3.0 - Shadows In The Garden Hotel

by Krista Walsh

  “Very well,” she said, “but I suggest we find somewhere a little more private to discuss the matter fully. I’d rather my colleagues didn’t know I have a vested interest in your stories.”

  Lee led the way to his office and closed the door behind her.

  Allegra dropped into the same chair she’d taken the day before and crossed one leg over the other. She waited until Lee took the second chair. He slouched back and rested his clasped hands over his stomach.

  She wiggled her foot as she put her thoughts together. To tell him everything would be to admit that the otherworld existed. To a human. Such an act would go against her principles, but if she required help before the end, she would rather have a believer as an ally than have to try to convince someone else.

  “I thought about what you told me the other day about the corpses,” she said. “As I’ve already begun to notice them myself, I wanted to know more about what I was dealing with, so I visited an acquaintance who knows about these sorts of things. Based on her research, she says these monsters are likely something called draugrs, restless corpses summoned to this world following a brutal crime, such as a murder.”

  Lee straightened up in his chair. “What murder?” His mouth sagged open as awareness seeped into his expression. “You think someone killed Penny, and that’s why these — what’d you call them? Draugrs? — showed up when they did?”

  She was impressed that Lee had managed to keep up with her. She hadn’t expected so much from a menial worker.

  “That is exactly what I suspect,” she said.

  He narrowed his eyes with uncertainty as he rubbed his hand over his netted beard. “Now hang on a second. That seems a far stretch based on what I told you. There’s no evidence she’s dead.”

  “If you do not consider it a possibility, perhaps your bias to the hotel has blinded you.”

  Lee stared at her as though weighing the logic of her theory, then dropped his gaze.

  At his display of resignation, Allegra said, “If my connection is correct, the only way to ensure these draugrs are removed from the hotel is to find where the body is buried on the property and cast the banishing spell.” She watched the man’s expression closely for any sign of incredulity, but none appeared. His initial reluctance to consider the situation had faded and he sat rapt and curious — such a different reaction than what she expected from a human. Then again, this was a man who readily believed in ghosts. “I realize it sounds ridiculous, but I suspect that if you are open-minded enough to believe in the hauntings in the first place, you are not about to scoff at the idea of magic sending them away.”

  Lee shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’ve been around long enough to have seen a lot of unbelievable things. What you’re telling me, while wild, doesn’t come close to the craziest.” He leaned toward her. “So what’s your plan?”

  Allegra worried her lip, the possibilities dancing around her head in a chaotic tango.

  If Tim had killed Penny and knew that something he’d done had created the draugrs, even if he didn’t know what they were, then that would explain the behavior she’d witnessed so far. And if he knew where his aunt’s body was buried, maybe she could find a way to pry it out of him.

  The draugrs made her blood run cold, but seducing a man to get answers was something she could enjoy.

  A smile tickled the corners of her lips as a plan fell into place. “I think I’m going to go play.”

  10

  Once Allegra had washed the kitchen out of her hair and reapplied her makeup, she pulled on a pair of hip-hugging trousers and a low-cut top and headed downstairs in search of Tim.

  The last time she’d spoken with him about the hotel, he’d put up a valiant effort to avoid her allure, but his dilated pupils and quickened breath had revealed that he wasn’t immune to the pheromones she emitted. This time she would put in the extra work to make sure he gave in. Once she had him where she wanted him, she would ask her questions and he would be in no place to turn her down. The real challenge would be holding herself back. The memory of his apple-flavored energy tickled her tongue, and she bit down on her cheek to reinforce her self-control.

  Anticipation set her skin tingling, sending a sharp electrical current down her legs and up along her scalp.

  This was her favorite part of the hunt: tracking down the reluctant man and slowly convincing him that she was the only thing he wanted.

  She passed Cody in the lobby and didn’t spare him a glance, although she sensed his gaze on her as she walked by. Matthew’s laugh echoed from the salon, and she paused briefly outside the doorway. For a moment, the temptation to go to him was strong enough to sidetrack her mission.

  At the shifting tide of her desire, she gave herself a shake. She had to stay focused on the target. The answers she needed from Tim were too important to be put off. Silently, she cursed Matthew for still being here. He was the first man who’d ever made her doubt her own strength. Everyone and everything else faded when he was nearby. Allegra was no sentimentalist, but she imagined this was what it felt like for teenage girls chasing after their high school crushes. She refused to let it distract her.

  Allegra turned on her heel away from the salon and drifted across the lobby to the hallway that led to the pool. When she didn’t find Tim anywhere inside the hotel, she stepped through the side door into the garden. The rain had stopped, but the sharp wind blew through the hedges, sending golden leaves dancing among the purple asters.

  The scent of flowers replaced the earlier odors of the kitchen, and she inhaled deeply, breathing in the sweetness and the earthiness of the mud. With another inhale, she caught a hint of spiced cologne, and she smiled at her success. Her prey was nearby.

  She followed the path around the hedges to the pond. Tim stood by the water, deep in conversation with a man Allegra guessed to be the gardener. Tim shook his head and jabbed his finger at the laborer, then halted and turned toward Allegra as though he’d sensed her watching him.

  “Ms. Rossi,” he said, approaching her with his usual charming smile. Beneath the professionalism, she noted the spark of suspicion in his eyes. Continued wariness after their last conversation, no doubt. She would have to make sure he was well under her spell before beginning her questions this time.

  She flashed him a smile. “Mr. Banks.”

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  Allegra stepped closer and looked over her shoulder at the hotel. “I was hoping to speak with you about my room, if you have a moment.”

  Tim half-turned toward the gardener. “We’ll continue this conversation later. In the meantime, leave the designs to me.”

  The gardener raised a finger when the manager turned his back.

  “Planning some renovations?” Allegra asked.

  “Perhaps,” Tim said, his voice strained. “John seems to think it’s a good idea, but I don’t really see that it’s necessary. Our gardens are already the highlight of the town.”

  “They are beautiful,” she said.

  Tim reached her side and gestured for her to lead the way toward the hotel. She started down the path and hooked her arm through his. His eyes widened and he tried to step away, but she kept her grip.

  “It’s so difficult to walk on this uneven ground in these heels,” she said, gesturing to the gravel pathway. “You don’t mind helping me keep my balance, do you?”

  She ran her fingers along the inside of his wrist. Tartness coated her tongue as her allure passed through her into him. His muscles relaxed and he fell into step beside her, his side pressed against hers. His eyelids drooped and the tension in his jaw eased.

  Allegra smiled and batted her lashes at him. “I find I’m cold at night with only the bedspread provided, and I hoped you might be willing to send another to my room.”

  “Of course.”

  Allegra sent out another wave of energy, and her stomach warmed as her own desire rose in response to his. She ran her tongue over her lips and rested her free hand
over his smooth fingers. “I confess, the bedspread was just an excuse to speak with you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” she said, tilting her head back so she spoke close to his ear.

  She imagined drawing him upstairs to her room and taking him to bed. It would be no effort at all to suck his soul dry. Her hunger awoke at the idea, but she shoved the thought of dinner aside. She had to focus.

  “There is something so captivating about a man running his own successful business,” she purred. “And on such a beautiful estate. You must be very proud.”

  “I am,” he said.

  His laconic reply came with a faint trace of a slur instead of his former brusqueness, and Allegra’s smile widened. He spoke as a man whose thoughts were somewhere else, and based on the way his gaze slid over her figure, she had a decent idea of where they’d gone.

  She pulled him to a stop with a gentle tug on his hand, not wanting to risk that the distractions of the lobby would pull him away from her. Stepping closer, she brushed her body against his. “Have you owned the Garden a long time?”

  “Almost twelve years,” he said. “It’s been mine in title for the last nine.”

  He leaned into her, and she eased back, keeping a slight distance between them. It wouldn’t do to give in too easily. Titillation was half the fun of seduction.

  “So impressive.” She smoothed his lapels against his chest, then moved forward and flicked her tongue against his bottom lip.

  He sucked in a breath of air and licked his lips, then sucked on his tongue as though savoring her. She’d been told before that she tasted like honey, a perfect trap. So far, it seemed to be working.

  Tim rested his hands on her hips, and by the tremble in his fingers, she guessed it had been a long time since he’d had such contact with a woman — if ever.

  Being the one to break his celibacy streak would put too much strain on her self-control, so she was determined to get what she needed before they went inside. At the same time, she couldn’t rush their encounter. In the hesitation of his fingers as they trailed up her waist and the way he swayed away from her, as though second-guessing himself, she knew her hold over him was fragile. Physical desire was apparently not a motivating factor in Tim Banks’s life.

  She curled her fingers into his hair and pressed her body against his. His response nudged her thigh, but his muscles tightened and she released him, knowing she’d crossed a line.

  “What exactly did you want, Ms. Rossi?”

  Allegra closed her eyes and released a slow breath to compose herself. His words were tinged with suspicion, and her impatience threatened to spill from her mouth. When she opened her eyes again, she made sure her smile was in place. “I just want to know more about this beautiful building and the man who helped make it what it is. Has it always been so well maintained, or is this all due to your firm hand?”

  She brushed her fingers across his palm, circling her thumb in the center. Her allure passed into him, and she felt the tingling current, but as the glaze faded in Tim’s brown eyes, Allegra worried she’d lost him.

  “Before me, my aunt owned this building,” he said. “I believe she did a better job than me most days. She had a good head for business, something I think I lack sometimes.”

  Reluctant, but honest — enough of her influence over him remained to keep his lips loose if nothing else. She raised her hand and stroked her fingernails along his neck above his collar, and satisfaction warmed her insides as his Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow.

  “I am sure you’re not giving yourself enough credit if she is the one who taught you what you needed to know.”

  One moment, Allegra swore she had the man in her grasp, and the next, her jaw dropped in astonishment as Tim took hold of both her wrists and pulled them away from him, stepping back. “My aunt was a miserable, bitter woman, Ms. Rossi, and I doubt there’s anyone who was here during her reign who would disagree with me. I did my best to fill her shoes after she walked away from her responsibilities, but she left me with a staff who hated their jobs and a heap of debts I’m still trying to balance to keep my head above water. I can’t say I understand your interest in my affairs, but I would appreciate if this were the end of it.”

  Allegra’s shock prevented her from adapting her strategy to his change in demeanor. Without thinking, guided only by her frustrated desire to find the answer, she blurted, “I’ve heard rumors that your aunt vanished one day and no one knows what happened to her. That seems like odd behavior for a professional woman. Do you ever wonder where she might have gone?”

  Tim’s eyes flashed wide, and his nostrils flared. For an instant, he tightened his grip around Allegra’s wrists, as though preparing to drag her somewhere out of sight. Then he released her and schooled his expression, but he couldn’t prevent a red flush from creeping up his neck in ugly splotches. “I have no idea where the woman went, but I don’t believe anyone who knew her is in a rush for her to come back. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and make sure my hotel is maintained to your level of satisfaction.”

  She stared after him as he stalked off, too stunned to process what had just happened.

  Never in her life had she failed to snare a man. Even men whose interests lay elsewhere were drawn to her energy, seduced by the idea of ultimate pleasure without caring who it was that delivered it.

  Yet she had failed.

  The truth oozed through her brain like oil, staining every other thought.

  How is this possible?

  In her mind, her siblings laughed at her for losing such an easy catch, and her cheeks heated with mortification.

  Beneath her embarrassment lurked a deeper dread that trapped her breath in her lungs.

  She’d pushed too far with Tim. In her impatience, she’d revealed her purpose in pulling him aside — her interest in his aunt’s disappearance. And Tim, in the heat of his anger, had slipped. His one moment of fear had told her everything she needed to know: he had killed his aunt and hidden her body somewhere on the hotel grounds.

  She knew it, and now he knew she knew it. She would need to look over her shoulder not just for the draugrs, but for Tim as well. And she would have to find Penny’s body before he got it into his head to move it.

  This is what comes of getting involved, she scolded herself. You make more enemies than any one person requires.

  ***

  The revelation of Tim’s guilt took over Allegra’s concentration as she entered the hotel and went to the bar. She chose a stool near the end, well away from the couples and small groups coming in for a mid-afternoon tipple, and ordered a glass of champagne.

  Once the bartender — a lovely woman with sparkling blue eyes and a sly smile — placed her drink in front of her, Allegra sipped it mindlessly and ran through her conversation with Tim on a loop. She flushed at the memory of how desperate she must have sounded. How much would he remember? If her allure had worked, the entire conversation would be a blur for him. But he’d pulled away. Would any of it remain hazy, or would he be watching her now? If he knew about the draugrs, could he find a way to send them against her to keep his secret safe?

  The thought created a fever in her veins that boiled to the surface of her skin, and she took another sip of champagne to cool herself down, wishing she could indulge in something stronger.

  But she couldn’t lose any more control than she already had.

  She went through their conversation again, hoping that somewhere in the midst of the discussion, he might have given away some clue as to where he had buried the body. Even if she had failed to snare him, she prayed she might have found the answer to the most important question: Where could she find Penny? She closed her eyes and tried to remember in what direction his gaze had fallen when she’d mentioned his aunt’s disappearance, but aside from the flash of fear in them, his eyes hadn’t shifted.

  If only it could have been that easy.

  If only she’d been able to seduce it out of him.

&nb
sp; His ability to slip out of her grasp sent another flurry of unease through her bones. She’d had to hold back a bit to keep herself from being overwhelmed by her desire to feed on him, but her power should still have been more than enough. Was he stronger than he appeared, or was she more distracted by the draugrs’ threat than she’d realized?

  She remembered how her focus had shifted when she’d walked by the salon, how the sound of Matthew’s deep laugh had ignited a series of sparklers throughout her body. The possibility that her failure wasn’t due to her hellish dreams or the draugrs but the desire for a man startled her. Had that brief slip been enough of a distraction to weaken her hold over Tim?

  “Mind if I join you?”

  As though her thoughts had summoned him, Matthew appeared at her right elbow. His eyes twinkled in the reflection of the bar lights. She got the impression that he was laughing at her, and while such an idea would normally put her on the offensive, she found herself smiling. The suddenness of her response stunned her, and she cursed her weakness.

  “The seat is empty,” she said. The words came out harsher than she should have used toward the man who paid her, but she didn’t care. She wanted to excuse herself and flee to her room where she could be alone to sort through her thoughts, but now she was trapped. To leave would be to let Matthew think he had power over her.

  Which he most certainly does not, she told herself, quashing the part of her that doubted her detachment.

  He settled on the stool and ordered a drink. The bartender poured a pint of golden beer, then returned to the other end of the bar, leaving them alone.

  “What took you away so early this morning?” he asked around a sip.

  “A woman I know works nearby. I thought that since I was in the neighborhood, it would be nice to pay her a visit.”

  “Don’t you live around here?” Matthew asked, the laughter in his eyes growing more overt.

  Allegra sipped her champagne and pressed her lips together. She didn’t appreciate that he knew so much about her, or that he was apparently able to read her so well. It made lying that much more difficult.