Fatality by Firelight

by Lynn Cahoon

  She let him pull her to her feet, and as they walked downstairs together, she thought about Paul. All the teasing he’d gotten over the years for his too-short pants and Coke-bottle glasses combined with his mother’s smothering, he never had a chance at normal.

  *

  After lunch, Christina pulled Cat aside. “Can I talk to you?”

  Cat excused herself from the table and walked Christina to the living room. It was empty, as the other retreat participants were either at the library or upstairs in the partially remodeled attic. It worked fine as a writing nook on warmer days like this, but once the sun started to fall, the room turned chilly. “No one’s here. Will this work?”

  Christina sank into the couch. “I shouldn’t have come.”

  “What do you mean? Are you not getting your writing done?” Cat sat in the chair next to her, watching the girl’s face closely.

  “No, I’ve gotten more written this week already than I did in a month at home. It’s a great retreat.” She smiled warmly up at Cat.

  “I don’t understand. What’s the problem then?” Cat matched her body frame to Christina’s posture. She’d read somewhere that the body language showed that you were interested in what another person had to say and helped open up communication. She’d taken the body language course during her college years to try to limit the effect her natural shyness would have on her teaching skills. Michael had laughed at her when she bought a book on the subject during one of their bookstore trips. But it had helped.

  “I’ve been having some problems at home. Someone’s been following me. Leaving me gifts. My car was broken into.”

  “Oh my God. What did the police say? You did report it to the police, right?” Cat leaned forward, wanting to reach out and comfort her.

  “Not at first, but yeah, eventually. The problem is nothing really bad has happened. The guy left roses in the car. At least I think it’s a guy. Anyway, he writes me love notes. He even brought me a basket of cold medicine and left it on my porch when I had the flu last winter.” She shivered. “I never did find out how he knew I was sick. I called in to work, but that’s all. No one else knew.”

  “That’s serious stalking. Are the police concerned? Have you ever seen him?” Cat wondered if this was what her uncle had alluded to during their conversation.

  “Not really. The dispatcher laughs when I call them, but they always send someone out and they take a report. I’ve never seen him, but it could be anyone. He could be my neighbor and I wouldn’t know.” She stared at Cat. “Your uncle thinks I might have brought him to Aspen Hills. That the stalker guy killed Tommy because I liked him.”

  She burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

  Cat reached out and hesitantly patted the girl on the back. “I’m sure that’s not what happened. You’ve told my uncle about the stalker, that’s the first step. Now, we’ll just be more careful around the house. And maybe by the time you get back home, he’ll have forgotten all about you.”

  Sniffing, she lifted her head and smiled at Cat. “Seriously? You really think so?”

  Cat didn’t and thought she’d have a talk with Uncle Pete about calling the police in Christina’s hometown to make sure they understood the situation, but she couldn’t tell the girl that. Her nerves seemed already wound so tight they might break just by Cat expressing her opinion. “Of course. But really, you’re here to write. How’s your book doing?”

  With the subject changed, Christina seemed to come out of her shell and blossom as she talked about the book. Her characters felt so real. Cat was impressed. The girl might just have some writing chops. The chimes on the clock ran three and Christina stood. “I’m letting the day slip away from me. Sorry to be such a bother.”

  Cat stood with her and walked back into the lobby area. “You are not a bother.” She watched as Christina sprinted up the stairs to the second floor.

  “Apparently, the rumor is we have a celebrity in town.” Shauna stood in the kitchen doorway.

  “Dante? The guy with the limo?” Cat followed Shauna into the kitchen. She needed something to drink and to think about Christina’s problem.

  “I don’t think so. This guy is built and has dark hair. Didn’t you say Dante had blond hair? Anyway, he’s been seen at the grocery store as well as Bernie’s.” Shauna opened her laptop. “I’ve been searching the entertainment channels, but no one has leaked that they’re spending some time in Colorado. He’s probably here skiing, don’t you think?”

  “So why would he be in town?” Cat grabbed a soda out of the fridge. “You know, sometimes people just stop in Aspen Hills on their way somewhere else. I don’t know why you get so worked up about possible celebrity sightings. It’s not like we’re close to Vail or even Breckenridge. Little Ski Hill mostly caters to the younger, broker, Denver crowd.”

  “I don’t know. I guess a girl could dream.” Shauna smiled a bit and shrugged. “It’s like finding a nugget of gold in the stream. It’s not going to happen, but it could.”

  “Did you ever even see anyone famous in California? Those people live a different life than we do. I doubt they even do their own shopping.” She leaned in to look at the computer screen. “How are bookings for next quarter? Are we full for the next session?”

  She sat down next to Shauna and they reviewed the next few months. They had made a decision to book early in December. Next year, December would be their vacation month. Shauna already had airline tickets to fly home for Christmas, and Cat’s folks were coming in from Florida. January’s retreat slots had filled up quickly, even with adding on the room in the new wing Seth had finished renovating. By spring, they could host up to ten people, but Cat wasn’t sure how large she wanted her groups. Ten seemed high.

  She left the kitchen and wandered upstairs to her office. She probably wouldn’t write, but she needed to check her email and social media accounts. After the first book was released, Cat had realized that she could spend hours on promotion via the Internet. Now, she focused on release week with a few hours during the weeks afterward. Managing the balance was tricky, because checking her social media accounts felt like work. Even though the activities didn’t increase her page count, which was the most important task during a day.

  Celebrities, stalkers, mob bosses. Aspen Hills had its share of strangers lately. Typically, except for the parents of the college kids coming to visit, the number of visitors was pretty low. Which is why strangers stuck out and rumors circulated. She wondered if her uncle had considered the possibility that the guy Shauna’s friend had seen in the grocery store could be Christina’s stalker. When she’d told Christina the guy probably would just give up, she’d been lying. But telling the girl the truth wasn’t going to make her feel better. Most of the time, women had to disappear off the grid and leave town before the guy gave up. And sometimes, even that didn’t help. She was glad she’d taken the time to do the background checks now. She needed to know for certain that Jeffrey hadn’t followed Christina from Seattle.

  She dialed her uncle’s cell number and when she got his voice mail, she left a brief message. “Hey, can we talk about Christina? I’m concerned about what she shared with me.”

  Cat hung up and turned on her computer. Time to worry about what was happening with her book sales and figure out if she should do some marketing, or not, to raise sales. At least with writing, when you closed the file, you either had more pages or had edited the document. Marketing was a whole other fish to fry. And Cat didn’t know if she was doing enough or too much.

  *

  It was six before she emerged from the office. Hearing voices in the foyer, she hurried downstairs. Maybe she should warn the group to be careful as they were exploring the town. Who knew what might happen out there? When she reached the main level, the retreat group had their coats on and were preparing to leave. “Where are you guys off to?”

  “Dinner. We decided to get some pizza and a few beers. Do you want to come?” Bella seemed to be the leader of the o
uting.

  Cat glanced at the group of five. They were all bundled in heavy coats and scarfs. Cat’s phone rang and checking the caller ID she saw it was her uncle. She’d get more information before she decided to scare the guests. “Sorry, I have to take this call. Have fun.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing. Nelson’s going to tell us all about the haunted house he lived in for over a year.” Bella leaned close. “I think the guy is a little crazy myself, but he’s entertaining.”

  Cat answered the call as she walked into the kitchen. Shauna and Seth were talking at the table. “Hey, Uncle Pete, what’s going on?”

  She listened to him grumble about his day, but he didn’t tell her why he’d gone up to the ski resort. She covered the microphone and asked Shauna, “Did you make enough dinner for one more?”

  “Of course. Tell him I’ve got a chicken roasting along with mashed potatoes and gravy. That should get him over.” She looked at Seth. “It convinced this one to stay.”

  Seth’s face turned a bright shade of red. “I am entitled to a meal.”

  Cat broke into her uncle’s litany of tasks he still had to do before stopping for the day. “Leave that all for tomorrow. Shauna’s got dinner ready. How fast can you get here?”

  She laughed and ended the call.

  “He’s coming?” Shauna paused at the counter before pulling out plates.

  Cat slipped into the seat next to Seth. “Four for dinner. I really want to talk to him about some of the weirdness around town lately.”

  “Like your mob boyfriend?” Seth put his arm around her shoulders. “Rumors get around fast in Aspen Hills.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.” She kissed him. “I think I’m going to let you claim that title.”

  *

  By the time Uncle Pete arrived and they’d consumed the tender roast chicken along with a green salad and to-die-for mashed potatoes, Cat had almost forgotten what she wanted to ask him. After cleaning the table and serving coffee and a NY style cheesecake, Shauna sat next to her. “Go ahead, ask him about the celebrity.”

  “You already know about the mob connections in Aspen Hills.” He sipped his coffee and looked at her. “Was this entire dinner invitation a rouse to get more information out of me?”

  “Mostly, yeah.” Cat smiled at him. “But also, this way, I know you have at least one good meal in you for the day.”

  He took a bite of cheesecake and waved his fork at her. “Go ahead and ask. I’ll tell you what I can.”

  Cat leaned forward. “So the celebrity that everyone is talking about?”

  Uncle Pete frowned. “Slow down and tell me what you’re talking about.”

  Shauna took over the story, telling him the rumors she’d heard around town. After she was done, he pushed away the now empty dessert plate.

  “And it’s not this Dante guy? I hear he’s quite handsome.” Uncle Pete sipped on his coffee.

  “No, the descriptions don’t match up, but he does sound like the guy who ran out of the coffee shop and almost knocked me on my butt that day I met Dante.” Cat bit her bottom lip as she tried to remember what the guy had looked like. It all happened so fast and then Dante was there, catching her. “Wait, I wonder if he was meeting with Dante? I never got a good look at where he came from that day. But his driver knew just where to pick him up.”

  “Why didn’t you mention this before?” Uncle Pete pulled out his notebook. “What day did you see him with this unknown? And what time?”

  Cat shook her head. “Yesterday, after I took the basket of muffins over to Mrs. Colfax. What, about two? By the way, that woman’s insane. Are you sure she didn’t kill Tommy? I can’t say he was with Dante, the whole thing happened so fast.”

  “You may not be able to, but the coffee shop has video surveillance of the entire dining room. I need to get over there and get yesterday’s tapes.” He stood and stepped over to the rack where he’d left his coat. “Dinner was top notch. Remember my marriage proposal, Shauna. Any time, you just say the word. My little house is cozy and almost paid off. Besides, I’m good at doing laundry.”

  “You are too sweet.” Shauna put his plate and cup into the sink and started cleaning up the dishes.

  “Wait, I wanted to ask you about Christina’s stalker. Do you think this guy who ran me down could be him?” Cat hurried over and stood in front of the door, blocking his exit.

  “So she told you about that. Anyway, I don’t see how it could have been the same guy. According to the police chief from the Seattle neighborhood where she lives, she’s never seen him. Just the gifts that he leaves on her doorstep.”

  “That’s creepy enough.” Cat shuddered, thinking about the flower she’d found by her door a few weeks ago. She’d been working in her office, alone that day. Then when she’d emerged, a single white carnation lay at her door. No one, except Michael had given her carnations. Maybe it had been a fluke, one of the retreat guests way of thanking her, but it had freaked her out. Had she told her uncle about finding it?

  “Well, I’m not convinced this stalker could have followed her here. Unless she’s the type to broadcast her schedule on Facebook which I’m going back to the station to check on right now.” Uncle Pete kissed the top of Cat’s head. “You need to focus on your book instead of my case. You’re doing too much plotting. You’re seeing suspects everywhere.”

  “That’s what a writer does.” She opened the door for him and he waved at the others before disappearing into the darkness. Seth closed the door after him and reached for his coat. “I was heading home to watch Monday night’s football game. I recorded it and I’ve been staying off all the sports stations to keep from hearing the results. But I can stay around if you need me.”

  “You mean if I’m freaked out about this stalker thing?” She kissed his lips and then gently pushed him away. “Go watch the game. I’m going to wait up for the writers and see if anyone wants to talk shop for awhile. I’d love to find out more about what they’re writing.”

  “And you say football is boring.” He grinned and slipped on his coat. “See you tomorrow, Shauna.”

  “Don’t forget to call that guy about the attic heating unit.” Shauna didn’t even look back from her place near the sink. “We’ll need that space for January’s group, it may be too cold to do anything but shuttle them to the library and back.”

  He saluted her back. “Yes, ma’am.” Then he tapped Cat on the nose. “Although I’m pretty sure the reminder originally came from you.”

  She watched as he disappeared down the driveway to where he had his truck parked. The back tires spun as he hit a patch of ice on the road, but then he caught traction and disappeared down the street toward his house.

  “He’s a goofball.” Shauna was looking at Cat now, and for a minute, Cat wondered if she’d kept her back turned to give them privacy. Not that it existed in the house, especially during retreat week. Last month, retreat guests, Rose and Daisy had demanded a blow-by-blow recounting of every interaction she had with Seth. They’d claimed they were using her reunion romance as an exercise in writing relationships realistically. Cat thought it was more a gut need for gossip with the two.

  She returned to the table and stacked the rest of the dessert plates to take to the sink. “Yeah, but he’s my goofball.”

  Chapter 9

  Cat sat curled up on the couch, reading. She heard the front door open and then retreat guests piled into the room. “How was dinner?”

  “You won’t believe what happened.” Jennifer sat next to her. “We were all eating pizza and talking.”

  Nelson stood in front of her and took over the story. “Then I felt something digging into my leg. I thought someone had left a textbook in the booth.”

  “And when he pulled it out, it was that book by Hemingway.” Bella sat in the chair next to the couch, rubbing her hands together to warm them.

  Cat put her book down. “The one that was stolen? That book?”

  “Exactly that book. We eve
n saw the signature in the front. Can you believe that?” Christina pulled a wooden chair from the desk to the side. “We actually touched a book that Hemingway not only wrote, his wife signed. Totally cool.”

  “So what did you do with it?” Cat looked around, hoping the rare edition wasn’t stuffed inside someone’s backpack or purse. On the other hand, it would be cool to see it in person.

  “The owner of the place came by and took it. They called the police, and your uncle was supposed to be there before the place closed. Apparently, he was on another call.” Bella looked around the room. “For a small town, your uncle keeps busy. Maybe I don’t want to live somewhere like Aspen Hills when I retire.”

  “Every place had troublemakers.” Nelson’s gaze followed Bella’s around the room. “What are you looking at?”

  “Not at, for.” Bella stood. “Cat, do you think there’s still treats and drinks set up in the dining room? I’d love to grab a cup of tea to warm up before I go upstairs to write. It feels even colder outside after the sun sets. We should have got a taxi.”

  “The walk did us good.” Nelson rubbed his hands together. “But I could use a mug of cocoa.”

  “The buffet is set 24/7 with a few items, including tea and cocoa.” Cat watched as Bella, Nelson, and Jeffrey disappeared out of the living room. She looked at the other two. “Not thirsty?”

  “No. I’d rather talk to you a bit about agents. I know you can’t tell me exactly how I should go about getting one, but do I even need one?” Jennifer had pulled out a notebook from her backpack and sat with a pen to the page, waiting for Cat’s words of wisdom.

  “I can’t tell you the magic formula, but I can tell you how to get started looking for one. The first question they are going to ask, if you get to talk to a real person, is this: Is your book finished?” Cat looked at both women, who nodded solemnly.