Room for Murder (Book 4 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (24 page)

“
Duke Power said we’ll have
most of our service back in a day or two. What are you doing about
your guests?”

“
Nobody showed up,” Alex
admitted. “Being directly in the path of a hurricane doesn’t
exactly inspire folks to vacation here.” He added, “Don’t worry
about us, though, we’ll manage to squeak by somehow.”

“
You always do, don’t
you?”

Elise came outside and said, “Hey, Ms.
Mayor.”

Tracy laughed. “That’s going to take some
getting used to, hearing that.”

“
I think you’ll manage,”
Alex said.

“
Oh yes,” Tracy admitted.
“Well, I just wanted to touch base with you’all. Alex, if you need
anything out here, just let me know. I owe you one.”

Alex grinned. “I’ll remind you of that when
I ask you to push the Town Council about letting me light my lens
more than once a year.”

Tracy nodded. “You’ve got yourself a deal.
Let me dig out of all this hurricane mess and we’ll talk about it
then.”

“
Sounds good to
me.”

After Tracy was gone, Elise said, “I just
heard from Emma.”

They’d been trying to track the newlyweds
down since the storm, without any success.

“
Did they make it all
right?” Alex asked.

“
So far they’ve spent their
honeymoon at Charlotte-Douglas Airport. There’s nothing to worry
about, though, they should be leaving for their cruise
today.”

“
Hasn’t the ship already
left port?” Alex asked.

“
Yes, but they’re meeting
it at the first stop. Emma was understandably relieved to hear that
Grady confessed to killing Toby in front of witnesses.”

Alex said, “Do you think she still thought
Mor might have had something to do with it?”

Elise shrugged. “Well, she married him,
didn’t she?”

“
That doesn’t answer my
question.”

“
Does it really matter,
Alex? They’re together. Ultimately, that’s all that
counts.”

Alex leaned his broom against the wall and
said, “We need to have another talk, Elise. I’m not happy with the
way we left things.”

“
There’s nothing to talk
about,” Elise said.

“
You might not think so,
but I surely do.”

Sheriff Armstrong drove up Point Road in his
cruiser, and Elise said, “Not now, Alex. Not with the sheriff
coming.”

“
He can wait.”

Elise shook her head, touched Alex’s cheek
lightly, then said, “So can this discussion.”

Armstrong got out of his cruiser and said,
“The storm wasn’t too bad out here, was it?”

“
I don’t even have to call
Smiley O’Reilly,” Alex admitted. “I’ll bet he’s been hopping the
last few days.”

Armstrong nodded. “I don’t think the man’s
had a wink of sleep since the storm hit. Some folks got slammed
pretty hard, and some it barely touched.” Shifting his feet, the
sheriff added, “Just thought you might want to know, seeing how you
were involved in all this. They just found Grady Hatch.”

“
Where was he, heading for
the border?”

Armstrong shook his head. “He never made it
that far. From the look of things, he tried to head out on foot
when he saw his camper all bashed in. The storm must have picked
him up and thrown him like an old rag doll. I won’t even make you
guess where his body finally ended up. He’s not twenty feet from
the spot where he killed Oxford Hitchcock.”

“
I never would have
believed him capable of murder,” Alex admitted.

“
Funny thing, you never
know what’s going to set a body off like that. Well, I’d better get
back into town. I just wanted to let you know.”

“
Thanks, Sheriff,” Alex
said.

After he was gone, Alex stayed outside,
staring up at the lighthouse. He’d survived his second hurricane
inside its safe walls, the first one since he’d been born on that
Halloween night years and years ago. It was there for him always, a
haven of safety when the world around him was going insane.

Alex looked back inside through the window
of the Main Keeper’s Quarters and saw Elise working at the
registration desk.

No matter how hard she tried, there was no
way Elise could deny the power of that kiss they’d shared.

He’d just have to find a way to convince her
that it had been right and good, and not a mistake.

It could be tough going, given Elise’s
vulnerability and her fear about ruining their friendship.

But he’d do his best to show her that they
belonged together as more than just friends.

It was definitely a task worth taking
on.

And now a peek at Booked for Murder, book 5
in the Lighthouse Inn mysteries by Tim Myers.

Booked for Murder

By Tim Myers

Chapter 1

“
I know I shouldn’t admit
it, but I’ll be glad to see the last of that monstrous emerald,”
Elise Danton said as she and her employer, Alex Winston, watched
the final group of gawkers pass through the lobby of The Hatteras
West Inn on their way to see the Carolina Rhapsody Emerald. The
spectacular gem was currently being exhibited in one of the
guestrooms of the Main Keeper’s Quarters, but the show was nearly
over.

Alex said, “We were lucky to get it. Reston
Shay hasn’t had that stone out of his vault in ten years. Look how
many folks have come to Hatteras West to see it.” Alex owned and
operated The Hatteras West Inn, a property nestled in the foothills
of the Blue Ridge Mountains sporting a replica of the Hatteras
Lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The inn’s guests stayed
in either the Dual or Main Keepers’ Quarters; it was a heavy
workload for just two people, but somehow they managed well enough.
Unfortunately, part of that was due to the inn’s constant
less-than-stellar occupancy rate.

Elise frowned, her nose crinkling slightly.
“These people aren’t paying guests, Alex. I hate to bring this up,
but that’s what we need right now.”

He didn’t need the reminder; nobody knew the
precarious state of their finances better than Alex did. Now that
they had both buildings of the inn up and running at full capacity,
he’d hoped to bring in enough to actually stop using red ink in his
account books, but it hadn’t panned out that way. Emeralds had been
found on Winston land by one of their guests, but the location of
the strike had vanished with her when she’d died. The sale of the
stones she had managed to discover had been enough to rebuild the
Dual Keeper’s Quarters building after a tragic fire, but what had
once seemed like an abundant source of money eventually ran
out.

“
Don’t worry. Things have a
way of working themselves out,” Alex said, wishing he could rely on
something more substantial than hope in comforting Elise. “Let’s
forget about business for now and enjoy the emerald while we still
can. Reston is picking up the stone in less than an hour, along
with that troop of armed bodyguards escorting him all over Elkton
Falls.”

Elise followed Alex as they trailed behind
the last of the crowd to the guestroom where the stone was
displayed. It sat perched atop a glass pedestal resting firmly on
an elegant square of lush red carpet directly in the center of the
room. They had moved the furniture out for the occasion, and the
space looked bare without it. In a roped off area the size of a
parking space stood the Carolina Rhapsody, one of the biggest,
deepest green emeralds in the country. As Alex stared at the
glistening stone, he felt the blood surge in his veins. Alex’s
great-great-grandfather had been a famous rockhound in his own
right, and the call of the jewel still ran strong in Alex.

“
It is beautiful, isn’t
it?” Elise said with reverence as she studied the
emerald.

“
Breathtaking,” Alex
agreed. There was a cathedral-like quality to the stone that made
him whisper in its presence.

One of the stragglers, a woman from town
named Rose Lane who was infamous for her bad temper and curt
manner, blocked Alex’s view of the stone as she moved close enough
to brush against the rope. That brought a big, meaty uniformed
security guard with suspicious eyes out of the shadows.

“
You’ll have to step back,
Ma’am,” he said in a gruff voice that shattered the hushed tone of
the room.

“
I just wanted a closer
look,” Rose said. Her voice bristled with abruptness, daring him to
defy her. Rumor had it around Elkton Falls that she’d been too mean
to marry, and she’d gotten worse with every birthday.

“
Sorry, the roped area is
off limits.”

She looked as if she wanted to push it, but
after studying his bulk and the hard lines of his face, she wisely
decided to back off.

Not without a grumble, though. “Why does he
display it if he doesn’t want folks to get a good look?”

The guard didn’t reply, but he also didn’t
move until Rose was well away from the perimeter. Once she was
safely back, the guard returned to the shadows. Reston had been
most specific about the display, darkening the room around the
emerald and setting up a spotlight that shone down on it like a
beam from Heaven. Alex had to admit the affect was worth the man’s
fussy precision. The Carolina Rhapsody looked absolutely
stunning.

As most of the crowd started to leave, Alex
approached the guard. “I’ll bet you’ll be glad when this is over,
Cliff.” It had taken Alex the entire time of the exhibit to get the
man’s name, and in all honesty, he still wasn’t sure if it was his
first name or his last.

In reply, Cliff raised one eyebrow.

Alex filled in, “It can’t be easy guarding
something worth three million dollars.”

The guard said, “It’s just
another job to me.” The man’s gaze never stopped as he spoke, going
around the perimeter of the room to the windows to the doorway and
then back again. From a security point of view, it had to be a
challenge keeping track of the many ways to get at the emerald,
though Alex knew that the guard’s only responsibility was to watch
over the stone while it was actually at Hatteras West. Reston
Shay’s squad picked the emerald up every day precisely at
five
p.m
. and
delivered it again the next morning at ten.

“
Well, it won’t be long
now,” Alex said as he and Elise left the room.

Someone was waiting for them at the desk of
the Main Keeper’s Quarters when they walked back into the lobby.
Alex suddenly realized he’d forgotten to put up his sign announcing
they would be back soon.

“
May I help you?” he asked
as he took his place behind the registration desk.

The lady in question had brightly dyed red
hair pulled back in a ponytail, and wore a floral print dress that
matched her flashy running shoes. Over one arm she carried a huge,
woven egg basket partially covered with a square of cloth that
perfectly matched her dress, and there was the pleasant aroma of
baked goods that hovered around her. “I’m Fiona White, and I’ve got
a muffin for you.”

“
No thanks, I just ate,”
Alex said, wondering how all the odd birds managed to ultimately
wind up at Hatteras West.

Not deterred in the least, Fiona said, “My
dear boy, you don’t understand. These are free samples to announce
my presence in Elkton Falls. I’m opening up my shop in town. I’m
the Muffin Lady.”

She said the last as if she were announcing
the arrival of the Queen.

Elise said from behind him, “We’ve got a
muffin supplier already, but thanks for coming by.”

Fiona stood her ground. “You may be under
the impression that what you’ve been serving are muffins, but I’ve
got the real thing.” She held back the cloth, and Alex caught a
glimpse of the golden brown muffins inside.

As Elise started to say something, Alex
added, “What can it hurt? I’ll try one.”

Fiona smiled brightly as she dove into her
basket and pulled out a rich copper muffin the size of a small
boy’s head. “How about a Pumpkin Delight?” She handed Alex the
muffin, then turned to Elise. “And for you, let’s see ... Blueberry
Surprise? No, that won’t do at all. I try to match the muffin with
the person, it’s a game I play. I’ve got it.” She reached in and
pulled out a yellow muffin with flecks of something inside. “Banana
Bonanza sounds like your match.”

Elise didn’t take the offered muffin, but
said instead, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind tasting the
blueberry.”

Fiona laughed with delight. “I knew you’d
say that. Here you go. Enjoy.”

Fiona watched intently while Alex and Elise
tried their muffins. Alex couldn’t believe the earthy explosion of
pumpkin from the first bite. “What’s in this?” he asked as he held
the muffin aloft.

“
An old family recipe. So
may I put you down for a selection of two dozen every morning for
your guests?”

Alex was about to agree when Elise said,
“We’ve got a supplier right now who is giving us a very good price
on our orders.” Truth be told, the muffins Alex got from Buck’s
Grill were serviceable, but they couldn’t approach the ambrosia he
held in his hand. He would personally love to have these particular
muffins every morning himself for breakfast, but the food at the
inn was Elise’s area of responsibility, and he was glad to let her
have it. He had enough things to keep up with on his own.

Fiona said to Elise, “Why don’t you taste
your muffin first, then we can discuss terms.”

Elise shrugged, pinched off a bit of muffin,
then sampled it. If it was anything like the bite Alex had just
taken, she would be hard pressed hiding her reaction.