Chapter Ten

"Tess," Ashlee began as she slipped her high heels off, standing in bare-feet on the warm pavement of the employee parking garage. "What do you think caused the fire?"

Tessa looked over at her sister, who was chewing up yet another peppermint as though half the hotel didn't already know she had been drinking. "I don't know." She answered truthfully. "Could have been anything, the wiring..." She shrugged, that really wasn't her area of expertise.

The sisters were waiting beside Jason's car in the employee garage, waiting for Jason to get done helping Vincent poke around The Ball Room in an attempt to find what had started the fire. He had offered to give them a ride home if they could wait a few minutes and a few minutes was slowly inching toward thirty.

Ashlee was silent for a minute, curling her toes and stretching them again, ignoring the ache that the shoes had caused them. "I saw Morgan messing with the wires." She told her sister finally, almost quietly, as though confessing a private secret.

Tessa glanced at Ashlee again. "What?" She questioned. "When?"

"Before the party started." Ashlee told her. "You were helping MJ fill the ice buckets and he came in with a briefcase. I couldn't see what he was doing because his back was to me but I know he was messing with the wires." She explained, studying Tessa. "Do you think he could have...?" She trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Tessa answered quickly, narrowing her eyes. "It just sounds like something Nicole and Morgan would do, start the fire to ruin an important party." Added with the fact that Ashlee had heard Morgan talking about doing such a thing a few days before, it made almost perfect sense.

Ashlee nodded, as though thinking the same thing. "What do we do?" She questioned. "Tell Vincent?" That idea didn't seem so pleasant to her, however, after her boss had caught her behind the bar, enjoying the alcohol instead of serving it.

This was a question Tessa didn't have an answer to; would her boss be willing to hear that his favorite female employee was trying to ruin the hotel? Would he even believe it? No, he wouldn't; especially not if the accusation had passed her lips. Tessa sighed and leaned against Jason's car, furrowing her brow at words only she could hear. Ashlee watched her sister, impatient for an answer that Tessa couldn't come up with.

Luckily, she didn't have to turn the possibilities over in her head for much longer, because Jason was heading across the parking garage, looking more weary and exhausted then he ever had before. He managed a strained smile in Tessa's direction as he approached, pulling his keys out of his pocket; Tessa felt bad about making Jason drive out of his way when clearly all he wanted to do was go home and sleep but she didn't have a car or enough cash to take a taxi.

By way of a silent thank-you, Tessa kissed Jason lightly on the cheek when he arrived, offering him a sweet smile. Jason smiled in return, seeming to brighten up a bit. Tessa and Ashlee got into his car and Jason backed out of the garage.

A silence hung in the car, filled with unspoken questions and worries that would probably never be voiced. It was Ashlee who finally broke the silence, her mind still racing over the possibility of Morgan having something to do with the events of the night. "Did you find out what started the fire?"

Jason sighed and looked at the younger girl in his rear-view mirror. "No, Vincent and I went all around The Ball Room but couldn't find anything." Another sigh followed. "It's like it was some kind of freak accident."

Ashlee leaned forward, forgetting the purpose of a seat belt and nudged her sister's shoulder, attempting to prompt Tessa to bring up the possibility that Morgan had caused the fire in the first place. Tessa cleared her throat, and shot her sister a look, pushing her back into her seat after batting her hand aside.

Jason looked over at Tessa and raised an eyebrow, having noted the sisters' behavior. "What's the big secret?" He questioned, looking amused.

Ashlee leaned back in her seat, silent, leaving Tessa to explain about Morgan and Nicole. With every word that involved his ex-girlfriend, Jason's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed and his expression stayed that way until Tessa finished telling her story.

"You really don't think that Nicole had anything to do with what happened, do you?" Jason asked as soon as Tessa fell silent. "That's stupid." His words came out a little differently and harsher then he had intended, something that was obvious by Tessa's expression.

"You don't have to get so defensive, Jason." Tessa said, narrowing her eyes as well. "And just what about that is stupid? Just because Nicole's your ex-girlfriend doesn't make her innocent."

Jason sighed. "Nicole being my ex doesn't have anything to do with this, Tessa." He told her. "I'm just saying that Nicole wouldn't have any reason to sabotage the hotel, she works there too, remember?" Tessa was silent. "It's not going to do anyone any good for you to accuse her of something she had no part in."

Tessa was silent until Jason pulled up in front of her apartment complex moments later; she unbuckled her seatbelt and looked back at him. "I just can't help but wonder, Jason, if we were talking about someone other then Nicole, would you be more willing to listen?" She slipped out of the car and shut the door before he had a chance to defend himself.

Jason called her name, attempting to catch her attention but Tessa wasn't willing to listen to anything he might have to say. She and Ashlee disappeared into the apartment complex, leaving Jason sitting alone in his car, wondering if he had set a new record by screwing up a relationship before the second day.

Even now, he was letting Nicole control the better part of his thoughts and actions, clouding his judgment and forcing him to ignore anything that might put a mark on her name. Maybe Tessa was right, maybe Nicole and Morgan did have something to do with what happened at the party; but even if Tessa's words weren't true, she didn't deserve to have him snap at her like that.

Jason sighed and pulled away from the complex. Maybe Tessa would be more willing to listen to his apology in the morning.

Tessa wiggled her toes as she buried them and the front of her sandal in the wet sand that surrounded the tide line. She and her sister had arrived at the Grand Waimea a few minutes before the hotel officially started its day, giving them time to enjoy the reason that most people came to Hawaii: the beautiful beaches and stretching ocean.

Ashlee was skipping about in the water with her pants rolled to the knees like a little kid, every so often splashing at her sister, but the water droplets often fell short. If Tessa hadn't be so preoccupied thinking about Jason and what had happened the previous night, she would have found Ashlee's behavior amusing and adorable and maybe would have joined in the splashing fight. But her heart just wasn't in it.

Ashlee looked over at Tessa and sighed, wishing that the same sparkle was on her face now that had been there yesterday, the glow caused by being happy. Now there was nothing shining in Tessa's eyes other then confusion and the hollow look that came with thinking too hard.

Abandoning the foamy water around her knees, Ashlee headed back toward the shore, which was already dotted with guests working on their tans and several people with surfboards. "You shouldn't be so mad at Jason." She advised Tessa when she reached her. "You guys were both really stressed last night, you should talk to him."

"I'm not mad at Jason." Tessa told her sister. "I was just thinking about apologizing to him later on, in private." She sighed and looked at Ashlee. "Maybe taking a walk down the beach and explaining to him that I wasn't trying to accuse Nicole of anything and maybe...making up." She smiled slightly.

Ashlee rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're planning on walking on the beach and 'making up', be sure to use protection." She winked.

Tessa, more embarrassed then amused by hearing those words come out of her sister's mouth, swatted Ashlee on the shoulder. Ashlee ducked away, feigning innocence. "I meant from the sun." She defended. "You know...sun screen."

"Sure you did." It was Tessa's turn to roll her eyes. As they started back up the beach and toward the Grand Waimea, she sighed, her melancholy atmosphere returning. "Who knows if Jason will even be willing to listen."

"He will." Ashlee assured her. "He just wasn't last night."

As they neared the hotel, Tessa was surprised to see that there were no doormen positioned outside the glass doors of the hotel. In fact, there were no bellhops waiting on the sidewalk either, alert and ready to open car doors and assist rich guests with their luggage.

More interested then worried about the cause of this, Tessa opened the doors and she and Ashlee stepped into the lobby, where, promptly, she stepped on something that crunched beneath her sandal. Wrinkling her nose and afraid of what she might find, Tessa looked down to see two bent crab-legs twitching beneath her foot. A wave of revulsion rippled through her body and she cried out in surprise, leaping backward and falling out of her sandals.

Less then interested by her sister's run-in with a crustacean, Ashlee stared open-mouthed at the lobby in front of her. Everywhere she looked, crabs were crawling: on the floors, on luggage, on furniture and even across peoples feet and shoes. Several employees of the Grand Waimea were rushing around with nets and bowls, anything they could find in order to scoop up the little animals, most of which just spilled over the sides of the bowls and resumed their crawling.

The guests of the hotel were shouting and complaining to anyone that stopped chasing crabs long enough to listen; a few guests were adding in the attempt to recapture the animals and several women had taken up screaming whenever a crab got too near.

Joining those guests in their high-pitched cries was Tessa, who had had a fear of crabs since she had been five-years-old and found all the creatures crawling around the floor to be something out of her worst nightmares. She cried out when one of the crabs scuttled over her foot and jumped backward, all but knocking Ashlee over and stepping onto another crab.

"Tessa, calm down." Ashlee tried to gain control of her sister but it was no use. Tessa was alternating between crying out and whimpering, trying to wipe the dead crab off the bottom of her foot and make a getaway from the rest of the creatures. But, everywhere she turned, there were crabs there to meet her.

From her spot, trying to herd crabs into a bowl from the kitchen that Jason was holding, Nicole noticed Tessa and rolled her eyes; she didn't seem so tough now. She was, however, the only one that found Tessa's spastic reaction to the crabs amusing; Jason looked up with a worried expression on his face, handing the bowl he held to Gabriel, who had abandoned his life-guard post for the moment.

Tessa was still hopping around, trying to escape the crabs that were punching at her toes and the bottom of her pants, when Jason arrived. A crab clamped onto one of her toes and she cried out again, in pain this time and tried to shake it loose, her entire body crawling with revulsion, so badly that her hands were shaking.

Without a word, Jason scooped Tessa into his arms, holding her against his chest and carried her down the hallway, away from the mass of crabs. A few of the tiny creatures crawled around this area as well but Jason batted them carelessly aside with his shoes.

"I hate crabs." Tessa muttered weakly, still shaking, as Jason gently set her down on one of the couches that rested in between the elevators. She sighed and leaned against the wall. "I hate them."

Jason knelt in front of her, intending on inspecting the crab pinches on her feet. "Is this a new found fear?" He questioned, almost amused, as he gently prodded one of the red marks.

Tessa winced. "No." She answered. "Ever since I was five and this boy dropped a crab down my shirt..." She shuddered at the memory. "It got tangled in my hair and my shirt and...let's just say it wasn't pretty."

Jason smiled slightly. "I think you're going to be okay." He said, gesturing toward the marks on her feet. He looked at her and offered her a slightly apologetic, sheepish smile.

But, before he could apologize verbally for his reaction last night, Tessa spoke again. "Where did all those crabs come from?" She questioned.

Jason shrugged. "I have no idea. I came in this morning and they were all over the place, even more then there are now." He sighed. "That's a hell of a lot of crabs."

Tessa nodded in agreement. "Why would someone bring all those things in here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jason studied her quizzically. "What makes you think someone brought them here?"

"I don't know of many cases of a mass crab migration." Tessa pointed out. "Do you?" Jason shook his head. "It's too strange that all those crabs would just show up here; someone brought them."

Jason sighed. "Maybe you're right."

Back in the lobby of the Grand Waimea, Nicole wasn't much liking the way Jason and Tessa had disappeared down the hallway and had yet to return. And the way he picked Tessa up, carrying her away from the crabs...; Nicole rolled her eyes. What a knight in shining armor.

Having had enough of waiting for them to return, Nicole decided she was going to go make sure that they did. She grabbed Ashlee's arm and pulled her away from the door, pushing her in the direction Gabe was standing, trying to put crabs in a bowl. "Go help him catch the crabs." She commanded.

Ashlee stared for a moment, surprised by the suddenness of the command before snatching one of the crabs off the ground and tossing it in Gabe's direction. Instead of landing in the bowl, the crab connected with his face before dropping to the ground.

"I'm so sorry." Ashlee managed to apologize, trying to keep from laughing and as she hurried over to him. She picked up the crab again and dropped it in the bowl. "Are you okay?" She couldn't help but smile, the image of the crab smacking him in the face repeating through her mind.

Gabe offered her a slight smile. "Yeah." He said. "I'm not so sure about the crab though." He looked into the bowl, where the crab was attempting an escape.

Ashlee shrugged. "There's enough crabs, they'll never miss one." She remarked. "Speaking of which, how did all these things get here?"

Gabe shrugged as well, picking up another creature and dropping it in with its friend. "Beats me; Jason told me to take a break and come help catch these crabs." He explained. "No one knows how they got here."

At this time, Ashlee was coming to the same conclusion that Tessa had started coming to moments earlier; the crabs didn't just walk in on their own free will, someone had brought them here. And she had a good idea who that someone was.

It was the same thought that Tessa would be having if she wasn't too busy staring into Jason's eyes and listening to his words as he apologized for the way he had acted the night before.

"I wasn't trying to bad mouth Nicole." Tessa said once Jason had finished speaking. "I was just telling you what Ashlee heard."

Jason took her hand and lightly kissed her knuckles. "I know." He assured her. "I don't know why I reacted the way I did; Nicole's not my girlfriend anymore, and she won't be again. So, I shouldn't have acted like a complete jerk when you brought her up." He smiled slightly. "Can you forgive me?"

Tessa smiled as well, feigning indecision; Jason leaned forward and kissed her, bringing her façade to an end. When the kiss was broken, Tessa shrugged. "I guess I could forgive you." She smiled, kissing him again.

If Nicole hadn't been watching the whole exchange for as long as she had, she would have believed that Tessa was playing games and leading Jason on. But Jason had kissed Tessa first and it was an action that had hurt Nicole more then it should have; she hadn't dated Jason for a long time and she was going to be married. What did it matter to her whether Jason found another girlfriend?

It was a question that she couldn't answer and Nicole turned away, blinking back tears, something else that surprised her. You only cried for someone when you loved them. And she certainly did not love Jason Matthews.

Anymore.