“No.”
He sighed through the phone. “We discovered the identity of the person who took the photos. He was an employee, a temporary summer worker who overheard the call the men made to the registration desk letting us know you three were safe at the backcountry cabin. I guess he recognized you at check-in and decided to stalk you.”
I cringed at that word. Hated it. It meant bad intentions.
“He was working the barbecue and witnessed the altercation with the enamored couple. Watched you leave with Colt and Micah. He said he followed you, took the pic
tures at Colt’s spread.”
Ann Marie was looking at me expectantly.
“They didn’t do it,” I said to her. Oh. My. God. They didn’t do it. “I said such awful things.”
“You did,” Matt confirmed. “The situation was bad, Lacey. You were justified in your thoughts based on your history.”
“Wait. How did the guy get to the backcountry cabin? I mean, did he take a horse? We didn’t see him.”
“Actually, there’s an access road a few hundred yards from the cabin. It was originally made to get the building materials to the site, and it was kept not only for safety, but to maintain the cabin. A team goes up and cleans, resupplies after guests leave.”
That made sense. From what Colt had said about all parts of the property cell phone accessible, this wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Oh.”
“As a friend—at least I’d like to think we’re friends—I want to apologize for what happened. Women should be protected, not shamed or sold for salacious gain. As owner of Hawk’s Landing, I would understand if you chose to sue us for the breach of privacy. I’ve already given our lawyer’s information to Gabe.”
“Oh, um. That’s not necessary.”
“Don’t be hasty in your response. You have a right to damages as we were at fault.”
“No, the guy who took the pictures was.”
“You can be confident in knowing he is no longer an employee, that our lawyers have sued his ass for breach of contract, NDA and other paperwork he signed at hiring. He is also being arrested for selling inappropriate photos without consent.”
“I didn’t know you can do that.”
“I can’t say that the charges will stick, but there’s nothing wrong with scaring the crap out of him in the meantime.”
I had to laugh at that.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
“You’re welcome. If there’s not anything else, I’ll let you—”
A thought struck me. “You didn’t fire Colt, did you? It wasn’t his fault.”
The words fell from my lips with a harsh breath of relief. They didn’t do it. It wasn’t either Colt or Micah’s fault. They hadn’t sold me out.
“He wasn’t working at the time of your…incident, therefore has broken no employment rules. What you do in private is none of my business. As for what happened on Colt’s ranch, I would assume he will be filing charges of his own for trespassing and a few other things.”
“Good. Good for him.”
“Take care, Lacey. If you ever wish to come to Hawk’s Landing again, please contact me personally.”
I offered him my thanks and hung up. There wasn’t more I could say. His guest ranch had technically made a huge mistake and I paid the price. He could do nothing more than apologize and pay any money I wanted if I sued. He didn’t deserve this mess any more than the rest of us.
“Well?” Ann Marie asked. While I’d been talking, she’d paused the movie and Gabe had slid in to sit beside her, pulling her into his side.
I told her about the employee, what he’d done.