by Skylar Finn
“Are you talking to her?” Daniel snapped his fingers in my face. “Hello? She’s not real, Lucia. She’s a figment of your imagination.”
Odette huffed in offense.
“Go ahead,” I told her, backing away from Daniel. “Prove him wrong.”
He didn’t have time to process my instructions before Odette took them to heart. She pulled the drawers out of the front desk, flung files and office supplies in every direction, put her fist through the computer screen, and then planted herself right in front of Daniel’s shocked face and took his head in both of her hands. For one terrifying moment, I thought she might twist his neck and leave him for dead, but Daniel’s eyes filled with tears as her small hands alighted on his cheeks and patted his skin.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He looked right into Odette’s eyes even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m so sorry. I keep letting everyone down.”
He sank to his knees, and Odette let him. She looked at me, confused.
I shrugged. “Can he feel you?”
“For a second,” she replied. “But it’s not like touching a human. It’s cold, unearthly. He should be freaked out, not drowning in a puddle of his own tears.”
Daniel clutched his chest where his heart should be. He wasn’t quite drowning in his tears as Odette had said, but for a man whose job was meant to be the epitome of manliness, the moisture dripping from his cheeks was probably the most he’d let loose in the last several years.
“It’s his daughter,” I said, understanding all at once. “You reminded him of his daughter. You can go now, Odette. I can take care of the rest.”
“You’re running out of time,” she reminded me.
“I’m aware. Get out of here.”
She vanished, leaving me alone with Daniel once more. I nudged his knee, not ready to give him the full amount of affection I used with Jazmin and Riley. Even if he was struggling now, he had lied to me.
“Hey,” I said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, I don’t, but it’s what you say in this sort of situation.” I offered him a hand to stand up. He gripped it tightly and rose to his feet. “We’ve got work to do. Do you believe me now? About the ghosts and the fire?”
“I guess I have to, don’t I?”
“Yeah, you do.” I brushed a shard of glass from near Daniel’s eye. “The killer is linked to the ghosts. That’s why Odette keeps dogging me about the case. That’s why I’ve been snooping around where I shouldn’t. That’s why” —I hesitated for a split second— “I set up all those cameras around the resort.”
“So Liam was telling the truth!” he said indignantly. “You have been filming people without their permission.”
“How do you think I found out that Liam went to Tyler’s room that night?” I said. “I didn’t overhear the conversation. I got it on camera.”
“You did, or someone else did?”
I knew exactly what he was really asking. Was Jazmin an accomplice to my crime?
“I did,” I said firmly. I dragged Jazmin into the mess. Between the two of us, I had committed way more illegalities. If we were going to get arrested after all of this was over, I didn’t want her involved. “It was my idea. I set up the cameras. I reviewed the footage.”
“So no one else knows anything about this?” he challenged.
“Not a soul.”
“Not even Riley?”
“Nope.” The shorter my answers, the less of a chance he had to pick up on my fluctuating heart rate. I changed the subject. “Are we going to do this or what? Apparently, neither one of us is making progress on our own. If we team up, we might have a shot.”
“You really want to?” he asked. “I’m not opposed. You definitely have something to bring to the table. I’m just surprised you’d want to team up with an addict.”
I clapped him on the shoulder with more force than was friendly. “Lucky for you, I have experience with addicts, and I know addiction doesn’t define a person. That being said, you have to put up with me too. Are you ready to work with Madame Lucia?”
He ducked out from under my grasp. “I’d rather work with Lucia Star. She seems like has a better grasp of her faculties. Wipe that stupid grin off your face.”
I rolled my eyes but dropped the grin. It was stupid to be smiling anyway given the circumstances. “What the hell do we do about the lobby?”
He surveyed the heaped chandelier and the mess of broken glass. “I don’t suppose you know where Oliver keeps the brooms?”
An hour later, we managed to get most of the glass swept into a large pile in the corner of the lobby, but that was all we could to do handle the mess. The dumpster was outside the kitchen door, which was blocked by the snow.
“We’ll put some more rope around it so no one gets hurt,” Daniel said, kicking a wayward shard into the rest of the pile. “Good grief, what a mess. Tell your ghost friend to can it, would you?”
“It’s going to get worse if we don’t do something about it soon.” I leaned on my broom handle. The bristles buckled under my weight. “We need to get a handle on this investigation as soon as possible. Do you have any new leads?”
“I might,” said another voice. Nick limped down the stairs, staring skyward. “What happened to the chandelier?”
“Likely another safety oversight,” Daniel covered before I had to explain. “First the ski lift, now this. I’ll be filing a report to have this entire resort examined. Can you imagine if there were guests here?”
Nick reached the bottom of the stairs and shook out a muscle cramp in his bad leg. “What I would give to be at White Oak right now. Anyway, as far as your investigation goes, I think I might have something.”
“What is it?” I asked.
He glanced between me and Daniel. “Is this information to be shared?”
“Miss Star and I are working together now,” Daniel announced. “She has my full trust. Anything you say to me, you can also say to her.”
“Very well then,” said Nick. “I think you should question Oliver Watson.”
“You think Oliver killed his own family?” I said.
“I know it’s macabre,” Nick acknowledged. “I’m not saying he did any of these things while he was in his right mind, but think of the timeline. During all of these events—the deaths of his wife and son, Riley’s brief kidnapping, Liam getting stuck in the freezer—Oliver was not accounted for. I’ve seen what stress can do to a man. Perhaps the pressure of running this resort finally cracked him.”
“He was getting ice,” I remembered.
“So?” Daniel said.
“I ran into Oliver earlier today,” I explained. “Before I spoke to you and we found Liam in the freezer. He’d filled up a big bucket of ice because Nick was complaining that the machine in his hallway was empty.”
Nick frowned. “I never said that.”
“What you’re saying is we have Oliver placed at the scene of the crime right before it happened,” Daniel clarified.
“And he’s nowhere to be found now,” Nick added.
“We couldn’t find him last night either,” I said. “When we knocked on his door looking for Riley, he wasn’t around. He wasn’t right this morning. He was acting like nothing was wrong. When I told him about Riley, he didn’t even blink.”
Nick clicked his tongue. “I can’t imagine the pain he must be going through right now.”
“But what’s his motive?” Daniel freed his ever-present notebook from his back pocket, took the pen from behind his ear, and began scribbling his theories. “Why would Oliver want to kill his wife, son, and employees?”
“He has a reason for each,” I pointed out. “He wasn’t with Thelma. According to Liam, they were never in love with each other. Their marriage was arranged to keep King and Queens afloat.”
“It’s true,” Nick said, nodding. “I spoke to Thelma out on the slopes every once in a while. She often lamented getting married.”
“Tyler was a living reminder of their mistake,” I went on. “Riley told me Oliver ignored Tyler for most of his life.”
“Tyler was the spitting image of Thelma too,” Nick added. “Imagine Oliver seeing his wife reflected in his son’s face every day. Not to mention how terribly behaved Tyler was. Oliver will have a lot less trouble without him.”
Daniel’s pen flew across the notebook. “And Liam was having an affair with Oliver’s wife. Oliver could have found out about it and wanted revenge.”
“But what about Riley?” I asked. “Oliver loves her.”
“Didn’t you say he didn’t care she was left outside in the cold?” Nick said.
“Yes, but he’s not right in the head,” I answered. “It wasn’t like he didn’t care. It was like he didn’t even hear me say it, like he’s not processing the information the right way.”
“Probably because he was thinking about how to take me down next,” Nick grumbled.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Daniel said. “Nick, why would you think you’re Oliver’s next target?”
Nick tapped his cane like an offbeat drummer. “Isn’t it obvious? Over the past year, White Oak has steadily been taking Oliver’s business. You can’t blame the guests. Our amenities are unparalleled. King and Queens can’t keep up. Oliver’s been on my case since we started building. I’m part of the reason his life is in such shambles right now. If I’m being honest, I haven’t felt safe in this resort since I arrived here.”
“Are we all agreed that Oliver is at the top of our list?” I asked. “Because if he’s our number one suspect, I say we restrain him for the safety of everyone else in this hotel.”
“And if he’s innocent?” Daniel said. “This isn’t Monopoly. You can’t throw people in jail by chance.”
“Well, maybe he’ll roll doubles on his next turn and get out of jail free.”
Nick chuckled, but Daniel didn’t find the joke amusing. “Hilarious,” he said without a hint of a smile. “The last time I put someone under house arrest in the hotel, he turned up dead the next day, so you can understand why I’m hesitant.”
“There are three of us this time,” I said. “We can take turns keeping watch. No one falls asleep on the job, and Oliver is never unattended. Agreed?”
It was like drawing invisible lines around us to form a triangle of trust. In reality, not a single one of us knew if this was the right decision, but Oliver was unbalanced and potentially dangerous. Nick and Daniel weren’t at the top of my list to ally with—after all, I hardly knew either one of them—but I needed a plan to keep Riley and Jazmin safe while I worked out the mystery surrounding King and Queens. Both Nick and Daniel brought something important to the table. Daniel’s detective experience would come in handy, and so would Nick’s knowledge of Crimson Basin’s history.
“I’m in,” said Nick, putting his hand out, palm down, in the center of our triangle like we were a three-man sports team.
I placed my hand in too, on top of Nick’s. “Daniel? Are we doing this?”
Daniel eyed our stacked hands then tapped mine quickly in acquiescence. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go get Oliver. Stay behind me when we do. I have a feeling he’s not going to take too kindly to this.”
Nick and I fell into step behind Daniel as we headed to Oliver’s room. As we passed the way to the old wing, I suppressed a shudder. Just a few rooms over, King and Queens’s haunted history waited for me to return to it. Why me? After all these years, how come Odette had never been able to find a psychic that actually understood her? I expected the feeling of unease to fade as we continued to Oliver’s room, but it grew tight and solid like a rock in my stomach. Daniel knocked on the door to Oliver’s suite.
“Mr. Watson?” he called. “It’s Detective Hawkins. Can you please come out? I need to speak with you.”
When there was no reply, Daniel looked at us and shrugged.
“Maybe he’s out and about,” suggested Nick.
“Which means everyone is in danger,” I added. “If he’s the killer, that is.”
The door swung open, causing all three of us to jump back. Oliver wore his signature customer service smile. When he spoke, it sounded forced and vacant, as if a ventriloquist were controlling him like a dummy.
“Good evening, guests,” he said, stepping into the hallway. I pressed myself against the wall to make room for everyone. “What can I help you with today?”
“Well, Mr. Watson,” Daniel said. “Unfortunately, you’re under arrest.”
A faint look of surprise crossed Oliver’s face as if he could not possibly fathom why Daniel would say such a thing. Then, like a light switch clicking on, his expression morphed into one of determination. He dropped low and heaved Daniel out of his way with an impressive shoulder tackle. Daniel, not expecting such a level of resistance, stumbled into Nick, who barely managed to catch himself with his cane. I grabbed Oliver’s suit jacket as he passed me, but he slipped his arms from the outermost layer and left me holding the silhouette of his ghost. For one stunned second, the three of us watched him sprint away, his old athleticism breaching the surface. Then we barreled after him.
It was hard to run three people deep in the narrow hallway, especially when one of your comrades was a burly, broad-shouldered detective and the other kept accidentally whacking your shins with his cane. I drew ahead, my long legs speedier than Daniel and Nick’s. Nick fell behind, always a victim to his bad leg. In the long run, it didn’t matter. When we arrived in the lobby, Oliver was nowhere to be found.
“Damn it,” I said, gasping for breath. “We lost him.”
“He knows this hotel better than most,” Nick added. Despite his old injury, he was in rather good shape. He had yet to break a sweat. “He could be anywhere.”
“Running was more or less an admission of guilt,” Daniel said. “We need to find him as soon as possible, before he does something rash.”
Right after the words left his mouth, the resort plunged into total darkness. The lights switched off and the constant hum of the heater powered down. Night had fallen early, and the snow on the ceiling blocked the moonlight from getting inside.
“Great,” Daniel grumbled. “We’ve lost power.”
“It wasn’t the storm,” I said.
“What are you talking about? Of course it was.”
“No, she’s right,” Nick added. “If the storm knocked out the power, the backup generators would’ve come on.”
Daniel appeared puzzled. “Then why are we sitting around in the dark?”
“Because Oliver wants us to.”
9
We gathered everyone in the Eagle’s View for an emergency meeting. It was the best lit place in the resort, thanks to the giant window. Though the snow was thick, the full moon reflected off the white canvas and bounced inside, casting a silvery glow across the lounge. We raided the resort’s stash to illuminate the lodge with workmen’s lamps that grew hotter the longer they stayed on. We passed out flashlights as everyone arrived. The employees huddled in their regular groups. Karli and Matisse made hot chocolate and tea for everyone, along with snacks to compensate for the lack of real dinner food. Imani and Ari were less tense than they had been in the last few days. They held hands in full view of everyone else. Liam wore his big King and Queens snow jacket, the one he usually reserved for working at the ski lift. I guessed he was still feeling cold from his stay in the storage freezer. On the upside, he looked to be in better spirits now that we were all together. Jazmin and Riley arrived last. Riley looked bulkier than usual, the front of her sweatshirt bulging. When I hugged her, something hard and plastic pressed against my chest.
“Still hoarding cameras?” I asked in an undertone. A GoPro dropped from her grasp, but I caught it before it hit the floor and shoved it up her sleeve. “Be careful. This isn’t going to be fun.”
Jazmin hugged me next. “What happened?” she whispered. “Why has the power gone out?”
“We’r
e going to explain everything,” I told her. “No matter what happens, you have to promise to listen to me, okay?”
“I promise.”
The employees were restless. Daniel, Nick, and I had appointed ourselves the de facto leaders of the group. Whether that made everyone comfortable or scared was yet to be determined.
“What’s going on?” Matisse, ever the instigator, asked. He aimed his flashlight into Daniel’s face. “Did the storm knock out the power?”
Daniel squinted but refused to raise a hand to block the beam. “Can you put that thing down? My eyes are watering.”
Matisse lowered the flashlight, pointing it across the floor instead. Dusty gray footprints decorated the red carpet.
“Everybody, listen up,” Daniel said. “As you’ve probably noticed, the resort’s gone dark. It’s not the storm. It’s Oliver.”
Riley, sitting in a booth next to Jazmin, perked up. Her hands remained hidden beneath the table. If I knew her as well as I thought I did, she was recording our entire meeting. “My dad turned off the power?”
“That’s what we think,” Daniel said. “This next part might be hard for you to hear, Riley. Would you like Lucia to tell you somewhere else in private?”
“I think I know what you’re going to say anyway.”
Daniel smiled sadly at her. He didn’t want to break the news of another father disappointing his daughter, a running theme at King and Queens. “We have reason to believe Oliver is responsible for the deaths at this resort. He was not accounted for during any of the incidents, and he has a motive for each murder or attempted homicide.”
Liam immediately turned to Nick. “You told them, didn’t you?”
Nick folded his hands behind his back, assuming an open, innocent stance. “I believe Detective Hawkins and Miss Star had alternate sources. I did not betray you.”
“Alternate sources?” Liam scoffed. “You mean Madame Lucia’s hidden cameras set up all over the place?”
Riley fumbled with her sweater, no doubt pulling the cameras to safety. The other employees talked over one another, demanding answers.
