The Inn at Holiday Bay Books 7 - 9

by Kathi Daley

  “I’m so sorry about your family,” she said.

  I sat down on the bench next to her. “I’ve lived through some pretty dark times, but I’m happy now. Not that I wouldn’t change things if I could, but at some point, you have to let go of your ideas relating to how things should have been and open yourself up to how things might be in the future.”

  “You seem to have good friends.”

  “The best,” I agreed.

  “And Police Chief Wilder? He is a close friend?” she asked.

  “Very close.”

  She stared at the sea. She looked conflicted, and I could see that she was struggling with a decision. “You know something you haven’t told him.”

  She nodded.

  “You can be honest with him,” I said. “Colt is a good man. He’s not out to simply find a killer, any killer, so he can wrap up the case, as some cops do. He really does want to find the truth.”

  She turned slightly and looked at me. “When Carson first met Fiona, I didn’t like her much. Of course, I came to that decision before getting to know her, but I couldn’t see how my mechanic brother would ever fit into her fancy life. I was sure she was going to hurt him and even tried to talk him out of seeing her, but he was smitten, and I could see that nothing I said was going to change his mind, so I decided to approach the situation from another angle.”

  “Another angle?”

  “I decided to befriend Fiona. Really get to know her. I was sure that once she let her guard down, I would find all sorts of dirty laundry I could use to convince my brother that it was best to stick to women who shared a history similar to ours.”

  “Did you find any dirty laundry?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. What I found was a kind, compassionate woman who worked hard, built a business, supported charities with both her time and money and really did seem to adore my brother. What I found was the sister I never had.”

  “So, Fiona is important to you?”

  “Very important,” she confirmed. “And she is the world to my brother.”

  I felt the tension in my stomach. “Do you know something about Fiona? Something you feel like you should tell, but are afraid to?”

  She bowed her head, seeming to stare at her clutched hands. “No. Not Fiona. But Naomi.”

  “Go on,” I encouraged.

  She looked up, and I could see the hesitation on her face.

  “No one is out to hurt either Fiona or Naomi,” I assured her. “We’re just looking for the truth.”

  She blew out a long breath. “On that first night here, I passed out in the chair downstairs. I didn’t even drink all that much, but I don’t drink often and tend to be a lightweight. I don’t remember everything that happened, but I do remember waking up fully dressed, minus my shoes, in my bed. I later learned that Mike carried me up.”

  I waited for her to get to the point. So far, everything she’d said was common knowledge.

  “People just assumed I didn’t wake until morning, and I didn’t correct them, but I did wake once before that. At the time I wasn’t sure exactly what time it was. The room was totally dark, so I suspected it was late. My head was pounding, and I felt very nauseated, but I think the thing that woke me was Naomi on the phone. She was talking softly, but I could hear her end of the conversation.” Willa looked at me. “She was talking to Alvin. I know this because she called him by name.”

  “What did she say exactly?”

  “She said, ‘Alvin, so help me God, if you say one word to her, I’ll kill you.’”

  My hand flew to my throat. I really had hoped Naomi was being set up and wasn’t, in fact, the killer. This was going to kill Fiona. “What else did you see and hear?”

  “Not a lot. She lowered her voice, said a few more things, and then she left the room. I turned and looked at the clock once she left. It was two-twenty.” She swiped at a tear that trailed down her cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. I really didn’t lie to your friend. I simply didn’t volunteer anything he didn’t ask about or correct his assumptions even when they were wrong. I knew I should tell what I knew, but I love Fiona. Carson loves Fiona. If Naomi killed Alvin, it will kill her.”

  “I know, and I understand.” I pulled Willa into my arms and hugged her while she wept.

  I texted Colt, who was just turning onto the road leading out to the inn from the highway, and I told him to meet me on the back porch before he spoke to anyone else. When he arrived, Willa and I filled him in. Once Willa told him everything she knew, Colt went inside and asked to speak to Naomi.

  “What’s going on?” Fiona asked me. She was in the kitchen with Georgia and me while the rest of the gang was in the other room having a pre-dinner drink.

  “I’m not sure,” I hedged. “Colt has some new information.”

  “Something strange is going on,” Fiona said. “I asked Naomi for her phone, so we could look at the photos, and she said she’d already deleted all of them. Why would she delete them? I guess if her memory was getting full, she might thin them out but delete all of them?”

  “Maybe she deleted them by accident,” I said, all the while thinking that it was more likely she simply didn’t want her sister to take her phone where she might find something else.

  Based on what Willa told me, it did sound like Naomi might have killed Alvin, but the part of the story that didn’t make sense if Naomi was the killer, was the syringe in her trashcan. Why on earth would she sneak in while everyone was at the resort to place the murder weapon in her own trashcan where someone was likely to find it? It made no sense that she would be trying to set herself up. There must be more to the story.

  Colt and Naomi were in the parlor for what seemed to be a really long time. Eventually, Naomi came out, and Colt called Fiona and Carson in. I could see that Naomi had been crying, but I could also see that she was at least attempting to put on a brave face. Lisa hurried over and asked her what had happened, but Naomi just pushed past her and headed upstairs. I had no reason to believe she’d talk to me, but I headed upstairs anyway.

  “Naomi,” I called out, knocking on the door. “It’s Abby. Can I come in?”

  I was totally expecting her to tell me to go away, but she didn’t. Instead, she opened the door and stepped aside for me to enter.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked. “I know about the phone call.”

  She sat down on the edge of her bed. “I know I should have fessed up to the call instead of telling Police Chief Wilder that my phone had been left downstairs, and I hadn’t found it until the next morning, but I was terrified. I’m still terrified.” She began to sob.

  I sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “What’s going on? What happened? Why are you terrified?” I figured if she’d admitted killing Alvin, she’d be in handcuffs and not sitting in her suite sobbing, so there must be more to the story.

  “Alvin was blackmailing me,” she said.

  “Blackmailing you?”

  “He knew about something that happened to me that he used to persuade me to do him certain favors.”

  “Okay, maybe we should back up a bit. What did you do that Alvin found out about?” I wasn’t sure why she was talking to me. She didn’t know me, but maybe the fact that we weren’t friends, made it easier for her to bare her soul.

  “You know that Fiona is a clothing designer?”

  “Yes. I do know that. I understand she’s doing quite well.”

  “She is, despite me, doing fantastic.”

  “Despite you?” I could see that I was going to need to drag Naomi’s story out of her if I wanted the details.

  “The winter before last, just a few weeks before fashion week, I was on one of my binges, and I found myself in a compromising situation.”

  “Compromising situation?” I asked.

  “I woke up naked next to one of my father’s good friends. One of his married friends. I was mortified. He was mortified. Neither of us remembered how
we’d ended up there, and we both agreed never to speak about what happened. To be honest, I’m not even sure what did happen. It’s all kind of a blur. What I do know is that if my father found out what I’d done, he would cut me off for sure.”

  “But somehow, Alvin knew?”

  She nodded.

  “How?”

  She frowned. “I’m not really sure. Maybe he set the whole thing up in the first place. What I do know is that he had photos. He told me that if I didn’t want to have the photos sent to my father and the wife of the man I was with, I would do what he told me to do.”

  “So, what did he ask you to do?”

  “He wanted me to get my hands on the designs Fiona planned to feature during fashion week. Once I had the drawings and photos, I was to give them to him. At first, I resisted. Fiona had worked so hard on her lineup, and it was awesome. But then he reminded me about the photos he had, and eventually, I did as he asked. Of course, he then gave the photos and drawings of Fiona’s designs to Fiona’s biggest rival, who stole her ideas and presented them as his own. Fiona was devastated. And oh so angry. She swore revenge on whoever leaked the designs, and I knew if she found out it was me, she’d never speak to me again, so I didn’t say anything.”

  “I assume that wasn’t the end of it.”

  “No. That was only the beginning. Once I betrayed my sister, Alvin knew he really had me. He knew I would do anything to keep Fiona from finding out that I was the mole, and he used that knowledge to get other things. I’m the one who introduced Lisa to Alvin after he asked me to. I’m the one who convinced Caspar to not only invest with him but to get him into a high stakes poker game he attends every week. In the end, Alvin turned his attention away from me and began using Lisa to get what he wanted, but it all started with him using me.”

  Wow. I had to admit I hadn’t seen that coming. “So, what happened on Thursday?”

  “Caspar came and spoke to me on Thursday night. He told me that Alvin wanted something specific from him that he was unwilling to provide, and while he didn’t say exactly what Alvin wanted, he did say that he was done being used and planned to tell Lisa exactly what sort of a man she was dating. I knew that Alvin would rat me out if Caspar didn’t play his game and tried to talk him into going along with the guy for a little while longer, but he was adamant. The phone call Willa overheard was me letting Alvin know I’d done what I could, but Caspar wasn’t budging, and there was nothing more I could do. Of course, the first thing out of his mouth was a threat to tell Fiona my secret. My reply was to threaten to kill him if he followed through. That’s what Willa overheard.”

  “Willa said you left the room at that point.”

  She nodded. “I headed downstairs. I’d decided that I needed to confront Alvin face to face, but when I got downstairs, he was nowhere to be found. I peeked in his room, but Lisa was alone, so I went back to bed. The next morning, everyone said he was missing, and I just went along with the group. I was afraid to bring up my part in the whole thing. I really was terrified of Fiona finding out that it had been me who’d stolen her designs. I knew she’d never speak to me again.” Tears began to stream down her face. “I guess she knows now.”

  “Yes, I imagine she does.” I took Naomi’s hand in mine. “Do you remember anything from your night with the married man Alvin used to blackmail you?”

  “No. Not a thing. I remember being at the party and drinking heavily, and the next thing I know, it’s morning, and I’m naked in bed with one of my father’s very best friends. I didn’t remember anything, nor did I have any idea how we’d gotten there, and he said he didn’t either.”

  “It does sound like the whole thing was a setup. Maybe you were both drugged and posed, so Alvin would have something to use against you. How did you meet Alvin in the first place?”

  “I met him at a club a few weeks before this happened. He was sweet and charming at the time, and we spent a good amount of time talking.”

  “So, he knew exactly who you were?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m not saying that Fiona won’t be livid when she finds out what happened. Lisa too. But it does sound like you were set up.”

  She bit her lower lip. “I guess it might have happened that way. Not that it matters. I still did what I did, and Fiona will never forgive me.”

  I wasn’t so sure that Fiona would never forgive her, but I was pretty sure the sisters were in for a rough ride. I remember how devastated I’d been when my sister, Annie, wasn’t speaking to me. I had to admit I felt sorry for Naomi.

  A short time later, Jennifer knocked on the door. Naomi answered. I could see that Jennifer was surprised to find me in the room.

  “What on earth is going on?” she asked Naomi. “First, you’re called in to talk to the police chief, and then Fiona went in. When she came out, she was hysterical.”

  Naomi stepped aside. “Come in. I need to tell you something.”

  I figured that was my cue to leave. Jennifer, as Fiona’s partner, was most likely to be as upset about what Naomi had done as Fiona was.

  A short time later, a limo pulled up, and Carson and Fiona left. I asked Georgia if Fiona had said anything to her, and she replied that Fiona had simply made arrangements to settle the bill, but that was all she’d said. Based on everyone’s look of confusion, it didn’t appear that she’d even bothered to explain her abrupt departure to her guests. I was afraid that it would be up to us until Mike took the floor.

  “Can I have everyone’s attention,” he called out.

  Lisa was in with Colt, but everyone else, other than Naomi and Jennifer, who were still upstairs, were in the room where the bar was located.

  “As you have all observed, Fiona and Carson had to leave. They want to assure you that everything is fine, they just had a personal matter to attend to. The rooms are paid up through tomorrow morning, so Fiona and Carson hope you will all stay and enjoy what is left of the trip.”

  Of course, the announcement was met with what happened, and what’s going on, but Mike either didn’t know, or he pretended not to.

  Not long after that, Colt came out and announced that he needed to speak to everyone he hadn’t just spoken to one more time, after which time, they would be free to go or stay if they preferred. Jennifer came down and pulled Lisa aside. The two of them went upstairs, and a short time later, a car pulled up, and the two of them left. Not long after that, a car came for Naomi. In the end, it was only Mike, Ambrosia, Willa, Jordan, and Stephanie who decided to stay and catch the flight they’d already booked for the following day.

  Georgia set out food, but it appeared that the remaining guests were more interested in booze and gossip than food. Georgia, Jeremy, and I each made a plate and ate in the kitchen. I offered Colt a plate, but he asked for a rain check. He was heading into town, hoping to catch Caspar before he left the area as well. We both remembered someone saying that Caspar planned to stay in Holiday Bay until the following day, but Colt was concerned he might have changed his plans. I really wanted to ask Colt if he’d figured out who the killer was, but he was in a hurry, so I decided it could wait. I figured that at this point, he didn’t strongly suspect any of the guests staying at the inn since he’d allowed them all to leave. But if not one of them, then who?

  Chapter 15

  The remainder of the guests headed out early on Monday morning. Lacy called to let Georgia and me know that she planned to go back to the Chadwick house for additional measurements and asked if we’d like to come with her. Georgia wanted to stay behind and help Jeremy and Nikki with the cleaning since we had guests checking in on Wednesday and Thursday for a long weekend, but I decided to tag along and arranged for her to pick me up.

  “So how goes the drama playing out at the inn?” Lacy asked once we were on the road.

  “Everyone is gone now, but I have to say it has been an eventful twenty-four hours leading up to the early morning departure of the stragglers.”

  “Stragglers? Did some of the gue
sts leave early?”

  “Half the guests left early,” I informed her. “The condensed version of what occurred is as follows: Willa admitted to me that she’d heard Naomi on the phone with Alvin in the wee hours Friday morning. Willa had been passed out cold, so I am assuming that Naomi assumed she was still unconscious when she made the call, but she wasn’t. She told me that Naomi threatened to kill Alvin if he told ‘her’ something. Willa didn’t know at the time that the ‘her’ was Fiona, but Naomi later filled me in on everything. It seems that Naomi was at a party a while back and got pretty wasted. She woke up naked, next to a very married friend of her father.”

  Lacy gasped. “Oh, no. I think this story is about to get bad.”

  “Very bad. Naomi swears she has no idea how she ended up in bed with the guy and doesn’t remember a thing about the evening, but Alvin somehow ended up with photos of the couple and used them to blackmail Naomi into doing certain things.”

  “Sounds like he drugged her and set her up,” Lacy said.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “So what did he blackmail her into doing?” she asked.

  “Various things, but the two biggies were to steal unreleased designs from Fiona, which Alvin then sold to a competitor, and to introduce Alvin to Lisa.”

  “Oh, no. She didn’t.”

  I nodded. “She did. I can see why Naomi was desperate to protect her secret and would even understand if she’d killed Alvin, but Colt talked to her, and while she admitted to calling Alvin, which is why a call from her phone ended up on Alvin’s phone records, she swears she didn’t kill him. Colt believes her.”

  “And Fiona and Lisa?”

  “Once Colt spoke to them, they left without saying a word to Naomi or anyone else. Fiona and Carson left first. Lisa and Jennifer left next. And not long after that, Naomi left. I know she messed up big time, but I sort of feel sorry for her. Especially if she was set up and hadn’t actually slept with her father’s married friend.”