Restless Spirits Boxset: A Collection of Riveting Haunted House Mysteries

by Skylar Finn

  “What have you got so far?” I asked Daniel, heading off his own questions. “Because from the way Matisse ditched you, it sounds like you aren’t making much progress.”

  “They’re all hiding something,” Daniel muttered. “I can tell. Every single one of them exhibits classic signs of lying. Fidgeting, eyes darting back and forth, wording their statements as vaguely as possible. I can’t get any of them to confide in me.”

  “They don’t trust you.”

  He looked up in affront. “Excuse you?”

  “Don’t get offended. Would you rather I lied to you?” I said. “Look at how you’ve handled this situation. No one woke up this morning excited to be stuck in this lounge for the second day in a row. You can’t keep people cooped up like this and not expect mutiny. We’re only an hour in, and you’ve already got a revolt on your hands.”

  Daniel ripped a page from his notebook and crumpled the paper. “What am I supposed to do? I tried calling the force again, but I can’t get a hold of them. The roads are blocked, and I doubt Nick’s snowplows are going to make it here from White Oak. I’m trying to solve a murder, Lucia, and this is the way I know how to do it.”

  “This isn’t the police precinct,” I reminded him. “The reason you have everyone in this room listed as a suspect is because you don’t have any other information to go on. You can’t be sure the killer is here. How do you know he or she didn’t slip in and out during the storm? This could all be for nothing.”

  “I can’t trust that,” he said.

  “So we’re all guilty until you determine otherwise.”

  “It’s the safest way to do this.”

  “I disagree,” I said. “If you keep forcing us all together like this, someone’s going to break, and it won’t be to your advantage. If you want my advice, let everyone go their separate ways. Let them go to their rooms or the gym or the indoor pool. It’s not like they can leave the resort anyway with this amount of snow. If you give them the sense of freedom, they might be more willing to open up to you.”

  “And if one of them is the killer?” Daniel asked. “How am I supposed to keep everyone safe when they’re all spread out?”

  “Take advantage of that too,” I said. “Follow them. See what they get up to in their spare time. What do they talk about? Who do they hang out with? If you want clues, you’ll find them in between the lines of employee gossip, not in this damn lounge.”

  “You think?”

  “Have you ever worked at a place like this?” I said. “It’s like high school, complete with cliques and gossip. You think the employees are lying to you? It’s because they are. They know everything about this place because all they do is watch and listen. Pay attention to them. They’ll be your best source of information if you let them.”

  “Hmm.” Daniel pivoted on his stool to review the trio of employees on the couch, but Oliver lumbered into the lounge, drawing Daniel’s gaze. “What about the others? Oliver and Nick? You, Jazmin, and Riley?”

  “If you were allowed to take my word for it, I could cross me, Jazmin, and Riley off your list right away,” I said. “As it is, I probably can’t do that, so follow us too, I guess.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Did you just give me permission to stalk you, your best friend, and your babysitting client?”

  “How else am I supposed to convince you we’re innocent?”

  “Just to be clear,” he said. “You think I should dismiss everyone from the Eagle’s View and follow them around for the day to see if anyone confesses to killing Tyler Watson?”

  “You’d be damn lucky to get a confession out of anyone,” I pointed out. “But yes, that’s the idea.”

  He drummed his pen on the counter. “Did you ever work for the law?”

  “No. I’m an actor, Daniel. The closest I’ve gotten to the law is when I played Officer Krupke because there weren’t enough men for our local production of West Side Story. I got rave reviews, by the way.”

  “Just wondering how you came up with this idea.”

  I tapped the side of my head. “Common sense, Detective.”

  “Great,” he muttered. “Apparently, my wife got that in the divorce too. Okay, everybody!” He clapped his hands and stood up. “Miss Star has brought up a solid point. Staying in the lounge is doing us more harm than good. Therefore, you are all free to leave.”

  Everyone gave a half-hearted cheer, and Daniel rolled his eyes. Matisse and Karli emerged from the kitchen to listen to the rest of his statement.

  “Yeah, yeah. Go where you wish, but please don’t leave the resort,” he said. “It’s dangerous outside, and emergency services won’t be able to reach us if someone has an accident. Keep an eye on yourself and each other. If you see anyone acting suspiciously, report it to me as soon as possible. This is an open homicide investigation, people. Tread carefully. I’ll be looking around the hotel for additional intel.” He paused, waiting for a reaction, but no one spoke or moved. “Er, that’s it, I guess. You’re dismissed.”

  No one needed further encouragement. Chairs scraped and tables wobbled as everyone got up at once. Oliver was the first one out of the Eagle’s View, disappearing down the stairs and into the lobby like one of the ghosts haunting his resort. The employees followed suit. Imani and Ari skipped off. Liam trudged after them, his eyes empty and hollow. Karli and Matisse returned from the kitchen. From the smell of maple syrup and cinnamon, they’d been making breakfast together. Jazmin and Riley waited for me while Nick lingered behind, letting the others get a head start before he used his cane to get to his feet.

  “I don’t suppose any of you have a suggestion as to how to pass the time,” he said as I joined Riley and Jazmin. “I get bored rather quickly. Cabin fever, you know?”

  “There are plenty of places to go in the resort,” Riley chimed in. “The gym or the swimming pool.”

  Nick tapped his shin with his cane. “I don’t exercise much anymore.”

  His slim figure and toned hands spoke to a different truth, but I didn’t question it. The lie probably had something to do with his injury, and though he spoke about his leg with apparent nonchalance, I suspected he was more insecure of his disability than he let on.

  “The library then,” Riley suggested. “My dad knows I like to read, so he put a lot of effort into our collection. We have everything. Classics, sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, poetry. There are really comfy chairs in there. You’ll never get bored. If you ask nicely, Matisse will bring you a hot chocolate. Ask for the marshmallows. He makes them himself.”

  “A hot chocolate with marshmallows and a good book,” Nick mused. “That doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a snowy day. Thank you, Riley. Perhaps you should manage this resort. You certainly know how to take care of its customers.”

  She smiled sweetly. “I learned everything I know from my mother.”

  The reply caught Nick off guard, which was exactly what Riley was going for. “Yes, I imagine so,” he said. “Such a shame what happened to her. Such a shame. Well, I’ll be going now. Would anyone like to join me?”

  “We’re going to go up to our suite,” I said. “It was a long night, and we didn’t get much sleep. We could all use some tea and a nap, don’t you think, girls?”

  “Tea and a nap sounds great,” agreed Jazmin.

  “Dibs on the bed,” Riley added.

  Jazmin swung an arm around Riley’s neck and dug her knuckles into the kid’s hair. “Not if I get there first, you ruffian.”

  Riley squealed, wormed out of Jazmin’s grasp, and ran off. Jazmin chased after her, their footsteps thundering down the double staircase.

  “I better go after them,” I said to Nick with a laugh. “Everyone thinks Jazmin’s more mature than me, but they’ve never seen her babysit. She’s easily influenced by mischief. If they’re not supervised, they might burn down the hotel.”

  Nick’s cane slipped against a spot of water on the floor. He caught the edge of our vacant table to prevent himself from
tripping. “Interesting choice of words.”

  “Poor choice of words,” I corrected. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Are you okay? You look uncomfortable.”

  He hid his pained expression with a poorly constructed smile. “It’s these sweatpants. Lovely material, so soft, but my size wasn’t available in the gift shop. It’s a bit precarious to walk in them.”

  “Do you need help down the stairs?”

  “No, no,” he insisted. “My navigational skills are well-practiced. I was a stubborn young man, and the fault prevailed into adulthood. I’m off to the library. Enjoy your nap, Miss Star.”

  I used the staircase opposite his to exit the lounge so he wouldn’t have an audience as he hobbled from the lounge. Jazmin and Riley waited for me at the elevators.

  “What’s the plan?” Riley said, hopping up and down. Jazmin pushed on her shoulders, but Riley’s bunny bounces were hard to suppress.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You convinced Detective Hawkins to let us go,” she said. “That must mean you have a plan in mind, right?”

  “Fine, I have a plan,” I said. “But it doesn’t involve either one of you. You’re both going up to the suite.”

  The elevator dinged and opened, but neither Jazmin nor Riley got inside.

  “No way!” Riley protested.

  “I’m with the kid on this one,” Jazmin said. “Do you expect us to wait around while you wander the resort on your own? It’s not safe, Lucia. Or have you already forgotten what happened to you this morning?”

  Odette’s visit was actually at the forefront of my brain, but not for the reasons Jazmin suspected. With Daniel and the others occupied, this was my chance to pay a visit to the old wing. Odette’s warning fell short. I didn’t have time to practice “controlling my energy.” I’d been to the old wing twice and survived both times. If the ghosts were pissed off about my presence, they could suck it up and deal with it. I was going in, and I couldn’t bring Riley and Jazmin with me. First of all, Jazmin was right. It wasn’t safe. Second, the paralysis was worse with Jazmin around. Riley and I were connected too. If I had to worry about their energies in addition to mine, I might never walk again.

  “Look, this is all one big crap show.” I stuck my hand in the elevator doors to keep them from closing. “You can’t come with me for this. I have to know the two of you are safe while I’m gone. Please go up to the suite.”

  “Not without you,” Jazmin said.

  “Tell you what,” I offered, coaxing the two of them into the elevator. “If I’m not back in hour, come find me.”

  “Where are you going?” Riley asked.

  “The old wing.”

  “Lucia, don’t you dare—” Jazmin warned.

  It was too late. The elevator closed and ascended, taking Jazmin and Riley with it. Riley pressed her nose to the glass, shouting at me. I gave her a thumbs up, something to let her know I would be okay, but the gesture felt more dismissive than reassuring.

  The old wing was accessible through the resort’s seasonal restaurant and abandoned ballroom. I snuck through the barren restaurant’s kitchen and into the ballroom. It was no less grand and no less spooky than it had been the last time I was here. Stuck in the 1940s, when King and Queens was the finest ski destination in the United States, the ballroom looked as though spirits from the past might spring from the wallpaper and dance above the marble floor, though the ghosts of King and Queens seemed far too irritable for dancing.

  I slipped through a gap in the chained doors and shuddered as I emerged in the resort’s old lobby. The once-beautiful craftsmanship was burnt to bits. The front desk lay in pieces. The curtains shriveled up in ash and dust. The floor and walls were blackened as if the devil himself checked into King and Queens. When the prickle on my neck started again, I clapped a hand to my skin, bracing myself for the numbing paralysis, but it was just my instinct to run rearing its ugly head. Not a ghost.

  The last time I’d been in the abandoned portion of the resort, I’d found Riley screaming her head off in the library, eyes rolling back in her head in classic “someone find me an exorcist” style. My guess wasn’t that she was possessed. Rather, the spirits of King and Queens had another type of hold over her. They manipulated Riley like they did Odette. I hoped I wasn’t as malleable as my younger companions.

  Despite Odette’s warning, the old wing was absent of spirits. I crept along as quietly as possible. I had no idea what might wake the ghosts, but I was going to do my best to keep them at bay. Starting at the farthest point from the ballroom—the demolished emergency stairway that led to inhabitable guest rooms—I worked my way through the old wing, searching every inch for clues as to what might have caused the fire. The resort wasn’t giving up any of its secrets without a fight. Everything I touched—papers, books, personal items like wallets and passports—crumbled in my grasp. The guest ledger, blown across the lobby in the same explosion that had murdered the front desk, was gone except for its sturdy leather cover. There was no way to tell who might have been staying at the resort when the fire broke out.

  “This would be a whole lot easier with Wi-Fi,” I muttered as I picked through more of the debris in the lobby. “I could Google those names in a second.”

  Defeated, I aimed a frustrated kick at what was left of the front desk. The fragile wood splintered beneath the toe of my boot, and a small drawer fell open. Inside, a shiny silver glint caught my eye, a spot of brightness in the dark. I pulled out an old key, one that looked like it might open a chest or safe. It was the sole object that had survived the fire unscathed. I turned it over to examine it, but there was no room number etched into the side or anything of the sort. Enamored with its discovery, the smell of something burning was lost on me until thick tendrils of black smoke snaked around my ankles.

  The spirits of King and Queens had risen. They stood—hovered, floated, whatever—around the lobby, too many to count. Their bodies were compiled of the same dark smoke that drifted around my ankles. Each spirits bore no eyes. Rather, a small fire burned in their empty sockets. My heart thudded against my rib cage as they watched me. None of them moved. Maybe it was a warning. Maybe I could just leave. I took a step forward, the key clenched in my palm, toward the chained doors that led back to the ballroom.

  The lobby exploded. Everything was aflame. Fire licked the walls and spread across the floor as if someone doused the place in gasoline. The heat seared my skin, roaring as it engulfed the building. It lit the old wing alight, and the smoky spirits danced through it, screaming and laughing as I fought for a path to the ballroom. Flames licked at my body. I could smell my own burning hair as I ducked under a fallen beam and sprinted across a stretch of marble not yet destroyed. I wasn’t going to make it.

  But I did. I got to the other side of the room and ducked under the rusty chain. When I looked back, the old lobby was exactly how it had been when I arrived earlier. No fire, no ghosts. Something stung my hand, and I unfurled my fist to see the silver key resting in my palm. I’d clenched it so tightly that it had bitten into my skin and drawn blood. I put the key in my pocket, wiped my hand on my sweater, and left the ballroom.

  “Oh my God, what happened to you?” Jazmin gasped when I returned to our suite on the top floor. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror mounted on the wall. The fire, though it came and went like a nightmare, left its mark. I was coated in soot and ash, and there was a big red welt on my forearm.

  “Odette was right.” I turned the kitchen faucet on. The water was absolutely frigid. I held my arm beneath the flow, moaning as it soothed the burn. “I shouldn’t have gone back to the old lobby on my own. They were waiting for me.”

  “Odette told you that this would happen and you went anyway?” Jazmin said, incredulous. “Lucia, how could you be so stupid?”

  “I’m not stupid,” I snapped, sharper than intended. Jazmin fell quiet. We never spoke to each other that way. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out so rude, b
ut I’m frustrated. How am I supposed to get to the bottom of this if all my leads are off limits?”

  Jazmin went into the bathroom and came out with a bottle of aloe vera. She turned off the faucet, patted my arm dry, and applied the gel to the burn. “I wouldn’t say all your leads are off limits.”

  “What are you talking about? Where’s Riley?”

  She ducked her eyes, distracted by her first aid duties. “Funny you should mention that—”

  “Jazmin, where is she?”

  The door to the suite beeped, and Riley bounded in, my camera in her grasp. “Jazmin, I think I got something! Is Lucia—oh, crap.” She stopped dead when she noticed me, hid the camera behind her back, and adopted a shit-eating grin. “Hey, Lucia. Did you find anything?

  “Where have you been?” I demanded. “I told you to stay in the suite. What have you been up to?”

  “Don’t yell at her,” Jazmin said, wrapping clean gauze around my forearm. “I sent her out.”

  “You sent her out?”

  “Jazmin, you don’t have to cover for me,” said Riley. Sheepishly, she set the camera on the desk next to my computer. “I appreciate you trying though. Lucia, it was my idea to leave the suite. When you told Detective Hawkins to watch the employees when they thought they were alone, I thought it was a good idea, so I tracked down a couple of them to film. I wasn’t sure if I’d find anything, but I might have some information that could help you.”

  It was hard to scowl at Jazmin when she so gently taped the bandage over my arm. “Did you agree to this or did she sneak out?”

  “She tried to sneak out,” Jazmin said. “But when I caught her and she explained herself, she convinced me that it was a decent idea. If it helps, I made her wear a body cam. I’ve been watching her from here every step of the way.”

  To prove the point, Riley unzipped her hoodie to reveal the camera strapped to her chest. “See? We were safe. Besides, I’m small. No one noticed me. I promise.”