by LENA DIAZ,
“This place is a lot bigger than it looks from the front.” Colton shoved his gun in his waistband as he met up with Silver outside the stand-alone bathroom.
“Yeah, I wanted the straight, two-story farmhouse look on the front, so it’s not very wide. The two short wings on each side form a U in back, which is perfect for the courtyard and outdoor eating area that I set up.”
“Your design?”
She nodded absently and rubbed the back of her neck, and he suddenly realized just how exhausted she looked. The emotions of the day had taken their toll.
“Which room is yours?” he asked.
“Room number nine.”
“Nine? I only saw eight bedrooms.”
“That’s because you didn’t look in the attic. Come on. I’ll show you.” She led the way to the end of the hall, where a reading chair and small table and lamp sat in an alcove. Behind them was a decorative fireplace and a chunky oak mantel. She reached underneath the right end of the mantel and a wall panel slid open behind the chair, revealing a dark opening. “Cool, huh?”
He leaned in, his hand resting on his gun, ready to pull it out if necessary. A steep flight of stairs ran along the wall up to the left. A dim light at the top revealed a closed door. “Who all knows about this?”
She shrugged. “Anyone who helped with construction, which is a lot of people around here. They pretty much all pitched in. It was a town project, really, even though I had professional crews. It’s not supposed to be a secret or anything. I didn’t want the stairs to mar the look of the upstairs hallways and thought this would be fun. It’s a cool room, with a large dormer window that overlooks a gorgeous century-old oak tree in the backyard. I’m told it’s a good climbing tree, lots of handholds and branches.”
“Where’s the light switch up there?”
“On the right as you open the door, pretty much where you’d expect it to be. Come on, I’ll show you since you obviously want to search my room, too.”
“No. Wait here.” He ignored her exasperated look as he headed up the stairs. At the top, he pulled out his gun, eased the door open and felt for the light switch. He flipped it on and rushed inside, sweeping his gun back and forth as he made a quick circuit of the rather large room.
The wide window off the back drew him forward. During the day, it would let a lot of light in. He imagined that was the reason the window was so large, so Silver could do her art projects up here. And through the window was the huge oak tree she’d mentioned, framed like a picture, which again he supposed was on purpose. Its thick branches reached out toward the attic window like giant hands, dripping with thick vines. What she thought was beautiful, he thought was a little creepy. And her comment about it being a good climbing tree had him worried. But after seeing how far away from the structure it was, he was reassured that even if someone did climb that tree, they’d never be able to use it as a way to get into the attic window. They’d end up falling to the ground below and breaking their neck.
Even though he was satisfied that no one could break into her room through that window, he still checked the locks to make sure it was secure.
The creak of a board behind him had him whirling around.
Silver stood in the door opening, her eyes wide as she held her hands out. “It’s just me.”
He swore and put his gun away. “I told you to wait.”
“I don’t take orders very well. And you’re totally overreacting. The place is empty.”
“And locked up tight now. Keep it that way.”
She rolled her eyes and plopped down on the king-size bed that dominated the room. “Good night, Colton.”
He smiled. “I guess that means you’re kicking me out.”
“Yes. I am. Your room is—”
“Right below this one. I know. If you need me, just—”
“Tap on the floor?”
“Yeah. That’ll work.” He crouched down in front of her and gently swept her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m really sorry for your loss. I know that Eddie meant a lot to you.”
She winced when he said Eddie’s name, and her eyes took on a haunted look. “Thank you.”
He debated giving her the note that Eddie had left her, then decided against it. She was too tired, too...fragile looking. Her insistence on helping him search the house had given her an excuse to push back the pain, to focus on something else if only for a few minutes. And probably her way of feeling that she had some kind of control over her life again. He just hoped she could manage to get some sleep without dwelling all night on the tragedy that had happened.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.
“If you ever leave, I will,” she grumbled.
He laughed. “I guess I’ve overstayed my welcome. Good night, then.”
“Night.”
He rose and headed to the door.
“Colton?”
He paused in the opening and looked back in question.
“I know what...what you did for me, with Garcia. When you were bringing your car around to take me home, your boss told me that you stood up to him, that you took up for me. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it. After all the lies that I told you, I wouldn’t have expected that. So, well, thanks.”
He must be going insane, because all he wanted to do was cross the room and pull her into his arms. He was a sucker for a woman in trouble, and that little catch in her voice, the little wobble of her chin as she’d thanked him told him how close she was to losing her composure again. How could he go from being furious with her to wanting to hold her in the span of one day? It made no sense. As soon as they notified Eddie’s friends or foster family or whoever needed to be told about his death tomorrow, he was going to get in touch with Drew and tell him to assign someone else to watch over Silver. Because if he hung around her much longer, he wasn’t sure that he could leave.
“You’re welcome,” he said, and hurriedly made his escape while he still could.
* * *
AS SOON AS the door closed behind Colton, Silver rolled onto her side and buried her face against the sheets. The dam she’d been holding back finally burst and her entire body was racked with sobs. She cried for the pain and fear that Eddie must have endured in his final moments. She cried for a life lost far too soon, for a young man who had never really lived.
By the time she ran out of tears, the moon was hanging low in the sky out her bedroom window and she fell into an exhausted sleep.
* * *
BAM!
Silver jerked upright in her bed and clawed for her gun, still holstered to her ankle. She yanked the gun out, sweeping it in an arc around the bedroom. But no one was there.
Bam! Bam!
What was that? She slowly lowered her gun. The sound was coming from downstairs. Along with...voices...and...laughter? She drew in a sharp breath and looked out the window. The sun was fully up. And she suddenly realized what had woken her. The sound of doors slamming.
Oh, no. Her guests were here. Grand opening day. It hadn’t even occurred to her last night to cancel the guests’ reservations. What was she going to do? She couldn’t deal with this right now. But someone had to go downstairs and greet them, tell them the inn was closed.
She ran into the adjacent bathroom to take care of her near-to-bursting bladder and quickly brush her teeth. More noises sounded belowstairs as she thrust her legs into a pair of jeans and threw on a fresh top. A quick run of the brush through her hair and she was groaning at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her makeup from yesterday was a smeared mess, but she didn’t have time to do much more than rub some of it off with a tissue before running out of her room.
The guests had to be fuming by now that no one was there to greet them. Tippy and Jenks weren’t due to arrive until around noon. She’d planned it that way so she could greet all the guests herself and soak in the fun of being her own proprietor. But now everything was a total disaster.
She burst out of the atti
c doorway onto the second floor.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
She saw Colton a split second before she barreled into him. He grunted from the impact but wrapped his arms around her, saving her from a nasty fall. He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders.
“You okay?”
“Yes, fine. Sorry. Let me go. I have to—”
“Hold it. Wait a minute.”
She frowned up at him. “The guests are here. I have to—”
“I know the guests are here. But no, you don’t have to run down there like the inn is on fire. It isn’t. Everything is under control.” His gaze dropped down and he cleared his throat before meeting her gaze again. “And as lovely, and I do mean lovely, as you look without a bra, it might not present the professional image you’re going for.”
She looked down and then drew in a sharp breath and crossed her arms over her chest. The shirt she’d thrown on was white and left nothing to the imagination. “Oh, no,” she groaned.
“Don’t worry.”
The laughter in his voice had her flushing hot.
“Like I said, everything is fine. Tippy and Jenks are here and they’ve corralled everyone into the dining room and are busily serving an excellent breakfast, or so I’ve heard. I was just coming up to check on you and see if you wanted some.”
She blinked and glanced toward the stairs. “Tippy’s here? And Jenks? But I don’t understand. They weren’t supposed to be here until—”
“Noon. I know. When I checked on you early this morning, you were zonked. Knowing your guests would be arriving soon, I went up to Callahan’s Watering Hole—which seems to be the neighborhood hangout around here—and sure enough, it was open. I asked if anyone there knew Tippy, and like you said, everyone knows everyone around here.”
“Wait, you’re saying the grand opening is a—”
“Success. Yes.” His smile faded and he gently brushed her hair out of her face. “Tippy and Jenks know about Eddie, and they were more than happy to come early and take care of things. Freddie said she’d send J.J. over in another hour, just as soon as she finished with the morning rush at Callahan’s. You don’t have to worry about the inn. Not today.”
She searched his gaze, amazed at everything he’d just said. “You did all that, for me?”
He suddenly looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. “I did all that for both of us. We have to notify Eddie’s foster family. I told Tippy and Jenks not to say anything to anyone about what happened until we take care of that. And we can’t do that while you’re worrying about the inn.”
She backed away from him, still holding her arms across her chest. The tears she’d thought she was out of last night pricked the backs of her eyes again. She swallowed hard and held them back. “Well, thank you. I mean, of course you’re right. We need to notify his foster parents and foster brothers. Wait, what time is it?”
He pulled his phone out of the holder on his belt. “About nine-thirty. Why?”
“And it’s the first of the month, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Why?”
“We’re too late.”
“For?”
“Eddie’s foster parents.”
He leaned back against the wall. “You’ve lost me.”
“Tony Jones, Eddie’s foster dad, works in Naples. He would have left around seven. The kids are all at school. And the mom, Elisa, always goes into Naples on the first of the month, bright and early, to spend their foster program stipend. She won’t be back until the kids come home from school.”
“Do you have any contact information for them? Or know where the father works?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Well, waiting is less than ideal. But I don’t see where we have a choice.” He pushed off the wall and straightened. “Maybe this is a good thing. You can greet your guests and get your mind off everything else for a few hours.”
“No. I’m going to take a quick shower. And then we’re getting out of here. I can’t deal with happy people on vacation right now. And we have something far more important to do while we wait for the Joneses to get home.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“We’re going to find Eddie’s killer.”
Chapter Eight
Colton paced the upstairs hall for what seemed like forever before he finally heard Silver coming down the attic stairs. As soon as she emerged from the hidden panel, he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.
“You don’t just say something like that and take off. We need to talk about this.”
She shook off his hand and smoothed the dark blue blouse she was now wearing over her jeans. “What is there to talk about? We both know the odds are that whoever killed Eddie is in this town, one of the thugs behind the robberies and the drugs. And I’m going to find out who that is. I’m through being subtle, taking my time. Because you know what? People get killed while you’re dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s. The waiting, the slow, methodical investigating so I can make sure that any evidence I gather will hold up in court, is over. I’m going to figure out who’s behind everything. And I’m starting right now.”
She headed toward the stairs. He swore and caught up to her, but this time he didn’t try to stop her.
“So, what’s your plan?” he demanded as they both headed down the stairs.
“My plan is to shake things up and make people nervous. I’m going to flush out the bad guys.”
The sound of laughter and the clink of dishes came from the doorway off the foyer that led into the kitchen and dining room. But Silver didn’t even pause to look in on her first-ever guests at the inn, or even to talk to Tippy and Jenks. She flung open one of the front glass doors and marched outside.
Colton shook his head and hurried to catch up to her. She crossed the yard and headed up the street as if she were trying to win a race.
“Where’s the fire?” Colton demanded. “Slow down. At least tell me what you mean by ‘shake things up.’”
She stopped and faced him, right beside the beginning of the boardwalk at the business next to the B and B. “Look. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I really do. But you’re not going to talk me out of this.”
“Who said anything about talking you out of it?”
Her look of surprise had him gritting his teeth.
“You’re not going to try to stop me?” she asked.
“Last I checked, you’re a grown woman with a mind of your own. It’s not my place to stop you. But I’d be a terrible friend, and an even worse police officer, if I didn’t at least try to discuss this with you so you don’t get hurt. You’re too close to this. Your emotions could cloud your judgment. You know that. Let me help you. Let’s figure this out together.”
She blinked up at him. “Friend?”
“What?”
“You said ‘friend.’ You consider me a friend?” Her unique silver-gray eyes stared up at him in wonder.
“You don’t want to be friends?” he asked, completely baffled by her change in subjects. Talking to her was like riding on a runaway train with a switch-happy conductor. He never knew which track the train would take next or whether the train was going to jump the tracks completely.
She slid her arms around his waist, hugging him close. He promptly forgot how to breathe. Good grief, she felt good, her soft curves pressed against him. The tantalizing scent of her shampoo or maybe perfume—he didn’t know which—filled his senses. Lust slammed into him so hard and unexpectedly that he had to clench his hands into fists against the urge to slide his fingers through that sexy, short bob of reddish-brown hair and slam his mouth down on hers. Which was crazy. They barely knew each other. How could he want her so much?
“Silver.” His voice came out in a hoarse rasp. He cleared his throat. “Silver,” he tried again, relieved that he was able to speak coherently. “What are you doing?”
“Hugging you.”
He awkwardly patted he
r back. “I, uh, see that. Why are you hugging me?”
“Because we’re friends, of course.”
“You hug all your friends?”
She sighed and let go of him. “No, Colton. At least, not all the time. I just really needed a hug and you surprised me. Please forgive me. It won’t happen again.” She whirled around and stepped up onto the boardwalk.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he growled. He swung her off the boardwalk back down in front of him and pulled her against him, circling her with his arms and resting his cheek on the top of her head. When she just stood there, stiff, unyielding, he said, “In case you can’t tell, I’m trying to hug you. I think it’s customary for the huggee to put their arms around the hugger. Tit for tat. Or something.”
She laughed and hugged him back, resting her cheek against his chest.
Holding her felt so good that he decided not to worry that strangers across the street at one of the businesses were whispering behind their hands. It had been a long time since he’d held a woman, just for friends’ sake. Then again, maybe he never had. And even though he still wanted her, just holding her, offering her his support without expecting anything in return, was an entirely new kind of closeness. And he liked it. Maybe she was onto something with this hugging thing.
All too soon, she pushed back and he had to release her.
“Thank you, Colton. I really needed that. And now I feel that I can tackle anything. You’re a good hugger, by the way.”
He was about to reply when she took off again, hurrying up the boardwalk, forcing him to jog to catch up to her.
“Where are you going?”
“To the heart of Mystic Glades.” She pushed through the swinging saloon doors at Callahan’s Watering Hole and went inside.
* * *
SILVER SCANNED THE dimly lit interior, marking each person that she wanted to interview—and Cato Green was at the very top of her list. She made a beeline toward the bar, which was empty, since the patrons were having breakfast at the round tables. And that suited her just fine.
She climbed onto one of the tall stools that faced the kitchen doorway, barely registering that Colton sat beside her as she waited.