Someone came up from behind Gemma, pushed her roughly aside and hurried on past without so much as a look in her direction. It was the angry young man with the thick glasses who had the books in the sci-fi room. And right behind him came the man in the black frock coat and top hat. He was carrying that fancy cane.
“How rude,” a young man said after seeing what had happened. He touched Gemma’s arm. “Are you okay?”
Yes, thank you,” Gemma said, wondering where everyone was off to in such a hurry.
A gust of arctic air filled the space and Gemma turned to see a young couple, both blonde and blue eyed, trying to maneuver a double stroller through the heavy doors. Bundled up tightly, the two toddlers thrashed around, one sobbing loudly. The young mother looked as distressed as the child.
“Here, let me help,” Gemma said, hurrying to hold one of the heavy wooden doors open. The husband and Gemma struggled to close the doors against the howling wind once they had gotten inside. It seemed to be much colder since they had arrived that morning and she was glad they were staying there at the hotel for the weekend.
“Thank you so much,” the mother said with a shy smile at Gemma.
“You guys can go ahead of me,” she told them.
“Thank you,” the husband said.
No problem. I’m here all...” Gemma stopped talking when she realized she had just backed into someone. Turning quickly, she began to apologize, only to find to her dismay she had backed right into General West, who was still seated on the settee where Mrs. Northlake had left him. Luckily, he appeared to be asleep and Gemma stepped away from him as quickly as she could.
Then Gemma heard the young mother gasp and she turned to look - just in time to see Retired General Loden West slowly tipping forward. Instinctively she reached forward to try to catch him but he was too heavy for her. He ended up face down on that beautiful thick carpet with Gemma kneeling beside him. She looked up to see everyone in the room staring at her.
“He’s just dozed off,” Gemma said, giving the general a little shake, praying that she was right.
The young father squatted down on the other side of the general and took one of his wrists between his thumb and forefinger. To Gemma he certainly looked like he knew what he was doing, but her spine still tingled when he looked up at her again.
“He’s dead,” he said.
Chapter Four
For a moment there was complete silence in the large space, except for the sound of Gemma’s heart thudding inn her ears. She reached out and tentatively touched Loden West’s forehead, as if to assure herself that they weren’t mistaken.
She’d thought he was sleeping. Elderly people napped.
They didn’t die in hotel lobbies.
She felt her eyes fill with tears and stood up slowly, turning away.
Just weeks earlier she had discovered Santa’s body at the mall. This incident brought all of those horrible feelings flooding back. Panic, shock, and icy slivers of inexplicable fear tore through her. She hugged her stomach and sucked in a deep breath.
Someone screeched, and then everyone began talking at once.
“Call 911.”
“Call security.”
“We need a doctor.”
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Probably a heart attack. He was an old geezer.”
Gemma heard all of this but it sounded like they were far, far away. Vaguely she wondered why there was no blood, at least that she could see. And then she looked up to see Nick coming toward her, his face filled with concern.
“Gemma,” he said softly, reaching down to help her to her feet.
“He’s dead,” Gemma said quietly.
“I know. We’ve called for help,” Nick explained as he gently led her away from the crowd to a loveseat on the other side of the room. “Are you okay?”
Gemma nodded. “How could he be dead?” she whispered.
“I don’t know, honey. I spoke with Ross. He will be here as soon as he can. We’ll figure this out.”
Across the room, she could see that Vincent Northlake had returned and seemed to be taking charge of the situation until help arrived. The people had parted, the line rearranged to create a wide berth around Loden West, who still lay face down on the carpet. His briefcase was nowhere to be seen.
“We’ll need to get this area cleared as soon as possible,” Vincent was saying to the man named Benjamin, who had just charged into the area. Now that she saw them together, Gemma saw the resemblance – this was Benjamin Northlake, Vincent’s brother and Simone’s other son.
“Where’s mother?” Benjamin asked.
“In her room. I sent Victoria up to stay with her,” Vincent said. It was obvious that they were used to being in charge.
“Don’t touch anything,” Benjamin said.
“I won’t.”
“He was carrying a briefcase,” Gemma said to Nick, who was holding her hands tightly in his.
“Gemma. Oh honey, what happened?” That was Holly and her dark eyes were filled with worry.
“I bumped into him. He fell,” Gemma whispered, fighting back tears. “He’s dead, Holly. He’s dead.”
“I’ve got her,” Nick said to Holly. “She’s okay.”
The Northlake brothers were definitely taking charge of the area. Vincent announced, “Okay, folks, let’s just take it easy. No need for anyone to panic. Help will be here soon and we don’t need any more confusion than we already have.”
No one moved except those closest to the desk who retrieved their room keys and quickly stepped aside for the next person in line.
“Ma’am, I’m sure the police are going to want to talk to you.”
Gemma realized Vincent Northlake was talking to her. She looked up, nodded weakly and clung to Nick.
“I’m Vince Northlake,” he said by way of introduction and extended his beefy hand.
“Nick Leonard, Daily Herald,” Nick said. “And this is my...this is Gemma Stone with HealthGems. She is attending the EEMA convention.”
“Why don’t we get you guys away from all this? My brother’s office is right over there,” Vince explained.
“Our jewelry,” Gemma said, reaching for Holly. Her knees were weak and she found it was hard to corral her racing thoughts.
Holly was putting her phone away. “It’s okay. Mom is on her way out here to help me. You go with Nick,” Holly said.
As the two men led Gemma down the dimly lit hall toward a polished mahogany door, she heard sirens. When she turned to look back over Nick’s shoulder, she saw Ross entering the building, followed by several police officers in uniform. She wanted to run to him but Nick held her firmly in place, one arm around her waist.
Her eyes met Ross’s and the difference in him was startling. He was here on official business, and he wasn’t happy to see her.
Benjamin Northlake’s office was huge, with a magnificent desk that dominated one side of the room. A leather sofa took up part of the other half, flanked by tables and lamps that cast a soft glow over nearby surfaces but left the rest of the room in shadows. Nick guided her to the sofa and she sat, perched rather on the edge.
“Here’s some water,” Vincent said, offering Gemma a frosty cold glass as he squatted on the floor in front of her.
“Thank you,” she said and took a sip. It helped to clear her foggy mind somewhat. “Please tell Ross - tell them he was carrying a briefcase,” Gemma whispered. Somehow that seemed vitally important to her. She couldn’t get the image of it out of her head.
“Here, lie down,” Nick suggested, nodding toward a pillow. “You look a little pale.”
Gemma allowed them to ease her back onto the pillow.
“Where is Mrs. Northlake?” Gemma asked, fearing the elderly woman might need some help, might have been upset by what had happened. “I think she was friends with General West.”
The two men exchanged a glance and Vincent said, “She’s up in her suite. Victoria is with her now. We’re going to go
talk to the police now. You rest.”
“Don’t forget to tell Ross about the briefcase,” she reminded him.
“We won’t forget.” She watched them leave.
Gemma fought the urge to follow them, forcing herself to lie still under the soft blanket covering her legs. Voices in the hall came and went and she was sure the police were going to be busy doing interviews with everyone in the hotel during the night.
This was a nightmare. Two dead bodies in just a few weeks? How could that happen to a normal person like her? How could her luck be so bad? Maybe she was cursed or something.
The office door opened and Gemma raised her head, thinking Nick had come back to check on her. It wasn’t him, though. A shadow flowed across the dim light instead.
“What did you do?” someone hissed, before she could say anything.
Gemma realized that whoever was in the room didn’t realize she was there. She lay perfectly still.
“I didn’t do anything,” a second voice reached her ears. Male, nervous. “I wanted to kill him, though. Corrupt bastard.”
“Someone beat you to it. I knew he had enemies but I didn’t realize how many.”
“Yeah, listen, we need to get out of here as soon as we can,” the second male voice said, not so much a whisper now since they thought they were alone.
Gemma held her breath, listening intently.
“We’ve already been told no one will be allowed to leave the hotel until they run a background check - and you know I’ve got a record.”
“I’ll think of something,” the second man said. “All I know is that neither of us killed the old buzzard.”
“Who cares, I’m just glad he’s gone.”
The door opened as quietly as it had when they came in and they left. Gemma was finally able to breathe. She sat up, wondering who the two men had been. She knew it wasn’t either of the Northlake men. They knew she was in there.
The door opened again and this time Nick came toward her through the gloom.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly, kneeling at her feet. He took her hands in his and pressed them against his cheek. “Your hands are like ice.”
Gemma loved the familiar feel of his stubbled chin under her fingertips. Inhaling his clean citrus scent, she traced around his beautiful mouth and let her fingers follow the dimple in his chin. She was so glad he was here. “Did they find the briefcase?” she finally asked.
“Yeah, it was underneath him. He fell on top of it when you...when he...”
“It’s okay,” Gemma said with a half-smile and let him pull her into his arms. “I was just afraid someone...whoever...it was gone.”
“It was full of money,” Nick said, his voice muffled by her hair. “He was murdered, Gemma. I just talked to Ross, and that’s the theory.”
“Murdered?” Gemma blinked, sat back and looked at him, astonished. Her mind struggled to process his words. “For the money?”
“Don’t think so. It was handcuffed to his wrist and the key was in his pocket. When Ross opened it, he found it was full of money. He’s guessing maybe fifty thousand dollars.”
“Why would someone like him carry around that kind of money?” Gemma asked. “Drugs?”
“Possibly. It was obvious he was going to negotiate some kind of deal,” Nick said with a shrug. “Ross is looking at his personal calendar now.”
They were silent for a few moments. Nick caught her hands in his again and twined his fingers around hers. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but there is a little bit of bad news.”
“What?”
“He had your business card in his pocket with a phone number scrawled on the back,” Nick said quietly.
“He probably had lots of business cards. It’s a convention. According to him he was a businessman. I’m sure he was trying to network...”
Nick was shaking his head. “Only yours.”
“And that was my phone number on the back. I have a new phone remember...”
Nick was still shaking his head.
“It’s not your number, baby.”
“What? Yes it is. I wrote it myself.” Gemma sat bolt upright.
“Listen, we’ll know more once Ross talks to a few people. I just wanted to give you a heads up. He’s going to need to be able to convince the CID you had nothing to do with this.”
“CID? Army?”
“Criminal Investigation Department. Yeah, Army. Loden West was a retired four star general with the United States Army. He was murdered. I’m pretty sure the Army will insist on at least assisting with the investigation as soon as they get here,” Nick explained.
Gemma was too stunned to say a word.
“Listen, I gotta go back to work,” he said. “Ross will take good care of you. Trust him.”
Gemma nodded.
“Gemma, I love you,” Nick whispered, kissed her tenderly.
“I love you, too, Nick,” Gemma said softly. Why did she feel like they were saying good-bye to each other? That scared her and she realized what an important part of her life he was. He’d always been there. “Thank you,” she added, holding onto his big, strong hands for one more minute...
“I’ll check back in when I can,” he promised.
Gemma nodded and watched him walk away, her heart feeling as if it might break into a million pieces.
Chapter Five
The next time the door opened, Ross entered the room. Gemma was happy to see him, but at the same time, her body tensed. She knew she had to be careful to keep Nick’s information to herself, because Ross trusted him to keep quiet. If he thought Nick would spill his guts to her, he might stop talking.
Instead of coming to her side, he moved to the chairs that were facing the desk, turned one around and took a seat. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and looked into her eyes.
“I thought I told you to stay out of trouble,” he said quietly.
“I tried,” Gemma answered.
He shook his head, chuckled softly and finally took both of her hands in his. They were big and warm, strong and comforting.
They were quiet for a few moments.
“Gemma, this could get complicated,” Ross began, his fingers tightening around hers. “Because General West was retired military, I had to alert the CID.”
“What’s that?” she asked, looking away so that he couldn’t read deception in her eyes. She felt horrible, felt like she was lying, but she didn’t want to betray Nick.
“Criminal Investigation Department with the Army,” he explained.
“How does that work? Will they take over the case?”
“No. I’ll still be in charge of the investigation, but they do have to assist. It’s protocol. And they’ll be watching every move I make.”
“So we have to be careful,” Gemma added. “Ross, you know I had nothing to do with this.”
“Baby, I’m positive you had nothing to do with it. But the CID doesn’t know you like I do. They’ll be looking at everyone with a magnifying glass.”
“And that includes me, since I found the body,” she said.
“And the fact that your business card was in his pocket with a phone number written on the back in your handwriting,” Ross said.
“He stopped by our table. I gave him one of our cards and wrote my new cell number on the back,” Gemma told him. “It took me a moment, because my number is so new I don’t know it yet.
Ross was shaking his head. “I know – if it wasn’t programmed into my phone, I’d have to look it up every time. This wasn’t your number. They’re trying to run down that number right now,” he told her.
Ross tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. Gemma thought he already looked tired. “CID is going to look at everything twice. I have to make sure they don’t think that I overlooked your involvement because of our relationship...the way I feel about...”
Gemma put her fingertips to his lips, longing for him to pull her into his arms
and kiss her like he had done so often since Christmas. “I understand.”
Ross took a deep breath. “We’re setting up a command post in one of the conference rooms. Everyone here has to be interviewed and we have to run background checks before anyone leaves the premises. I’ll have to do our official interview there.”
“I guess we won’t be having dinner together tonight like we planned,” Gemma said. It was a relief, actually. She loved spending time with Ross, but this entire day had become overwhelming.
“Afraid not, baby.”
“When will CID get here?”
“I just got word that they’ve been held up by a huge snow storm that’s completely shut down I-95. Nothing is moving in DC. I’m in constant contact with them, though, sharing any reports and information I gather. It would be nice to wrap this whole thing up before they get here.”
“Did you find his briefcase?” Gemma asked. Maybe Ross would have a different take on that.
He laughed. “Yeah, we found it alright. It was underneath the body.”
“Oh, that’s why I didn’t see it. I just knew every time I’d seen him today he’d been clinging to it for dear life,” she prompted.
“He should have been hanging onto it. It was full of money. I’m thinking about fifty thousand dollars.”
“Why would he be carrying around that kind of money in a briefcase?” Gemma asked.
Ross shrugged his broad shoulders. “Beats me. We’re working on that as well. I checked his calendar. The only thing written on it was a circle around today’s date and Northlake Manor.”
“Do you know how he died?” Gemma asked.
Ross shook his head. “It looked like a small caliber bullet wound to me. A small, clean round hole near his armpit. My guess is a gunshot wound.”
“I didn’t see any blood,” Gemma told him.
“There was blood on the floor underneath him. Hidden under his arm, I guess,” Ross explained. “The coroner will find the slug and we can try to match it up with any weapons we might find.
“There’s a guy with a cane,” Gemma said, quickly. “It looked like it did magical kinds of stuff. Perhaps...”
Fireside Homicide Cozy Mystery Bundle Page 19