by Kathi Daley
“So this man, William’s assistant, decides that he’s done waiting for his payday and takes matters into his own hands by pushing Henri down the stairs,” Shelby said. “Why?”
“I suppose the assistant must have figured that once Henri was out of the way, the heirs would be happy to sell the estate for a very generous payday,” Sage answered. “It is worth a whole lot of money. Even without Henri’s other assets, selling this estate would make us all multimillionaires. I can see why the person who killed Henri assumed we’d sell, assuming, of course, that someone actually did kill Henri.”
“There’s no way I’ll ever agree to sell to Brighton and Baxter for any amount of money,” Sierra said.
“I agree,” Sage said. “If we do decide to sell, we’ll find someone we’re all comfortable with.”
Shelby looked at Colt. “So it sounds like you’re saying that after this assistant pushed Henri, William decided to blackmail him, and the assistant turned around and killed William as well.”
Colt nodded. “Based on what Troy Winkelman said, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Keep in mind, however, that all we really have is Troy’s opinion as to the series of events leading to both deaths. So far, none of this has been proven.”
“It seems sketchy to me that this assistant of William’s would know what he did but wouldn’t know who it was that William had been working with,” Scot said.
I found I had to agree with that assessment.
“If Troy was correct and someone was working with William, and if that person wasn’t Troy, my guess is that it might have been Ned Ballard,” Colt said. “It sounds like Ned stood to make a lot of money selling his land if Henri sold to Brighton and Baxter. A lot more money than he could have gotten from anyone interested in his property in isolation.”
“But you haven’t spoken to him yet?” Shelby asked.
“No. I’m going to head over there next. I didn’t call ahead because I want to talk to Ned before he has time to work out his answers, so I’m not even sure he’s at home. But if he isn’t, I’ll track him down.”
“Can any of you think of anyone else who might profit from Henri’s death?” I asked.
All three sisters answered that they couldn’t think of anyone.
After we visited with the sisters for a while longer, we left to stop by Ballard’s place, but he wasn’t home. Colt had a strong feeling that it would be best to catch him unaware, so he decided to stop by later rather than leaving a message for him. Colt wanted to check in with his office, and I wanted to check in with Georgia, so he dropped me back at the cottage, promising to be by later to spend the evening with me.
When I arrived at the cottage, I found Georgia with Tanner. “You have a puppy,” I said as I knelt down on the floor to greet the fluffy golden retriever, who couldn’t be more than eight weeks old.
“Abby, meet Sasha,” Tanner introduced.
“Is she going to be a search and rescue dog?” I asked as the puppy licked my face with such enthusiasm that one might suspect it was covered in peanut butter.
“That’s the plan,” Tanner answered as I stood up, taking the puppy with me. “Normally, I don’t accept pups quite this young into the program, but this pup is special.”
“How so?” I asked as I set her onto the floor, where she promptly jumped on Ramos, who laid down to provide easy access to the puppy, who he was clearly fascinated with.
“One of the first dogs I placed with a first responder, was a dog named Rosie with a forest ranger named Jimmy Keller. Rosie is an older dog who will need to retire in a year or two so Jimmy wanted to start working on a replacement. Sasha here is from the same bloodline as Rosie, so Jimmy worked out a deal with the breeder and has asked me to train her. It’s a bit of a risk since Sasha is much too young for a thorough evaluation, but she seems bright and energetic, and I know she has a solid ancestry, so I agreed to take her on.”
“She’s so cute,” I said as I watched Rufus glaring at her from the sofa. Molly, who seemed fascinated by Sasha, but a bit uncertain what to do with the small tornado, settled into a corner behind the sofa and watched from a distance. “How long will it be before you know if she has what it takes to be a search and rescue dog?” I asked.
He shrugged. “A lot of dogs wash out during the first six months. If she makes it that far, she has a good chance.”
“And if she doesn’t have what it takes?”
“Then we’ll find her a good home, and we’ll find another dog for Jimmy.”
Ramos laid down on his side and allowed Sasha to climb on his huge head. Despite his size, he really was a gentle dog. He hadn’t been trained as a service dog of any sort, but if he had been, I had a feeling he would have been a good companion or therapy dog.
Later, after Tanner and Sasha left and Georgia returned to the inn, I texted Colt and asked how he was doing. He didn’t text back, which didn’t really concern me since I knew he had a lot to do, but I did hope he wrapped things up in short order so we could have the entire evening to spend together. I couldn’t believe it was only a few more days until Christmas. The month seemed to have flown by. I still had gifts to wrap, so I decided to put on some holiday music, dig out the wrapping paper, and see to that while everyone else in my life seemed to be busy. I was mostly done with my shopping, although I still had a few small things I wanted to get for Georgia, Jeremy, Annabelle, and Nikki. I wasn’t sure about my gift for Colt. I’d ordered him a really nice wool sweater, which I’d paired with leather gloves and a matching wool scarf that I’d found in town. It was a nice enough gift but somewhat impersonal given our relationship dynamic. I’d been trying to come up with something additional that said, “I know you, and I love you,” without being too intimate, but so far, I was coming up blank.
“So what do you think?” I asked Rufus as I held up two bows. “Red or green?”
He got up, walked around in a circle, laid back down, and went back to sleep.
“Red it is,” I said as I placed the bow on the package I’d just wrapped for Nikki. Nikki was easy. She loved clothes, jewelry, and all sorts of accessories. She frequently pointed out items she’d enjoy and even sent links to some of her favorite items. All I’d had to do was check with Tanner and Georgia to make sure they hadn’t selected the same thing, and I was done. Annabelle, who was nine, was easy as well. Jeremy had told me that she wanted a new pair of snowshoes and even provided the brand and size. Georgia really wanted a new food processor that probably cost more than my first car. I rounded out everyone’s main gift with little extras and generally felt good about things other than Colt’s gifts, which were nice but, I just felt like I needed to get him something more.
After I finished wrapping the gifts I’d first carried into the living room, I went back for the gifts I’d purchased for Lacy and Lonnie and their six children. Colt and I planned to have dinner with them on Christmas Eve since we wouldn’t see them on Christmas Day. I’d take their gifts to them then. Jeremy and Annabelle, Tanner and Nikki, Velma and Royce, and Colt planned to join Georgia and me for Christmas Day dinner with the inn’s current guests, so I figured I’d just give them their gifts later that evening.
I was just finishing the last gift I had to wrap when my phone dinged. It was a text from Colt, letting me know that he was chasing down some leads and wasn’t currently available but should be back to the cottage by six o’clock that evening. He asked if I needed him to bring anything from town, so I texted back and told him that I was pretty sure I had everything we’d need and to just come on out when he was ready.
It was an hour before sunset, so once I’d settled all my newly wrapped gifts under the tree, I planned to grab my heavy boots and jacket and head out for a walk. As I moved one of the larger boxes toward the back of the tree, I noticed a small package that was partially hidden by the tree skirt. Pulling the gift out, I looked at the tag which was made out to me. Like the tags included with the cookies, the ornament, the mug, and the snow globe, this tag didn’t ind
icate who the gift was from. I considered leaving it until Christmas, but my curiosity got the better of me. A gorgeous necklace with my birthstone surrounded by diamonds was in the box.
“Who are you?” I whispered, wondering about the Secret Santa that had left gifts every day since Friday. The gifts were personal. Not only had the person leaving them been able to get into the cottage when the dogs were here, but they knew the recipe for my grandma’s Christmas cookies, they knew how the front of the inn looked on the day the ornament was created, they knew about the mug Annie had bought for me years ago, and they knew my birthday. The more I thought about it, the more certain I was that no one on earth would have all the pieces. Annie would know about the mug and the cookies. She also knew my birthday, but there was no way she’d know about the snowmen in front of the inn, plus she wasn’t here to deliver any of these gifts. It really did seem that I had my own Christmas mystery.
Chapter 12
By seven o’clock, I was beginning to get worried. Colt hadn’t shown up, nor had he called or texted to let me know that he was going to be late. Georgia and Jeremy had their hands full with the cocktail party and sit-down dinner they’d planned for the guests, so I hated to bother them with my dilemma. Eventually, I decided to call Peach, Colt’s right-hand woman. If anyone knew where he was, it would be her. After a brief conversation with the woman, she informed me that Colt had left the office around five with plans to stop by the bowling alley to talk to Rupert and then head over to Ned Ballard’s place to see if he was home. After that, he told her he planned to come out to my place where he would be for the rest of the evening. Officer Conroy had the day off, and Officer Dillinger had a Christmas party to attend, so Colt had instructed her to call him if anything came up. When I told her that I’d been trying to call and text him for the past half hour, she volunteered to try on her end. When Peach came up empty, as I had, we both decided it was too early to call out the reinforcements, and we each agreed to let the other know if we heard from him or if he showed up. I guess she could tell that I was worried since she reminded me that it was possible that Colt was running behind and had simply stopped off at home for a shower before coming out to my place.
When the eight o’clock hour arrived, and there was still no word from Colt, I decided to drive out to Ballard’s house to see if anyone was home. Maybe Colt had been running behind schedule, and perhaps he was still there. It was odd that he wouldn’t text me, but maybe his cell battery was low. The longer I tried to convince myself that everything was fine, the more convinced I became that it really wasn’t.
A quick stop at Ballard’s house netted me the information that no one was home. There were tire tracks in the fresh snow on the drive, so I suspected that someone, probably Colt, had been by earlier, but when I arrived, the house was dark, and there wasn’t a vehicle in sight.
I next headed over to the Rosewood estate to check in with the sisters, but it appeared that Scot and the sisters were out as well. I was curious if Colt had made it to the bowling alley, so I headed there next. A brief conversation with Rupert netted me the information that Colt had been by, asking about William. Colt had shared that he planned to head out to Ballard’s house next, but Rupert had suggested that he might want to stop by the Tolley place to speak with Melody Tolley, a woman William had spent time with on occasion, so it was possible that was where he’d gone. I hadn’t met Melody Tolley, nor did I know where she lived, so Rupert gave me directions to her home, which was about half a mile down the highway from the Rosewood estate.
After I spoke to Rupert, I tried Colt’s cell once again. When he still didn’t pick up, I called Georgia. I’d left her a note in the cottage letting her know what I was doing, but I figured she might not have seen it. I didn’t want her to worry if she realized I was missing, and I wanted to ask her if Colt had shown up.
“No, I haven’t seen him,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
I briefly filled her in. “Right now, I’m going to head over to Melody Tolley’s place. If Colt comes by or calls or anything, please have him call me right away.”
“Don’t you think you should have Peach bring the two men who work with Colt in on this rather than going out to the Tolley place on your own?” she asked.
“I’m going to check with Melody and then drive by the Ballard place again. If I don’t find Colt and he hasn’t called or texted, then yes, I’m going to call Peach for reinforcements.”
“Okay. Call me when you get to Melody’s place. I have to admit that I’m getting worried now.”
“Yeah. It isn’t like Colt not to call if he’s tied up. It’ll take me about fifteen minutes to get to Melody’s place. I’ll call you when I get there.”
When I arrived at Melody’s place, the first thing I noticed was that the house was dark. The second thing I noticed was Colt’s truck in the drive. I was about to get out and approach the house when it occurred to me that I should call Peach and Georgia first just in case there was a reason the place was dark, and I ended up needing backup. I reached for my phone and had just hit redial since Georgia was the last one I’d spoken to when a bright light hit me in the eyes. I raised an arm to my face to shield my eyes from the light as Georgia answered. “I’m at Melody’s,” I said just a second before everything went dark.
Chapter 13
“Abby,” I could hear Colt’s voice in the distance. It sounded like he was talking to me from the other end of a tunnel.
“Colt?” I groaned as I suddenly became aware of a throbbing in my head. “What happened? Where are we?”
“Are you okay?” he asked, despite the fact he’d yet to answer the questions I’d asked him.
“I think so. My head hurts, but I can move my arms and legs.” I tried to focus in the dark room. “Where are you?”
“There’s a bed against the wall to the left of the door. I’m handcuffed to it.”
“Handcuffed?” I was still trying to make sense of what was going on. “What’s going on? Why are we here?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked.
I tried to focus, but everything was fuzzy. My head was throbbing, and it felt like there was something wet on my cheek. Tears? I ran my hand up to my forehead. Actually, it felt more like blood.
“Are you tied or chained to anything?” Colt asked. “Can you move around the room?”
Could I? I really wasn’t sure. I slowly stretched my legs out in front of me. They felt okay and didn’t appear to be bound. I next moved both my arms, which also seemed to be free of restraints. “I don’t think I’m tied to anything, but I feel really dizzy. I don’t think I can stand up.”
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“My head is throbbing, but I think I’m fine otherwise.” I tried to look around the room, but it was pitch black. “Where are we?” I asked for at least the third time.
“I’m not sure. I was knocked out, and I woke up here, handcuffed to the headboard of a bed that’s pushed against a wall. There are no windows, and I don’t have my phone or a flashlight. My eyes have adapted somewhat to the dark, but I still can’t see anything.”
“Who put us here?” I groaned as my head continued to pound.
“I think it was Ned Ballard. He was at Melody’s place when I stopped by. At first, I considered myself lucky to find them both in the same place, but then I began asking questions they didn’t want to answer, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in this dark room. I thought I was alone at first, but then I heard you moaning. I’ve been calling out to you for half an hour.”
“Moaning? I don’t remember moaning.”
“I think you may have been moaning while unconscious. Can you make it over to me?”
I ran my hand up to my forehead again. It was still bleeding, although only just a bit. “I don’t know. Like I said, I’m really dizzy. And nauseated. I don’t think I can stand up.”
“Okay, then try crawling over to me. I can’t see the bed I’m cuffed to, so I can’t verify it
’s clean, but the floor must be freezing.”
I honestly hadn’t noticed the cold until Colt mentioned it, but once he had, I began to shiver.
“Abby? Are you still with me?”
“I’m here. I can’t see you, but I can hear your voice. Keep talking, and I’ll try to make my way in that direction.”
It seemed to take forever to make my way across the room, which seemed to be empty with the exception of the bed. At least I hadn’t crawled into any other furniture. Once I reached the bed, I climbed up onto the mattress, where Colt was waiting with one open arm. I realized he wouldn’t be able to wrap his other arm around me as long as he was cuffed to the bed, but just feeling his warmth beneath my cheek as I laid it on his chest was comforting.
“We need to get out of here,” he said after we’d lain quietly together for a few minutes. “If we don’t, we’ll probably freeze before morning, and I’m worried about the amount of blood that seems to be on your head and face.”
I wanted to answer, but I was so tired I just closed my eyes and listened to the sound of Colt’s heartbeat beneath my ear.
“You need to stay awake,” he said in a voice that seemed a bit louder than was necessary.
“I just need to sleep for a few minutes.”
“No. You can’t go to sleep. I need you to talk to me and continue talking to me until we figure out how to get out of this mess. Does anyone know you’re here?”
Did anyone? I tried to think back. “Georgia. I was talking to Georgia when someone shone a light in my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was here.”
“If Ned and Melody knew you were on the phone with Georgia, they probably dropped us off here and fled. It seems unlikely they’d go back to either of their homes. I guess that at this point, we have to hope that here is somewhere close. Somewhere findable.”
“You don’t know where we are?” I asked.
