by Laura Durham
“Fine,” I admitted. “Both you and Reese were right. Now what do I do to keep the killer from coming after me?”
Chapter 25
“I feel like a new woman,” Kate said as she walked up to the entrance to the Cafe where Richard and I stood waiting for a table. “I was out like a light last night and slept like a baby.”
“I know,” I said. “I knocked on your door.”
“Really?” She brushed a flyaway blond hair off her face. “Last night?”
I nodded. “I got locked out of my room. Richard ended up letting me in his room.”
Kate shook her head. “You seriously need to get a new key, Annabelle.”
I held up the white plastic key card I’d just retrieved from the front desk. “I did, and I asked them to rekey the room so no one else can get in using the old key.”
A hostess in a sand-colored dress greeted us and directed us to follow her into the restaurant. Light streamed in from the walls of windows on two sides of the spacious restaurant, although gray shades were lowered on one window to block the brightest glare. We threaded our way around tall marble columns and massive square food stations made from the same cream-colored stone. Chandeliers in black birdcages hung above white marble tables surrounded by chairs upholstered in yellow or celadon green.
“You’re worried someone will find your lost key and somehow know which room it opens?” Kate asked, taking a seat at a round table.
“She’s worried the same person who broke into her room last night will try again,” Richard said.
“Someone broke into your room?” Mack asked, coming up behind us and glancing back at Buster who was lumbering up behind him. “I told you we’d miss all the good stuff if we skipped the beach trip.”
I patted Mack on the arm. “It happened after we got back from the beach, and it wasn’t what I’d call good stuff.” I lifted the hem of my light-pink sundress and pointed to my knee, which had turned purple where it had hit the marble floor.
Kate gasped. “Were you attacked?”
I shook my head and took a seat between Richard and Mack. “I fell when I was chasing them out of my room.”
“We should tell someone,” Buster said, his face a mask of worry.
I inhaled deeply as a waiter poured coffee into my cup. I wasn’t crazy about the taste of coffee unless it had so much sugar and cream it wasn’t technically coffee anymore, but I loved the smell. “I talked to my butler last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t see anything. He’d left the floor for a few minutes. I also talked to the security chief. They checked the camera and could see someone using a key to access the room, but the person was dressed in all black and wearing a wide hat so they couldn’t see the face.”
“Well, if the hotel isn’t going to do anything about it, then Buster and I can guard your door tonight.” Mack sat back in his chair and it groaned in protest.
I smiled at the two men, who were nodding intensely. “I don’t think you need to do that. Whoever took my first key can no longer use it, so there’s no way they can get into my room.”
“I offered to switch rooms with her, but she’s as stubborn as ever,” Richard said, unfurling his napkin onto his lap with a flourish.
“Why would someone break into your room?” Kate asked. “Do you think they were trying to steal something?”
“They didn’t take anything. I checked all the drawers and the closet. It sounded like they were rummaging through things, but nothing is missing.” I twisted around in my seat to get a better look at the multiple buffet stations throughout the room as my stomach rumbled.
“Odd,” Buster said. “Then they didn’t find what they were looking for.”
“That’s what Richard and I thought, but we can’t imagine what I might have that someone would want desperately enough to break into my room while I was in it.”
“Break into your room?” Fern asked over a plate stacked high with croissants, mini éclairs, and small fruit danish. “What’s going on, honey? What’s happening?”
“Did you get here before us?” Richard eyed Fern’s plate.
Fern set his plate down at the last open seat. “No, but I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make a plate while the hostess led me to your table.” He shot us all a look. “And thank you very much for waiting for me.”
“On that note,” I said, standing up, “I’m going to get some breakfast.”
“Right behind you,” Kate said, pushing back her chair and following me.
I walked past a station displaying Japanese food on large marble slabs. As much as I loved sushi, I wasn’t used to it first thing in the morning. I smiled when I reached the vast display of French pastries set out in wicker baskets and arranged on multitier stands. Now this was my idea of comfort food. I grabbed a plate and selected a chocolate-drizzled croissant.
Kate plucked a plain croissant out of a basket. “Have you thought about calling Reese about this?”
“I tried to call him last night, but he didn’t pick up. I left a message telling him about the weird coincidence with the photographer and his connection to the two women who were killed. I thought he might have been able to lend some of his detective expertise, but he must have been working.”
“He hasn’t called you back yet?” Kate asked as we walked from the pastry table to the buffet station with the American selections.
I placed a strip of crispy bacon onto my plate, then broke off the end and popped it into my mouth, savoring the flavor as I chewed. “It’s fine. I’m sure he’s busy.”
“Did you tell him about the break-in?” Kate asked, placing a hash brown wedge onto her plate.
“Nope, that happened after I called him.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted Reese to know about the break-in. He would probably panic and become convinced I was in mortal danger. Besides, there wasn’t much he could do from half a world away except worry.
“You’d better hope Richard doesn’t rat you out,” Kate said.
I definitely hoped Richard did not tell Reese I’d been running around the hall of our resort wrapped in nothing but a towel. Come to think of it, I hoped he wouldn’t be telling anyone that detail.
“Look in here.” Kate pointed at a room off to the side with a huge glass wall inset with dozens of colorful glass sculptures. In front of the wall was a long marble buffet inlaid with glass cases filled with delicate desserts. On top of the marble sat even more sweets: rows of colorful macarons, small compotes of chocolate mousse, daintily decorated petit fours.
“I think I’m going to need a second trip,” I said, looking down at my full plate.
Kate led the way back to our table. “I’m going back for those chocolate truffles.”
“Did you try the ones in our rooms?” I asked as I put my plate down on the table and looked around. It looked like everyone had visited different stations. Mack and Buster had plates filled with sushi while Richard had a bowl of soup and some sticky Chinese buns.
“What ones in our rooms?” Kate asked.
I sat down and draped my napkin over my lap. “The box of chocolate truffles in our rooms.”
“What truffles?” Richard asked, and then took a bite of his sesame seed-topped bun.
I looked at him. “The ones in the clear plastic box on our coffee tables last night. The ones with the tags that read ‘sweet dreams.’”
Kate shook her head. “I didn’t get any chocolates.”
I looked at Fern and Richard, then Buster and Mack. They all shook their heads.
“So I’m the only person who got them?” I asked, feeling a chill run down my arms. I tried to remember if the box had been there when I’d gotten back from the beach, but I’d gone straight to the bedroom. I’d only noticed the pretty box with its fancy tag after I’d had my locks rekeyed last night.
“That’s not fair.” Kate stuck out her bottom lip. “Were they good?”
“I didn’t eat them. I was too tired and stressed about the break-in.” I took a sip of orange juice and t
ried to dismiss the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Thank goodness.” Richard put down his fork. “I don’t think the person who broke into your room was trying to take something. I think they were leaving something.”
“Leaving some . . .?” Kate started, then stopped herself. “You think there’s a reason Annabelle was the only person to get chocolates?”
I swallowed hard. “I think we need to go get those truffles and have them tested.”
“Tested?” Fern dropped the cheese danish he’d been holding back on the plate.
Richard’s expression looked grim. “For poison.”
Chapter 26
“What are you doing?” Kate asked as she and Fern stood over me, blocking most of my sun even though she wore nothing but a tiny black bikini and a diaphanous white cover-up that barely reached mid thigh.
I sat up in my lounge chair and peered over the top of the paperback I’d been reading. I’d selected a lounge chair that was sitting in the shallow edge of the pool and away from the busier cabanas, so I could dangle my feet in the water and avoid the splashing children. The sun was high in the cloudless blue sky, and I merely needed to turn my head to see the wide stretch of turquoise ocean. “Enjoying the pool. Getting some sun. Relaxing. We are in Bali, after all.”
I leaned over and took a sip from the long straw in my frozen lychee martini. The pale-green drink swirled above the rim of the oversized martini glass like soft serve ice cream, and I made a point to sip it slowly to avoid a brain freeze and because the tart drink had quite a kick.
“For one, you never lay out.” Kate motioned to my pale legs. “You’ll burn within half an hour. And for another, you never let an investigation go.”
I picked up my bottle of sunscreen and squeezed some of the sticky, coconut-scented cream into my hand then rubbed it on my arms, the cool lotion feeling good against my warm skin. “SPF sixty. Bullets couldn’t get through this stuff. And as for the murder case, I guess I’m finally agreeing with Richard and Reese. I’d rather not be the fourth victim.”
Fern sat on the end of my chair, his wide-brimmed straw hat with the word “Diva” stitched across it blotting out any remaining rays. “What about the chocolates of death?”
“I gave them to the head of security,” I said. “I’m assuming they’ll pass them along to the police to be tested. Regardless, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Kate cast a look over her shoulder but the nearest person sat several feet away. “You aren’t nervous that the killer might have tried to make you the next victim? That they might try again?”
I held up a finger. “For one, I can’t be certain that’s what happened. We’re jumping to a lot of conclusions by assuming the truffles were poisoned. For all we know, the rest of the group got them and yours were accidentally overlooked.”
Fern shook his head, his saucer-like hat nearly clipping me. “No one else got them. We asked.”
I looked from Fern to Kate. “You asked everyone?”
Kate waved a hand at the pool area. “While you were busy repelling the rays, we stayed in the cafe and caught people when they came down for breakfast.”
Fern winked at me. “I might have convinced a waiter to bring us a Bloody Mary or two.”
I took another sip from my martini to regain my shattered feeling of Zen. “Even if I was the only one to get the truffles . . .”
“You were,” Kate said.
“Even if I was,” I sighed, “it was because the killer thought I was getting too close to discovering them. If it’s clear I have zero interest in the murders, they won’t have any reason to come after me again.” I waved a hand at my surroundings and my cocktail. “Hence the pool time.”
Fern shrugged. “Stay alive and get some sun? Sounds like a good plan to me.”
“Aren’t you always telling me to have more fun?” I asked Kate.
She gave me a suspicious look. “I’m not used to you listening to me.”
“So here’s where the party is,” Alan called as he walked around the edge of the pool toward us. “Mind if I join you? I’ll shout the next round of drinks.”
“Shout?” Kate asked.
“Sorry.” He laughed. “Aussie for buy.”
I patted the lounge chair next to mine. “Be my guest. We’re squeezing in the last bit of R & R before we have to fly home tomorrow.”
“I’m crushed the time has flown by so fast.” Alan pulled off his T-shirt to reveal a well-muscled and neatly manscaped chest, and I noticed Fern’s look of approval.
“I’m just as crushed.” Fern tossed his beach bag to the chair on the other side of Alan and untied his sarong to reveal a pair of Spandex boy-leg trunks. He noticed me eyeing them and winked. “They’re like the ones Daniel Craig wore in that James Bond movie.”
“They’re rainbow striped,” I said.
Fern looked down at them. “Well, one does want a pop of color. Think of me as a more fabulous version of James Bond.”
“Consider it done,” I said as Fern adjusted his man bun.
“Here.” Alan produced a candy bar in a shiny purple wrapper with the words ‘Violet Crumble’ emblazoned in yellow from end to end. “Australia’s best export, aside from me.”
“A candy bar?” Kate eyed it.
“Not just any candy bar,” Alan said. “This one melts in your mouth.”
Fern took it out of his hands and tore open the the wrapper. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
He passed it to me after taking a bite and groaning with pleasure. I took the chocolate bar out of the wrapper and bit the other end. Instead of being soft nugget or caramel, the insides crackled in my mouth and then melted, giving me a rush of sweetness.
“Why don’t we have these at home?” Fern asked, taking the candy bar back from me.
Alan grinned. “You’ll have to visit me to get more.”
“A trip to Australia could be fun,” I said, feeling the effects of the sugar rush combined with my cocktail.
Kate waved over a waiter as she stretched out on the lounge chair next to mine, pointing to my lychee martini. “We’ll all take a round of whatever she’s drinking because it’s obviously magic.”
So much for my quiet pool time, I thought, as Fern began chatting up Alan while Kate pawed through her beach bag. I glanced around, noticing a group of fellow FAM trip attendees setting out towels in a cabana across the pool from us. I waved at them, and Brett and Kristina waved back, beckoning for me to join them.
I remembered what Alan had told me about Brett’s argument with Jeremy. Now would be the perfect time to ask him about it.
“I’m going to swim over and say hi.” I pointed to the cabana as I swung my feet into the ankle-deep water and swept my hair up into a topknot to keep it from getting wet.
Kate pulled off her bathing suit cover-up that covered up next to nothing. “I’ll join you.”
I hurried to lower myself into the deeper water before Kate stood up next to me in her tiny bikini. I inhaled sharply as I sank up to my neck in the cool water, swimming a few strokes to warm up my muscles and get blood flowing. After the heat of the sun, the pool felt freezing.
Kate swam up next to me, her teeth chattering. “It’s frigid in here.”
“Keep moving,” I said, cutting clean strokes through the water, but keeping my head out of the water so my high ponytail didn’t get soaked.
We reached the other side of the pool and rested our arms on the edge. Carol Ann lay on a lounge chair with her eyes closed while Seth and Topher sat in chairs across from her.
Brett lay stretched out on a towel on the floor and rolled his head to one side, smiling at us, his teeth gleaming white against his LA tan. “Is it as cold as it looks?”
I stared at my own reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. “Not once you warm up.”
Kate bobbed next to me in the water. “Tell me when the warming up happens.”
Kristina came and sat on the edge, hanging her legs into the
water next to us and leaning forward so that her fluffy blond hair fell around her face. “Can you believe we have to leave tomorrow? I feel like we just arrived.”
“We did just arrive,” Seth said, running a hand over his stylish stubble.
“At least we made it for the grand finale evening.” Topher pushed his square hipster glasses higher on his nose. “It sounds like it’s going to be an extravaganza.”
“I just saw it listed as ‘wedding show’ on the daily itinerary,” I said. “And I saw that we need to wear all white.”
Brett waved a hand in the air. “There’s an all-white night on every FAM trip.”
“This time the all white is because of the purification ceremony we’re going to be a part of,” Seth said, pouring some tanning oil into his palm.
“We had breakfast with the hotel manager this morning,” Topher added. “Apparently, we’re going to be treated to a traditional Balinese wedding ceremony followed by a purification ceremony by a Hindu priestess.”
“So that’s why Buster and Mack ran off so quickly after breakfast saying they had a lot to prepare for before tonight,” Kate said to me.
“The resort has really outdone themselves,” Kristina said. “I’m going to be sad to leave, and especially sad to leave my suite.”
“I’m fine with leaving,” Brett said, propping himself up on his elbows. “The resort is gorgeous and the island is beautiful, but I’m not a fan of murder on FAM trips.”
“Agreed.” Kristina scissored her feet in the water. “This was a first for me.”
Kate and I remained silent since murders at events were not a first for us.
“It’s amazing how much tension there’s been considering we’re in such a relaxing setting,” I said. “And a lot of it had to do with Jeremy.”
Seth muttered something rude about him.
“Exactly,” I said. “You hated him, we hated him, Brett hated him.”
Brett looked over at me sharply. “What do you mean I hated him?”
I tried to assume my most innocent expression. “I assume you hated him since you warned him he might leave Bali in a body bag.”