by Lynn Cahoon
“You need to do your research. The girls weren’t killed in the same room.” He stood and went to retrieve his briefcase. “I think someone thought the legend might just hide their actions. Especially when yellow journalists like you look for the sensation instead of the truth.”
He turned toward the stairs.
She waited for him to be on her same level. “One more question. Why did you purchase Outlaw?”
He glared at her when he paused by the bottom of the stairs to the stage. “Because it made good business sense. If you have additional questions, please reach out to my company public relations department. If you can actually do some research and find the number.”
And with that he stomped out of the lecture hall, leaving Cat wondering what exactly he hadn’t told her. Because even she could tell that the man was holding something back.
As she walked back to the house, she saw Seth walking toward her. He grinned his easy smile as he paused to wait for her to catch up to him. “So you had an errand?”
“I did. Who told you I was out? Cora?” She put her arm in his as they walked toward the house.
“I went looking for you after I got done with a few things. I wanted to know if you wanted to share some ice cream. I think she was annoyed I interrupted her reading.” He moved around her so he was walking on the outside and retook her arm in his. “Cora said you’d left about twenty minutes ago. I was starting to worry.”
“You have kind of a white knight addiction, you know that, right?” Cat leaned into his shoulder. Walking next to him felt good, like all of her concerns had been put on pause for a second. Then reality struck again. “I wanted to talk to Joseph John Robertson.”
“The guy who runs Outlaw?”
Cat looked over at him. “I didn’t realize you knew anything about the corporate structure.”
“I may not know a lot about business, but Outlaw started as a hobby for this guy. I tried to bid on some of the work, but he went with an out-of-state crew that undercut me on everything. But I heard he’s had to bring people in to fix the shoddy workmanship ever since. You get what you pay for.” He paused at the gate. “I take it you were looking for answers for Danielle? Did you get any?”
She shook her head. “No, just more questions. Let’s sit in the kitchen and have some iced tea while you tell me what you know about Joseph John. I know the guy is hiding something, but I don’t know what.”
“We could still have ice cream.” Seth held open the kitchen door. “I’ve been working hard trying to get this done before the end of the week. I deserve ice cream.”
“Trying to get what done?” Cat hoped her question sounded casual when really, she was dying to know.
“You’re not that tricky.” Seth grabbed two bowls out of the cabinet as she got the ice cream from the freezer. “You’ll find out Saturday along with everyone else.”
“Sometimes you’re a tease.” Cat grabbed toppings like crushed walnuts and chocolate sauce. “Chocolate syrup?”
“Of course.” He reached around her to the fridge. “I’m pulling out the huckleberry jam too.”
They’d fixed their sundaes and Cat was just starting to tell Seth about the meeting she’d had with the ghost town mogul when Shauna came into the room.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to bother you two.” She moved toward the desk. “I forgot my planner. I’ve been talking to Connie, and I think I’m going to call that grief group that meets over at the Baptist church.”
“That’s great.” Cat patted the table next to her. “Come sit with us and celebrate with some ice cream.”
Shauna picked up her planner and set it down on the table. Then she got a bowl and dished up ice cream, pouring on the chocolate syrup. Finishing it with a mountain of whipped cream, she finally took a bite. Then she looked up at Cat and Seth, who were watching her. “What? So I like a lot of toppings on my ice cream. Change the subject. What were you guys talking about?”
Cat caught her up on what she’d already told Seth.
Shauna stuck her spoon into the ice cream. “What is he lying about?”
“If I knew that, I’d know everything.” Cat sighed, eyeing the ice cream container. Her thoughts of more were shattered when Shauna screamed.
Seth stood and whirled around and followed Shauna’s outstretched hand. Even Cat could see the man running toward the street.
“Did you see him? He was there, staring at me through the window.” Shauna turned wide-eyed at Seth and Cat. “That wasn’t just my imagination, was it?”
“Definitely not.” Seth stood and strode to the door. “Lock this after me.”
Cat followed his instructions, then thought of the front door. She glanced at the clock. Not quite nine. The front would be wide open. “Stay here and let Seth back in when he comes. I’m going to go lock the front.”
Shauna nodded. Her words didn’t match her calm demeanor. “I hope you’re not too late.”
CHAPTER 11
Less than twenty minutes later, they were all back at the kitchen table, plus one. “Maybe I should just open a satellite office here in the house. At least on retreat weeks.” Uncle Pete sat with his notebook out. His deputy, Brenden, was canvassing the neighborhood, but so far, no one had seen the man who’d been outside Shauna’s kitchen window.
“Maybe it was just a fluke. A prank.” Shauna stood and refilled her coffee. She’d thrown away her ice cream after it melted.
“Could be, but I don’t like the fact that we’ve been having more of these issues on and off campus. Outlaw, the dorms, and now here. And these things only have one person in common.” Uncle Pete looked at Cat. “Maybe we should contact her family and get her out of town for a while.”
“You know that won’t solve the problem. If Jessi’s in danger, she’s probably safer here than in Boston.” Cat held up her hands. “What? You know it’s true as well as I do.”
“Anyway, for once, my niece is right. I agree that keeping Jessi here is probably safer for her than sending her home. But there might come a time where my hands are tied. I need to figure out who killed Danielle and why, so we can keep Jessi from being the next victim.”
“So, I talked to Joseph John about the murders at Outlaw. He wasn’t very forthcoming. The only thing he did say was the murders weren’t all in the same room. Then he took off and told me to call his public relations guy if I had more questions on the self-made millionaire.”
“I already had that piece of information. One woman was killed in the blacksmith’s shop, one outside the saloon, one downstairs in the saloon, and only one upstairs. I’ve looked at the cases, although there isn’t much. One killer was arrested, but the other three cases went cold. I’d hate for Danielle’s to be number four.” Uncle Pete frowned. “The guy is a big shot in Aspen Hills. He should have known who you are, especially after the paper did that three-week write-up on you and the retreat. He didn’t recognize you?”
“Not even a second glance. He was charming at the beginning when he thought I might be another groupie, but he hightailed it out of there as soon as the questions got hard. What did you know about the murders? I did a comparison, and they all have a lot in common with the way Danielle was killed.”
“Interestingly enough, so did I. Well, I guess, since it’s my job, it’s not that strange that I did the comparison.”
“Do you want to fight or share information?” Cat met his gaze and didn’t waver.
Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “The first guy was put in jail right after the murder. He’d been stalking the girl for months, and when she dressed up as a saloon girl for Halloween, the temptation was too much.”
“He didn’t kill the other three?”
Uncle Pete shook his head. “Now the other three were never solved, but the theory I’m finding in the case files is they were a crime of passion by a copycat. The guy or guys who killed the other girls, wanted it to look like Gus’s handiwork. Including Danielle’s.”
“Then it has to be Max. He�
�s the only one with a clear motive for wanting her dead. He wanted to be with Jessi, and Danielle was just a passing fling.” Seth looked hopeful.
“I’ve been trying to get Max in for an interview, but his lawyer is telling me he can’t be bothered until tomorrow’s Summer School final is over. I’ve got him scheduled to be in my office at five minutes after three. I might just send him a ride to make sure he gets there.”
Brenden opened the back door and stepped inside. “No one saw nothing, Chief.”
Uncle Pete stood. “You three go to bed. Let the professionals find your murderer and the peeper. Just make sure you lock up.”
As Cat walked him to the door, she asked, “So what happened to the guy who fenced Jessi’s jewelry?”
“Arnold is conveniently out of town. I have a guy trying to track him down. Tomorrow should be interesting if all goes well.” He rubbed his face. “But then again, they could all be dead ends and I won’t be any closer to solving that poor girl’s murder than I am today. Go get some sleep. You look beat.”
She said good night to her uncle and turned to find only Shauna left in the room.
“Seth went to check the basement door and then he was turning in. I’m heading up now. Are you okay?”
“I will be. I just don’t like the thought of someone sneaking around here after Jessi. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on her.” Cat followed Shauna out of the kitchen toward the stairs.
“We can talk to her tomorrow morning. Let her know we’re concerned and want to make sure she’s safe.” Shauna flipped off the lights.
Cat wondered if that would be enough. After the talk, either Jessi would realize the danger she was in or it would wind her up more to try to solve the murder of her friend’s death. As she turned in to bed, Cat thought she knew which one it would be, because she would probably do the same thing.
* * *
Thursday morning came early after a night of tossing and turning. Cat grabbed a quick shower, then headed down for coffee. She thought she might work in Michael’s study rather than heading back upstairs to her turret. She loved the spot she’d set as her office, mostly because of the remoteness, but today it seemed a little too far out of the way. Besides, she wanted to talk to Jessi sooner rather than later. This way, both she and Shauna could keep an eye out for her.
When she walked into the kitchen, her wishes were answered. Jessi sat at the table. A hot chocolate in front of her along with a few of Shauna’s muffins seemed to have relaxed her into telling her story to Shauna.
“Good morning.” Cat went to the coffeepot and poured a cup. “How are you this morning?”
“Feeling dumb. I think I know the guy who was hanging outside the house last night.” Jessi pushed her hair up out of her eyes.
Cat’s heart stumbled. She managed to get her coffee to the table and sat before she answered. “Really? Who and why?”
“Keith. He works at Outlaw. He’s been trying to get me to go out with him, but really, he’s been Danielle’s boyfriend.” Jessi blanched and picked up the cup, taking a big swig. “I was so mean to him. He must have found out about Danielle and Max, and that’s why he pushed me so hard on Sunday.”
“You saw him on Sunday?” Cat thought she might just get the real story about what had happened to Jessi at Outlaw before lunch.
Jessi blushed. “When I went back to the car, he followed me out to the parking lot. It got a little heated because he tried to get me to make out with him. Danielle had told me she was head over heels for this guy but when I told him that, he laughed at me. Said I didn’t know my roommate as well as I thought.”
“That’s why you were late? You were fighting with Keith?” Cat sipped her coffee, letting Jessi talk it out.
“I was so ticked. I can’t believe how mad I was. I was going to tell Danielle to dump him. Not really tell her what he’d tried because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. What an idiot I was, right?” Now she picked at the muffin in front of her, not eating, just tearing it apart. “He even invited me to spend the weekend with him at his cabin. Like I was even interested.”
“You were the one betrayed. That doesn’t make you an idiot. That makes you a victim. And that’s a role you can walk away from anytime.” Shauna took her cup and refilled it with cocoa. “You hurt now, but it will be okay, I promise.”
“Seems silly to be mad at her for this when she’s dead. I should be remembering the things she did that were funny and uplifting. My mom said the same thing when my father died. I shouldn’t remember the bad things about him. I should remember the little things that remind me that he loved me. Like taking me for ice cream and the time we rented a paddleboat in Central Park. Mom tried to talk him out of it, but he said, whatever his little girl wanted. That’s a good memory, right?”
Instead of listing off her own version of how to deal with losing someone, Cat just smiled. “Your mom gave you great advice.”
“She’s solid, you know? Sometimes I think she’s all caught up in decorating the house or something, then she’ll step in and take care of something she thinks I shouldn’t have to deal with. She was the one who wanted me out here to get one more degree. That way, when or if I went back, I’d have options. I could choose my own path.” Jessi smiled as she lifted her hot cocoa. “And no matter what was going on, she was always there when I got home from school with cookies and hot cocoa. I liked talking to Mom.”
“You should call her today. I know you want to get some words down, but you’ve had a crazy week. Maybe words will have to wait until you’re more settled.” Cat watched her and wondered what it might be like to live a pampered kind of life. “So where does Keith have his cabin? Do you know?”
After Jessi told her the area, Cat excused herself and went to look it up on the computer in the study. She glanced at the distance and thought about grabbing Seth to run up there with her to see if Keith was still hanging out there. Then she thought of Uncle Pete and the lecture she’d get even with taking Seth along for the ride. If she could even convince him to go with her. He’d probably be on the tell-her-uncle bandwagon if she told him why she wanted to take a short ride with her. Following the good angels, she called her uncle and left a voice message with the information. Then she took her coffee upstairs to her writing cave and sat down to get some words in.
Shauna opened the door at ten, and Cat swung around and grinned. “I can’t believe how much I got done for a retreat week.”
“When you didn’t come down for breakfast, I figured you got caught up, so I brought you some food. It’s a Greek egg scramble with feta, tomatoes, and onions. I added a couple of slices of toast to go with it.” Shauna set down the tray on the coffee table. “And a pot of coffee with a glass of orange juice. I took a similar tray up to Kelly, as she’s lost in her story as well. You writers are easy to predict. If you don’t come down for meals, you’re writing hard.”
Cat sat down in front of the tray and drank half of the orange juice. “Thanks. I was planning on only writing for an hour. I guess I got a little lost.”
“No worries. Seth ate early, then went into the back where I swear he’s building a man cave for himself. I don’t think we’ll get rid of him any time soon. I saw a truck from the lumber yard dropping off more wood yesterday. I know why he doesn’t have money for food—he’s spending it all on two-by-fours.” Shauna sat on the couch and poured herself a cup of coffee out of the pot. “Then the guests all gathered in the breakfast nook, well, except for Kelly, and they took off about twenty minutes ago.”
“For the library?” Cat put huckleberry jelly on a slice of toast. She was starving.
Shauna took the other slice of toast and spread jelly as well. “I guess. They didn’t say where they were going, but Cora hired a taxi. I heard her talking about it. They’re used to using Uber in their area, so she was amazed she had to call someone to come and get them.”
“I wonder if they are going into Denver. Connie was talking about visiting the train station. I gue
ss she’s writing a mail order bride story.” A niggle of concern nagged at Cat as she ate. “I wish they would have told you where they were headed. I don’t like the idea of Jessi just running around.”
“Believe me, those women aren’t going to let anything happen to that girl. She’s been adopted into their clan, even if she doesn’t write historical romance.” Shauna glanced at her watch. “Time to start cleaning the rooms. You might as well stay up here and work unless you have an appointment, since everyone else is occupied.”
“Do you want help?” Can took a bite of her eggs and groaned. The flavor hit the right spot. “This is awesome. You’re kind of magic in the kitchen.”
“There’s nothing a good cookbook and a little time can’t produce.” Shauna finished her coffee. “And no, this is my part of the deal. You bring in the writers and talk about that crazy magic of making stories, and I keep you all fed and in clean towels. It works for me. Besides, I feel better when I’m keeping busy. This week has been just what I needed.”
After Shauna left, Cat finished eating and then stood and looked out over the backyard. The roof of the old building that Michael had called a barn peeked out from the edge of the trees. Maybe she should go out there and find out exactly what Seth was doing. He’d been less than pleased with the area in the basement that they’d started remodeling into a gym. Maybe he had taken it on himself to remodel the barn. Cat thought of the one time she’d gone out there to look through the building. There had been birds in the lofts and the place had been filled with old straw and still smelled of the animals who had lived there years before. Michael had talked about making it into a storage shed, but before they’d even finished remodeling the house, they’d had their issues. Cat had moved to California and the barn had been forgotten.
Now Seth was turning it into a workout place. She guessed the barn could have worse uses. And at least he had a project to work on. His handyman business had slowed down a little this year as the college was reevaluating renovation plans that he’d counted on and had turned down other work to make sure he had time to devote to the larger project.