Thanks for all the great reviews! Over fifty, wow, I never thought this story would be so popular! Keep those reviews coming as this story comes to its close, only a few more chapter to go and seemingly, just in time for the start of North Shore, which finally comes back on a week from tomorrow. So, thanks again for all those great reviews, it's good to know that everyone is enjoying this story, keep 'em up.

Chapter Eleven

It took nearly two hours for the crab debacle to be set right and most of the crabs to be turned loose by outside. Ashlee felt as though if she never saw another crab in her entire life -living or dead- then she could die very happy.

Tessa and Jason had reappeared moments ago, just in time for Jason to supervise the last of the crab clean-up and Tessa to take her post at the guest relations desk, assuring several unhappy guests that there were going to be no more crabs in the hotel, unless they were cooked. It wasn't difficult for Ashlee to pick up on the 'sly' looks that her sister was sending the general manager, flirtatious smiles and unspoken promises.

And, clearly, Nicole was noticing them as well, judging by the way she was shoving Ashlee around since she couldn't push around the eldest Lewis girl. After one grin and 'secretly' blown kiss, Nicole whacked Ashlee in the ankles with a broom as she chased out the remainder of the crabs, though Ashlee wasn't quite sure the action was entirely purposeful.

"You've got work to do." Nicole snapped once she decided the physical abuse had come to an end. "I suggest you hurry up and get to it."

Ashlee set aside a dust-pan, which still had several crabs crawling around inside and looked at the brunette. "You just said you wanted me to help you get the crabs." She reminded. "Which is it?"

Another solid whack with the broom which couldn't even be passed of as an accident. "Go start cleaning rooms." Nicole corrected sharply. "Start with the suites."

Ashlee muttered something and ducked away quickly to avoid another blow, heading for the employee areas. As she approached the area, she met Vincent, who was finally slipping from his office to handle what was left of the crab situation.

"Sir," Ashlee intercepted him, stepping in front of Vincent and keeping him from continuing. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"No." Vincent answered promptly. "I've got a lot of work to do." He tried to push past her, but Ashlee stepped into his path once more.

"Please, Jason's got the crab thing under control and this'll only take a minute." Ashlee persisted, trying to smile winningly at the man that was her boss. "It's important."

Vincent sighed, crossing his arms over his chest; it was far too early to be dealing with the likes of future con-artists. "What is it Ashlee?" He questioned. "What could possibly be so important?"

"It's about the crabs." Ashlee answered quickly. "And the fire from last night." Vincent looked at her, a little more interested. "I think I know who's to blame."

Vincent didn't look convinced. "Who?" He questioned in spite of himself, more interested then anything else to see just what accusations would pass Ashlee's mouth. After last night and the night before, he had decided that she wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person he had ever met.

Ashlee sighed. "I think it was...I know it was Morgan." She mumbled. "Nicole's fiancé."

For a moment, Vincent just stared at her before erupting into laughter; Ashlee glared at him but remained silent. Once his laughing fit had passed, Vincent managed to compose himself enough to repeat the name of the person Ashlee had accused. The teenager nodded. "Morgan Holt." Vincent laughed again, as though he had never heard anything so funny. "Ashlee, you could have done better then that."

Ashlee was confused. "What are you talking about?" Before Vincent could answer, she plowed on. "I'm not making this up, I saw Morgan last night, messing with the wires on the stage." Vincent waved his hand dismissively. "You've got to trust me!" She exclaimed, frustrated. "The other night I-"

Vincent silenced her. "Trust you?" He repeated, ignoring whatever else she had to say. "How do you expect me to trust you when you've already stolen from my hotel and been caught drinking." Ashlee looked at the floor. "Those are hardly the things to do to earn trust."

Ashlee looked up. "I know, but this is different. Morgan wants to ruin your hotel and he's already well on his way to doing it so if you know what's good for you, you're going to believe what I say and do something about it!"

Vincent glared at her. "If you know what's good for you, Miss Lewis, you are never going to raise your voice to me again." He commanded, his voice low and serious, sending a chill down Ashlee's spine. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to."

Without waiting for Ashlee to step aside, Vincent pushed past her, heading into the lobby. Ashlee stared after him, frustrated; was it really her fault if no one believed what she had to say? She didn't think so, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to find someone willing to listen.

Once there was neither sight nor feel of any crabs anywhere, business went on as usual in the Grand Waimea. That is, except when it came to Nicole, who was currently ignoring her duties as she hurried down the hallway toward the suite she was sharing with Morgan. One swipe of the key card and she was inside, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Morgan!" She shouted, her eyes scanning the main room of the suite. She didn't know why seeing Jason and Tessa together had upset her so much, but one thing Nicole did know was that she had to tell Morgan and get some reassurance from him as well. "Morgan!"

The man in question peeked out from behind the bathroom wall, his mouth still foamy with toothpaste. "What's the matter?" Morgan questioned, his word muffled by the mixture of toothpaste and water in his mouth. He ducked back in again and spit the mixture into the sink.

Nicole hurried to the bathroom, standing in the foyer. "Am I unattractive in any way? Am I unpleasant to be around? Am I a bitch?" She questioned.

Morgan stared at her for a beat, confused before slowly shaking his head. "No." He chanced, not quite sure where Nicole was going with this. But there was only one way to find out. "Why?"

Nicole crossed and uncrossed her arms over her chest, too tense to remain still. "Would you say that I'm pretty, that I'm a nice person? Would you compare me in any way to a complete slut?"

Morgan continued to stare at her. "What are you talking about?" He asked, though he had the feeling, now, where his fiancée was going with her sudden rant.

"I saw Jason kissing Tessa." Nicole explained, exasperated, whirling away from the bathroom and stalking into the main room. "And I can't, for the life of me, figure why he would pick a total slut over me."

Morgan followed her. "Maybe because you're already married?" He suggested, causing Nicole to turn and face him with a bashful expression on her face. "Why do you care anyway? I thought Jason was your ex."

"He is." Nicole sighed, dropping onto the bed. "He is my ex." She had no explanation for why seeing Jason with another woman was throwing her into fits. "It's just...Tessa." She remarked, as though that would explain everything.

Morgan sat on the bed next to her and took his hands in his. "I know, she's not exactly the sweetest apple on the tree, is she?" Nicole looked at him, as though trying to figure out just what he was talking about. He shrugged dismissively. "If it really bothers you that much, you should get her fired."

Nicole studied him for a second, trying to figure out if he was serious. "Fired?" She repeated. "How am I supposed to do that? Assuming I even want to get Tessa fired."

From the front of the room, behind the closed suite door, came the tired call of, "house keeping," and the swipe of a pass key, which both Morgan and Nicole ignored. Morgan was watching Nicole closely, as though trying to figure out the right buttons to push to convince her to fire the concierge.

"I'm sure that Tessa's on pins and needles with Vincent right now, especially with her sister around." Morgan continued, paying no attention to the opening and shutting of the suite door. "I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult to get her fired."

Nicole sighed, trying to push the thoughts away despite the promise that they held. "What good would it do to get Tessa fired, anyway?" She mumbled. "She'd still be able to see Jason."

Any further words that might have passed their lips frozen when Morgan looked up and saw Ashlee standing by the front door, dressed in her maid's uniform with her cart standing beside her and a confused look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Ashlee questioned once she saw two pair of eyes on her. She was certain that neither Morgan nor Nicole were going to answer her question, but she asked it anyway.

Morgan stood up and Ashlee took an involuntary step back, as though she expected Morgan to do something to her. "Get out of here." He commanded forcefully, glaring at her. "Don't you know better then to interrupt private conversations?"

Ashlee stared at him. "I'm just here to clean the room." She told him, as innocently as possible. She wished she had come in a little bit earlier so she could have heard more of their conversation involving her sister.

Morgan took another step toward her. "Out!" He commanded and Nicole rested her hand on his arm, as though attempting to gain some control over him. Ashlee took her bulky cart and slipped from the room, loudly slamming the door shut behind her. Morgan shook his head. "Noisy little brat," he mumbled, more to himself then to Nicole, "she takes after her sister."

Nicole stood as well, taking Morgan's hands and forcing him to look at her. "She heard us talking about Tessa." She said, though that much was obvious. "Morgan, what if she tells Tessa? Or Vincent?" Or Jason, she wanted to add but that seemed out of place.

Morgan didn't look the least bit concerned. "So what if she does, who's going to believe her anyway?" He questioned, having heard of both cases of 'theft' that the teenager had been charged with. "She's a thief, Nicky, she's no better then her sister."

Nicole sighed and shook her head, not convinced. "She'll tell Tessa and Tessa will tell Jason." She protested. "And Vincent trusts Jason like his own son." Morgan still didn't look worried. "Anything that happens now, they're going to blame on you." She already knew that the fire the previous night and the crabs that morning were directly related to her fiancé, though she chose to pretend like she didn't.

Morgan sighed as well, pulling his hands free from Nicole's. "Whatever, Nicole, I have a meeting to get to." He headed for the door. "But I don't know why you're trying to protect Tessa," he remarked as he opened the door, "she is the one kissing your ex." He slipped out of the suite before Nicole had the chance to open her mouth.

Nicole flopped onto the bed once more, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh. Since when had things gotten so complicated?

Once he was in the hallway, Morgan easily spotted Ashlee's maid's cart, resting outside another suite with the teenager no where in sight. Silently, he slipped in that direction, kneeling by the two front wheels, his fingers searching the oily metal until he found the rusty bolts that attached the wheels to the cart.

By the time Ashlee had finished cleaning the suite, Morgan was long gone, taking several of the bolts with him.

When Morgan left the Grand Waimea, heading for an unknown destination, he had the bolts to several other maids' carts in his pocket. He nodded briefly to Tessa as he passed the guest relations desk, noting that the brunette did nothing but glare at him. That was just fine with Morgan; being polite got you no where.

Tessa frowned as Morgan passed, wondering if he really did have anything to do with the fire and the crabs; she didn't doubt what her sister said, especially not after Ashlee's re-telling of the conversation she had eavesdropped on days earlier. She just wished there was something she could do about that snake before things got worse.

Ashlee wrinkled her nose as she sprayed cleaner on the large windows over looking the ocean that stood by the stair-well on the twelfth floor. The stuff into the plastic bottle was strong, and she wondered if she could sue for the amount of brain cells she was probably loosing at that moment.

From down the hallway, she could hear the laughing, chipper voices of a group of girls no older then she, dressed in bikinis, heading toward the stair case. Ashlee looked away from the window, hooking the bottle on the belt around her waist and glanced over at the girls. They appeared not to notice her, too wrapped up in their conversation. Ashlee sighed, wishing that she could be heading toward the beach with a group of friends, talking about stuff that wasn't more important then whether they could get away with ordering alcohol from the beach.

With a weary sigh, Ashlee pushed those thoughts away and returned to the task at hand. She had never been one of those girls and she never would be, though she would have given anything to know how to drive an Escalade instead of how to steal one.

Ashlee pulled the bottle free from its spot on her belt, but fumbled the bottle and dropped it down the stairs; she glared at the bottle, where it lay, several feet away, resting against the wall before the stairs curved to lead to the lower levels. Granted, it wasn't a massive descent, but it was going to take more time away from cleaning windows and rooms.

Ashlee had just knelt to retrieve the bottle when the group of girls passed, bumping into the heavy maids cart without pausing. Though the cart had survived being pushed down the hallway without incident, despite the nearly unhinged wheels, the bump provided by the a nameless girl's elbow was enough to knock the remaining bolt loose and send the cart bumping down the stairs.

One of the girls noticed and shouted, "look out!", to Ashlee, who turned at the sound of her voice. Her eyes went wide and rolled to the right, nearly falling down the remaining stairs, just as the cart crashed into the wall, inches from where she now sat.

For a moment, Ashlee could do nothing but remain, pressed against the wall, with her eyes wide, trying to imagine what it would have been like to be crushed by the cumbersome cart. Those thoughts were shaken from her head when another bottle of cleaning liquid fell from the cart and landed squarely on her head, bringing her back to the world of the living.

The girls were standing at the foot of the stairs, their mingled voices asking the same questions over and over again but Ashlee didn't pay any attention to them. Gently rubbing her head where there was a bump already forming, she turned to look at the front wheels of the cart, one of which had gone missing.

After further investigation, Ashlee found the missing wheel, as well as two bolts laying on the stairs. Holding the wheel, she was convinced that what had happened hadn't been an accident. Someone had messed with her cart and there was only one person she could think of.