I held my breath as I slid the card into the reader. The door clicked, and I told myself that was a good sign. If the ghost really didn’t want me back in the room, it would have used the electronic lock to keep me out, right?
Once inside the room, I stopped and closed my eyes. I waited to see if I could feel that charge in the air, but all I felt was Meri rubbing against my leg.
“You didn’t think you were coming in here alone again, did you?” he asked.
The last time I’d come into Mrs. Maynard’s room, he’d been off wandering the halls on the other side of the inn. By the time he made it over to me, I was already in the hall and the guest was already recording. So, he’d hung back and just kept an eye on me.
There wouldn’t be any of that a second time. Meri was at my side the entire time I was packing up Mrs. Maynard’s thing. When I was done, I set her bags in the hall, took a quick look around, and then waved my hands and made the room spotlessly clean. I wasn’t comfortable with Jessica going in there alone, but video guy was on his own.
Back down in the lobby area, I saw Mrs. Maynard pull up in the parking area. Another car that I recognized pulled up beside her. At first I couldn’t quite put my finger on how I knew that particular car.
“Oh,” I said when I realized who it belonged to and prepared for there it be quite the fireworks show.
It was Isabella Gibson’s car. Had she been following Mrs. Maynard? Or did she find out where Jack died and just happened to show up at the worst possible time?
My first instinct was to go out there and intervene, but how would I have known I had a reason to intervene? Plus, Isabella thought that I was another woman having an affair with Jack. I knew that would be a really awkward exchange, so I hung back and watched.
They talked for a few minutes, and then Isabella nodded her head yes and got back in her car. When Mrs. Maynard turned to come inside, I ducked into the kitchen.
She hadn’t looked angry at all. They almost looked like old friends having a chat, and at the very least, neither one of them looked angry or upset.
Chapter Fifteen
I considered hiding in the pantry until Mrs. Maynard was gone because I wasn’t in the mood for another strange interaction, but I knew that would never work. Her things were behind the front desk, and I had to give them to her as well as check her out.
When I emerged from the breakfast area, she stood by the front desk tapping her foot. She tapped her key on the desk. No doubt she’d gone upstairs and tried it. They stopped working at check-out time unless I manually extended it.
“I have your things,” I said. “I cleared out your room myself. I apologize, but it is standard procedure when a guest isn’t here at check-out time.”
“It’s fine,” she said with a huff. “I think most of this mess is behind me now. I’ll be able to go on with my life and what’s left of my fortune. Luckily for me, half of Jack’s estate is still a ton of money.”
“Half?” I asked, hoping she would spill the beans.
“Oh, you know. Things come up.”
She wasn’t going to tell me what I already knew, but what bothered me most was how casual she was about the whole thing. Finding out her husband had a child and she would have to split the estate should have upset her more in my opinion.
A thought crept into my mind. Could they have been in on it together? Happy to split the estate as long as they were rid of the jerk who had played them both?
“Hey, I left something in the room’s safe. Did you get it?” she asked.
I hadn’t even known the rooms had safes. That probably would have been good information for Lucy to share with me.
“I didn’t, I’m sorry. I’m afraid I didn’t know the rooms had safes. I’m really new,” I said.
“Well, you do a good job for someone so new,” she said. “You know what, you can keep it. Consider it a parting gift. It never brought me anything but bad luck up until the end. Maybe it will bring you better.”
As soon as Mrs. Maynard was gone, I intended to go back upstairs and see what was in that safe. Before I could even get out from behind the front desk, Lucy came back in.
“Hello, Lucy,” I said. “I thought you’d left.”
“Oh, I’m just futzing around. My husband is out playing golf, and I guess I’m just not in a hurry to go home yet.”
“Would you like for me to get you some tea or coffee?”
“No, that’s all right, dear. I do have some things to do. Maybe a little shopping.”
“Okay, well, have a good day then.”
“Say, do you think they’ll arrest Mrs. Maynard soon?”
“What?” She’d caught me off guard with that question. “I mean, maybe. Why do you ask?”
“Just saw the sheriff dropping her off here while I was out in the garden. Thought that perhaps she’d said something to you.”
“About being with the sheriff? No.” I was about to mention the safe when she cut me off.
“Well, I’m going to go to the store now. That big group is supposed to check in tomorrow night, so you and Jessica need to make sure everything is ready.” Lucy turned to leave before she’d even finished speaking, so I assumed I was dismissed from the conversation.
“Will do.”
“Thank you for everything, dear.” She tossed over shoulder on the way out.
“You’re welcome.”
Lucy had seemed a little odd when she left, and I wondered if she was feeling all right. She’d said she’d be around, so I told myself that if I saw her again and she was worse, I’d use some healing magic and encourage her to go to the doctor. The whole thing made me a little paranoid, but a touch of strange behavior wasn’t reason to believe she’d also been poisoned. I watched her walk out to her car and pull out of the lot. She’d seemed fine and drove straight, so I put it out of my mind.
Before I went upstairs to check the safe, I called Gunner. Of course, it went right to voicemail again, so I left him a message that I had a theory. “Please call me back when you can,” I said before ending the call.
I made my way up the step and down the hall to the room. “What do you think she left in the safe?” Meri asked.
“Shhh.”
I didn’t see anyone around, but you just never knew. The last thing I wanted was to have to do a major memory wipe on Jessica or a guest because they saw my cat talking to me.
No one was around, and the room felt still and quiet. There was no buzz in the air, so I felt confident the ghost that liked to chuck things at my head wouldn’t attack while I opened the safe.
The only problem was that I hadn’t seen a safe, and I didn’t see one then either. There wasn’t one in the floor or the wall. What I did find was a pamphlet on the dresser that gave local numbers, hotel information, and the info on the in-room safe.
Safes were located in the wall behind a picture of whatever kind of bird corresponded with the room name. I walked over to a picture of a bluebird next to the bed, and sure enough, you could open it like a little cabinet door. Behind it was a small gray wall safe.
The safe operated using the room key, so I used my master to open it up. Inside was one item. On the bottom of the safe was a large diamond ring. It must have been Mrs. Maynard’s wedding ring.
“Brighton, look out.” Meri’s words were the last thing I heard before something heavy slammed into the back of my head and everything went black.
I woke up to the feeling of a cat pawing at my nose and Jessica shaking my shoulder.
“Brighton? Please wake up,” Jessica said. “I’m going to call an ambulance.”
I didn’t know who she was talking to but I figured it was to me or Meri. “No, don’t,” I said and sat up. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? It looks like someone hit you over the head with this lamp,” she said.
I knew that couldn’t be possible. Meri would have stopped it, but even if it was the ghost, why hadn’t Meri prevented it? I needed to get her out of the room so I could
ask him.
“I think I’m okay. Why don’t you go down to the kitchen and get me some ice?”
“Yeah, okay. You sit tight.”
She left the room, and I turned to Meri. “What happened? And more importantly, where were you when it happened?”
“I’d gone into the bathroom to look around. I thought I heard something,” Meri said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. So, was it the ghost or did someone hit me?”
“I don’t know. The bathroom door slammed and I had to use a touch of magic to open it. There was no one in the room when I came in, but the main door to the room was open,” Meri said. “You should call Remy.”
“I should call Remy?”
“Yeah, for the crack to your brain. I healed you as best I could, but I’d feel better if you’d have him come make sure you’re okay,” Meri said. “Healing magic is not my specialty.”
I stood up, and my head throbbed a bit. I made my way to the door. “I’m going to call Remy and then Gunner again,” I said.
“No need to call me.” Gunner’s voice startled me. “Who are you talking to?” He was out in the hallway, and I nearly ran into him on the way out of the room. I wobbled a little, and he grabbed my arm to steady me. “Whoa now. Let’s get you downstairs.”
Gunner helped me down the stairs, and I called Remy and told him I’d been hit in the head. “Gunner’s here with me,” I said when he asked if it was a ghost. I wanted him to know why I couldn’t answer his question.
“Did Jessica call you?” I asked as we sat down in the breakfast area. “How did you get here so fast?”
“I saw that I’d missed your calls and headed over this way. You said you had a theory, and after getting nowhere with Mrs. Maynard, I wanted to hear it. The girl, Jessica, who works here, she said you were upstairs and that you’d had a head injury. Do I need to call an ambulance, Brighton?”
“No, no ambulance. I’ll be fine.”
“Do you know who hit you?”
I didn’t want to lie, but I had to. “It’s coming back to me now,” I said. “No one hit me. I tripped, knocked the lamp off, and hit my head.”
Gunner narrowed his eyes at me. “You sure?”
“I am,” I said. “Unfortunately, I can’t remember the theory I had. I should have written it down.”
“Brighton?”
I tried to think on my feet. “There was a woman who showed up out in the parking lot right after Mrs. Maynard came back from her interview with you.”
“So, you think the wife had an accomplice?” Gummer asked. “Do you know who she was?”
“She had long dark hair and drove a fancy German car.” I hoped that deflecting his questions with a description would work. I did know who she was, but I still couldn’t tell him. I felt stupid for not thinking of that when I called to tell him I had a theory.
“Hmm,” he said like he might know who I was talking about. I hoped so. “Well, if that’s what you’ve got for me, I’m going to go follow up on it.”
I could tell he was frustrated, but I wasn’t going to reveal any more. It was good that Isabella hadn’t come into the inn. Even if Gunner went to talk to her, and she revealed the existence of who she thought was another of Jack’s lovers, he wouldn’t quite be able to slip that piece into the puzzle. I had no doubts that Gunner would throw me in the slammer if he knew I’d broken into the Maynards’ house.
While Gunner and I were talking, Jessica had appeared with the ice. She stood back in the doorway and waited for him to leave. When he was gone, she brought it over and handed the pack to me.
“It was a ghost, wasn’t it? That’s why you didn’t want to tell him who hit you.” She looked frightened.
I mean, it probably had been a ghost, but I didn’t want to scare her. The last thing I wanted was for Jessica to be terrified every day while she was at work.
“I don’t know. I really meant it when I said I don’t know who or what hit me. Did you see anyone? Or any sign of anyone?”
For a split second, I had to wonder. Could it have been Jessica? Maybe she had only poisoned herself to make it look like she hadn’t done it. Why would she have been eating something from a guest’s room in the first place? It was really unprofessional, and she’d never struck me as unprofessional.
But, why would she have killed Jack? I guessed it was possible that they had been involved, or that he’d done something to upset her on his last visit. What could that have been that was bad enough she’d kill him?
No, I shook the thought from my head. It didn’t fit. The spirit in the hotel was angry enough to hurt me when I investigated Jack’s wife. If it was Jessica who’d done it, I was certain the spirit would have attacked her too.
Remy rushed through the front doors of the inn and came to my side. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. Just clumsy,” I said and squeezed his hand. It was my way of letting him know I’d say more when we were alone.
“If you guys are okay, I should get to work,” Jessica said, but she looked up the stairs with a weary glance.
“Take Meri with you,” I said.
“The cat?” She cocked her head to one side.
“Well, he’s a black cat, but he’s good luck. Plus, if you’re worried about ghosts, they say cats can drive them away.”
“Is that true?” She seemed a bit skeptical.
“One hundred percent Meri will look out for you, I promise.”
She smiled a little. “Okay, big fella. Let’s go clean some rooms.” Jessica scooped Meri into her arms, and he didn’t protest.
I knew he probably wanted to stay with me, but I would feel better if she wasn’t alone up there. Jessica had no idea that Meri could really protect her from spirits, but I hoped at the very least, his presence gave her some comfort.
Once they were upstairs, Remy put his hands on my head. I felt the soothing warmth of his magic work its way through my head. “There you go,” he said. “That should just about do it.”
“Thank you.”
“So, what is going on? Did that ghost do this to you again, or did a human?”
“I think it was a ghost, but I can’t be sure. There might have been a human involved. When Jessica found me, a door I’d left closed was open. That seems more like a human than a ghost,” I said.
“It does, but you just never know,” he said. “I’ve taken the rest of the day off. I’ll stay here with you.”
“I’d appreciate that.” I smiled.
“You can teach me how to run a bed and breakfast.” No sooner had he spoken the words than his phone began to ring. “It’s Annika.” He answered, and I listened to his side of the conversation. “Annika, calm down. It’s okay. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Hang on.” He turned to me. “Someone threw a brick through her front window and lit a fire out front.”
“You should go to her. I’m okay,” I said. “I’ll be okay for a bit.”
“Amelda can go to her,” Remy said with the microphone on his phone covered.
“She will, but you can too. Go check. Please. Call me as soon as you know everything is okay,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, go,” I said. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” He put the phone back up to his ear. “Annika, I’m on my way.”
When he was gone, I busied myself in the kitchen and behind the front desk for a few minutes before heading upstairs to help Jessica.
She was in a room cleaning, and Meri had stationed himself in the open doorway so he could watch her and the hall. “Hey, Jessica,” I said as I walked in so I wouldn’t startle her. “You guys doing okay?”
“Doing just fine. I’m almost done in here.”
“Great. I’ll take your linens down to the laundry room and then get started on the last room at the end of the hall. If you want to take the one in the middle?”
“Sure thing.”
“After that we’ve got a bit of admin stuff to do to get ready for the next big group
, and I’ll need to do some shopping.”
“Sounds like a plan, boss. It’s going to be a good day after all,” she said with a relaxed smile.
I took the linens down to the laundry room and started a wash load. I thought about just using magic, but it would have been too obvious. So I poured in the soap, stuffed in the sheets and towels, and turned the washer on.
With that going, I headed upstairs to clean the room I’d assigned myself. It was so tempting to use magic to do the cleaning, but I knew Jessica could pop her head in at any time. I didn’t want to get busted, so I did the linen changes and the vacuuming by hand. The bathroom was another story. I went in there, closed the door behind me, and used magic. It was done too quickly, so I sat on the edge of the tub and read a book on my phone for ten minutes.
There were no ghosts, but I did start to notice a strange smell. “Did I leave something going on the stove?” I asked myself as I opened the bathroom door.
Right about then the smoke detectors went off, and I heard screaming coming from outside. “Jessica?” I called out as I ran out of the room.
The smoke hit me in the face as soon as I was in the hall. Not enough to completely blind me, but enough to make it hard to breathe. “Jessica!” I cried out again.
“I’m here!” She emerged from a room and began to cough.
I pounded on the doors as I rushed by them. There were two rooms where there were still potentially guests. I had to get Jessica and Meri out, so I just knocked on the doors as I went by. I wanted to use my key and go in, but every second the smoke got thicker. Instead of going in, I sent out an invisible magical pulse into those rooms and hoped it would alert and protect anyone inside.
“Get downstairs,” I said as I approached Jessica.
She had Meri in her arms. “We need to call the fire department.”
“We’ll do that when we’re outside.”
We sort of stumbled down the stairs in the haze of the smoke, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Meri protected us the whole way.
When we got outside, I realized I’d worried about the guests for no reason. They were standing out in front of the inn staring up at the raging fire that was consuming the building. It looked a lot worse on the outside than it had on the inside. The fire must have been started on the outside of the building.
Broom and Board Page 8
