Death Checks Inn (Aspen Valley Inn Series Book 1)

by Sara Robbins

  He decided not to since that would make it obvious that he had watched Lacey enter the code. Better, that no one knew that it wasn’t really a secret.

  He was preoccupied and didn’t notice that he wasn’t the only one watching Charlotte and Lacey drive away.

  Chapter 21

  It was quite late when Charlotte’s car pulled into the circular driveway of the Inn. They had really enjoyed an evening of no drama, good food and lots of laughter.

  Charlotte offered to come in with her but Lacey thought that idea was ridiculous.

  “Go on home,” she urged Charlotte. “Remember Wyatt will be calling to check up on me later.”

  Charlotte watched as her sister entered the front door and then flicked the deck lights to let her know she was okay. Charlotte drove away humming to herself.

  Lacey checked her watch; Wyatt was most likely still working since he was coordinating all the information that was coming in from the other jurisdictions.

  She felt light and carefree for the first time in too many days. She decided to go on up to her apartment and take a long leisurely soak in the giant claw foot tub she had in her private bathroom.

  She quickly checked all the doors and windows on the first floor. After making sure that everything was secure, she went over to her new alarm system keypad.

  She entered the code she had chosen and when the signal that let her know everything was armed properly sounded she headed upstairs with a satisfied smile.

  Pink-cheeked and relaxed after her fragrant bath she climbed into her bed and opened her laptop. She wanted to keep a log of each guests stay. Noting which excursions they had taken, food preferences and any special needs she had discovered. She had set up a software program to document this information easily. She was happy that she could try the system out with real guest information.

  She connected her digital camera into the port and began the download. She planned to match the photos taken this week with the written report of each guests visit. She liked the idea that she could use these photos when she sent thank you cards and invitations to encourage her guests to return. These would be a tangible reminder of the wonderful time they had while staying at the Inn. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

  As she was waiting for the download to finish, her cell phone rang, she answered quickly, excited to talk with Wyatt. They spent at least half an hour sharing the usual couple small talk. This included a lot of flirting and giggles from Lacey. They were both in a hurry to build on the closeness they had developed over the last few days. After much discussion about where to go on their first official date, they warmly ended the phone call with a promise to meet for coffee tomorrow morning at the Elkville Café.

  After hanging up she smiled as she realized she had not been this into a man since college. Only this time she was sure the man was worthy of her love. Yes, Wyatt was very deserving, such a good and honest man. Even his job involved protecting people and making the world a safer place.

  She wondered if he was afraid of being alone with her, she giggled a little and thought he sure would be if he knew how quickly she wanted to skip the dating and move right into the next stage.

  Probably just as well that one of them was being sensible she thought as she went back to working on her computer.

  She was sorting through the downloaded photos deciding which ones went with each guests file and which were general snapshots of the Inn that she could use for advertising.

  She sighed as she noticed a couple of shots taken of Heather on her first night. She and Charlotte had taken quite a few pictures of the grand opening reception. She didn’t remember Heather staying for long but here she was in two of the photos.

  The first one just showed her standing alone in the center of the reception hall as if she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. The second photo depicted the tour of the upstairs hallway. Heather was standing right in front of the mining equipment display and appeared to be seriously studying the contents of that art niche. That niche had contained the murder weapon, the antique railroad spike.

  Lacey enlarged these two photos and looked closer.

  Heather was definitely looking very interested in the spikes on display. Lacey studied the other photo, the angle showed Heather close-up holding her wine glass, but in the background the staircase rising to the second floor was clearly visible.

  Now she could see John Braverman almost hidden in the shadows at the top of the staircase. He seemed to stare down with a distorted sneer on his face. His gaze was definitely focused on Heather Mason.

  The Braverman’s had not joined the celebration that night. Was he irritated at the noise the partygoers were making on what was after all, his honeymoon?

  Of course, that was it. It had been a lively party. She minimized those two photos and moved on to glance through the other photos.

  She smiled at one that showed Cody Westerfield watching Charlotte closely as she passed through the crowd serving wine. She would save that one for Charlotte and prove to her that that cowboy was definitely interested.

  Her favorite pictures were the ones taken at the barbeque held out in the sanctuary. Everything looked so magical with the fairy lights and cozy nightglow surrounding everyone.

  There was stream rising up from the spa and even the moon was visible in the night sky in a few of them.

  She wanted to save these and use them to entice people to visit the Inn, maybe put these on the website.

  One of the photos was taken from a unique angle outside the huge wooden gate. She had wanted to experiment by taking one from the perspective of looking in at the celebration inside the stucco walled enclosure.

  People were mingling and laughing inside the lighted area inside the gate and yet there was still some illumination surrounding the walled area because of the twinkling lights.

  She really liked this one, she thought as she used the magnify function to see how it would look as the screensaver for her webpage. As she looked closer, she saw something at the corner of the shot near the wall but several feet down from the gate.

  There were two people deep in conversation. Even though it was shadowy, she could recognize both.

  Chapter 22

  In this picture, Tricia Moore was grasping John Braverman’s arm in what looked like a desperate gesture to make him listen to whatever she was saying with her face very close to his. Lacey moved her curser to the corner of the photo and zoomed in. Yes, it was obvious that they were having a very serious discussion. How could that be, she wondered, they did not know each other. However, this picture showed that they clearly did know each other and it looked very suspicious to Lacey.

  Her mind was racing, thinking back to the last week’s events. She and Tricia had several conversations and she had never mentioned knowing any of her guests. Hadn’t the Braverman’s been out for the romantic dinner she had planned for them that night? She didn’t remember them even making an appearance at the barbeque.

  She shrugged, thinking there was no need to be melodramatic; there was probably a simple explanation. She went back to the pictures of Heather Mason. Poor dear, she really wasn’t joining in but that was no crime. She was looking closely at the mining equipment but she had probably looked closely at the other exhibits too.

  Lacey looked again at John Braverman’s expression at the top of the stairs. It was a menacing look but perhaps his night of passion with Miranda was being disturbed, she was sure that might make a man angry.

  Nevertheless, she could not think of an explanation for the pictures of Tricia and John. They seemed to be familiar with each other. They were obviously talking about something important. It just didn’t make any sense.

  She saved the four pictures into a file and then decided to email them to her smart phone.

  That is what she would do, she thought tiredly, she would bring the pictures to show Wyatt when they had coffee in the morning. He would come up with satisfying
answers to the questions she had about the pictures.

  She put the computer back on the desk in her little sitting area and climbed wearily back into bed. Her cell phone rang again and she jumped startled at the sound in the quiet bedroom.

  It was Charlotte just checking in. They talked for a moment about the great evening they had enjoyed and then Charlotte asked if Wyatt was there. Lacey told her that he was working but she wished he were at the Inn.

  “I’m sure you do,” laughed Charlotte.

  “No really,” Lacey said, “I found some pictures I want to show him.”

  “What kind of pictures?” asked Charlotte.

  “Well, it’s weird,” pondered Lacey, “I found some pictures from the grand opening that just don’t make sense.”

  Charlotte said firmly, “If you found something suspicious about those murders you better call Wyatt right now.”

  Lacey reassured her that they were probably nothing and she would talk to him about them in the morning.

  She couldn’t resist teasing her sister just a little about the picture of Cody Westerfield and promised to show her all of the pictures tomorrow.

  They said their goodnights. Lacey turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled into the covers to get some much needed rest.

  She fell asleep thinking about seeing Wyatt in the morning. Her Wyatt…she thought sleepily.

  Chapter 23

  Lacey became gradually aware that something, some noise was trying to intrude into her sleep-muddled brain.

  Just as her subconscious was floating to the surface complete silence descended again and she drifted back to sleep.

  Then something fell nearby and brought her rigidly upright.

  She was still not completely awake but getting there. She rubbed her eyes and instantly became alert, there it was, something or someone was moving around in her apartment.

  She listened intently, there, that rustling noise. Someone was here! She moved stealthily under cover of the muffled sounds coming from her sitting room and crept carefully to the doorway.

  For a moment, she couldn’t seem to register what she was seeing. She must have inadvertently made some sound because just then, Tricia Moore looked up from the subtle glow of Lacey’s laptop screen.

  Lacey stepped backward and tried to gather her senses and get back into the bedroom and shut the door.

  The sitting area was not that large and in an instant, Tricia was holding tightly to her arm and pulling her towards the small love seat in the window alcove.

  Now, Lacey noticed the small black gun in Tricia’s other hand. Still confused she started to speak.

  Tricia waved the gun close to her face and spoke first.

  “Too bad little girl,” she said with a menacing whisper, “But I was going to have to get you up anyway. I can’t find them. Now tell me where they are!”

  Lacey sputtered, “What, what are you looking for?”

  “The pictures!” Tricia spat between gritted teeth, “The interesting pictures you were telling your sister about.”

  Lacey thought quickly, “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she lied.

  “Don’t lie to me! I’ve been watching and you spent a lot of time on this laptop. They have to be there. Now show me where!” Tricia demanded.

  “You were watching me tonight?” Lacey asked.

  “Yes, I thought I would take some time to do a thorough search of the Inn while you were gone. But you came back sooner than I thought and instead I overheard you talking about those damn pictures so now I have to get them!” Tricia explained.

  Lacey was confused, “What were you searching for? Who are you?” she asked.

  “I guess I can tell you. I was making sure my Johnnie hadn’t left anything that identified me while he was here. Then you came home and I decided to wait until you fell asleep to get out of here. Good thing, because then I heard you talking about the pictures you found,” Tricia could barely contain her hate.

  “Your Johnnie?” Lacey questioned.

  “Enough!” Tricia spat, “Give me the pictures or I’ll just kill you now and destroy the laptop. It’s up to you.”

  “Okay, okay. “ Lacey said and took the laptop and began loading up the file.

  “Oh, how sweet. You even named it after your precious boyfriend,” Tricia mocked. “I guess it’s fitting since he will be the one to find you tomorrow.”

  She said this last sentence almost casually but Lacey knew she was someone very serious and very dangerous. She just couldn’t figure out the connections, why did this woman want to kill her?

  Tricia deftly deleted the picture file after looking through the four pictures with obvious frustration.

  “I told him to let me handle it. Not to come here, but he was worried about his Mama. My dear boy. He deserved so much more than I could give him,” Tricia said.

  “Mama? You are John Braverman’s mother?” Lacey asked weakly.

  “Come on,” ordered Tricia, “I’ll tell you the whole story while you change.”

  She turned off the laptop and replaced it carefully just where it had been on the desk. Then she gestured with the gun while pulling Lacey to her feet. She led her back into the bedroom.

  Chapter 24

  As they entered the bedroom, Tricia turned on the overhead light and leaned against the doorframe. She kept the gun steadily pointed at Lacey.

  “Get changed into your bathing suit. I know a pretty girl like you must have a couple of nice ones. Choose your favorite because it will be the last thing you will ever wear,” she said in a matter of fact tone.

  Lacey was afraid not to follow these instruction. She opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a blue one piece, trying not to think of that last comment.

  “Okay, I understand I get it; you are going to kill me. But at least you can tell me what this is all about,” she pleaded.

  “Fine, I guess I can tell the story. It’s not as if you will be able to tell anyone,” Tricia spoke quietly.

  As Lacey changed from her usual tank top and boxer nightclothes, Tricia told her an almost unbelievable story. It may sound preposterous but it was obviously true since she was going to die because of it.

  Tricia admitted to killing Adam Mason.

  Heather had said that they had never had children but that was only the truth, as Heather knew it. Before marrying Heather, the love of his life, Adam had a brief dalliance with a pretty waitress, Tricia.

  Tricia had borne him a son, John Braverman. Braverman was a maiden name that Tricia had long abandoned.

  Adam had no money and no desire to ruin his relationship with Heather. He wanted nothing to do with Tricia or her child.

  Tricia had monitored the couple, almost stalking them for years.

  As she told the story, her mouth twisted in bitterness. Tricia had celebrated Adam’s apparent deadly accident. She thought it was fitting that karma chose to punish him. It made her feel better that Adam died so young and left his beloved Heather all alone.

  However, after Adams death, she hadn’t quit watching Heather.

  It seemed to have given her some kind of pleasure to watch the woman go through her life alone. She continued to stalk Heather and that was how Tricia had discovered the secret.

  Heather wasn’t going through her life alone. The supposedly dead Adam met for regular trysts with his wife. Tricia found out that he did not die in the car accident.

  Heather and Adam had waited patiently for the years to pass until the court would agree to declare Adam legally dead.

  Heather continued going to her boring job as an admissions clerk, seeing her husband in secret. The two of them were still in love and happily devoted to each other.

  Then the time limit was over and Heather collected the millions in insurance money.

  Heather “retired” and she and Adam began living out their bucket list. Heather would travel alone to each wished for adventure and then Adam would secretly join
her and they would enjoy everything together.

  The couple toured Europe, took a cruise and then came here to climb Pikes Peak.

  Tricia was way ahead of them and could anticipate their every move. This time when they arrived for their adventure, Tricia was waiting for them. She was tired of watching them get away with everything, laughing and loving their way through wonderful times together.

  In a weak moment, she had told her son, John, about his father and her plan to corner Adam and make him share the wealth. She wasn’t doing it for herself she explained but for her newly married son. John deserved some of that money.

  John was worried about the confrontation and arranged to spend his honeymoon here at the Inn to make sure his mother was okay. Such a good son, Tricia had added wistfully.

  John suspected what had happened but didn’t want to think that his mother had actually murdered someone. However, murder she had.

  Tricia had waited in the shadows of the Inn until everyone went to bed following the grand opening reception. She had watched the couple long enough to know the pattern.

  Sure enough, Heather had crept downstairs and let Adam into the Inn. Hand in hand, they had quietly giggled up to her room. Making their plans to meet up the next day and complete one more adventure.

  In the early hours of the morning, Adam was sneakily making his getaway from the Inn.

  Tricia had met him at the top of the stairs, not far from his lover’s door.

  He was shocked to see her but laughed at her demand that he share the money or she would expose him as the lying cheater he was. He had laughed at her and for Tricia that was the last straw.

  Tricia had grabbed up the antique railroad spike in desperation and plunged it into his cold heart. He fell to the bottom of the staircase. Even the fall was amazingly quiet she mused while telling her story.

  When she ran to the bottom, he was already dying.

  But even that brought no satisfaction; his last words were for his wife, Heather.

  “Tell her I love her,” he had gasped.

  Tricia had cleaned up, wiped her fingerprints from the spike and quickly left.

  Just in time, she added, because lights came on and the body was discovered.