by Tim Myers
Key 57 Myers
Lighthouse Inn Mystery #7
The Series Finale
RING FOR MURDER
By
TIM MYERS
Ring for Murder
By Tim Myers
Copyright © 2011 Tim Myers
All rights reserved.
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All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For Patty, who urged me to begin,
and Emily, who suggested I finally finish.
Chapter 1
In all the years that Hatteras West had stood as a sentinel in the mountains looking down on the Winston clan from birth to death, there had never been such a wondrous occasion to celebrate.
Alex Winston and the love of his life, Elise Danton, were finally getting married.
At least that had been the plan until the dead body appeared.
Chapter 2
“I can’t believe we’re actually getting married in two days,” Elise Danton said to Alex Winston as they watched the sunset together from high atop the Hatteras West lighthouse, their favorite place on earth. The buildings below, a replica of the Main Keeper’s Quarters and the dual keepers quarters that now served as their inn, added to the surreal look of their property, but nothing stood out from the landscape more than their lighthouse. After all, it was located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and not on the North Carolina Outer Banks where its twin stood. Nearby, Bear Rocks shone in the fading light, and the weathered stone seemed to glow as the sun faded away. Alex was tempted to light the beacon just behind them, but it had taken special permission to fire it, and he was saving that for his wedding day.
He squeezed her hand. “It’s nearly impossible for me to believe it myself.”
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” Elise asked. “I know you thought you were dying when you proposed to me.”
He shook his head. Elise’s dark hair caught flashes of the dying sunlight, and her face was framed with a warm glow that Alex wasn’t entirely sure was due to the sunset. “That just helped me finally realize that’s what I’d wanted to do for ages. I wanted to propose to you from almost the moment we met.”
“Because of the way I looked?” she asked. Alex was well aware of the fact that, though Elise was beautiful, she hated to be judged for her outward appearance alone.
“No, honestly, it was more because of the way you weren’t afraid to wax the floors in the lobby.”
She smiled at him. “That is exactly the right answer.”
Alex had once met Peter Asheford, Elise’s first fiancé, a man who had valued her for her looks and not her substance. He’d lost her, and Alex had found her, to his eternal joy and delight. In all honesty, without Elise by his side over the past few years, he would have never been able to run the inn without her. She was everything his previous maid, her cousin, Marisa, had not.
“I can’t believe Marisa is going to be one of your bridesmaids,” Alex said.
She snuggled a little closer to him. “Hey, if she hadn’t quit on you and recommended me to take her place, we never would have met.”
Alex well remembered the first time Elise had come to Hatteras West. “I’m just glad you didn’t run off when we found a dead body.”
She shrugged and rubbed his shoulder lightly. “It’s all part of an innkeeper’s life.”
“Murder?” he asked.
“No, thank goodness, not that, but people do get born and die in rooms on occasion, though I’ll grant you, we have a tendency toward more murders than births.”
Alex was too happy to allow himself to think about the guests they had lost in the past at the inn. It was time to change the subject to something more pleasant. “When are your folks getting into town?”
“All they’d say was that they’d be here in time for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night.”
Alex whistled softly. “That’s cutting it close, isn’t it?”
“You know better than most folks how tough it is to get away from an inn,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been after them to take some time off, but you know how that goes. They’ll be here when it counts.” He watched as Elise took a deep breath, and then asked, “Is your brother still coming?”
“I’m not sure,” Alex admitted. He and his only sibling Tony were distant at the best of times, and though Alex had invited him to be in the wedding party out of a sense of obligation more than anything else, Tony had declined. He hadn’t even been willing to commit to attending the ceremony, and Alex was at least a little relieved that he might not be there at all. He and Tony might have shared a common bloodline, but Mor Pendleton was more of a brother to Alex than Tony had ever been.
“You’ve still got Mor, don’t you?” Elise asked.
“And you’ve got Emma.”
The married couple was serving as their witnesses, best man and matron of honor, and Alex and Elise couldn’t have been more pleased about it. Everyone in town they cared about would be there, a celebration to commemorate the love that folks had watched blossom over the years.
Elise shivered a little. “It’s getting chilly, isn’t it?”
“October can be like that in the foothills,” Alex agreed.
“Are you sure you want to get married on your birthday?” she asked him. “It’s not too late to change it.”
Alex studied her expression for a moment, having a difficult time reading it in the fading light. “You don’t have a problem with getting married on Halloween, do you?”
Elise shook her head. “Of course not. I just hope our guests don’t show up in costume.”
“Some of them are bound to,” Alex admitted with a laugh. He touched the lighthouse again, almost as though it were a talisman for him, a way of being certain that all of this was really happening. “I was born right here, and getting married on the steps below is the best way I can think of to celebrate my life so far.”
“I agree. If we couldn’t get married at the lighthouse, it just wouldn’t be the same, would it?”
Alex was thrilled once again that Hatteras West was as much a part of Elise’s life as it was with him. No matter where he’d traveled in his life, no matter how far he’d been from home, this was where he belonged, and he knew it. His ties to the structures, to the very land beneath his feet, were binding in a way that few folks could ever understand.
He was just glad that Elise was one of the ones who could.
However, she was right. It was getting chilly. “How about a fire tonight?”
She nodded. “That sounds wonderful.”
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting on the floor of the lobby in front of the growing fire. Alex was about to kiss Elise when the front door blew open.
“I made it,” Alex’s brother, Tony, said, as he stumbled in. Alex
couldn’t believe it. Was his worthless brother actually drunk?
Alex stood and moved quickly to him. Tony was wearing a black suit, as though he were in mourning; his tie was askew, though the top button of his shirt was still firmly in place, and both his shoes were untied. “Tony, I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
“Can’t have my bro get married tomorrow without me,” he said.
“It’s not tomorrow. It’s the day after.”
“Whatever,” Tony said as he waved a hand in the air, and then looked over at Elise. “How about a good luck kiss from the bride, sweetie?”
Standing close to him, Alex could smell the liquor on his brother’s breath. “Why don’t we save that for the wedding reception? Maybe you’d like to freshen up a bit. We’ve got you in the Mountain Laurel Suite.”
“What happened to room numbers?” Tony asked as he looked indignantly at his brother. “It was good enough for Mom and Dad. Why isn’t it good enough for you? You puttin on airs, bro?”
Alex and Elise had changed the room numbers to names they felt were more fitting to the inn’s surroundings, and though Alex hadn’t been sure about it first, he’d grown to love the descriptive names they’d used.
“It used to be room five, if that will make you happy.”
“Good ole number five,” Tony said. “Always liked that room.”
Elise collected the key and slipped it to Alex, then stepped quickly away before Tony could land claim to the kiss he was clearly expecting.
“Let’s go, Tony,” Alex said as he helped his brother up the steps. As they climbed, he turned back to Elise and mouthed the words, “Be right back. Sorry.”
She nodded with understanding, and Alex focused on getting his brother upstairs and into his bed. “She’s a real peach,” Tony said as Alex led him down the hallway. “An absolute peach.”
“I think so,” Alex said as he tried to fit the key in the lock.
The wrought iron sign for the room was fastened above the door, and Tony admired it for a moment. “Sign’s kinda nice after all.”
“We like it.” Alex opened the room door, and nearly let his brother fall in the process. It would serve him right, but Tony was a guest at Hatteras West, and Alex was going to do everything he could to make his brother comfortable, no matter what.
Alex led him to the bed, but Tony refused to cooperate. “We need to talk,” he said, slurring his words again, fighting to remain standing.
“I’m sure we’ll have time,” Alex said. “Tomorrow.”
“Gotta be now,” Tony insisted. “It’s very important stuff. It’s about good ole Uncle Jase. He really messed up, and I mean big time.”
What was the drunken fool talking about? Their uncle was long dead. Alex eased his brother down onto the bed and helped him take off his shoes. As he did, Tony rubbed his forehead and added, “Head’s really pounding.”
Alex nodded. “Hang on a second. I’ll get you a washcloth.”
He walked into the bathroom, ran a white washcloth under the cold water, and then wrung it out.
“Here you go,” he said as he reentered the room.
But Tony was already asleep.
Alex loosened the top few buttons of his brother’s shirt, pulled his tie off, and then covered him with a throw blanket.
As Alex started to leave, he remembered the key, and placed it on the dresser before he left.
“Good night, Tony,” he said softly.
The only answer he got was a loud snore.
“My, he was a little tipsy, wasn’t he?” Elise asked as Alex rejoined her a few minutes later.
“He was drunk. There’s no reason to dance around it.”
Elise nodded. “Okay, you’re right. Sorry, I know you don’t like things sugarcoated.”
Alex shrugged. “Still want to marry me?”
She laughed. “Wait until you meet my Uncle Bobby. It’s not really a party until he dances on the table and sings the Star Spangled Banner.”
“That’s not too bad.”
“It might not be if he’d ever manage to keep his pants on while he was doing it,” Elise said with a smile.
Alex had to laugh at the image, no matter how upset he was by his brother’s visit. “So, we both have black sheep on our families.”
“To say the least. He’s here though, right? Isn’t that all that really counts?”
“I suppose so,” Alex said. “Though he didn’t make a bit of sense upstairs.”
“Did you expect him to?” Elise asked as one of the logs shifted in the fireplace.
Alex picked up an iron tool and shoved the burning wood back into place. “He said our uncle Jase messed up. I wonder if he even remembers that Jase is dead.”
“Your brother clearly has his own share of demons to wrestle, doesn’t he?”
Alex moved back to the couch, and stroked Elise’s beautiful chestnut hair lightly. “You’re really something, aren’t you? After the way my brother has treated you in the past, you’re still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Well, he’s going to be a part of my family too, soon,” she said.
He put an arm around her. “It’s not soon enough for my taste. If we fly to Vegas tonight, we can get married tomorrow and skip all of this drama.”
She laughed and pushed him away. “You want to get married in front of the lighthouse as much as I do, and I’m planning to just do this once. This is our home, Alex.”
“I know, but you can’t say you aren’t at least a little tempted.”
She grinned at him. “Okay, maybe a little.” Elise yawned, and then said, “I should get some rest. Tomorrow’s a big day. We’ve got folks coming in all day, then the rehearsal, the dinner afterwards, and finally the big day.”
“At least our last guests left today,” Alex said. “It’s going to take some of the pressure off not having any strangers staying here during the festivities. Are you sure we can afford to do it?”
She smiled at him. “Consider it a wedding present we are giving each other. I have a feeling our family and friends will be enough to handle without adding any outsiders into the mix, don’t you?”
“I guess. I still think we should have shut the inn down completely and let them all fend for themselves.”
She laughed. “What would you do with yourself if you didn’t have the inn to run, even for a day? This is going to be perfect, trust me.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You know I am. Now, kiss me good night.”
Alex was only too glad to follow that order.
As Elise started back for her room, she asked him, “Aren’t you tired?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got to lock up, and then I might stay up with the fire for a while. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Until then, my love,” she said.
Alex was about to lock up when there was a light tap at the door. He considered ignoring it, and then saw that it was his best friend, Mor Pendleton. A former linebacker on his college football team, Mor had once had dreams of playing professional football, but those had ended with a knee injury. The scholarship, along with his college education, had ended with that blow, and Mor had come back to Elkton Falls. He didn’t stay idle for long, though. He’d soon gone to work for Lester Williamson, and after a few years, the fix-it shop had become Mor or Les, a name everyone in Elkton Falls loved.
Mor had something in his hands, and when he held it up to the light, Alex saw that it was a large bottle of champagne, the same kind Alex had served at Mor’s bachelor party. “Where did you get that?”
Mor grinned at him. “There’s beer in the truck, too, but I figured since it was just the two of us, this would do.”
Alex looked back at the door. “Where’s Les? Isn’t he coming?”
Mor shook his head. “He’s feeling a little poorly these days.”
Alex was alarmed by the news. He knew that his best friend’s business partner was more than just a work associate to him.
Lester had stepped in when Mor had needed him the most, and the two men were more like father and son than either one of them would ever admit. “Is it bad?”
“Who knows? The man is as tight lipped about his health as they come.” He hoisted the bottle again. “Care for a sip?”
“Why not? I’m not driving anywhere tonight,” Alex said.
“We could go up to the top of the lighthouse, if you’d like. That’s what you did for me for my bachelor party.”
Alex shook his head. “It’s getting chilly, and we aren’t exactly young men anymore. How’s right here in front of the fire sound?”
“Like a real plan,” Mor said.
“Hang on. I’ll be right back,” Alex said as he got a pair of glasses from the kitchen. As he returned, he handed one to Mor, he asked, “Where’s your lovely bride tonight?”
Mor grimaced as he popped the cork and poured. “Where else would she be? She’s working on your wedding. Since Elise asked her to lend a hand, the woman has become obsessed with decorations, arrangements, caterers, and anything else you could mention that might be even remotely related to your nuptials.”
“And she didn’t rope you into it all as well?”
Mor grinned. “I promised her that your bachelor party would be along the same lines as mine, and she was happy enough to let me go. To be honest with you, I think she was just looking for an excuse to get me out from underfoot.”
Alex laughed. “I’ll make sure you keep your word about my party.”
Mor took a sip, and then put his glass down. Alex knew that his best friend was happier with root beer than champagne, but they were celebrating. The big man asked him softly, “Is your brother still coming in?”
