“No, and since you’re already talking the need for more housing, we shouldn’t.” Monty gestured impatiently. “You can’t put up contractors and workers at the resort all summer. We need camping hook ups. Are you willing to put them in your fancy new development?”
Keegan, the geologist, had only been interested in the road back to his crystal cave, but even he grasped the need for cheap housing. Eventually, he’d have workers too.
“We need Cass to open up her place as a boarding house,” Keegan said. “Not everyone is into camping.”
Monty and Kurt snickered.
“Go ahead. You talk to her,” Monty said magnanimously. “Or better yet, have your blushing bride do it. Mariah and Cass are tight.” He turned to his brother. “You, too. Your bride-to-be can sweet talk a tree trunk into making lumber. Sic Teddy on Cass.”
“You’ve lived at the resort too long,” Kurt said. “You’re turning evil.”
Ignoring the admonition, Monty pointed the ruler at him. “There’s no housing, remember? I have nowhere else to live. Want to put me in Teddy’s attic with her ghost?”
His brother rubbed his head. “Can we not discuss this right now? The wedding is in less than a week. It’s complicated.”
“Damn right, it’s complicated. Talk to the utilities. I’ll talk to Samantha about Cass.” This being a small town, their niece was also related to Cass. “The two of you do your part, and we might make inroads.”
Monty doubted they’d move their half-aunt an inch, but he was all about pushing boundaries. Cass’s family had once owned most of the land up here. His father had inherited half and done his best to steal more. Cass had reason not to trust Kennedys.
Which still left him living at the resort. Maybe he could move in with Mariah’s illegal alien dad over the ice cream parlor.
Maybe he could persuade the residents to float bonds for housing newcomers who currently lived in their imagination. Anything was possible. Probable was a different story.
It might be easier to find Peggy’s killer.
Using a rope from her bike tool pack, Fee tied Sukey to a pine trunk behind the café. It was all wooded hillside. The dog couldn’t bother anyone. She hung her backpack and bedroll out of sight in the same tree.
Scratching Sukey’s head, she poured water into a plastic bowl she used for her cereal and adjusted the dog’s dirty scarf. “I can’t give you an air-conditioned car like the mayor has, but I can get you a nice bone. Dogs eat bones, don’t they?”
Sukey yapped and happily wagged her tail.
“You’re all about attention, aren’t you? I’ll be right back.” She crossed the alley to the kitchen’s screen door.
Dinah was already working on the dinner menu for the restaurant next door. She pointed her knife at some scraps on the chopping block. “Dogs can eat that, but you gotta eat a real meal too. Put something in your stomach and start chopping.”
Fee was famished. She could inhale everything on the stove and look for more. But she’d learned not to express opinions. Expressing her immense gratitude, however, she could do. Dinah waved off Fee’s effusive thanks and pointed at the chopping block again.
Fiona took the scraps to Sukey, who dug right in. Then she returned, made herself a sandwich, and happily chopped vegetables. Dinah wasn’t much of a talker. Fee was dying to ask questions, but she didn’t want to say anything that would end up in being thrown out. Which usually happened every time she got comfortable and opened her mouth.
“You always this quiet?” Dinah asked, stirring what smelled like a peppery roux.
“I speak when spoken to.” Fee minced celery, onions, and carrots into bits as she’d been taught by the chefs she’d worked with over the years. Nibbling her lunch, she lifted a garlic bulb from an overhead container and started on that too, because the roux needed more garlic.
“You can speak when not spoken to,” Dinah said. “Help comes and goes around here, and I ain’t never got enough hands. I want to keep ones as good as yours around or Mayor Monty gonna turn this place into a wheatgrass smoothie store.”
Appalled that the mayor might have that power, Fee chopped faster.
Dinah pointed her spatula at the chopped vegetables. “You’re the first I’ve had to know what they’re doing. You didn’t even ask what to do.”
“Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know what to do. Shouldn’t I be working the counter?” That was just the first of the questions Fee wanted to ask, but she’d go cautiously. Lots of people said what they didn’t mean.
“That’s the reason the mayor’s on my case. I have to close the café after three so I can ready up for dinner at Delphines. The kitchen help from the lodge come down to help me in the evenings, but there’s not enough on a busy night. Have you been to one of them fancy cooking schools?”
Delphines—the restaurant next door. Dinah cooked for both places? Fee gawked. “Are you a one-person dynamo with no life?” Oops, that had just come out. She shoved another bite of sandwich in her face.
Dinah cackled. “Kitchen’s my life. Always has been. And you avoiding the question. I ain’t ever seen anyone handle knives like that.”
The knives were easy to explain. The rest of her past—she’d prefer to keep to herself. Fee shrugged. “Good teachers,” was all she said. “Can you grow bay and thyme here? Those smell fresh.”
Dinah went back to flinging ingredients into the pot. “All right, I’ll respect your privacy. Lord only knows, I like mine. But can I ask if you got a place to stay yet?”
“I’m still looking. I know how to camp.” Truth, if rolling up in a bedroll qualified as camping.
“Well, you should know the Kennedys own just about everything around here that Cass doesn’t. Mr. Kurt owns Delphines, and I just rent the café from his family. Monty told me you can use the room over the antique store while you’re settling in. First month free. After that, you’d have to work it out with Aaron.”
Aaron’s Antiques, Fee remembered from her stroll around town. A free room—was jaw-droppingly astounding news and a little too good to be true. “Does he need bookkeeping or house cleaning or something in return?” She tried to keep the suspicion from her voice.
Dinah did her dismissive spatula wave. “Barter is how we get by here. You can talk to him about that. But right now, you’re helping in Mr. Kurt’s kitchen. He’ll pay a fair wage, but he’s probably traded something Aaron wanted to get that room. You move in, you’re committed to work here that month.”
Fee relaxed enough to feel a modicum of relief. The thought of spending the night in the dirt and looking for a shower in the morning had been daunting. She was willing to take risks to avoid it. “Fair enough. Thanks for taking me in.”
She had hoped she could show she was useful. She had never dared dream for a solid roof over her head as well.
And if Aaron turned out to be a predator, she knew how to handle that too. She’d just need to be a little more discreet than last time. She really didn’t want to be fired again.
Her string of failures was ludicrously long.
Five
Tuesday, evening
In the late afternoon light through dirty windows, Monty studied the interior of the Weldon cabin. “It’s not bad. It just needs a bathroom.”
Kurt snorted and examined the ancient pump in the sink. “It has a well, but I’m guessing there’s no septic. You’d have to use a portable toilet.”
Monty walked out the back door and examined the lot. “It’s one of our more level lots. We could install utility hook-ups and concrete pads for trailers. If the well is good enough, we wouldn’t even have to run water lines.”
“You’ll keep pushing until this happens, won’t you?” Kurt asked, joining him outside and pacing off the clearing.
Monty grinned at his older brother. “That’s what I’m paid the big bucks for.”
Kurt threw him a scowl. Kurt didn’t scowl as much now that he’d found Teddy, but big brother still had an over-developed sense
of responsibility.
“You have the degrees and contacts,” Kurt said, almost angrily. “You could be city manager in any burg in the state, work your way up to mayor, take over the state, if you had a mind to. I don’t know why you’re still here.”
“Same reason you are, I guess.” Monty peered into the well, but he didn’t know damn-all about wells or construction.
“That’s bull. You have no obligation to live on a pittance just because we inherited a dump. We’ve done our jobs, put the town back together. You can move on anytime.” Kurt stopped at the well to throw in a stone. It splashed nicely. “We need to cover it up better so no one falls in.”
Monty flung the old metal cover over it and examined the chain that was supposed to hold it down. “Just needs a lock. There’s a bolt in the concrete that should hold it.”
“I’ll send maintenance down.” Kurt straightened and glared. “Don’t give me that football concussion crap again. You have a brain. Use it to leave here.”
Monty shrugged off the old argument and strolled around the cabin, checking for damage. He knew what he knew. Kurt just liked to fix what was broken and was frustrated that he couldn’t fix him.
“Have maintenance repair that front door too,” Monty advised as they reached their cars. “Or we’ll just invite every bum in town to party. I’ll call for estimates on septic tanks.”
Kurt gave him a middle-finger salute and drove off. Big brother was getting antsy over his wedding. Marrying a crazy Lucy would do that to any man, Monty figured, although Teddy was one helluva sexy package and probably worth the crazy.
With night falling, he debated whether to eat at the lodge or Kurt’s new restaurant. He cruised slowly through town, gauging the level of tourist activity. It was spring break. Hillvale didn’t have the same kind of action the beach towns did, but a lot of families took their young kids to the state parks for hiking and fishing. At the moment, Hillvale didn’t have either. The nearly empty parking lot wasn’t promising.
More candles occupied the spot where Peggy had died, intermixed with the branches of evergreens. He didn’t understand how a memorial helped with grief, but it only took up a single parking space and wasn’t hurting anything.
He parked and watched a couple of city suits consulting with each other. Since the café was closed at this hour, he was about to walk over and recommend Delphines when the pair split up—and walked down different alleys between the buildings. Now that was peculiar.
He wasn’t about to follow the suits into a dark alley. He’d risk life and limb to walk through the dinner chaos in Dinah’s kitchen, but the shop next door was vacant. Pulling out his key ring, he opened the front and crossed the narrow empty space to the rear. The back window was murky, but he cracked it open so he could listen.
He could hear low cursing in Spanish and bushes rustling. The drop off was pretty steep past the dumpsters. Were they whistling? They didn’t look like the sorts to be chasing a cat. Or a dog? Remembering Fiona’s mutt, Monty decided he was bored enough to check out the action.
He yanked open the back door, leaned against the jamb, crossed his arms, and asked, “Can I help you with anything, gentlemen?”
He could see now that the suits were cheap off-the-rack sorts that didn’t fit well. Why suits? It was a tourist town, after all. He waited as the pair trudged out of the bushes as if they had just been taking a leak. They looked a little rough around the edges. If it weren’t for the suits, Monty would take them for drifters.
“Just seeing what’s back here is all,” the older one said with a slight accent. “Didn’t think we’d be troubling anyone, sorry.”
Without bothering to explain more, the pair departed by the alley. Monty returned to the front, pulled out his phone, and typed a note about the plate number on the old Lincoln they climbed into.
If this had happened before the art auction, when the gallery was filled with expensive, museum-quality work, he’d have called Walker. But the auction was over, the art was scattered around the world, and the shops along here had nothing valuable in them. He’d let his chief eat dinner in peace.
As Monty locked up, he noticed Fiona had removed her dog and bedroll from the pine tree. She’d presumably moved into Aaron’s place. Good. He’d accomplished one small thing with this wasted day.
Holding the keys Aaron had given her in one hand and a doggie bag for Sukey in the other, Fiona hurried down the dark lane behind the shops after Dinah sent her home. She probably should have taken the better lighted boardwalk in front, but she liked her privacy. Living in a small town was like living in a fish bowl.
She had fish on her mind. The two scruffy guys who’d ordered the shrimp pasta tonight had smelled off, but she’d been holding a plate of fish when she’d served them. She didn’t think they were locals, so she wasn’t too worried. She was pretty certain Hillvale wasn’t the kind of place the cartel would hang out.
A familiar, athletic-sized silhouette straightened as she approached the antique store’s rear door. He turned on a flashlight so she could see the keyhole.
“What are you doing here?” She was too exhausted to be angry.
“Patrolling so Walker can have the night off.”
“That’s a lie.” She finally got the key in the lock properly and turned it. She reached inside and punched the guest security alarm code Aaron had given her.
“Not entirely. I chased off some suspicious characters earlier. I just wanted to make sure you got in okay. Is Aaron good with you keeping a yappy dog upstairs?”
“Sukey only speaks when spoken to. Good night.” She entered the darkened shop and closed the door on the nosy mayor.
She couldn’t as easily erase his delicious scent—sexy spicy in a way that made her stunted hormones come to life. She liked the timbre of his voice and his concern, if that’s what it was, but she’d been fooled by those before. Only her nose never let her down.
Of course, her nose didn’t know what her brain did—sexy rich men were off limits. Just once, she’d like to meet a man as weird as she was. The mayor had normal written all over him.
The antique shop had only spooky nightlights to guide her through the maze of old wardrobes, sheet-covered couches, and medieval armor—not a full-scale knight but a chainmail doublet hanging over a wooden horse. She still expected a ghost to rattle a sword at her. She was relieved when she reached the upstairs door to her room.
Sukey was happy to see her—and dinner. She’d need to take her out for a walk before going to bed. Fee hated walking through Aaron’s spooky shop to do so, but the idea of suspicious characters in the back alley set off alarms. Hillvale was supposed to be safe.
But look at what had happened to Peggy. Nowhere was completely safe.
She cast a longing look at the comfortable bed. She’d taken a blessedly wonderful shower before returning to help at Delphines, so she could just slide right onto those clean sheets. . .
But she didn’t want Sukey having any accidents on Aaron’s floors. The goateed shop owner seemed pleasant enough. He smelled a little musty from his inventory, and he had a spicy note of his own, one a little more exotic than she could place. But she thought he might be the uptight sort, and she didn’t want to give him cause to boot her out.
One of these days, she’d own her own place and no one could ever throw her out again. Everything she did worked toward that moment of pure freedom.
She attached the rope to Sukey’s bulky collar when the dog was done eating. She needed a better leash than a rope, and a more suitable collar, but those would have to come when she had more free time and a little extra cash. “I need to wash that dirty scarf, young lady,” she told the dog as they trotted downstairs.
Sukey yipped politely. Aaron apparently had his own place elsewhere, so Fee didn’t worry about the bark bothering him at night. She hauled out her flashlight to cross the shadowy store to the front door. If Hillvale really had ghosts, they’d be in here.
Outside, as Sukey sniffed her
way around posts, Fee noticed a light on in the upper story of City Hall across the street. Was the mayor still working? She kind of liked the notion that there was one other person still in town at this hour. She was pretty certain everyone else had gone home, wherever those homes might be.
Sukey growled at a smell outside the café, then made a deposit on it. Fee had liberated some plastic bags from Dinah’s kitchen and used one to clean up. She needed to develop a more regular schedule so she could walk Sukey in the woods in daylight.
She carried Sukey back up the stairs to the cozy studio. The sparsely furnished room had nothing worth calling a kitchen, but it was a roof over her head with running water and heat. She’d lived in worse.
Now, all she had to do was find transportation back to the coast to collect the rest of her things. Braving herself once more to accept a new home, she set her framed photo of her parents on the desk. Through everything, she had clung to this one familiar memento. The picture meant home.
She put her meager supply of clothing in the small dresser, stripped to the skin, and slid between the cool sheets with prayers of thanksgiving. Luxury.
Now, if only she could block out the image of Peggy flying through the air and the other incident. . . where the shadowy figures in a dark alley had pummeled their victim. As much as she’d disliked the restaurant owner who’d fired her, she hoped he’d escaped whatever had happened. She hadn’t lingered to find out.
Six
Wednesday
“We’re exploring the burn site this morning,” Samantha-the-police-chief’s-wife announced, taking a seat at the café counter the next morning. “You need to come with us, Fee, learn a little more about Hillvale. It slows down in here after nine. Dinah will let you take a break.”
“She means she wants to see if you’re a nosy Lucy,” Mayor Monty called from the booth where he sat with several other men.
“No, it means we need to help Sam decide how to fix the mountain so it won’t burn again and the tourists will return.” Always the peacemaker, Amber offered assurances.
Azure Secrets Page 4
