Stranger's Game

by Colleen Coble

She took comfort from the warmth of her dad’s grip. “I would have stopped her if I’d known.”

  He rose and leaned against the tree trunk where the branches split off. “You say someone knew why Lisbeth was here? It seems preposterous that someone might have killed her for that. There was no mystery to your mom’s death. It was an accident.”

  “You believe it’s all cut-and-dried? There’s no chance of foul play or suicide?”

  “No, honey. It was an accident.”

  Then why did he look away when he tried to reassure her? Torie pressed her fingers to her forehead. But her mother’s death had been a long time ago. How many people who were there that day still lived on Jekyll Island? It seemed a wild-goose chase to Torie. And what good would it do after all these years?

  “I’m sure Lisbeth was murdered, Dad. The ocean terrified her. She wouldn’t have gone in willingly. She nearly drowned when she was five. I remember it. She refused to go on a boat after that. I’ve never seen her put so much as a toe into the water. In all these years, she’s never overcome that terror of the water. Something much worse is going on here.”

  He didn’t answer for a long moment. She jumped when the fireworks exploded overhead and flooded the night sky with blooming color, then the embers bled down to the water. The sight stirred something inside, like a memory shrouded in mist. But it still wouldn’t come.

  Her mother had died on Independence Day. Was it something about the fireworks? She hadn’t watched them in all these years. Maybe there was a reason.

  * * *

  The sky exploded with color in the fireworks finale.

  Beside a twisted tree thrown onto the sand by the waves, Joe sat on a blanket with Hailey on one side and Genevieve on the other. The older woman had changed into gray slacks with a lavender top, and her flats matched her shirt. He’d never seen her in jeans or capris, only skirts and slacks. He supposed she thought if she didn’t look in control, the hotel might suffer. She lived and breathed corporate protocol.

  Hailey jumped and covered her ears as the last, final boom shook the ground. “That was loud!” She leaned against Genevieve, who put her arm around her.

  “So what did you think of Anton when you met him?”

  Joe lifted a brow. “Impressive guy. Seemed to genuinely care about the people who work here. What’s up? You don’t know the meaning of idle chatter, so you’re asking for a reason.”

  The lights in the sky were fading, and people started picking up their blankets to leave. The moonlight showed the older woman’s furrowed brow. “He uses his likability factor well, but don’t let it fool you. There’s a shark hiding behind those smiling teeth.”

  “You sound like you don’t like him. He’s your brother-in-law.”

  “He might be family, but that doesn’t mean anything. I had to fight him tooth and nail for my job here. He thought I should have just gone home to Florida and left hotel life behind. He’s built his empire, but he didn’t want to share it with Lily’s family. I put my heart and soul into this place, and it meant nothing to him.”

  “It must have meant something, or he wouldn’t have agreed to let you stay on.”

  She gave him a withering look. “It was only after I told him Lily would have been ashamed of him that he relented. Luckily, I haven’t had to be around him much since he travels to his other hotels so often. I haven’t seen my niece in eighteen years. Who treats family like that?”

  He loved Genevieve, but he didn’t know the other side of the story. Anton hadn’t seemed the kind of man to toss family aside, not when Joe had seen him talking to the staff in such concerned tones. But his godmother wouldn’t care to hear his views on that, so he said nothing.

  She stood and picked up the picnic basket she’d brought. “I’m going to head back to the hotel.”

  He stood and started to embrace her but backed off when she stiffened. “Talk to you soon.”

  She’d expected him to trash Anton, which wasn’t in his nature. Let her fight her own battles without drawing him into something that had gone on for decades. The intricacies of a longtime feud were more than he wanted to delve into.

  “Aunt Genevieve was mad at you.”

  He chucked his daughter under the chin. “You’ve got a lot of perception, Peanut. She’ll get over it. Ready to go home?”

  She looked past him and her face lit up. “There’s Alexa. Can I go talk to her?”

  “Sure.” He watched his daughter run to talk to a school friend. Her parents waved to him, and he waved back, then turned to look up and down Driftwood Beach. A familiar erect figure walked along the tree line and onto the sand. Torie.

  He wasn’t aware he’d moved until he stood two feet in front of her, blocking her path. “You just get here?”

  She wore a white shirt tucked into gray slacks and carried her heels in her hand. He gestured to them. “You’re always carrying your shoes. Maybe you should consider getting different clothes for living at the beach. We’re pretty casual around here.”

  She glanced at the shoes in her hand. “I do own other clothes, you know. They just aren’t here yet. Tomorrow I should have my other things, and you might see me in jeans.” She patted her white top. “Though I don’t think I have a red, white, and blue shirt.”

  He wouldn’t mind seeing her in jeans that hugged those long legs. The more he was around her, the more he felt the pull of her attraction. Not that she was flirting with him or anything like that. She held herself too aloof for him to imagine she found him attractive in any way.

  She glanced around. “Where’s Hailey?”

  He pointed to his daughter standing with a gaggle of little girls. “Right there.”

  “Ah, I see her now.” Torie waved when Hailey looked their way, and the little girl left her friends and ran to join them.

  Hailey nestled in for a hug with Torie. “I wondered if you were here somewhere. Some people don’t like fireworks.”

  “This is the first time I’ve watched them in a long time,” Torie said. “I’m glad I ran into you, but I’d better get back to the cottage.”

  There was a touch of pathos in her voice that caught Joe’s attention. He knew so little about her. He couldn’t begin to guess how she usually spent the Fourth, but he’d like to learn. It was the first time a woman had intrigued him since Julie had died.

  Chapter 6

  Home to an empty house. Again.

  The sweet aromas of jasmine and roses wafted to Torie’s nose when she inserted her key into the door of her cottage, but the door opened before she could turn the lock. The door stood slightly ajar, but she distinctly remembered locking it.

  Her pulse surged. “Hello? Anyone here?”

  Her chest compressed at the thought someone might be inside, but maybe she was overreacting. It was possible maintenance had come by to tend to something and hadn’t locked up properly.

  Maintenance. Who was she kidding? They wouldn’t come in without informing her. Her dad’s rules were very specific. She stood on the stoop and peered into the cottage, but it was too dark to see more than a few inches inside the door with the way lighting in the area was low and dim.

  She reached inside and felt along the wall, then flipped on the light. The sudden illumination made her blink, and she stood in the open doorway for a minute until her eyes adjusted. She slid her gaze to a giant bouquet on the coffee table.

  Someone had been here. A song played on the Apple TV, and she recognized the tune as “Games People Play.”

  Backing out of the open doorway, she pulled out her phone, but her hands trembled so much she found it hard to call up the number for security.

  “Everything okay?”

  She nearly dropped the phone when a male voice spoke behind her. She whirled to see Joe standing with Hailey in the faint glow of an overhead security light.

  “I was about to call security. Someone broke into my cottage.”

  His smile vanished, and he flagged down an employee Torie had seen before. “Can you ta
ke Hailey to Genevieve for a bit while I handle this?”

  “Sure.” The woman set her hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “We can get ice cream on the way, Hailey.”

  The little girl nodded and tramped down the sidewalk with her toward the lights of the hotel lobby with the American flag in her hand waving in the wind.

  Torie’s heart thudded against her ribs as she stared at the entry. “Someone left flowers. And there’s music playing. The door was ajar when I got here.”

  It wasn’t until his hand grazed the pistol grip in a holster at his waist that she realized he was armed. He worked security at the hotel so that made sense. A bit of her anxiety lifted, and she hung behind him as he pushed the door open wider.

  Joe entered the cottage, but she stayed on the stoop. The enormous bouquet inside drew her attention. It had to have cost quite a lot of money with the masses of exotic flowers mingling with the roses and jasmine. The thing nearly took up the entire coffee table, and the sickeningly sweet aroma made her want to throw up.

  The music jangled her nerves, but she couldn’t make herself move into the house to end the song. The title might mean something so she listened to the familiar words. The lyrics to “Games People Play” made her shudder, and she had to fight a wave of nausea. She clenched her hands so tightly her nails bit into her palms.

  The sharp taste of bile hit her throat, and she stepped back to draw several deep breaths of the night air. Once she felt strong enough, she sidled a few feet closer to the doorjamb.

  Joe leaned over and peered at the card on the flowers. “Don’t come in. I want to check out the house. In fact, why don’t you go get some ice cream with Hailey? I can come find you once it’s clean.”

  She shook her head. “This is not some casual break-in. I need to try to figure out what the intruder is trying to tell me.”

  “What makes you think he’s trying to tell you anything? Maybe you just have a secret admirer.”

  “One who breaks in to leave flowers and turn on ominous music? You know better than that, and I’m not a child. I can handle the truth.”

  The bold words had an immediate effect on her courage, and she stepped into the living room. She verbally ordered the music to stop, but the immediate silence felt worse somehow. As if something or someone in the house waited. And laughed.

  Joe moved through the small space flipping on lights and opening doors. It didn’t take long for him to peer under the beds and into the closets before he rejoined her in the living room. “No one’s here now. How long were you gone?”

  “A couple of hours. Long enough to see the fireworks.”

  Joe had appeared right when she found the break-in. Coincidence? She didn’t want to be the suspicious sort who saw danger behind every bush, but it was odd he’d appeared the moment she needed help.

  If Lisbeth had shown more caution, she might not be dead right now, and Torie had to stay alert. Joe seemed the dependable sort, but a handsome face and a cute daughter could hide all kinds of darkness. She didn’t intend to be a victim. Lisbeth’s killer had to be brought to justice.

  Joe moved toward the door. “I’ll report this to the state police. You could stay at the hotel if you’re afraid to sleep here tonight.”

  She forced a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. You checked out everything, and I’ll lock up behind you. Maybe it was a prank. Someone trying to rattle me.”

  His green eyes narrowed. “You just got here, Torie. Why would someone want to rattle you?”

  She gave a casual shrug. “I have no idea, but what else could it be? Like you said, I’m a stranger here.”

  The skeptical twist to his lips didn’t change, but he didn’t argue. “Well, I’ll go get my daughter then.”

  “Ah, you must know the hotel manager well if you sent Hailey to her.”

  “She’s my godmother. I’ve known her all my life.” He pulled a card from his pocket. “Here’s my number. If you hear anything, my place is just down the walkway.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said again and turned toward the door. Everything in her wanted to beg him to stay, but he was as much of a stranger as everyone else here.

  This was her task to accomplish, and she could only pray she was up to the challenge.

  * * *

  The dark pressed in on her, and Torie went from room to room closing the blinds and curtains, but she still felt eyes on her.

  Silly, she knew. No one was here. She stared at the vase of flowers and wrinkled her nose. The cloying scent overpowered her, and she couldn’t stand it. Carrying the heavy vase, she opened the trash drawer and dumped the flowers inside, then washed the water down the kitchen sink. But even with the flowers in the garbage bin, she could still smell them.

  She eyed the back door, but the thought of stepping out into the dark made her quail. This was why she was here. Suck it up.

  She tightened her jaw and pulled out the trash drawer, then quickly tied the bag up with a wire twisty. Holding it away from her, she marched to the door and flipped on the outside light. The dim glow did little to reassure her, but she unlocked the latch and stepped through the door. The trash bin was to her right, and she hurried to deposit the bag in it, then practically ran back to the kitchen.

  As she started to enter, she heard Tennessee Ernie Ford’s deep voice singing “Sixteen Tons.” The sound rooted her in the doorway, halfway between inside and outside. Her throat constricted, and she struggled to breathe. Mom had been a huge Tennessee Ernie Ford fan and had played this song a lot. Her phone was inside, so she couldn’t even call Joe. His place was two cottages down though, so she turned to her left and ran around the side of the house. Once she reached the street, she felt her chest ease, and she was able to draw in sweet air.

  His lights were on even though it was ten. Should she ring the bell and risk awakening Hailey, or should she just knock? The blinds were open, and she spotted him sitting on the sofa with a book in his hand. A tap on the window should get his attention, so she tapped her knuckles against the glass.

  He looked up and his face tightened with concern. He bolted to his feet and rushed to throw open the door. “Are you okay? What’s happened?”

  “The music started playing by itself. A different song.” She told him the sequence of events. “I didn’t see anyone though.”

  “Come in.” He stepped aside and looked both ways down the street as she moved past before he locked the door behind her.

  “I left my phone inside, then remembered you’d pointed out your cottage. I’m sorry to bother you so late.”

  “It’s no bother. I was awake.” He gestured for her to have a seat.

  She settled on the sofa, an overstuffed one clad in a navy plaid. The room held very little in the way of decoration, just some pictures of Hailey. It had a similar floor plan to hers.

  “If you stay here with Hailey, I’ll go take a look.”

  “Of course.”

  He opened the door. “Lock it behind me.”

  She nodded and did as he said. Once the lock clicked, she wandered around the room to have something to do. If this house was like hers, Hailey’s room would be to the right, so she went down the hall and peeked in on the little girl, who slept peacefully with her hand thrown up over her head. She was half uncovered, so Torie tugged the pink-and-white quilt up to her shoulders, then kissed her forehead.

  She’d never been around kids much, but something inside her had responded to Hailey immediately. Maybe it was that their circumstances were so similar with her losing her mother too. They were kindred souls, though Hailey’s mother had likely died of an illness. Joe had never said.

  She turned at a sound and saw Joe standing in the doorway. Tiptoeing out of the room, she shut the bedroom door behind her. “I was just checking on her. She didn’t wake up.”

  “Thanks.” He ran his hand through his thick brown hair. “I didn’t find anything in your place. The music wasn’t even playing, and the doors were all shut.”

 
“Even the back door? I left it open when I ran down here.”

  “It was shut and locked.”

  “I’m not crazy. It really happened.”

  “I never said it didn’t.” He took her arm and steered her back down the hall to the sofa. “You’ve got all that electronic stuff in there. Apple TV responds to voice commands. Could it be controlled with a remote?”

  She sank onto the sofa’s cushion. “Sure.”

  “Do you know where it is? Maybe the guy took it or programmed another one to the same frequency.”

  “Possible.” She gave a shaky laugh. “I’m in IT. I should have thought of that first.”

  “It’s hard to think when you’re scared. Is there any significance to you in the music itself? ‘Sixteen Tons’ lyrics mean anything to you?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve heard it but that’s about it. My mom was a Tennessee Ernie Ford fan.”

  “It’s very strange.” He gestured to the other side of the room. “You can sleep in my bed, and I can bunk on the sofa.”

  She got to her feet. “Absolutely not. Now that I know it’s someone playing a harmless prank, I’m not frightened. Thank you for figuring it out.”

  He called after her, but she rushed out the door before her resolve weakened. She held the fates of thousands of workers in her hand. She knew the hotel business inside and out and could hold her own in a boardroom full of executives. So why did this situation make her feel weak when she knew she was strong?

  Torie had to remember who she was and why she was here.

  Chapter 7

  The start to Joe’s workweek was a welcome respite from the weekend, but he’d found himself wondering how Torie was all morning. It made him a little short-tempered with his sea lion, Simon.

  Joe gave a lazy kick with his fins and swam close to a sunken ship teeming with fish. Best-case scenario would be if he didn’t see the big sea lion coming. Usually Simon was like a bull in a china shop. He wasn’t good at a sneak attack, and the last thing Joe wanted was for his favorite mammal to be injured or killed by a hostile diver in a real-world situation.