Early Check Out

by Diane Capri

  “Look, let’s all be calm here.” I took a small step toward Hannah. “Put the dog down, and we can talk all this out.”

  She made a face. “You work for the sheriff?” Her agitation was scaring Duchess. The dog started to whimper in earnest. If she hurt that dog even one iota, I could kiss my job goodbye.

  “I don’t work for the sheriff. I’m just a concerned citizen.” I took another tiny step forward. “I don’t want to see you two throw your lives away.”

  “We’ll go to jail for life,” Hannah said. I could hear the waver in her voice. She was on the verge of something.

  “Not necessarily. Cases like these aren’t always cut-and-dry.” I could almost reach out and grab Duchess, but I didn’t want to spook Hannah and risk her crushing the poor pooch.

  “It was an accident!” Todd shouted. “The mean old witch was hitting Hannah with her cane. Hannah defended herself, and Mrs. Walker fell. That’s all. I swear.”

  I glanced over at Todd. He was bouncing from one foot to the other, clearly anxious and distraught.

  “You need to talk to the sheriff, Todd. Tell him your side. Running away is not the answer. You’ll be on the run for the rest of your life. It’ll be impossible to live somewhere else with this hanging over you.”

  “Don’t listen to her!” Hannah shouted. “We can do it. Let’s go now!”

  She went to turn, and I grabbed her arm and snatched Duchess. I bent to place the dog on the ground and out of the way when Todd rushed toward me. He looked like a raging linebacker intending to knock me onto the cement.

  Before he could reach me, though, he was tackled to the ground by Sheriff Jackson. I don’t know where he came from, but he moved like lightning, that was for sure. He flipped the kid over and straddled his back to put the cuffs on. None too gently, I noticed.

  I thought for a second that Hannah was going to bolt, but she didn’t. She just stood there looking down at her boyfriend and started to sob. I felt a bit sorry for her. It was clear—now that I was next to her and she wasn’t smothered in makeup—that she’d suffered a few hits to her body. She had bruises on her upper arms, on her neck, and I could see the bruises that lingered on her cheek and just above her eye.

  When the sheriff was done with Todd, he stood and handcuffed Hannah, a bit more gently than he had with Todd. He recited their rights to them after they were both secured and then sat her on the ground next to Todd.

  He came over to me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  He looked me over, obviously not believing me. To his credit, I was often lying when I said I was fine. No one is ever really fine. I was shaken but didn’t want to admit it. I’d put myself in danger, once again. In my defense, though, I’d done it to save Duchess.

  The dog sniffed at my feet, then looked up at me and woofed. I reached down and picked her up. She licked my face. What a little sweetie she was.

  Sheriff Jackson let loose a long, loud sigh. “This time I’m driving you straight to the hotel. No more pit stops.”

  I didn’t argue. Pit stops seemed to be my demise.

  Chapter 31

  Instead of waiting for the sheriff to book Todd and Hannah at the station—I imagined it would take some time and I had to get Duchess home—I called Ginny to come pick me up. Sheriff Jackson had insisted. He didn’t want me walking back alone.

  I could’ve argued with him. I’d caught Mrs. Walker’s killer, so I wasn’t in danger anymore. But I had a feeling it was more than just that. He probably didn’t want me to stumble upon another crime and embroil us all in another case. He kept telling me that Frontenac Island had never experienced a crime wave before I came to live here. Like it was my fault or something.

  When Ginny picked me up in the golf cart, she asked me a ton of questions during the drive to the hotel. I managed to fill her in on most of it. I didn’t want her to worry unnecessarily, so I omitted some parts, like Todd trying to attack me.

  “Okay, tell me more about this thing with Daniel.” She smacked me in the arm. “I can’t believe you kept it to yourself. I want details.”

  “Not much to tell. He’s sweet, and I like him.”

  “Tell me again about kissing him. Were there tongues involved?”

  I laughed. “I’d rather not say.”

  Once at the hotel, I made my way to the Frontenac Suite to return Duchess and drop off the stuff from the pharmacy.

  “You were gone more than an hour,” Mrs. Garfinkel said the moment she opened the door. She didn’t look too pleased.

  “I know. I apologize. We had a bit of a detour.” Duchess happily trotted inside, then found her bed and promptly curled up and closed her eyes. “She did a lot of running, but she made a little dog friend named Lulu,” I explained coyly.

  She eyed me for a moment and then glanced down at Duchess, already snoozing. “Are you able to take her out a couple times a week?”

  I smiled. “I’ll make sure to put it on my schedule.”

  “Excellent.” She handed me an envelope and closed the door.

  I fully admit to peeking inside the envelope the second I was alone. There were a few hundreds inside. A contribution to my “moving into an apartment” fund. Which reminded me that I needed to talk to Samuel Park about my job security.

  I marched to the office and knocked. I could hear Lois talking. I knocked again, and she opened the door.

  “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting.” I peered inside the office and saw that she was alone. “Were you on the phone?”

  “No. Why?”

  “I thought I heard you talking to someone,” I replied, hesitant to confront her now that she’d denied the phone conversation.

  “I was talking to Henry about the Flower Festival. The festival was always his favorite event of the season,” she said, as if discussing things with her dead husband’s ghost was as normal as talking to anyone else. Which, for her, it was. The rest of the Park family was worried about her sanity because of that very thing, but Lois didn’t seem to care. She was the sole owner of the Park Hotel now, and she let them all know she would do precisely as she pleased.

  I was too tired to take on that particular issue at the moment, so I nodded and backed off. “No reason. I’m looking for Samuel.”

  “I’m pretty sure he’s out on the golf course with Casey again.”

  “Thanks.”

  I was about to leave when Lois said, “Good work with Mrs. Garfinkel, Andi. I think she has taken a shine to you. Henry’s really pleased.”

  Not quite sure how to respond to praise from a ghost, I simply said, “Uh, thanks. I like her, too. She has spunk.”

  Lois smiled, “She said the same thing about you.”

  I left Lois and went to the golf course. I should’ve waited for Samuel to finish his game and come back to the hotel. But I wasn’t feeling very complacent right now. I was determined. Spunky, even.

  After inquiring at the clubhouse about Samuel’s tee time, I jumped into a cart and set out on the course. Estimating the time for two men to play a hole, I raced the cart toward the ninth hole. I found them just about to tee off on ten.

  “Andi, what are you doing here?” Samuel asked. “Is there an emergency at the hotel?”

  “No, nothing like that.” I glanced over at Casey, who was casually leaning on his club, looking quite smug and satisfied for some reason. “I know this is a bit unorthodox, but I need to talk to you about my position at the hotel.”

  He frowned. “What about it?”

  “I’m planning to rent a place in the village so I can have my cats with me, but I need to know that I won’t be looking for another job.” I glanced at Casey with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  Samuel nodded, realizing what I was hinting at. “Honestly, Andi, I wasn’t happy when Lois took you on. And then all the trouble that ensued practically the minute you arrived and hasn’t let up. But Lois wanted to help Ginny because you’re friends and you were in a pickle.”

  I opened my mo
uth to argue my worth, but his look cut me off.

  “You’ve proven yourself. The staff likes you, the guests like you. You have the potential to be a concierge worthy of the Park Hotel.”

  Puffing out my chest, I smiled at the backhanded compliment. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t get too excited. The fact is that Casey has only been on a leave of absence. His job is promised to him when he’s ready to come back to work.”

  My face fell, and Casey’s lit up. He’d been eavesdropping on what we were discussing. He walked over to join us.

  “It’s really too bad,” Samuel continued, “that we can’t have two concierges at the hotel. Just seems like that might be excessive. We really only have a need for one, I think.”

  Casey clapped Samuel on the back. “I have an idea! Andi and I could play this hole for the job.” He laughed. “Longest drive wins.”

  Samuel chuckled along with him.

  Ha ha ha.

  “Okay,” I said as I drew out a club from Samuel’s set. “You’re on.”

  Casey made a face. “I was only joking.”

  “I’m not. Do you want to go first, or shall I?”

  He looked at Samuel, who shrugged. “I’ll go.”

  He marched to the tee, set his pretty little ball on top, and then positioned himself. He had good form, and for a second, I questioned my decision. Then he swung. The crack of the club hitting the ball echoed around us. The ball tore through the air and landed on the green. Which would have been great if we were playing the hole. But we weren’t.

  Casey gave me a satisfied smile and gestured to the tee. “Your turn.”

  I marched over, put my ball down, set up, and swung a perfect arc. I didn’t even have to watch my ball soar to know that I’d hit farther. I saw the stunned looks on Casey and Samuel’s faces, which was more than enough confirmation for me.

  I handed the club back to Samuel. “I’ll see you back at the hotel.”

  When I jumped into my cart, Casey was already blustering, “We weren’t really playing for the job, right, Sam? Just a joke, that’s all.”

  Samuel frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Casey. But a bet is a bet.”

  “What? You can’t be serious,” Casey sputtered.

  “I’m old-fashioned, son. I come from a time when a man’s word means something. I’m sure you already know that,” Samuel replied.

  “Yes, of course, but—”

  “I promised you we’d hold your job open, but you took that promise and stomped on it,” Samuel said. “I’m sorry. Maybe we can figure out something else when you’re ready to come back to work.”

  I drove away before I could hear any more of Casey’s pleading. When I turned the corner out of sight, I fist-pumped the air and shouted, “Yes!” which became a full-blown cackle of joy. The kind of joy I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

  The job was mine. No more worrying about Casey. No more tip-toeing around Samuel, either. Samuel believed I was good at my job. He’d keep me on even when Casey came back. Man, that all felt good. All because I’d hit a golf ball farther than the insufferable Casey Cushing.

  Of course, just because Samuel agreed I could keep the job now didn’t mean my place was secure forever. Samuel liked Casey, no question about that. He’d be looking for reasons to push me aside. All I had to do was not give him an opening. I could do that. Couldn’t I?

  By the time I got the golf cart parked and headed toward the hotel, I was already feeling bad about Casey losing his livelihood. Interesting possibility about two concierges, though. Surely that could work. I would call other high-end hotels to see how we could do it. We were definitely busy enough in the summer to justify it. If we shared the job, I could breathe a little easier, too.

  I turned the cart around and retraced the path to the tenth hole. I parked on the path and walked toward where Samuel and Casey were talking on the fairway. They both looked up, surprised to see me again so soon no doubt.

  “What now, Andi?” Casey said.

  I ignored him and spoke to Samuel instead. “I was thinking about the two concierges idea. I think we could make that work, if you’re both willing.”

  Casey’s mouth fell open. “You’d be open to that?”

  “Sure. This job is not easy. Lots of times, I could use some help. Couldn’t you?”

  “Well, uh…”

  “I’m not sure it would work, but I love that answer, Andi.” Samuel’s lips widened into a grin that lit up his whole face. “Casey’s always been like a grandson to me. There’s really nowhere else he might be a good fit at the Park. This kills two birds with one stone. Although maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘kill’ around you, Andi.”

  We all got a good laugh out of that one until I said, “Okay. It’s settled then. I’ll do some research to find out how this might work. And we can talk about it more later. We’re holding up the speed of play for those guys behind you.”

  “Thanks, Andi,” Casey said toward my back as I left the fairway and returned to the golf cart. I gave him a little wave in response without turning around.

  I parked the cart again and walked toward my suite. My phone vibrated inside my purse. I took it out, smacking myself when I remembered that I had put it on silent. It was the third call from Daniel.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “You do know how to keep a guy on his toes, I’ll give you that.”

  I laughed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What was going on?”

  “Well, you know that guy we followed to the pawn shop?”

  “Am I going to want to hear the rest of this story?”

  “Probably not.” I chuckled. “But the good news is, I solved the crime and didn’t get hurt in the process.”

  “I bet Sheriff Jackson was happy about that.”

  I frowned. “The solving part, or the not getting hurt part?”

  “The solving part.” He was silent for a moment and then continued. “But I’m sure he was happy that you weren’t hurt, either.”

  “Right. Yes.”

  For the next few minutes, we chatted about seeing each other again and finding the time to do that. We both had busy schedules, but Daniel promised to call me later to figure out when we were both free, and he could either come over to the island or I could go to the mainland.

  When I reached my suite, I was feeling content. Tired, but content. I planned to pour myself a glass of wine, run a bath, and relax for a couple of hours. Maybe I’d even read in the bathtub. Except last time I did that, I dropped the book into the water. So maybe I’d wait until I was out of the bath to read.

  I kicked off my shoes in the small foyer and decided to check in with the sheriff to make sure everything had gone as planned with Todd and Hannah.

  I dug out my phone and dialed the number.

  “Why are you calling me Andi? You couldn’t possibly have gotten into trouble already. You just left an hour ago.”

  “No, no trouble. Just wanted to see if everything went okay.”

  “I know how to do my job.”

  “Sheriff, relax. Not everything is a critique about your job or how you do it. I just wanted…” I sighed and pulled my hair out of my ponytail. My scalp ached. “I don’t know what I wanted, to be honest. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  “Hannah admitted pushing Mrs. Walker down the stairs on the record. She claims it was an accident, self-defense. Todd was a witness to the event. He confirms her story. And I’m leaning toward believing her. She’s pretty bruised up. We’ll take pictures and compare them to Mrs. Walker’s cane, but it looks like the old woman beat on her pretty good,” the Sheriff replied.

  “I think maybe Mrs. Walker came upon Hannah stealing something of hers upstairs, and she reacted. From what I’ve learned, she wasn’t a very nice woman, though I wouldn’t be too thrilled to find out someone was stealing from me, either. She probably hit that girl as hard as she could, and Hannah pushed her away in defense,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s my
thinking as well.”

  “What will happen to them, do you think?” I pulled at a thread on my pants. I wasn’t feeling all that content anymore.

  “They’ll serve time for the thefts, for sure. Maybe for the drug dealing, too. Todd has a prior conviction. Hannah’s record is clean, so if she gets a good lawyer, she might get away with a couple of years.”

  I asked, “And what about Colleen?”

  “Colleen was there after Todd, but she didn’t go into the house far enough to see the body. Too bad, in a way. Might have solved the case a lot sooner,” he replied.

  I shook my head. I knew justice would be served, but sometimes it just didn’t feel all that righteous.

  “Thanks, Sheriff.”

  “Hey, Andi?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t stumble over any more bodies, okay? I haven’t had a day off since you arrived on the island.”

  I chuckled. “I’ll try not to.”

  After we hung up, I got up and went to the balcony windows and looked out at the view. It was so beautiful here. I was blessed to have been able to move here and work. Not everyone was so lucky. This got me thinking about Peter. I felt like he was a victim in all this, and I wondered how, if at all, I could help him. I’d make some calls tomorrow.

  But now…now it was time for me to relax.

  I walked into the bathroom and started filling the tub with hot water. I’d add a little lavender for scent. Before I could strip off my clothes and get my robe on, there was a knock at the door. I really hoped it wasn’t Samuel or Lois wondering if I could do them just one more tiny favor for the hotel. I was “favored” out.

  I opened the door to find Lane standing there with another stunning bouquet of flowers. “These came for you.” Without waiting for an invitation, he brought them in and settled them on my coffee table. It was a similar arrangement as before.

  “Did you see who delivered them?”

  He thought for a moment and then frowned. “No, actually, I didn’t. They were at the front counter with your name on the delivery sheet.”

  I don’t know why, but my hands shook as I reached for the little white card nestled in the pink and purple flowers. I opened the tiny envelope that had my name scrolled in cursive across it. I pulled out the card, and my hand began to shake as I read it.