“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Tillie was clearly hungover, but she was determined not to use that as an excuse to lose an argument. “I always knew what you were up to. It’s my special skill.”
“Oh, and I thought it was making me think my head was imploding on a daily basis,” Landon deadpanned.
“Don’t make me put you on my list,” Tillie warned.
“I’ll try to refrain from the overwhelming urge to get on your list,” Landon said, sipping his coffee before shifting his eyes to Bay. “What are you doing today?”
“What are you doing today?” she countered.
“You told me that answering a question with a question is a surefire way to know that someone is up to no good,” Landon pointed out. “What are you doing today?”
“I am … working.” Bay suddenly found something interesting to stare at on the tablecloth. I had no idea what, but she was determined to avoid eye contact with the pushy FBI agent.
“What are you working on?” Landon didn’t raise his voice, but it was clear he was suspicious.
“I’m working on an article about the dead woman in the woods,” Bay replied. “What else is there to work on?”
“Okay. I’d like to know where you plan to pursue your leads,” Landon pressed. “I don’t want you wandering around the woods by yourself, Bay. It’s not safe.”
“I’m not going to be by myself.” Bay cast a pleading look in Thistle’s direction. “I’m not going to be in the woods either. I’m going back to the resort. And I’m taking Thistle with me.”
“I can’t go with you,” Thistle said, dashing Bay’s hopes. “I have to do inventory. We have a huge shipment coming in at the store. I don’t have a choice.”
“Well, I guess that settles that,” Landon said. “I might be able to carve out some time this afternoon to take you to the resort. If you can wait until then … .”
Bay cut him off with a shake of her head. “I can’t wait until then.”
“Why not? I have to go with Chief Terry to talk to Penny’s family. I can’t go to the resort with you now.”
“I don’t need you to go with me,” Bay argued. “I’m an adult. I have my own car. I can go out to the resort myself.”
“Sweetie, I would really rather you didn’t.” Landon lowered his voice. I couldn’t decide if it was because he was embarrassed to be caught begging or he was trying to placate the feisty blonde.
“I’m going.” Bay was firm. “I’ll be fine. It’s a nice day, and I won’t be wandering around the woods. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Besides, I’ll go with her,” Tillie offered. “You’ll have nothing to worry about as long as I’m there to supervise.”
Landon’s grimace turned into a scowl. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. In fact, that makes me feel worse. The idea of the two of you running around that resort is enough to give me indigestion. Can’t you please wait, Bay?”
Bay looked caught. She clearly didn’t want to hurt Landon’s feelings, but she was determined to return to the resort. I couldn’t fathom why, but was dying to find out. That’s why I decided to interject myself into the argument, which, in hindsight, was probably a mistake.
“I need to go back, too,” I offered, wrapping my hands around the mug. “I can go with her.”
Landon turned his incredulous eyes to me. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, excuse me?” Jack was equally annoyed. “We didn’t discuss that.”
“I wasn’t aware I had to discuss my plans with you,” I sniffed, locking gazes with Bay. I knew she would decide her own fate – she had that air about her – and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t forgotten in the melee. “If you’re game to go out to the resort, I’d be more than happy to go with you.”
Bay made up her mind on the spot. “The more the merrier. Sounds like a fun morning.”
“Oh, geez.” Landon pinched the bridge of his nose. “This has mistake written all over it.”
“Don’t worry.” Tillie patted his arm. “I’ll be there to keep things under control.”
“And I’m going to need to start my day with a drink,” Landon muttered. “I think my liver is going to be shot before the week is out at this rate.”
I couldn’t help but worry he was right.
14
Fourteen
“I can’t believe you didn’t let me drive,” Tillie griped as she climbed out of the passenger seat of Bay’s car. Bay parked in front of the main lobby, which I hadn’t entered when I’d been at the resort yesterday, so I was excited to see it. Of course, I was also nervous because the possibility of running into people I’d previously met was high. I hadn’t thought about that when I volunteered to accompany Bay.
“Your truck still has the plow on it and there’s nothing to plow,” Bay argued, adopting a long-suffering sigh only family members familiar with specific quirks can muster. “Besides, you shouldn’t have a license. You’re a terrible driver.”
“Okay, you’re definitely on my list,” Tillie grumbled, staring at the resort’s main building. “Huh. Is this place bigger?”
“When was the last time you were here?” I asked.
“Probably the seventies.”
“Oh, well, I assume they made some changes,” I offered, smiling. “It’s a beautiful resort. Do you golf? I’ll bet the course is gorgeous.”
“Why would I want to golf?” Tillie asked, scuffing her shoes against the concrete as we walked up the sidewalk. “What fun is there in hitting a ball with a stick? If I want to hit something with a stick, I want it to move first. Otherwise it’s too easy.”
I was taken aback. “What do you hit with sticks?”
Tillie shrugged. “I’m not a big fan of moles. They mess up my garden.”
“So you hit them with a stick?” My eyes widened. “Do you kill them?”
“Not with a stick. That’s what the gun is for.”
Bay shifted her shoulders and glared at her great-aunt. “Where is your gun, by the way? I told Landon you were walking with it in town and he went to find it and came up empty. I’m sure you were anticipating that, though. Is it in the greenhouse? The door was locked yesterday.”
Tillie’s face flickered between annoyance and faux innocence. “Why would you be trying to get in my greenhouse? You don’t garden.”
“I could garden,” Bay shot back. “You’re trying to distract me. Where is your gun?”
“I don’t have a gun. I think you’re mistaken.” Tillie shifted her eyes toward the kitschy gift shop area. “That’s where I’ll be if you need me.”
Bay’s mouth dropped open. “I thought you were here to help me.”
“I am here to help you. I’m going to help myself, too. They have a candy shop. I’ll ask questions about Penny Schilling there. Bakers and candy makers are always thick with the good gossip.”
I had no idea if that was true, but Bay seemed resigned.
“Fine,” Bay growled. “Don’t get in trouble, though. Don’t call anyone names … and don’t put anyone on your list. By the way, you don’t have any mortal enemies who work here, do you?”
Tillie shrugged, unbothered by Bay’s tone. “It’s a small world, Bay, and my enemies list is ever growing. I can’t answer that question until I see who works here. You know that.”
“Okay, but if you get arrested, call Mom for bail money. I’m going to pretend I don’t know you.”
“So it will be like you’re in middle school again.” Tillie’s smile was sunny. “I’ll see you in a little bit. By the way, if you get arrested, don’t come crying to me. Call ‘The Man’ and make him bail you out.”
“I don’t get arrested,” Bay countered.
Tillie snorted. “I seem to remember a time or two where you were arrested with me.”
“That happened once.”
“It happened a few times when you were little,” Tillie countered. “I merely told you we were visiting Terry so you wouldn’t cry. You girls were such whiner
s when you were younger.”
“Whatever.” Bay, a dark expression on her face, watched her great-aunt cross the parking lot. When she realized I was staring at her she squared her shoulders and forced a smile. “So … um … shall we?” She gestured toward the main entry.
I nodded as I fell into step with her, the weight of trying to think up passable conversation causing my shoulders to slump. “So, your aunt seems fun.”
Bay snorted. “She has her moments. She actually was fun to grow up in the same house with. She always took us on adventures … and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a good adventure.”
The shift in Bay’s attitude once Tillie was out of hearing distance was remarkable. “You love her.”
“Of course I love her. She’s my great-aunt.”
“But … you like her, too.”
“I understand her,” Bay corrected. “She likes attention, whether it’s negative or positive, and she truly enjoys keeping people on their toes. She’s a royal pain in the butt when she wants to be. She’s also loyal to a fault, and she’d die before letting harm come to anyone she loves.”
“Does that include Thistle?”
Bay smiled and this time the expression made it all the way to her eyes. “It definitely includes Thistle. They’re the most alike.”
“Does Thistle believe that?”
“If you hear her talk, the answer would be no,” Bay replied. “I think deep down she recognizes that she has a lot of Aunt Tillie in her. We all have a certain amount, just in different ways.”
“Yeah, well … about last night … um … .” I had no idea how to broach the subject and found myself struggling for the right words. “I didn’t mean to infringe on your privacy. We were coming back late and Jack thought he heard something. We were checking out the noise and saw you. I promise we didn’t stay for very long.”
That was a total lie, but it sounded better than the truth.
“You were out there for almost an hour.” Bay said the words without recrimination and her eyes sparked with mirth when they locked with mine. “I knew you were out there the entire time.”
“How?”
“I … felt you. I guess that’s the easiest way to say it.”
“You felt us?” That was interesting. “Are you psychic?”
If Bay was surprised by the question, she didn’t show it. “No, I’m not psychic. Are you psychic?”
Unlike Bay, who appeared to have the grace to remain unruffled during the oddest of circumstances, I could feel my cheeks burning under her pointed gaze. “Of course not. I … why would you ask that?”
“Because you’re hiding something.” Bay’s answer was simple, succinct and said without malice. The observation was also terrifying. “I’ve known you were hiding something since you arrived.”
“That’s kind of funny,” I admitted, hoping my voice wouldn’t crack as I fought to remain calm. “I’ve thought the same thing about you since we met.”
“What do you think we’re hiding?”
“I thought we were going to discover it last night, but all we saw was naked dancing and heavy petting,” I replied, refusing to back down.
“Who was doing the petting?” Bay was mortified. “I wasn’t paying attention to everyone else.”
“Then you should know who was doing the petting.”
Bay’s face was blank. “I … .”
“It was you and Landon,” I offered helpfully. “You guys were in your own little world. I couldn’t hear what you were saying to each other, but there was definitely some petting.”
For the first time since the conversation began over breakfast an hour before, Bay finally showed signs of embarrassment. Her cheeks flooded with color as she scratched the side of her nose. “Oh, well, I guess we were feeling a bit … cuddly … last night?”
I barked out a laugh, genuinely amused. “Cuddly? Is that what you guys call it?”
“I knew we had an audience, but I kind of forgot,” Bay offered lamely. “Aunt Tillie makes her own wine and it’s stronger than anything you can find in a store. Once you have a few sips of that … whoa, baby … you kind of forget your surroundings.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the embarrassment on her face. “It’s okay. You guys weren’t being gratuitous or anything. In fact, it was kind of sweet.”
“What was sweet about it? Landon was making up dirty limericks about bacon.”
“Yeah, he seems obsessed with bacon, huh?”
“He is, but now that he has an audience he plays to it because it’s easier than discussing the pros and cons of a Bigfoot murder,” Bay explained, holding open the large glass door so I could enter in front of her. “It’s just his thing. He does eat a lot of it, though.”
“You guys seem happy together.”
“We are.” Bay’s expression was thoughtful as she met my gaze. “What about you and Jack? Are you happy together?”
The question caught me off guard. It was so absurd that I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Jack and me?” I sputtered, legitimately amused. “We’re not together.”
“You’re not?” Bay didn’t look convinced. “Almost every time I’ve seen you since you arrived, you’ve been with Jack.”
That couldn’t be right. “I just joined the team,” I explained. “I graduated from college this semester. Technically I haven’t graduated yet. The ceremony isn’t for another two weeks.”
“That’s not what I asked.” Bay’s smile was impish. “I asked about Jack.”
“And I’m explaining that I barely know him.”
“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing there.” Bay climbed the stairs that led to the front desk. “I guess you’re not ready to deal with that, this being your first big job and all. When you’re ready, though, don’t look past Jack.”
“He doesn’t like me,” I argued. “He thinks I’m immature. Last night he yelled at me as if I were a child.”
“What were you doing?”
“I … well … Millie convinced me to come to a party out here,” I admitted. “It was on the eighteenth green of the golf course.”
“So you have been out here before.” Bay wasn’t accusatory, but the way she bobbed her head made me realize she suspected it already. “Were you here yesterday afternoon?”
“I … yes.” I saw no reason to lie. “Jack wanted to question some of the workers. I saw you staring out a window when we were here. I didn’t approach you because Jack seemed to want to keep it a secret.”
“Landon figured you guys would come out here,” Bay noted. “It’s okay. You didn’t break any laws.”
“We used the ambulance code to get behind the property gate.” I lowered my gaze to my feet. “I’m pretty sure that’s against the law.”
“It’s not a big law. Don’t worry about it.”
I pursed my lips. “That seems like an odd thing for the girlfriend of an FBI agent to say.”
“Yes, well, I’m a Winchester first,” Bay offered. “We were taught that the only rule you had to worry about was the one about not hurting others. Little rules were meant to be broken.”
“Do you still believe that?”
“Yes.”
“What about Bigfoot? Do you believe in that?”
Bay shrugged. “I believe there are a lot of magical things in this world that people don’t understand,” she said. “I’m of the mind that you should never rule anything out.”
“I kind of believe that too.”
“I know. I can tell.” Bay turned her attention to the bustling lobby. “Now, let’s see if we can find the wife of the bartender, shall we? I hear Penny was shtupping him and the wife most certainly had to know. Let’s go this way.”
IT DIDN’T TAKE long to realize that Bay Winchester was fun to be around. She showed no nervousness when it came to questioning people – even thinking fast on her feet when confronted by the suspicious head of security about our presence at the resort. By the time we tracked down Phyllis Grimes she was determi
ned.
“Let me do the talking,” Bay instructed, moving in the woman’s direction with clear purpose.
“That sounds like something your great-aunt would say,” I pointed out.
“That’s who I learned from.” Instead of approaching Phyllis with a bright smile, Bay took a different approach. She kept her face impassive as she rested her hands on the other side of the concierge desk. “Are you Phyllis Grimes?”
The round-faced woman behind the desk was pleasing to the eyes. She was clearly used to disgruntled guests, because she fixed Bay with a bright smile even though Bay took a no-nonsense tone with her. “Can I help you? Is there a problem with your room?”
“I don’t have a room,” Bay replied. “My name is Bay Winchester. I’m a reporter with The Whistler. Er, actually, I’m the owner now. I’m still getting used to it. That’s a long story, though. That’s the newspaper in Hemlock Cove.”
Phyllis’ smile slipped. “I’m familiar with it … and now that you mention it, I recognize you.”
“Great,” Bay said, not missing a beat. “We’re here looking for information on Penny Schilling. She was murdered and her body was dumped behind the Dandridge lighthouse.”
“I … heard about that.” Phyllis, already pale, turned even whiter. “I’m not with Human Resources, so I don’t know much about her service here.”
“We have questions,” Bay explained.
“I’m not authorized to answer questions about Penny’s work history.” Phyllis made a big show of organizing the envelopes on her side of the desk. “You should speak with someone in Human Resources.”
“I talked to them yesterday,” Bay said. “We also talked to some workers who told us about some of Penny’s more … colorful … avenues of interest. One of those avenues happens to be your husband.”
Bay’s bold tactics flabbergasted me. I would’ve tried to butter up the woman a bit, but Bay went straight for the jugular. Phyllis’ cold stare told me Bay hit the exact nerve she was after.
“Are you saying that my husband was involved with Penny Schilling?”
The Bigfoot Blunder (A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 13
