Gloria’s Secret

by Robin Alexander

  Diane and Toni charged the net at the same time. Toni was in the air like a rocket and slammed the ball, making another perfect spike. The problem was Diane had anticipated the move and positioned herself to defend, but she wasn’t quite fast enough and the ball connected with her face. The sound of the impact made me grab my face in empathy.

  Adrienne and I jumped up and joined the others surrounding Diane, who lay in the sand, clutching her nose.

  “Let me have a look.” I gently tugged Diane’s hands away and surveyed the damage. She was bleeding from both nostrils and her eyes had already begun to swell. “Adrienne, honey, would you call Shelby and have her come by?”

  “She’s already on her way to make the call,” Tarsha said as I caught sight of Adrienne sprinting across the beach.

  Toni handed me a towel filled with ice. “Diane, I’m so sorry,” she said over and over again.

  “Not your fault.” Diane groaned as I held the ice to her face.

  Tara and Rachel joined the commotion, and as soon as Tara caught sight of the blood, she dropped like a sack of rocks onto the sand.

  “Um…” Rachel shrugged. “She can’t stand the sight of blood.”

  “Okay, one problem at a time,” I said, looking back to Diane. “Can you stand?”

  She nodded, then Toni and I helped her to her feet. Lucy took my spot and helped Diane toward the bluff.

  Tarsha, Rachel, and I stood over Tara, who lay sprawled out in the sand. “Does she do this a lot?” Tarsha asked before I could.

  Rachel scratched at the back of her neck and nodded.

  “How do you normally wake her up?” I asked.

  “With ice.” Rachel walked over to the cooler to grab a handful. Tarsha and I watched as she rubbed the cubes over Tara’s face. Tara began to twitch as her eyelids fluttered.

  “Not ice, use the whipped cream,” Tara muttered as she began to rouse.

  Tarsha looked at me with a grin. “I did not need to hear that.”

  I scrubbed my hands together, fighting the temptation to laugh. “Okay, we’re going to help them get Diane up the bluff if you’re okay here.”

  Rachel nodded and continued to rub the ice on Tara’s face.

  Tarsha and I caught up with Diane, and the crew helping her up the bluff, just as Adrienne was coming back down to meet us. We swapped off, half carrying Diane back to the bar where she got a fresh ice pack.

  “Don’t suppose I could have a beer for medicinal purposes,” Diane said from beneath the pile of ice being held on her face.

  “No alcohol until after the doctor takes a look at you,” Lucy said as she stroked Diane’s hair.

  “I bet you’d like a drink, though,” I whispered to Toni, who looked as though her world had ended.

  “Yeah, and make it a strong one.”

  “What’s your poison?”

  Toni sighed. “I’m not much of a drinker. I’ll take whatever you come up with.”

  I made her a rum and Coke and went heavy on the alcohol. Toni took a tentative sip, then after smacking her lips a couple of times, she began drinking in earnest.

  Shelby arrived minutes later. She smiled politely at Tara, who had come to and joined us in the bar, and took a look at Diane. She felt around on Diane’s head and face for a moment and asked a few questions. The swelling had nearly gone away, leaving Diane with dark circles around her eyes; her nosebleed had stopped.

  “Aside from looking like a raccoon for a while, it appears you’re gonna be okay,” Shelby said.

  “When can I take the court again?” Diane asked as she wiped the last of the dried blood from her chin. “I need to at least win one game.”

  “I suggest taking it easy for today,” Shelby said with a delighted grin as Iris set down a huge plate of brownies in front of her. “You can take the court tomorrow.”

  Toni swiveled around on the barstool and set her empty glass in front of me. “Can I have another one of these?”

  “Sure.” I prepared to make her another drink. “But since you don’t drink a lot, you may want to slow down.”

  “I’m not feeling anything at all.” Toni scooted the glass closer to me.

  This time, I went a little light on the rum and set a bowl of pretzels next to her glass, hoping she’d nibble on a few.

  Diane strolled up to the bar and said, “Now that I’ve been given a clean bill of health, I’d like a beer please.”

  “You should have a rum and Coke, it’s good,” Toni said with a slight slur.

  “Rum and Coke it is then,” Diane said with a grin. “And I’d like to book a tour of MountAlvernia with you for tomorrow if I may. Lucy and I want to make a day of it.”

  “No problem.” I pulled out the logbook. “Just let me make a call and I’ll have you all set up.”

  I’d turned away for a couple of minutes to set up the transportation for Diane’s outing. In that short time, Toni and Diane mixed themselves another drink. Toni’s eyes were becoming glazed, and her speech was becoming even more slurred with every sip. I looked over at Tarsha, who seemed to be having an interesting conversation with Rachel and Tara. I was certain that she hadn’t realized her partner was well on her way to a good drunk.

  “Hayden, can you help Iris in the kitchen?” Adrienne asked as she walked up to the bar. “She’s having a problem with one of the sinks backing up.”

  “Sure, sweetie, I’ll be right there.” I looked back at Diane and Toni who had developed a hearty case of the giggles. “This is an open bar, so you can help yourselves to whatever we have, but I have to warn you both, an afternoon hangover is hell.”

  “Well, we may just drink ourselves through the afternoon.” Diane chuckled.

  Toni nodded her agreement. I left them wondering how many of us it would take to carry Toni’s long body back to her cottage.

  Chapter Five

  It took me well over an hour to unplug the drain in the kitchen, and hearing the noise coming from the bar, I was tempted to hide under the sink for a while.

  “Hayden, you’ve got to see the show being put on out there,” Iris said with a laugh as she joined me.

  “Do I even want to know what’s going on?”

  “You really need to see it.”

  The bar was connected to the main dining room and kitchen. It was open on three sides to allow the breeze to keep it cool. Foliage of all varieties grew in abundance around the open areas, giving it a wonderful tropical appeal. And apparently on this afternoon, the foliage needed a trim.

  I walked into the bar and beheld a sight that I truly hoped was being caught on film. Toni and Diane had polished off a full bottle of rum and were putting on their own floor show. Toni had fashioned herself a banana leaf skirt and was doing a dance that was a cross between the hula and the jerk.

  Diane, also adorned in banana leaves and palm fronds, was at her side mimicking Toni’s every move.

  “I understand why Toni said she didn’t drink much.” I giggled as I sat next to Tarsha.

  “Honey, the last time she had something to drink was a couple of years ago. She did this very same dance, but that time, she was naked.” Tarsha laughed. “I’m so glad she decided to go with a tropical theme this time.”

  “They’re going to be so sick in a little while, we may have to resign ourselves to dinner in our cabins tonight,” Lucy said.

  As if on cue, Diane stopped in the middle of the dance, her face paled, and she made a beeline out of the bar with Lucy right behind her. We could all hear her retching over the music; the party was over, and now it was time to pay the piper.

  When the sound of Diane vomiting met with Toni’s ears, she stopped dancing and kind of stagger-stepped a few feet.

  Tarsha jumped up and grabbed her by the arm. “We have to go now because it’s about to get ugly,” she said before leading Toni out of the bar. Seconds after that, we heard Toni join Diane in a drunken chorus.

  That left Adrienne and me with Tara and Rachel, who up until that point had really been enjoyin
g the show. Tara began liberally coating herself with hand sanitizer while muttering about a virus.

  “Tara, they don’t have a virus, they’re drunk,” Rachel said.

  “You never know, it’s always good to be on the safe side.” Tara rubbed in the gel.

  “I see that Shelby got the hell out of here,” I said as I joined Adrienne at the bar and began to wipe up some of the spilled rum.

  “She’s got a bad case of hemorrhoids to attend to,” Adrienne said with a grimace.

  “Poor Shelby.”

  “Not Shelby, one of her patients.” Adrienne tossed the empty rum bottle into the trash. “So does this make you look forward to going home for a while?”

  I thought about Tara and her phobia and the puke that I would have to spray down with the hose. I thought about the strange noises and occurrences and answered honestly.

  “Nope.”

  We made it through what we thought was a quiet night. Dinner the evening before with just Rachel and Tara and the boys Barry and Russell was pleasant. Everyone seemed drained from their day in the sun and had retreated to their cabins early. I had lain awake for hours listening for the unnerving sounds that never came. We learned the next morning at breakfast that it had been a busy night for someone…or something.

  Tarsha was the first to tell us that the door to their cottage stood wide open this morning, and one by one, all our guests reported the same thing. I wondered how we would explain that away. No one would believe that the wind blew their doors open, and no one heard a sound.

  We were surrounded by our guests. There was no way that Adrienne and I would be able to leave and come up with a reasonable explanation. I was going to have to wing it, and this is where I always get myself in trouble.

  Iris had set up the morning meal buffet style, so I waited until everyone settled down with their plates before opening up the discussion.

  “I think honesty is the best policy, so I’m going to just come out with it.” Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Iris retreat to the kitchen and Adrienne’s eyes grow wide. I couldn’t tap into Adrienne’s mind, so I did my best to calm her fears. Trust me, honey, and help me out, I said in my mind, knowing that she was hooked into my thoughts

  “We think the inn may be haunted,” I began. “Our former handyman passed away here recently, and some of the staff believe that he’s still here.”

  The room was silent and all eyes were fixed on me. “If any of you feel uncomfortable or threatened, we’ll be more than happy to relocate you to another inn on the island at our expense.

  “Oh, hell no,” Barry said as he set his fork down. “This is so cool. I’m staying right here.”

  Diane and Lucy were in agreement with Barry, but Toni and Tarsha didn’t seem too hip to the idea.

  “Has this umm…ghost,” Toni began, “done anything more than just open doors?”

  “You mean has he hurt anyone?” Adrienne asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “No, he’s more of a pain in the butt than anything else.”

  “Those noises we heard at dinner the other night, that was him, wasn’t it?” Rachel asked.

  “Yes and no,” I lied. “There are a lot of wind noises that do come in off the bluff, but Hank does tend to add to that at times.”

  “Well, I really like it here and I’m not going to allow some spook to run me off,” Tarsha said and looked at Toni along with the rest of us.

  Toni sighed and smiled. “Count us in, we’re staying.”

  The group as a whole turned to Tara and Rachel next.

  Tara actually smiled, too. “I think it’s kind of exciting. What do you think, sweetheart?”

  Rachel seemed as surprised with Tara’s attitude as I was. “I’ve never encountered a ghost, so count us in, too.”

  “Besides,” Tara added, “I’d have to disinfect a new room somewhere else.”

  With the matter settled, we all began eating our breakfast until Russell asked the question that would inevitably come.

  “How did Hank die?”

  “Head injury,” Adrienne and I said in unison.

  “Oh, my God, how tragic,” Lucy said as she pushed her plate away. “Did he fall or something?”

  “He…wasn’t paying attention while on a project, and something…fell on his head.” Adrienne looked at me for help.

  Lucy began to ask something else when Iris came to the rescue.

  “Beautiful day outside. Why you all sittin’ in here talkin’ about da dead?”

  “Oh, that’s true.” Diane pushed away from the table. “We have a tour scheduled for today.”

  Adrienne clapped her hands together. “Oh, that’s right, the van will be here soon. Is there anyone else who’d like to see MountAlvernia today?”

  “Russell and I are going back down to the beach. And I just want to warn you ladies that we’re going to find a secluded spot and sun in the nude.”

  “You…uh…may wanna bring some sunscreen,” I said. “If you get a sunburn on Mr. Winky, you’re gonna be in some serious pain. Not to mention that Shelby will kill me if I call her over to treat severe sunburn you know where.”

  “Oh, silly.” Barry waved me off. “We’re not virgins, we’ve done this before.”

  Tara and Rachel mulled it over and decided to join Diane and Lucy on their tour. Toni and Tarsha had already gone into the bar and picked out a couple of chaise lounges and each had settled down with a book.

  When everyone was taken care of, Iris joined Adrienne and me on the patio. “Was your door open this morning?”

  “No,” Adrienne said. “And I feel bad about lying to the guests. Maybe we should move them for their own safety.”

  I lit a cigarette and thought for a moment. “We didn’t exactly lie. The staff thinks it’s a ghost, and we’re not totally sure what we’re dealing with yet.”

  “You don’t believe it’s a ghost, Hayden,” Adrienne said. “What if this person wants to take it to the next level?”

  “I’ll stand guard tonight.”

  “Not alone you won’t.” Iris gave me a look that brooked no argument. “I’ll call Colie. He can keep watch with you.”

  “That’s settled then, but Hayden and I need to take a walk around the grounds to see if anything else is out of place. Will you call Colie now and see if he can come by for lunch?”

  Iris smiled knowingly. “He’ll be here. And on a brighter note, I’ve found someone to help in the kitchen. Would y’all like to meet her before I bring her in?”

  “You have our implicit trust,” I said. “If she meets your standards, you don’t need our input.”

  “I’ll start training her tonight,” Iris said as she made her way back to the bar.

  Adrienne and I walked the grounds, veering off the trails at times looking for anything that seemed out of place. All was well until we got near the laundry cottage and found two new holes near the front of the building.

  Adrienne circled the first hole, careful not to disturb any of the fresh dirt. “There’s no footprints, but look at the marks inside the hole, it’s obvious someone used a shovel.”

  The hole I stood in front of looked the same. “Someone went to great lengths not to leave footprints.

  “We were really tight-lipped about Hank and the money he buried around the inn,” Adrienne said. “Do you think someone found out and is looking for money that may have been left behind?”

  I looked down at the holes. “A human no doubt dug these. Are you sure you can’t tap into their thoughts?”

  “I’ve tried,” Adrienne said as her brow furrowed. “Sometimes I…it’s not a voice, it’s just an overwhelming feeling of hatred, then it’s gone, poof.”

  “There’s only a handful of people on this island besides us that know about the money. That’s Iris and Colie and Myra and Shelby. And I’d no more suspect them than I would you.”

  “It makes perfect sense, though.” Adrienne took my hand and led me back toward the path. “Whoever is doing this is scar
ing the hell out of the staff. No one wants to be here late at night, giving them the ability to dig around.”

  “He or she was a lot more active when the inn was empty,” I mused. “Maybe they’re becoming more desperate. And then again, maybe they just want to run our guests off along with the staff.”

  Adrienne stopped in her tracks and pulled me to a halt. “Do you suppose whoever this is has any idea that you and I dug up the rest of the money?”

  That thought sent cold chills down my spine. Adrienne and I had dug around the inn and found a sizable fortune. We donated the money anonymously so that the island could have a new medical clinic.

  “No, I doubt they do. Because if they did, they wouldn’t be digging around, they’d come after us.”

  Adrienne cupped my cheek and her green eyes bore into mine. “I’m not excited about you being on patrol tonight. Promise me that you’ll stay close to Colie at all times.”

  “I promise.”

  Chapter Six

  I took a brief nap in preparation for the evening. A look at the clock confirmed that I drifted off for about thirty minutes before my eyes snapped back open and my mind began to wander. I worried about the guests. I worried about losing more staff. I worried that we wouldn’t catch the person or persons responsible before we left for New Orleans. All this worrying forced me out of bed and into the shower.

  A little later, I found Adrienne in the bar with Toni and Tarsha. Toni was sticking to her iced tea while Adrienne and Tarsha were enjoying daiquiris. My first impulse was to tease Toni, but when she stood up to go to the bathroom, I was reminded that she was a good foot taller than me. I kept my trap shut.

  I filled my own glass with tea and refreshed Toni’s as she emerged from the bathroom and sat down with the group.

  Tarsha looked at Adrienne and me. “You forgot to mention at breakfast this morning that there was a murder here right around the time of Hank’s death.”

  Adrienne didn’t flinch; she looked calm and collected while I nearly spilled my drink. I figured that she’d already heard Tarsha’s thoughts and was prepared.