Tidewater Inn (7 page)

“Cute,” she said, pausing on the stoop. “Built in the fifties?”

He nodded and took a glance at the all-too-familiar two-story. It was white clapboard with gray shutters and a red door. “You're good. I bought it from my parents when they moved to Richmond.” He held the door open for her and pointed down the hall to the bathroom. The place was fairly clean. “I'm going to go down to talk to Zach.”

His house was right on the harbor, and his fishing boats were docked just offshore. He stepped around to the back by the upper deck, which was anchored into the sand with pilings. Zach climbed down into the rubber boat and rowed to the small dock by the house. The boy had to have seen him standing on the pier, but Zach didn't wave. He probably knew he was in trouble. Alec waited until the raft reached the dock. Tight-lipped, he tied up the rope Zach tossed to him.

Zach stepped over the side of the boat and onto the pier. He tossed a cheeky grin Alec's way. “I got a job, Uncle Alec!”

Alec's lecture died on his lips. “What kind of job?”

“I'm delivering some supplies.” Zach glanced at him from under a lock of dark hair. “I know I was grounded, but Grandpa has been on me to get a job, and this was too good to pass up.”

He wanted to ask how the job had come Zach's way while he was supposed to be staying home, but Alec bit back the words. “School is starting again soon. Will the hours be okay?”

Zach shook his head. “It will be over before school starts. It's supposed to last from two to four weeks.”

“You should have called me.”

“I tried. You didn't answer your phone.”

Alec lifted a brow and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, it showed a missed call. Maybe when he and Libby had been in transit to the beach. It hardly paid to have a phone on the island. “Okay, but when you're not working, you still need to be at the house.”

Zach brushed past him. “I know, I know. Sheesh, give me a break. I'm doing the best I can.”

Maybe he was. The boy was so much like Alec was at that age. Always pushing the boundaries, impatient to be his own man, looking at anyone in authority with derision. At least Zach had a job. That was progress.

“Okay,” Alec called after him. “I'm proud of you for getting a job.”

Zach just hunched his shoulders and bounded up the stairs to the deck overlooking the water. He plopped down in a chair and pulled an electronic game out of his pocket. The back door opened, and Libby stepped out onto the deck. Alec jogged to intercept her. She'd take one look at Zach and think the kid was a hoodlum. Alec reached the top of the deck as she stepped to where Zach sat.

“You must be Zach,” Libby said.

Zach didn't look up from his game. “Yeah.”

“Ready?” Alec said. “Your place is about two miles out of town.”

Zach looked up then. “The old Mitchell place?”

Libby nodded.

“You're staying there?”

“I own it,” Libby said. “I'm Ray Mitchell's oldest daughter.”

Zach looked her up and down. “Boy, is Brent ticked. He had plans for that place.”

“He's twenty-two,” Alec pointed out. “What kind of plans could he have?”

Zach slouched into his chair. “Forget it.”

Suppressing a sigh, Alec touched Libby's elbow. “Tom should be there any minute.”

She resisted the pull on her arm. “I'd really like to hear what Zach has to say,” she said. “You probably already know this, Zach, but I didn't even know I had a brother and sister until yesterday.”

His head came up and his eyes widened. “No kidding? Brent didn't say anything about that in the ice-cream shop. Just that some woman he'd never met was going to have the property. Said it was his sister.”

“Did he know about me before our father died?”

Zach shrugged. “I don't know.”

“I'd like to meet him. And Vanessa. Do they know I'm here?”

“I don't think so. He figures you'll sell the place. There's an investor after it hot and heavy.”

“Oh?” There was interest in her voice.

Alec had heard the rumors. Now that the land was out of Ray's hands, everything was liable to change. He didn't know if that was good or bad.

S
IX

S
and drifted across the pavement in places. The island was unlike any place Libby had ever seen. Wild, remote, and unbelievably beautiful with whitecaps rolling to dunes on one side and tangled maritime forest on the other.

She leaned forward as Alec's truck crested the hill. She caught her breath when she saw the inn standing guard over the empty beach that stretched in both directions. A small but inviting dock jutted over the water. Her chest was so tight she couldn't breathe, couldn't do more than take in the lovely Georgian mansion overlooking the Atlantic. Large trees sheltered it, and it looked as if it had been in that place forever. In a moment, she felt she knew the spot as if it had always been a part of her.

She could almost hear the voices of previous owners in her head. Pioneers, business owners, statesmen. The inn was alive with the history of its past. She couldn't wait to explore, to touch the woodwork and plaster walls.

“Th-This is mine?” she asked, getting out the truck when it rolled to a stop.

“So I hear.”

The place clearly needed work, but she didn't care. She stared at the front of the building. “You said it was an inn.” She eyed its elegant lines. “It looks like a mansion. It's Georgian. Built in the late seventeen hundreds or early eighteen hundreds.”

“It's an inn now. Small, I know. About fifteen suites, I think.”

There were two curving staircases up to the porch, one on each side. There had to be two thousand square feet of balconies and porches. Great arched windows looked out on the waves. The place was in serious need of paint, but her mind's eye could see it restored to its earlier glory. How could she bear to sell it? But she had to. For her stepbrother. For Holladay Renovations.

He took her elbow and guided her up the nearest steps. “It used to be a single-family home. There should be some stuff about it in the attic.”

No wonder Nicole had said she would love it. Libby took in every angle, every graceful line. “It's so large. Who would build such a magnificent place clear out here?”

“I don't remember all the history, but the builder had some kind of role in early government, and I guess he wanted to impress everyone. Though there weren't many to impress out here but Hatteras Indians. This place is really the beginning of our history as we know it, so it's in the school book about our island.”

The porch was expansive, but the floor needed paint. Now that she was closer, Libby saw the signs of decay in the peeling shutters and rotting fretwork. It would take a lot of money to restore this place. Money she didn't have. But oh, how she wanted to keep it.

Alec opened the oversized front entrance. “The lobby is the room to the right.”

Sand and salt had scoured the wood floors. Libby ran her fingertips along blistered paint on the plaster walls. She could repair it. She went down through the foyer to what would have been a parlor on the right. Ceilings soared to twelve feet. She glanced up and saw that the plaster drooped in places. It needed to be put back in place with plaster washers and screws. Or replastered altogether.

The reception counter was made of driftwood and marble. The woman behind the counter was in her early thirties. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail that curled down her back. She wore no makeup, and her strikingly beautiful skin didn't need any help. She smiled when Alec introduced Libby.

“I'm Delilah Carter, Ms. Holladay,” she said. “I'm so sorry about your trouble. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know.” She rose with a key in her hand. “Let me show you to your friend's room.”

“I see Tom outside,” Alec said. “I'll join you upstairs in a minute.” He walked back the way they'd come.

Libby fell into step beside Delilah. “Did you get a chance to talk to Nicole?”

The woman stepped into the foyer and started up the steps, easily six feet wide. “Oh yes. Lovely girl.”

Libby mounted the steps with her. “Did she tell you why she was here?”

“For business, so she said.” Delilah inserted the key into the lock and turned it. She opened the door and stepped aside for Libby to enter. At the first sight of her friend's familiar pink suitcase, Libby's eyes burned. Nicole's pajamas were in a heap on the floor. Her clothes spilled from the top of the suitcase. In the bathroom, her makeup littered the sink counter. Libby picked up her friend's hairbrush and caught a scent of the shampoo Nicole used.

She swiped fiercely at the moisture on her face. Crying wouldn't find Nicole.

Alec intercepted Tom on the porch. “Any news?”

Tom's lips flattened. “Not about Nicole.”

“What's that mean?”

“Ms. Holladay hasn't been truthful with us.” Tom took off his hat and wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve. “The reason I can't view the video of the abduction is because it was wiped off the server. The computer's IP address was traced. Libby did it.”

Alec's gut clenched. Though he'd known her only a few hours, he would have sworn her innocence and concern were genuine. “So there is no proof her story is even true. The cell phone could have been planted. The car could have been left out there by anyone. We know she only came to town today though, right?”

Tom nodded. “I talked to Earl Franklin and his wife. They met her this morning. But I'm questioning all the charters I know of to make sure she didn't get here a few days ago to lay out her plan.”

Alec marshaled all his objectivity. Since when had a pretty face blinded him? “When was Nicole last seen?”

“I was about to question Delilah. No one in town saw her yesterday.”

“What about Vanessa? Libby claims she was meeting Nicole.”

Tom returned his hat to his head. “I haven't spoken to her yet, but I will. Right now I want to look through Nicole's room and talk to Delilah.”

“You haven't gone through her belongings yet?”

Tom shook his head. “My first priority was to find her.”

“Delilah just let Libby into the suite.”

“Great, just great.” Tom jerked open the door and rushed into the house.

Alec followed. He'd sure botched that one.

“Libby?”

Libby put the hairbrush back onto the sink when Alec called to her from the bedroom. “In here.”

When she stepped into the bedroom, she found identical expressions on the faces of the two men in the doorway. Alec was making an obvious attempt to mask his suspicion, but the sheriff's gaze bored through her. She took a step back.

“What have you touched?” the sheriff demanded.

“Nothing but the things in the bathroom.” She stepped out of the doorway so he could brush past her. “What are you looking for?”

He glanced around the small bathroom. “You had no business coming in here until I had a chance to clear the scene.”