Lawson’s statement showed his employees’ salary and wages at fifteen percent. She studied the other items on the statement, which included inventory, depreciation, marketing and utilities. Her head began to swim from all of the figures and she leaned back in her chair.
Perhaps Carlita was getting in over her head. Her vision of creating mouthwatering Italian dishes for hungry patrons was looking more like a side job, and the tedious paperwork and pencil-pushing turning into her main responsibility. She closed her eyes.
“Ma! Are you okay?”
Carlita bolted to an upright position and clutched her chest. “Mercedes, you are gonna give me a heart attack!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me.”
“With my eyes closed and my head back?” Carlita shifted in her chair. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about what Kyle Flinch said and then you mentioned you had an idea.”
“Since I’m officially a partner and we’re opening our own restaurant, I was going to ask Pete if I could sit in on his job interviews. He mentioned that some of the Mystic Dream employees already stopped by, asking about jobs. I figured we might be able to question Lawson’s employees on what they think happened to their boss.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Mercedes said. “It would be the perfect opportunity to get a feel for the job market and maybe figure out what was going on after hours on board the Mystic Dream.”
“I’ll ask him right now.” Carlita texted Pete to ask him about cross interviewing and then waited for him to reply.
Her phone began to ring and she picked it up, expecting it to be Pete, but it was Tori.
“Hi, Tori.”
“Hello, Carlita. I’m sorry to bother you. I just got off the phone with Pete. The city development department and specifically Emmett Pridgen, have put a hold on our business license pending an investigation.”
“On hold?” Carlita began to feel lightheaded. “What was the reason?”
“Because of the police investigation into Lawson Bates’ attack. Apparently, the authorities searched Lawson’s office and came up with some sort of evidence implicating Pete.”
“And Mark Fox.”
“Yes. And Mark Fox.” Tori muttered under her breath.
“I’m sorry, I missed what you said.”
“I heard Pridgen was being investigated, too. His name was on Lawson’s list. I think he’s trying to cover up his own involvement. The man is a snake.”
“You think crooked Pridgen was somehow involved in Lawson’s attack and he’s trying to deflect the blame onto either Pete or Mark Fox?”
“That would be my guess.” Tori sighed heavily. “I heard about your daughter and Autumn’s sleuthing mission and it was a bust.”
“Not entirely.” Carlita glanced at her computer screen and the Mystic Dream’s profit and loss statement. “I got some good information on restaurant management. I am curious as to why Lawson’s labor expenses are so low. Mercedes and I managed to track down one of Lawson’s former employees. He gave us an inside scoop and we’re still trying to figure out what it means.”
“We need all the help we can get. This business venture could remain in limbo for months, even years. If Lawson doesn’t recover, Pete could be facing even more serious problems than never getting this pirate ship business off the ground.”
“Along with Mark Fox, not to mention Kyle Flinch. We’ll keep working on it on our end.” Carlita thanked Tori for the call and then disconnected the call.
Mercedes watched her mother set her cell phone on the desk. “I guess that means we don’t have to interview potential employees for the pirate ship jobs.”
“No. It means we need to get on it ASAP. Time is money. If Pridgen is involved in Lawson’s attack, the last thing he’ll want is for us to be snooping around. My guess is he’ll try to pin this on someone else. We need to get to Lawson’s employees before they find employment elsewhere and slip through our fingers.”
Carlita decided it was time to call Pirate Pete. When he answered, she couldn’t help but notice the tense tone of his voice.
“We’ll get this all sorted out,” Carlita promised. “I want to begin by interviewing some of Lawson’s employees.”
She almost mentioned Kyle Flinch, how he suspected Lawson was up to something when he snuck back on board the Mystic Dream, but decided to keep the information to herself.
“Have you started interviewing for positions at Ravello?” Pete asked.
“Not yet. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone…look for clues on who attacked Lawson and maybe see if there are any potential employees for Ravello as well as the pirate ship. Speaking of the pirate ship, you still have to pick out a name. The Pirate Ship won’t do.”
“I’ve been mulling over names for a while now. I want somethin’ people won’t forget,” Pete said. “But there’s no sense in wasting my time on picking a name, at least not right now.”
“You won’t be wasting your time,” Carlita said firmly. “We will get to the bottom of this. You said you already spoke with several of Lawson’s employees. Did you happen to get any of their names?”
“Yes. A couple of them filled out applications.” Carlita could hear papers rustling in the background. “One of the employees is Luke Markham. He left his number. I’ll give him a call to see if he knows of any other co-workers we can contact.”
“Good. You work on that. Let me know when you’d like me to run by to help with the interviews.”
After the call ended, Mercedes headed to her room, claiming she wanted to do a little background research on Pete, Mark Fox, Emmett Pridgen and the Mystic Dream.
Carlita turned in early, worn out from the long day. Despite her exhaustion, visions of
