Death Checks Inn (Aspen Valley Inn 1) (4 page)

He
asked again if she was sure, she had never seen the victim before. Had she been seen him hanging around either the Inn or Elkville? Had he attended her grand opening? She didn’t remember seeing him but the evening had been so busy and there had been many people present. She was trying to remember every face, everyone she talked to and that was impossible.

His cell phone rang. He spoke briefly with the caller, his face looking grim at whatever
the caller was saying.

He hung up, looked at her and said, “Well, the preliminary identification of the body seems to be Adam Mason.”

She groaned and put her head in her hands.

He lightly stroked her back and soothed
, “We’ll get to the bottom of this. I will make sure you are safe. I promise.”

She
looked into his eyes and nodded. For some reason she had no doubt that he would keep that promise.

Lacey discovered that there was nothing like a murder to encourage your neighbors to drop by. Dan Smith, her general contractor and handyman had been hanging around since ten this morning wanting to “help” her. Dan was pleasant and good looking in that messy curly blond
hair, one gold earring kind of way. However, Lacey had absolutely no interest in being anything more than partners in keeping the premises in top repair.

Over the course of the morning and early
afternoon, she had several visitors.

Her first visitor,
Lucinda Wright, lived around the corner from the Inn. She owned and operated Lucy’s Llama Ranch. She reminded Lacey of the stereotypical description of a hippy. She had long salt and pepper hair in a tight braid down her back and wore a peasant blouse with a long paisley broomstick skirt. In an effort to comfort Lacey during this trying time, she had brought a couple of skeins of Alpaca yarn combed from an animal named “Big Beau”. Drily Lacey thought, oh good, maybe when my Inn fails I will have time to learn to knit. She thanked Lucy and assured her there was really nothing she needed.

Next came a handsome cowboy, Cody Westerfield.
Tall, rangy and complete with a Stetson held in his hands as he greeted her on the front deck. Brown longish hair and deeply tanned, his brilliant green eyes conveyed his sympathy over the terrible events of last night. She sat down on one of the benches as he explained that his spread was about a mile down the road. He raised free-range bison and a small herd of cattle. He looked to be about mid-thirties and the admiring glances he gave her made her think he was unattached. She thanked him for coming and stood watching as his lanky form climbed into a newish bright red pickup truck.

Charlotte came out and joined her on the deck. “Mmmm, mmmm, mmm, that was a tall drink of water
,” she said. Then she went back inside to answer the ringing phone.

Her last visitor arrived about one in
the afternoon. A sweet young woman, named Mandy Grainger stood breathlessly at her front door. She was weighed down with a large cloth shopping bag on each arm. Declining to come in she pointed to the SUV in the driveway and said she had her twins in the car and needed to pick up her other child at school.

She
dropped off the bags and said, “My phone number is in there, call if you need anything. I’m so sorry.”

S
he was gone almost as quickly as she had come. Lacey carried the heavy bags into the reception area.

Charlotte came out of the kitchen and took one and they both headed into back into the kitchen to see what they contained. They both exclaimed over the treasures they unpacked. A huge chicken and pasta casserole, fluffy
, soft homemade yeast rolls and what appeared to be a still warm berry cobbler.

This reminded Lacey that she had
not planned anything to feed everyone. Well, thank goodness for nice people like Mandy who had made sure that she and her guests would not starve.

Speaking of her
guests, she had not seen anyone since sending them upstairs to rest several hours ago. She started to head upstairs to check on them when a knock at the front doors diverted her.

As she opened the door to both Wyatt and his
deputy, she noticed they looked grim and business like. Wyatt bluntly stated that they needed to see Heather Mason.

As she
led them both upstairs, she didn’t bother with making small talk. She knocked at Heather’s door, softly at first and then more boldly as there was no answer. Wyatt stepped forward, turned the unlocked doorknob, and proceeded to enter the room. They checked the room and the adjoining bathroom to no avail. Heather was gone. The three of them looked at each other with puzzled faces. Where could she have gone?

The
other guests had noticed the commotion. Both the sleepy looking newlyweds and the irritated college girls opened their doors.

After being told that Heather Mason seemed to be missing, Joan whined, “If we were allowed to leave why didn’t you tell us?”

Wyatt informed them that after the day’s investigation they could leave the Inn if they didn’t stray too far, and
everyone looked relieved.

The newlyweds did not seem nearly as bothered by the enforced restrictions.

As she and the officers headed back downstairs Wyatt told her that Heather Mason was a person of interest and they had come to take her to the sheriff’s station for questioning. He wanted to search the grounds.

Lacey shared with Charlotte and Dan what had happened and they fanned out and began searching the property in case Heather had merely taken a walk to get some fresh air.

Dan in particular seemed pleased to be given an assignment. He had waited all day to be useful.

They checked all of the outbuildings. They shouted Heather’s name as they searched. After several minutes it was clear she was not on the Inn grounds.

They all gathered in the spacious kitchen to discuss their next steps. Suddenly, Lacey realized where she might be. She told them all about Heather’s plan to hike up to Pike’s Peak.

Wyatt listened carefully and then patted Lacey on the back and said, “Good girl, that’s really helpful. How do you think she got there?”            

“Well, everyone’s welcome packet contained several
pamphlets for various sightseeing and shuttle services.” she offered.

Wyatt and the deputy both got on their phones checking with
the companies she wrote down. After two phone calls, they had a confirmation that a middle-aged woman had been picked up down the road from the Inn by Pikes Peak Tours. The driver had delivered his passenger to Manitou Springs near the base of Barr Trail.

This was the most common hiking trail used to reach Pike’s Peak. Lacey wondered how Heather had gotten out of the Inn without
being noticed but then again they had all taken a turn being interviewed in the library and then she had been busy with all the comings and goings the day had brought. According to the driver, Heather had left over three hours ago. That was a huge head start.

She heard Wyatt arranging back up personnel to help search the trail and grabbed her jacket from the hall closet.

He disconnected his cell phone and looked at her shaking his head, “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

When she answered
that, she wanted to help with the search he put his arm around her shoulders and told her that she would be more help staying here at the Inn.

She supposed he was
right. Heather could come back or even call to let them know where she was. Charlotte nodded her head in agreement and Lacey resigned herself to stay where she was.

Wyatt and his deputy left
quickly by the front door and the Inn seemed deserted and quiet.

She and Charlotte busied themselves with putting together a simple dinner with the food that Mandy Grainger had brought.

While it was not yet sunset, it had been a long time since the uneaten breakfast had been served.

Lacey went upstairs to let the other four know that there would be some food set up in the dining room.

Miranda and John Braverman were the first to appear downstairs. They looked concerned but not overwrought. Lacey thought to herself that being so much in love must shield you from some of life’s awfulness.

Shortly thereafter, Suzy and Joan joined them. Lacey sat down at the largest table and asked them all to join her and Charlotte. As she passed around filled plates of the steaming casserole and rolls, she thought this would be a good chance to
get to know her guests and serve as an actual innkeeper.

Everyone seemed
to have more of an appetite than this morning. For a few minutes, no one spoke as everyone tried the food on his or her plates. This is good, Lacey thought to herself. She promised herself that she would have to personally thank Mandy for this thoughtful gesture. In addition, the chicken tetrazzini type casserole was a recipe she definitely wanted.

Suzy was the first to break the
silence, “Do you think we can go explore tomorrow?  We only have two more days before we have to get back to Boulder.”

Lacey answered that she didn’t see why not.

This prompted a discussion around the table about the various sights to be seen. After all, this was Colorado; you had to work hard for it
not
to be scenic.

The Braverman’s decided to stroll around old Colorado City and then stop in one of the unique restaurants for a romantic dinner.

Suzy and Joan wanted to do some
hiking, after much discussion, they decided on Barr Trail and Pikes Peak.

Lacey assured them all that she would
arrange for the shuttle and tour services they would need. She had arranged a barter agreement with the more popular sights and services. She would do her best to send them business if they would do the same for her and the Inn. As a former vice president of a bank, she had learned the power of networking.

She decided to use one
of her favors to surprise the Braverman’s with a romantic dinner for two at the Mona Lisa fondue restaurant in Manitou Springs for their last night. She felt badly that they had not had a wonderful honeymoon so far. The fancy and super popular restaurant would be just the place to start their married lives together. The Mona Lisa had hosted more marriage proposals than any other restaurant in the area. A true testament to the romantic surroundings they created.  

After verifying start times,
since the Braverman’s wanted to sleep in, she went to her office to make arrangements. As she sat at her desk, she wondered what was happening in the search for Heather. Should she call the Sherriff’s office and ask? They would probably not be able to tell her anything. How she wished she had asked for Wyatt’s cell phone number. Would he have given it to her?  She sighed as she thought of those clear blue eyes and the gentleness he had shown her during this ordeal. His wife was a lucky woman. 

She finished
the arrangements for tomorrow and started to leave the office. As she was turning off the light, the desk phone rang.

It was Wyatt. His voice sounded grim.

“What happened?” s
he asked breathlessly.

“I know it’s late
,” he said, “but I really want to talk to you about it in person. Will you wait up until I can get there? It will be another hour or so.” 

“Of course
,” she answered without hesitation.

She quickly admonished herself not to feel so much excitement to meet with a
married
man about a missing person. What was wrong with her? 

She resisted the urge to run upstairs and pretty up her hair and makeup.

Charlotte tried hard to hide her smile as Lacey told her that Wyatt would be here soon.
The kitchen was cleaned up and she thought it would be best if she went on home so that Lacey and Wyatt could talk freely.

The sisters hugged at the doorway and said goodnight. It had been a long and trying day.
Both sisters did not want to have this kind of excitement ever again.

After Charlotte left, Lacey settled into the library with a book she
wasn’t really reading, waiting for Wyatt.

The next thing she
knew, Wyatt was shaking her shoulder and calling her name softly in the empty room. She had fallen asleep with the book abandoned on the floor. How long had he been there, she wondered.

She sat up straight and
asked, “Did you find her?”

He shook his head and filled her in on the search. They had called in a volunteer mountain search team. Since they believed her destination was the top of Pike’s Peak they had started there. She had not been seen at the summit or on the Cog Railway. This meant that she must have hiked in from one of the side trails.

The shuttle driver had said she did not want to drive up to the peak so he had dropped her off at
a trailhead. There were many routes both well marked and mapped out on the internet. They would have to search each possibility and that could take another twenty-four hours.