Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (3 page)

Steven said, “I can’t believe you’d take her
case against me, Sandra. I thought we were friends.”

Sandra said softly, “I’m sorry, Steven, but
I’m friends with most of Elkton Falls. I can’t turn my back on a
client in need.”

Ashley said defiantly, “There’s more at
issue here than a case of hurt feelings. We won’t stand for this.
Do you understand?”

Julie started to say something, but Sandra
put a hand on her arm and said, “It wasn’t exactly the warm embrace
my client was hoping for. We’ll see you in court.”

Sandra started to leave, but Julie lingered.
Though her voice quivered, there was steel in her words. “I didn’t
do this on purpose. I’m just respecting my father’s last wish.”

“
Whoever he may be,”
Cynthia said with cold dismissal in her voice.

Alex had watched the exchange as if he were
seeing it through someone else’s eyes. His own part of the tragedy
was just starting to sink in. Nothing would be the same with Jase
gone.

After Sandra and Julie left the inn, Elise
asked, “Alex, is there anything I can do?” Her words brought him
back as she lightly touched his shoulder.

He said, “I need to sit down.”

She led him to a nearby chair in the lobby,
and Alex slumped into it. Elise asked, “Would you like
anything?”

“
Water,” Alex
croaked.

He looked up at the sound of voices and
suddenly realized that the Trasks were still there. He was going to
have to pull himself together. Jase would have expected nothing
less of him.

Alex heard Ashley ask, “So what happens now?
I’m not about to let that imposter get her greedy little hands on
Father’s money.”

Steven said, “You heard Sandra. If she’s
really our sister and Dad wanted her to inherit, how can we stand
in her way?”

“
Just watch me,” Ashley
said.

Cynthia looked at both her children. “Is it
agreed, then? We fight this imposter’s claim?”

Ashley nodded, but Steven refused to meet
her gaze as he said, “I still don’t think it’s right. How can we go
against his wishes?”

Cynthia said, “I’m warning you, Steven, if
you don’t stand with us against this woman, you’ll be cut off
yourself. I’ll see to it.”

Steven stood, and as he headed for the door
he said, “Do what you have to, Mother.”

After he was gone, Cynthia said to Ashley,
“Don’t worry, he’ll come around. I’m sure Steven is wrong; we
should have no problem getting representation from Charlotte here
once they find out what’s at stake. Now, let me call a few friends
and see if I can come up with any recommendations. Dear, I’m afraid
this isn’t going to be as simple as we thought.”

Ashley groaned. “So we’re really going to
have to stay here the full week?”

“
At least that,” Cynthia
said with an air of resignation in her voice.

Elise gave Alex his water, then said, “Why
don’t I send the Trasks to a hotel in Hickory? You don’t need to
have guests around right now, especially ones tied in with all of
this.”

Alex said softly, “I want them to stay.”

“
It’s too much,” Elise
insisted. “You need some time to deal with losing your
uncle.”

Alex said resolutely, “Check them in, Elise.
I need to find out if one of them killed Jase. I can’t do that if
they’re staying somewhere else.”

Elise nodded. “Whatever you say.”

As she checked the three guests into their
rooms and showed them the way upstairs, Alex was happy to have the
lobby back to himself. What had started out as an interesting
situation had suddenly turned very ugly.

But one thing was certain. No one was
leaving Hatteras West until Alex uncovered the truth about his
uncle’s murder.

Chapter 3

“
Tony, it’s Alex.”

He’d dreaded making the telephone call to
his brother, but he really had no choice. As Alex dialed the
number, he suddenly realized that they were the last of the
Winstons, their particular branch of the family tree, anyway. Tony
was a confirmed bachelor after a pair of failed marriages with no
children from either union, now wedded only to his work, while Alex
wondered if he’d ever get married himself. His relationship with
Sandra, the last woman he’d dated seriously, was over and finished.
The only woman he was interested in now was Elise, but she was
engaged to a man in West Virginia, hundreds of miles away.

Tony said, “You don’t have to identify
yourself to me, Alex, I’d know that voice anywhere. So tell me, are
you finally going to sell that white elephant you got saddled
with?” Tony had opted for money instead of a half share of Hatteras
West after their parents died, and he’d been urging Alex to get rid
of the lighthouse in the mountains ever since.

“
You know I’m not about to
sell Hatteras West. It’s home.”

Tony said, “So why are you calling me in the
middle of the day? I know it’s not just to catch up on old times.”
That was Tony, always straight to the point. The two brothers had
never gotten along all that well as children, much to their
parents’ chagrin. Growing older hadn’t improved things between
them, either. They were two strangers bound only by the common
blood that ran through them.

“
It’s about Uncle Jase.
He’s dead.”

There was a long pause on the other end of
the line. Then Tony said softly, “So his heart finally gave out on
him.”

Alex took a deep breath, then said, “I wish
it were that simple. Somebody killed him, Tony.”

“
Jase? Why?”

“
The sheriff thinks it had
something to do with a will Jase was supposed to execute today.
There was only one copy, and now it’s missing.”

Tony asked, “Did he catch the killer?”

“
Sheriff Armstrong is
working on it.”

“
That’s hardly reassuring.
He’s not exactly the South’s greatest lawman, is he?”

Alex said, ‘Tony, he’s a much better sheriff
than you remember. Armstrong can handle this.”

“
Don’t tell me you’re not
going to snoop around yourself. I know you too well. Get a room
ready for me, Alex, I’m coming back to Elkton Falls.”

Alex knew his brother would want to come
back home, but it wasn’t something he’d been looking forward
to.

“
I’ll wait to handle the
arrangements until you get here,” Alex said.

“
I’m on my way.”

It would be odd for Alex to see his brother
again, but he knew he’d manage to get through it somehow, for
Jase’s sake if nothing else. His mother and father had never
understood the break between their sons, or the reasons for it.
Instead, they’d remembered the old days through the log of wishful
thinking, believing all had been happy and harmonious in the
Winston household.

Alex knew better.

Elise walked up to him at the reservation
desk and said, “Alex, is there anything I can do?”

“
We’d better get room ten
ready. My brother’s going to stay with us.”

She said, “It will be good for you to have
your family here.”

Alex shook his head. “I’m not so sure,
Elise. We talk on the phone once or twice a year, but he hasn’t set
foot on the grounds of Hatteras West in six years.”

“
What happened between
you?”

“
Nothing; that’s the whole
point. We’ve always been strangers. Once our folks were gone, there
was no need for us to even pretend to keep in touch. Elise, he may
be my brother biologically, but Mor Pendleton is more of a brother
to me than Tony ever has been.”

Mor wouldn’t be happy to see Tony back in
Elkton Falls either. The two had been rivals in high school.

“
I’ll go freshen up the
room,” Elise said.

Alex wanted to reach out to her, to hold her
in his arms, to share some of his grief with her. But he couldn’t
burden her with his feelings for her, even now. At least not as
long as she was still engaged to Peter Asheford. The man had looks,
money, and Elise’s heart.

But Alex was jealous only of the last
part.

There was one place in the world Alex could
go to lift his spirits: the top of the lighthouse. He only hoped no
one was up there now; he needed to be alone.

As Alex ascended the steps that led to the
top, his hand kept trailing against the cool, whitewashed stone of
the tower. Hatteras West was the one constant in his life, always
there, always watching over him. It was a part of him in more ways
than he could ever express, and it gave him a very real comfort
being within its shelter. Alex had taken his very first breath
inside the lighthouse on a stormy Halloween night thirty-some years
before, and the tower had been linked to him ever since.

Climbing the 268 steps kept him in shape,
though the older he got, the longer the ascent took him. Alex
didn’t even stop at the windows on his way up this time, needing to
get to the top as quickly as he could.

It was deserted on the observation deck that
ran all the way around the top. Alex leaned against the rail and
looked down on the nearly completed Main Keeper’s Quarters, with
roof shingles that were still glossy and new, then let his gaze
drift over to nearby Bear Rocks. A lot had happened in his life,
and Alex could tie nearly all of it to this spot in the foothills
of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He could see the rolling ridges in the
distance from his vantage point, smoky with an azure haze. Jase had
loved the lighthouse nearly as much as Alex did, though he hadn’t
climbed it since he’d come back to Elkton Falls. The stairs were
just too much for him.

But how he had enjoyed sitting on one of the
rockers on the front porch of the Dual Keepers’ Quarters, staring
up at it.

At least his uncle had had the chance to
come back home before dying.

Alex heard footsteps behind him, and he
suddenly wished he’d locked the lighthouse doors on his way in.

When Alex turned to the door leading out to
the platform, he was surprised to find Julie Hart standing
there.

She tried to back out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
know anyone was up here.”

Alex said, “You’re welcome to stay, Julie.
The lighthouse is open to everyone. You don’t have to be a guest at
the inn to enjoy it.”

She looked down at her feet. “I don’t want
to intrude. You just lost your uncle. I imagine you probably want
to be alone, Mr. Winston.”

He shook his head. “Call me Alex. I thought
solitude was what I wanted, but to be honest with you, I wouldn’t
mind a little company right now.” Alex surprised himself as he said
it, realizing it was true. There was something about this young
woman, a steel band behind the calm exterior that appealed to
him.

“
Are you sure?” she asked
gently.

“
I’m positive. You are
welcome here,” Alex said as he moved back to the rail and leaned
against it, looking again toward the Blue Ridge Mountains, taking
in the majesty of it all. It was a view he could never grow tired
of.

Julie joined him and gasped as she glimpsed
the vista for the first time. “This place is awesome. I can’t
believe I never heard of it before.”

“
You can thank my wonderful
public relations efforts for that,” Alex said. “We’re North
Carolina’s best kept secret,” he added with a smile.

“
Sorry, I didn’t
mean—.”

Alex cut her off. “I was just teasing. As
long as we have enough guests to break even, I’m a happy man.” Alex
paused, then added, “This can’t be an easy time for you, either,
having the Trasks turn on you like that.”

Julie stared at the mountains a few moments
before speaking. “You know, it was always just my mom when I was
growing up, and when I lost her last year, I felt cut off from the
rest of the world, like I wasn’t really connected to anybody else.
It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

Alex shook his head as he said, “When I lost
my folks, I felt like I’d been cut adrift. I’ve got a brother I
don’t really know, so Jase was all that was left of what I
considered my real family. For the first time in my life, I feel
like there’s just me.”

Julie moved closer, though still not
touching him, and

Alex felt warmed by her presence. “So you do
know how I feel. When your uncle’s letter came, the first thing I
thought of was that I wasn’t alone anymore. I wanted to introduce
myself to the Trasks right away, but Sandra said I should wait.” A
tear crept down her cheek as she added, “It wasn’t the family
reunion I’d been hoping for. Alex, I don’t care about the money or
anything else my father might have left me. I wanted him, something
I never had growing up. But the Trasks just think I’m trying to
steal something that I’m not entitled to.” Alex watched as she
battled her emotions.

It was an easy motion to put his arm around
Julie, and she buried her head in his chest and cried.

Alex said softly, “Don’t give up on them. I
think Steven might come around. You just may have to give them all
some time. I’m sure it was quite a shock for them.”

Julie pulled back, wiping the tears from her
face. As she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, Alex heard a
footfall on the stairwell and looked up in time to find Elise
there.

“
Sorry, I didn’t mean to
interrupt,” she said.

Julie blushed, adding to whatever Elise
imagined she saw. Then Alex suddenly realized he had nothing to
explain, nothing to feel guilty about. After all, Elise was the one
who was engaged to somebody else. Though they’d shared many meals
together, they’d never even been on a real date.

So why did he feel so guilty?

Julie said, “I was just leaving. Thanks for
the talk, Alex, it did me a world of good.”