by Nan Sampson
Yet Kate thought the world of him. Why, was the puzzler. Charlie was the polar opposite of his System’s Security Manager brother Dan, Kate’s husband. And while Ellie and Dan didn’t see eye to eye on anything but how wonderful Kate was, at least he was a good provider, and would do anything for Kate.
The front door of the Inn was open, allowing a pleasant summer breeze to blow through the old fashioned screen door. Ellie paused on the threshold, wondering where Arabella was, and hoping she wouldn’t run into her.
“Waiting for the butler?”
Ellie rolled her eyes and, ignoring Charlie, let herself inside. “Where is Kate?”
“She’s in our room. I left her sitting on the big double bed, propped up by about a zillion pillows, watching some silly romantic comedy on TV. Arabella said she’d look in on her a couple of times while I went out, bring her tea and so forth. Come on, it’s this way.”
He led her across the foyer and down a hallway to the right. Thick, plush, dark green carpeting muffled their footsteps as they moved down the hallway. White wainscoting and wallpaper with delicate violets covered the walls, and old fashioned scones that might once have been gas lights were set above brass plates bearing the name of each of the rooms they passed. The Hilliard Room, the Fagan Room, the Zumbach Room, the Mueller Room.
“The rooms are all named after local families,” Charlie said, his voice dropped low. “There are several books in the library that cover the history of the town. Plus, there’s a great collection of old photos that range all the way from the early 1800’s, when the town was first settled, through the freaky commune days in the sixties.”
Ugh, he was such a know-it-all. He’d been here less than a few hours and he was already an expert. “So you can read! I had no idea. Maybe you can impress all your cop buddies with your new found knowledge.”
He paused, looked as though he were going to say something, and then just shook his head. In days past, dark curls would have flopped all over the place with the movement. He’d always kept his hair long, but since he’d joined the Chicago Police force, he’d cropped it short. She’d never been entranced by men with long tresses, but she did have to admit that the short hair cut down on his “cuteness” quotient. She supposed it would be hard to have some gangbanger take you seriously if you looked all wide-eyed and cuddly.
Kate was indeed enthroned like the Queen of Sheba. Arabella, sitting in a lady’s cane rocker, appeared to be her willing servant. As Ellie and Charlie entered, Arabella stood up and beamed at them.
“Ellie! I had no idea these two were friends of yours. Kate has just been telling me all about when you two were in college.”
Kate, thick, honey blond hair pulled back in a ribbon, and smartly turned out in a pair of white capris and a navy blue boat neck t-shirt, sat with her casted foot propped up on a couple of starched white pillows. She looked for all the world like a wounded southern belle. “Hi, sweetie! Surprise!”
Ellie went over and gave her friend a hug. “I told you not to come. Didn’t I?”
Kate gave her a mock pout. “Now don’t go scolding me. How could I not be here for this?” She squeezed Ellie’s hand. “Dan wanted to come, but just couldn’t get away from work. Besides, then we’d have had to bring the kids and I didn’t think they’d do well in a B&B. So Charlie offered to bring me up. Wasn’t that sweet?”
Ellie forced a smile. “Um, yeah. But he should have made you stay home. You have no business travelling right now. You should be home, resting.”
Kate glanced over at Arabella. “See what I mean?”
Arabella laughed, which irked Ellie even more. “She’ll fit right in here. Stubborn is about the only trait we folks here in Horizon all have in common. Other than being iconoclastic.”
Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, then Gooden’s tailor-made for this place.”
Ellie ignored Charlie. “I hope you haven’t been telling too many tales out of school.”
Kate laughed good-naturedly. “Nothing too scandalous, I promise.” She gave Charlie a shove, then patted the bed. “Come sit down and tell me all about the excitement. Arabella said that the man you bought the shop from has been killed. And that you found him.” Her tone was casual, but Ellie could see the worry in her eyes. “And what on earth happened to your hand?”
“I’ll just let you folks catch up. I’ve got dinner to oversee anyway. Ellie, I expect you’ll be dining with us?”
Kate spoke for her. “Of course. We’re going to celebrate your new life – regardless of the sad manner in which it seems to be starting.”
“Great. I’ll just phone Patti, tell her not to expect you until late, shall I?”
For once, Kate’s touch-feely intuition came to Ellie’s rescue. “Oh, please do. In fact, you can tell her that as kind as she was to offer Ellie a room, she won’t need it. At least not tonight. I’m going to keep Ellie all to myself. We’ll have a good old fashioned slumber party.”
Grinning broadly, Arabella nodded. “Then I’ll make sure to send up some soda and microwave popcorn for you. Just don’t giggle so loud you keep the other guests awake!
Ellie gave her friend a genuine smile. “We won’t. We promise.” When Arabella had gone, she said, “Thanks.”
“No prob. I could just imagine how thrilled you were about spending the night at the Moughs. Although it was awfully nice of them to have you.”
Behind them, Charlie cleared his throat. “Well, if you girls don’t mind, I’m going to head down to the library. I told Arabella we’d probably be ready for dinner at 7:30. That should give you both plenty of time to make yourselves presentable. But Katie, don’t you take a step down that hallway until I come back. Got it?”
“Roger wilco.” Kate gave her brother-in-law a salute.
Charlie turned to Ellie. “I brought a wheel chair – it’s out in the car to keep Kate from getting any wild ideas while I was gone. I’ll bring it in and wheel her over to the dining room when the time comes. In the meantime, you’re in charge of keeping her off her foot.”
Ellie nodded. For once, she and Charlie were on the same page. “Got it.” She glanced down at her wrist, but found the spot where she normally wore her wrist watch empty. She’d forgotten that as part of the rules of her new life, she wasn’t going to wear a watch anymore. No more time lines. No more clock-watching.
Charlie grinned at her. “That gives you gals an hour. I’ll knock before I enter, just in case you’re not quite decent yet.” He waggled his eyebrows at Ellie. “Although that might be worth the beating I’d take…”
Kate giggled and threw a pillow at him. “Charles McCallum!”
With a laugh, Charlie beat feet for the door and disappeared down the hallway, chuckling.
Kate gave a sigh. “He’s such a help. He’s been staying at the house while I’ve been laid up. Doing the laundry, making sure the boys get their snack after school, driving Caitlin to her gymnastics. An absolute dear.”
“Yeah. A regular old Bambi. When does he find time to earn his pay check?”
“Oh, he’s been on the night shift for the last few months. Charlie doesn’t sleep much, you know. Chronic insomniac. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last week without him.”
“Well, I’m glad for that, then. Although I still think it was stupid of him to drive you up here.”
“I wanted to be here. And now that I’ve found out what happened, I’m even gladder I am. Do you want to talk about it?”
As much as she liked to think of herself as stoic, Ellie really did want to. “Oh, Goddess, Kate. It was awful. Not as awful as… the other. But bad enough.” She proceeded to tell Kate everything that had happened since she’d gotten to town that morning. Right up to and including her trip to the local clinic and the Bible she’d found on her office desk.
“Oh, damn. I’ve got to call the Chief, tell him about the Bible.”
“It’s not going anywhere. Why not wait until morning? You’ve had an awful day.”
“It’ll only get more awful if I get arrested tomorrow for concealing evidence.” She reached for her cell phone and dialed the number on the card Gruetzmacher had given her. No one answered, so she left a message, describing what she’d found then stuffed the phone back into her shoulder bag.
She climbed off the bed and slid into the rocking chair. “Gods. This is not how I envisioned this day.”
“I know, honey. Is there anything I can do?”
“Help me figure out who killed Artie Cullen so I can get the shop open by next weekend?”
Slim hands smoothed the quilt. “Maybe that’s best left to the police, Ell.”
That burned. “Yeah. Because they did such a great job solving my parent’s case.” She shook her head. “No. I have a feeling this one is up to me. At least if I want to have my grand opening be a success. Besides. Artie visited me in the car on my way into town. I’m sure that’s what that was. He wants me to help him.”
“You know I believe in most of the same things as you do. Still, maybe what happened in the car was just… a chill. Just…”
“My imagination?” She stood, grabbed her duffle bag. She didn’t want to start a fight. Not tonight, and certainly not with Kate. “Look, if I’m going to have dinner in the dining room, I should probably get cleaned up. Do you need the bathroom for a while?”
“Ellie…” Kate began. She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “No, honey, you go ahead. Take a nice hot bath. Just throw me out my make-up bag, so I can fix my face while you’re in there, okay?”
Ellie complied, feeling a little bit like a heel, but not willing to give in. She knew what she’d felt in the car and she knew what she needed to do. Tonight, she’d allow herself to celebrate. Regardless of what had happened today, she’d worked hard to put together this new life of hers. She deserved a little celebration.
Tomorrow, though, she was going to have a long talk with Arabella about Artie Cullen. She wanted to know why the woman thought so many people in town wanted him dead… and who might have left a Bible behind in the process.
Long into the night, Ellie awoke in darkness to the timpani sound of rolling thunder and a sudden cymbal’s crash of lightning. Rain pelted the windows and wind whistled around the eaves. Next to her in the queen sized bed, Kate snored softly, oblivious to the tumult. Charlie, who was supposed to have slept in a sleeping bag on the floor, had wandered out hours ago to, as he put it, immerse himself in the library.
Looking around in the darkness, Ellie was pretty sure he still hadn’t returned. Her finger was throbbing and she wondered if that had disturbed her sleep more than the storm. Normally she loved storms.
What the hell time was it, anyway? She focused her eyes on the bedside clock. Four a.m. It felt as though she’d been asleep only minutes, but a good four hours had passed since she and Kate had finally turned off the lights.
Another roll of thunder sounded, followed quickly by another strobe of lightning. Ellie glanced out the window – and gasped. Standing there in the garden beyond was the figure of a man. It was dark, but from the slouching stance, bald pate and baggy sweater that hung off his spare form, Ellie was sure it was Artie Cullen.
Chapter 9
Ellie stared at the figure in the garden, not quite able to take a breath. He was staring right at her. And there was something around his neck, something that writhed and twisted.
Heart hammering in her chest, she slipped out of bed and drew closer to the window. He had one end of the writhing thing in his right hand. Suddenly it opened its mouth revealing long white fangs. A snake!
There was a deafening crack and lightning flashed a third time, nearly blinding her. When her vision cleared again, Artie was gone. And so was the serpent.
She closed her eyes, tried willing him back. She wanted to keep him there, wanted to know what he could tell her…
“Ellie!”
Her eyes snapped open, and she was surprised to find gray and fuzzy daylight creeping in around the white eyelet curtains that covered the windows. Kate was leaning over her, shaking her shoulders gently.
“Ellie, wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”
“What?” Ellie roused herself, stared around her dumbly. Where had the storm gone? Had she fallen back asleep?
“You were having a bad dream, honey. You kept calling out to that man. The one who died.”
Had it really been a dream? Or was Artie reaching back through the veil to contact her? The snake was odd and felt important, and she was sure it meant something, but it also could have been useless fodder from her subconscious.
She squeezed her eyes, felt the stirrings of a migraine start behind her forehead. “Ugh. I feel like hammered shit. And we didn’t even drink anything last night.”
Kate grinned. “Might have been better if we had. So what was the dream about?”
“It was weird. I dreamt I woke up during the storm and saw Artie outside the window, in the garden. He had this white snake around his neck.”
“How very biblical. Snake. Garden. Was there an apple?”
Biblical. Of course. That had to be it. “No. No apple, I’m afraid, and no temptress of a woman either, but I remember thinking about the snake as a serpent.”
“Ick. Snakes. Wonder what my book of dream interpretations would say about snakes?”
“I don’t know. But snakes don’t make me think of the Garden of Eden. Snakes make me think of Shakespeare.”
“Shakespeare?”
“Yeah, you know. King Lear. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is an ungrateful child? Or something like that anyway.”
Kate laughed. “Now you sound like Charlie. He’s always quoting someone or other.”
Not willing to let Charlie’s name ruffle her feathers this morning, she let Kate’s comment pass. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight. I don’t know about you, but even after last night’s dinner, I’m starving. Care to escort me to breakfast?”
“Sure, but then I’ve got to go into town, see when the Chief thinks they’ll release my shop from ‘crime scene’ status. Are you and Charlie going to be driving back today?” She pulled aside the curtains and peered at the window at a gray, drizzly day.
“Gee. I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of me.”
Ellie felt a pang of guilt. “No, no. But you need to be home resting, and I’ve got a ton of work to do before opening day. Not to mention, I’ve still got to take possession of the cabin. I think Earl Mough said he’d have the renovations complete today or tomorrow.”
“I thought Artie had already moved out?”
“He did, a couple of weeks ago. But Earl Mough insisted that the place needed some work, and since I didn’t want to have to deal with it after the shop opened, I figured I could stay a few more days at the Inn until he was finished.”
“That was sweet of him. Everyone here seems so nice. But I wish I could help you with all that.” Her brow furrowed. “Why did I have to break my ankle? I was really looking forward to helping you get settled in.”
“I know, but just think how much nicer it will be when you can come and visit and not have to do any work?” She gave her friend an encouraging smile. “Come on. I’ll help you into the bathroom and then we can go have a sinfully fattening breakfast before I send you back to Naperville.”
Since there was little point in arguing, Kate complied. An hour later, Ellie hugged her friend goodbye and headed out into the foggy, damp day.
“Look,” Ellie told the woman in the crisp blue uniform behind the desk in the police station. “I’m not asking you to clean the place yourself. I just want permission to get started on it. At least give me the go ahead on the front part of the shop.”
The stale atmosphere in the turn of the century, brick-faced Police Station, with its Federal-styled columns and stone steps, coupled with the smell of bad coffee made her shoulders tense and her jaw clench. She’d spent way too many hours last fall in the cop shop in her parent�
��s suburban village. Despite the difference in size and modernity, they both smelled the same.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Gooden. I can’t do that until the Chief tells me I can. The shop is a crime scene. I wish I had better news for you...” The young woman shrugged sympathetically.
It was going on nine o’clock. In her old life, by this time she’d have been at work for at least two hours, well into her stack of projects and slamming through endless rounds of email tag. The fact that she couldn’t even get into her shop, much less start the tasks she needed to finish before next Saturday was infuriating. She growled her frustration. “Well, how long do you think it will be? I’m supposed to have a grand opening in six days.”
“All I can tell you is that the investigation is ongoing. I’m sure the Chief will be in touch when you are able to go inside…” She paused for just a fraction of a second before saying, “Again.” She looked up at Ellie, smile not unfriendly. “The Chief did ask me to tell you, if you stopped in, that he received your message. He said he’d call you later today to talk about it.”
“Great. Thanks.” She turned to stomp out, when the young officer called her name.
“Ms. Gooden?”
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to say welcome to town. I’m really sorry this had to happen right when you came. I’m looking forward to being one of your best customers.”
Putting on her most cordial smile, Ellie nodded. “Thanks, Officer…”
“Brenda. Brenda Klein.” The dishwater blond reached a hand across the desk. “Pleased to meet you.”
Ellie shook the woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you too. And thanks for your help.”
Two teen boys pushed through the door to the station house then, followed by a youngish man in another blue uniform who looked as though he could have been Officer Klein’s brother – same dishwater blond hair, same prominent nose, same broad, sun-tanned features.
