two different housekeepers, both of whom were friends of Jazmin’s, who, by the way, were never interviewed by Jimmy Zee,” Drue said. She couldn’t resist getting in a dig about the law firm’s investigator.

“I went over Zee’s report, he didn’t find anything about sexual harrasment,” Brice protested.

“Maybe that’s because he didn’t look hard enough,” Drue said. “The first time I went to Gulf Vista, I talked to Lutrisha Smallwood, she was the girl who found Jazmin’s body in that laundry room. She told me that the head of engineering made a habit of trying to grope her, until she zapped him in the eyes with glass cleaner. And she hinted that another guy, Herman Byars, the head of housekeeping, had a ‘thing’ with one of the other girls working there.”

Rae cleared her throat. “Byars has dropped off the radar. He’s not working at the tire store where he was employed when I last spoke to him, and I don’t have a current address, but I’m working on that.”

Brice nodded and glanced at his daughter, who was mopping up the last of the hash browns with a triangle of rye toast. “You said you talked to two housekeepers. Who was the second?”