“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“Not my fault? Of course it’s my fault. I failed you, and now I’m learning that my parents failed you, too.” He took his fingers off his head, scrunched them into a tight fist, and pounded it into his palm.
“Mac, listen, they didn’t fail me. They had their reasons. They thought they were doing the right thing.”
“What reasons?”
We were getting off topic, and I needed him to focus on Alex.
“Mac, please, we can talk more about what happened in the past another time, but right now I need you to focus on the now. Our son might be in danger. Marianne thinks that Forest is here. At first I thought she was crazy, to be honest. She doesn’t seem entirely stable, but Chief Meyers thinks there’s a possibility that she could be right. I almost blew her off, but I was just over at the Der Keller booth, and Hans mentioned that someone was asking about me earlier. His description of the guy matches Marianne’s description of Forest. She warned me that Forest will stop at nothing to get to me, even involving Alex.”
“Involving Alex how?” Mac sat up straighter.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve run dozens of worst-case scenarios from kidnapping to hurting him and worse.”
“My God, Sloan.”
“I know. Maybe I’m overreacting.”
Mac stood up. He went to the window, looked outside, and then focused his pale blue eyes on me. “Sloan, if there is one thing that you never do, it’s overreact. If you’re worried, then I’m terrified.”
I started to say something, but he held up a finger to stop me.
“No, listen. It’s my turn to talk now. I know that I’ve done wrong by you. I know that my mistakes led to ruining our marriage, but I can’t condone that my family has done this to you, too. You don’t need to worry about Alex. I won’t let anything happen to him, Sloan. I’ll die before I let this Forest guy come anywhere near either of you. I’m going to my place now, and I’ll pack a bag. Alex and I will stay with you. I’ll sleep on the couch and stay on watch around the clock.”
“Mac, that’s not necessary. I already told you that Chief Meyers assigned police detail. I’m fine. It’s Alex that I’m worried about. He’s better off at your place. If there’s any truth to what Marianne has said about Forest, then he needs to be as far away from me as possible right now.”
Mac threw his head back and groaned. “Oh crap, Sloan, I just remembered something. I saw a guy who matches the description Hans gave you earlier. He was hanging around the booth when we were setting it up. I didn’t think about it at the time. I figured he wanted to be first in line for a beer, you know how crazy people get. But now I’m not so sure. He was real chatty with a couple of the staff. I thought it was odd at the time, but again I figured maybe he was lonely, traveling by himself, trying to make conversation. He asked a bunch of questions about the family who owned Der Keller. I kept out of it. Our staff know better than to introduce any of us as the owners, unless we step forward ourselves. Here’s the scary thing—he left before we tapped the kegs. Sloan, if this is the guy. He’s good. He’s really good. Slick, subtle.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my temples. “It could be that I’m blowing this out of proportion. There are some sketchy things about Marianne, too.” I didn’t go into detail, but that was the truth. I still wasn’t convinced that she was living in reality despite everything that had happened.
Mac picked up a pen and tapped the cap on his forehead. I recognized the nervous tic. “Maybe. I’m with the chief. I don’t think we can be too cautious. He told Hans he was going to stop by Nitro tomorrow? I’ll be there. I’ll be there when it opens, and I’ll stay until the last car has left the village tomorrow night.”
“No, that’s what I’m saying.” I was starting to second-guess my decision to loop him in. “I want you to be with Alex. I’ll be fine. Garrett will be there. Kat, the twins, and my police escort. Alex is my priority. I need you to be with Alex. Don’t let him out of your sight.”
“He’s at the restaurant right now.” Mac glanced out the window again. “Should we go get him?”
“No! He can’t know.” I reached out to stop him, as if he was about to jump out the window and go rescue our son. “This is just between us, remember? I don’t want to freak him out, especially if it turns out to be nothing.”
“Sloan, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He’s a bright kid. He’s strong—physically and emotionally. He can handle knowing.”
“Mac, you promised. I don’t want him to know. I think Der Keller is the safest place for him right now, anyway. It’s hardly like Forest would try to snatch him in the middle of so many people. Just make sure you guys go home together and don’t let him out of your sight tomorrow.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.” He sounded anything but convinced. However he returned the pen to its holder and stood up.
“I’m sure.” I stood, too.
Mac moved toward the door. “I have him on the schedule for a half day tomorrow.”
“Good. Don’t let him take off with friends when his shift is done.”
“I won’t. You have my word, Sloan. I will make sure he’s safe.” His intense, powerful gaze made me want to collapse in his arms. Not in a romantic way, but because he was the only other person on earth who loved Alex as fully, as wholly, as me. Alex was the best of both of us. I knew he was telling the truth. I knew he would do anything and everything in his power to protect our son.
“Thanks.” I squared my shoulders and swallowed hard.
I wasn’t sure what else to say. A sense of relief came over me. It felt good to share the burden of fear with Mac. Not that I had any interest in renewing our relationship, but Alex was our common ground. I didn’t doubt for a second that he would ensure his safety. Now I needed to focus on mine.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
I LEFT MAC BEFORE he could continue to try and convince me that I would be safer having him and Alex in the house. It was nearing nine, so I decided to take Eleanor up on her wine tasting offer. I enjoyed learning about other artisan processes, but I was also hoping that I might have a chance to observe staff and guest interactions at the hotel and perhaps see if Marianne was still lurking. The thefts couldn’t be a coincidence, and there was the issue of Jay’s inappropriate behavior with female staff. There had to be a connection between Sara’s murder and the hotel.
As I entered the boutique German manor, I stopped at the lobby to see where Eleanor was hosting the tasting. The clerk directed me to the Frühstücksraum, or breakfast room, located just off the lobby.
John stopped short of the breakfast room doors. “I’ll wait here in the hallway.”
He must be exhausted, I thought. He’d been on duty since the middle of last night. “Are you going to get a break anytime soon? Can I get you something? Coffee? A snack?”
“Don’t worry about me, Mrs. Krause. I’m fine.” His boyish face was still beaming with energy. I would have been a walking zombie if I were him. “The chief is sending a replacement soon, but I’m good.”
“You deserve a raise.” I smiled, reaching for the door handle. “I’ll be sure to tell her that.”
The sound of laughter greeted me in the elegant breakfast room. Eleanor and six other vintners were seated around a large mahogany table. The room was impressively ornate with dark wood paneling, a large iron chandelier, bucolic prints of the German countryside, and walls of bookcases.
“Sloan, you made it.” Eleanor waved me in. “Have a seat. We are just about to get started.”
I took the empty spot at the end of the table. Two wine goblets sat at each place setting. I assumed one was for tasting reds and one for whites. Bottles of wine filled the table like pretty chess pieces.
“Everyone, this is Sloan, she’s a craft brewer at a new small brewery here in town, Nitro,” Eleanor introduced me. “I was lucky enough to be able to sample their line earlier today and was very impressed. If you have a chance to stop by
before the weekend is done, I highly recommend you do.”
She made brief introductions. I noticed that the gentleman sitting next to me seemed to cling to her every word. His eyes didn’t leave her as she reached for a bottle of pale apricot chardonnay.
“Do you know Eleanor well?” I asked him.
“Me? No. No. We just met. What gives you that impression?” He clutched his wine goblet in one hand and dragged his gaze away from Eleanor. I guessed him to be similar in age to Eleanor and me—mid- to late forties. He had a ruggedly handsome look. A dark, scruffy yet groomed beard, deep brown eyes, and dark, graying hair. He was dressed impeccably by Maifest standards, in well-cut navy slacks, a crisp white button-down shirt, and a skinny navy tie.
“Nothing. Just making conversation.”
He extended his hand, which was slightly damp. “I’m Russ. I own a vineyard in Wenatchee. Hawks. You may have heard of it.”
“Hawks, of course. We serve your wines at Der Keller.”
“I thought Eleanor said you work at Nitro?”
“True. I do, but I was with Der Keller for years and am still a partial owner.”
“Lucrative. You’ll have a brewing monopoly here in Leavenworth soon.” His eyes drifted back to Eleanor as she rounded the table, filling glasses and describing tasting notes for the first wine.
“That’s the master plan. Total brewery domination.” I winked. “How do you like traveling for events like this? Eleanor mentioned that it can get tiring to be on the road so much. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad to be working at a nanobrewery. Everything we do is hyper-local, which means I don’t have to leave Leavenworth very often.”
“I don’t mind it. There’s a certain thrill to travel. Never knowing who you’ll meet. Who you’ll bump into. Seeing gorgeous places along the way. But I get why some people don’t like it. That’s not true for Der Keller, though, is it?” Russ asked, holding out his glass for Eleanor to pour him a taste of buttery chardonnay. “I see the Der Keller tents at nearly every beer festival throughout the west.”
“Yes. We have an entire team dedicated to outreach.” I waited for Eleanor to fill my glass.
She placed her hand on Russ’s shoulder and let it linger for a moment. “Play nice with our brewer, Russ.”
He reached for her hand and then quickly sat up.
The gesture of affection wasn’t lost on me, but Russ changed the subject as Eleanor moved on to pour for the rest of the table.
“Did you hear about the murder?” he asked, dipping his nose halfway into his glass.
“Yes, it’s such a tragedy.”
“I’m sure. A small town like Leavenworth. I would guess news of a murder is rocking everyone’s world.”
I wouldn’t have phrased it exactly like that, but he wasn’t wrong.
“The crazy thing is that I think I saw the maid right before she was killed. She was scurrying around. It made me wonder if she was up to no good.”
“Really? Does that mean you’re staying here, too?”
His face turned as white as his wine. “No. I’m staying on the other side of town. I was here for the tasting last night.”
That was interesting, because unless my memory served me wrong, Eleanor had said that last night’s tasting was across the street at Blumpiwen.
“I stopped in the lobby for a drink of water. You know how it is after a tasting, especially with a bunch of wine snobs. My mouth was parched. I saw the maid and the owner of the hotel going at it.”
“Going at it?” I repeated.
“They were having a heated argument. I grabbed a glass of water and got out of there before they saw me, but I told Eleanor that I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it. He was out of control. Hurling insults and his fists.”
“Wait, are you saying that Jay, the owner of the hotel, hit Sara?” Jay was sounding worse by the minute. Sexual harassment and physical violence.
“No, he didn’t hit her, but he punched the wall. I bet his knuckles are nice and sore today.”
Eleanor interrupted our conversation by dinging on the side of her glass. “I’d love for everyone to take an initial taste of this 2017 chardonnay. We weren’t sure how the year was going to do. If you recall, there were large wildfires in Canada and eastern Washington that year, but I’m happy to report that the grapes did really well, and we ended up with this touch of earthiness that beautifully balanced the chardonnay.” She went on to explain how some of the cooler terrain of the Yakima Valley was home to over half of Washington’s chardonnays and rieslings.
I sipped the delicate wine and kept one eye on Russ. I wasn’t sure that I trusted him. Something was obviously going on between the two of them, and he’d let it slip that he and Eleanor were more than new acquaintances. Could he have been in her room? It would explain his lie about staying at the hotel. The question was whether they had any connection to Sara’s death. What if Sara spotted them? Eleanor was married. If they were having an affair and she accidentally discovered them, could that have given them a reason to react? Maybe it had been a moment of panic. Or maybe Sara, if she was the person responsible for the thefts, had threatened to blackmail them. It was a stretch, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility.
“Have you mentioned any of this to the police?” I whispered as we finished the first wine.
“Mentioned what?” Russ knocked back the few sips left in his glass.
“The fight you witnessed. That could be important information in their investigation.”
“No, I don’t want to get in the middle of it. It’s not my problem.” He held his empty glass out to signal Eleanor he was ready for the next.
Eleanor directed us to the next bottle. As we tasted five more estate-grown wines, including a spring pinot noir, a fruit-forward syrah, and a bold cabernet, I couldn’t get Russ to say much more. Every question I asked that related to Sara’s murder was met with silence. Obviously, I had hit a wall.
By the time our tasting flight was complete, my head was slightly dizzy and my cheeks were warm. Eleanor’s wines were delicious. There was no debating that. I would definitely recommend buying a few bottles for Nitro. I made a mental note to talk to Garrett about that in the morning.
I excused myself when a couple of the winemakers brought out more bottles to sample.
“Thanks so much for inviting me,” I said to Eleanor. “It’s been enlightening, and we’re definitely going to get some of your wine for the pub.”
“Great. You have my information. Email, call, or text, and I’ll set you up. Or if it’s easier, I can drop by tomorrow on my way out of town. I have a few cases left.”
“Sure. I look forward to that and to introducing you to Garrett.”
I left the breakfast room to find John standing at attention as promised. He followed me to the lobby. I wanted to see if Russ had been exaggerating about Jay. Sure enough, there was an indent in the Sheetrock near a stuffed grizzly bear statue. I wouldn’t have called it a hole, but if Jay had punched the wall hard enough to leave an indent, he must have been extremely angry.
“Can I help you?” A voice behind me made me jump.
I turned to see Jay standing three feet away. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come up behind me.” I caught John’s eye. He stood near the lobby doors with his hands on his holster.
“Sloan, right? We’ve met at chamber events, I think. You’re not one I would forget.” His tone was suggestive, as was his wicked grin. “Were you looking for something?”
“Right.” I could feel his eyes staring at the damaged wall. “I was going to take a picture of the bear for my son. He’s a high schooler here in town, and I’m constantly nagging him to be on the lookout for bears when he and his friends are hiking. I thought it would be funny to send him a warning text that the bears have infiltrated the village. You don’t mind, do you?”
Jay’s shoulders relaxed. “Sure, go for it. You know, we had been talking about doing a social media bear hunt. Like the nutcracker hunt.”
I
wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being close to him. “Good idea. The nutcracker hunt has been very popular amongst tourists and going on for at least ten years.” I was trying to shift attention, but there was truth to my words. The nutcracker scavenger hunt sent kids and sleuths of all ages throughout the village with a handful of clues on a journey to track down hidden nutcrackers tucked into unexpected nooks and crannies. Successful adventurers could return to the chamber of commerce for fun prizes.
“So I hear. I’ve owned the hotel for three years, and I still feel like a newcomer. Does that ever end?”
I became acutely aware of Jay’s lewd stare that continually drifted below my sight line to my chest. Thank goodness I had changed out of my more revealing dress into a T-shirt. It was no wonder that Vienna was spooked by him. I stood taller. “How so?” I was surprised to hear that feedback. The village had always embraced newcomers. Maybe rumors about Jay’s behavior had already spread.
“You know, everyone has an idea or an opinion on how things should be done.” He rolled his eyes and snuck in another gawk at my chest. I didn’t know whether he was a killer, but he definitely did not give me good vibes, and I was a grown, adult woman with a teenage son. I could only imagine how uncomfortable his younger staff, like Vienna, must feel, especially when her livelihood depended on a paycheck signed by him. “Apparently we’re not cutting it when it comes to being in line with the German aesthetic in the rest of the village.”
“Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I take it you’ve had some chats with April Ablin?” I inched away from him.
“Yeah.” He pointed to the bear. “She wanted me to put lederhosen on the bear for the weekend. I refused. I’m not going for that vibe here. I want a high-end German hunting lodge.”
The Cure For What Ales You Page 12