Jazmin nudged me. “Where is Riley anyway? She disappeared when I got here. Should we be worried?”
“It’s pretty normal for her,” I said. “She likes being alone.”
“Did Thelma ever share anything with you?” Daniel asked Nick. “Did she mention problems at home or with her husband?”
Nick made no effort to hide a sly smile. “Are you sleuthing, Detective Hawkins?”
“No, no,” Daniel said, offering up his palms to claim innocence. “I was just curious. You’re not obligated to answer any of my questions if you don’t want to.”
Nick crossed his one leg over the other, winced, and switched them around. “It’s fine. I respect your dedication to the job. Thelma was quite cryptic though. I often had to read between the lines with her.”
“And what did you discover?” I said. “Because Daniel might be too polite to ask, but I definitely want to know.”
“She was unhappy,” Nick said, shrugging. “Oliver and Thelma were never a good match. They were practically forced to get married.”
“Why?” Jazmine asked.
“Because Oliver got Thelma pregnant,” Nick said. “At the time, Oliver was eighteen. He’d just legally inherited the Watson fortune. He was a reckless, rich playboy and the face of King and Queens. Had he not married Thelma, the gossip would have ruined him and his business. They had no choice.”
“No wonder Oliver has such a poor relationship with Tyler,” I said.
“No wonder Tyler’s such an asshat,” Daniel added. “Can you imagine growing up in that kind of environment? His parents blamed him for their own mistakes.”
“Actually, Thelma and Tyler had an understanding with each other,” Nick said. “I believe she was the only thing keeping him from spinning entirely out of control. What’s he been like without his mother around?”
“Atrocious,” I said. “He’s said and done more than a few disgusting things to me.”
Jazmin squeezed my knee under the table. “What about Riley?” she asked. “If Oliver and Thelma were so unhappy, why did they have another child?”
Nick cuffed the sleeves of his King and Queens sweatshirt. His left hand—the one that had spasmed a few minutes earlier—was dark and discolored near the wrist. When he caught me looking, he shook his sleeve back into place.
“They did what any unhappy couple think about doing,” Daniel answered instead. “They had another kid in the hopes of saving their marriage. My wife and I considered the same thing. Thankfully, we didn’t go through with it. There’s no point in bringing another kid into the mix. They grow up learning that dysfunctional families are normal.”
“Quite right,” Nick said. “I’ve heard nothing but trouble regarding the Watson children, and it will only get worse unless Oliver—”
A piercing scream echoed right overhead, and the four of us looked up to see Tyler Watson heft his little sister up and over the railing of the mezzanine right above our table. As we shot to our feet—Nick stumbling a little as he reached for his cane—Tyler dangled Riley by her ankles, laughing as she cried and begged. It was a solid twenty-foot drop to the floor below. If Tyler let go, Riley would almost certainly land on her head.
“What do you think about the Watson children now, Mr. Porter?” Tyler demanded. A maniacal grin distorted his face, twisting his handsome features into devilish details.
“Young man, this is not the way you go about a sibling rivalry,” Nick called up to him. “I suggest you pull her up right away.”
Tyler hitched Riley up and let go of her ankles for a split second so that she was weightless. She shrieked, and Tyler laughed again as he caught her. “What’s wrong, little sister? Don’t you like hanging out with your big brother?”
Daniel sprinted out of the Eagle’s View and down the stairs. The steps to the mezzanine were in the lobby. If he wanted to reach Tyler in time, he’d have to move faster than the cheesecake in his stomach allowed.
“Oh, the detective’s on the run,” Tyler said, unconcerned. He swung Riley to and fro above our booth. Jazmin and I moved with her, arms outstretched. “Not sure why. We’re just having some good, old-fashioned fun.”
“Tyler!” Riley’s voice broke. “Please, I didn’t do anything to you. Put me down.”
He lifted her higher. “You were born, Riley. That was enough.”
“Tyler, put her down,” I warned. “I swear—”
“Are you going to slap me again, Madame Lucia?” he asked. “Because to be honest, I kinda liked it. You’re sexy when you’re angry.”
“Young man,” Nick said.
Jazmin tried her hand. “Tyler, really. What is this going to accomplish? Just set your sister down, and I’m sure we can get down to what’s really bothering you.”
He leaned over the railing to get a better look at Jazmin, causing Riley to drop lower. “Who the hell are you, and why are you at King and Queens when you clearly belong on a strip pole somewhere? We can make it happen. I know a place.”
“Christ, you weren’t kidding,” Jazmin muttered in my ear.
“Told you,” I replied.
Footsteps pounded as Daniel emerged at the top of the mezzanine steps and hurtled toward Tyler. “It’s over, Tyler. Let her go.”
Tyler’s grin widened. “Let her go? Okay.”
He dropped Riley.
Several things happened at once. Riley plummeted headfirst. Daniel lunged for Tyler as the younger man tried to make his escape. Jazmin and I positioned ourselves beneath Riley to catch her, but it was Nick who tossed aside his cane and dove beneath the lip of mezzanine. Riley fell perfectly into his arms with a light thump, his knees bent to absorb the impact. Her arms alighted naturally around his neck, and she cried with relief into his shoulder, shaken but no worse for wear.
“There you go, little one,” Nick said as he set Riley on her feet. “Everything’s okay.”
“Riley—” I said.
But she pushed Nick away and dashed off, flying down the stairs and vanishing in the lobby below. I tried to go after her, but Nick held me back.
“If she wanted someone to comfort her, she would have stayed with us,” he said.
“But—”
“What on earth is going on out here?” Oliver had finally arrived, no doubt awoken by Riley’s screams. “Why aren’t you all in your rooms? Porter, I swear, if you—”
Jazmin stepped in between Oliver and Nick, defusing the argument before it could start. “It was your son,” she announced. “He dropped your daughter over the mezzanine.”
Oliver’s jaw went slack. He stared wildly around in search of his children. “No.”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “She’s all right. Nick caught her, so you have him to thank for no hospital bills. And Daniel—”
Daniel heaved Tyler up the steps into the Eagle’s View. The teenager was handcuffed, and this time, Daniel wasn’t making an effort to keep him comfortable.
“Mr. Watson,” Daniel said as he spotted Oliver. “Excellent. I’d like to book your smallest, most uncomfortable room. In fact, we don’t even need a room. Could you point me to the nearest broom closet? I’m sure the Mr. Watson Junior won’t mind the smell of chemicals.”
“What are you talking about?” Oliver said. He seemed to be in shock, sporting a wide-eyed, vacant expression. “What do you need a room for?”
“Tyler here is under arrest,” Daniel announced. “For real this time. Since I can’t take him to the station because of the snow, we’re going to have to make do with house arrest. A room, please.”
Oliver tossed Daniel a set of keys. “Those unlock the drawer to the front desk where the card keys are. Pick whatever room you like.”
“Dad, are you serious?” Tyler demanded.
Oliver grabbed his son’s face. The action was so quick and violent that Daniel tugged Tyler out of his father’s reach.
“Don’t you dare address me,” Oliver hissed at his son. Tyler turned whiter than the snow outside. “What have you done to your sist
er? Where’s she gone?”
For once in his life, Tyler didn’t have a comeback. Oliver’s reaction seemed to have thrown off his entire smartass routine.
“She ran down the stairs and into the lobby,” I said. “You didn’t pass her on your way up?”
“No,” Oliver said. “Detective, take him away, please. And don’t let him out.”
“My pleasure.”
Daniel dragged Tyler down the stairs. Once they were out of sight, Oliver offered Nick his hand. Nick stared at it, as if he’d forgotten what response the gesture required.
“Thank you,” Oliver said, taking Nick’s hand on his own. “You likely saved Riley from more than one broken bone. She would’ve been heartbroken if she couldn’t go skiing for the rest of the season.”
Nick recovered from his shock. “Of course. It was no trouble.”
Oliver turned to include me and Jazmin as well. “I’d like to find her to make sure she’s all right. Riley’s been fragile ever since her mother’s death. I don’t want her roaming the halls all night. She needs to sleep.”
“Riley knows this hotel better than anyone else,” I said. “If she doesn’t want to be found, we won’t find her for hours.”
“I know,” Oliver said. “That’s why I think we should split up. If each of us searches a section of the resort, we can at least narrow down the places where she isn’t hiding. Please? I know it’s a lot to ask of my guests, but she’s too important to me. I have to know she’s okay.”
“You know I’m in,” I said. “I’ll do anything for Riley.”
“Count me in too,” Jazmin added. “I might not know Riley as well as Lucia does, but I do know she must be terrified right now. She needs a hot bath and a clean bed.”
Nick lifted his cane in solidarity. “I’m in as well, though I’m a bit slow to get around. I’d like to see the young lady is all right myself.”
Oliver nodded his thanks. “Let’s go then.”
We split up, assigning floors and hallways to each other to search. Oliver gave us all a master key so that we could look in every empty guest room. I started in the kitchen, checking all of Riley’s usual nooks and crannies, before moving on to the lobby, gift shop, and indoor pool. Without any luck, I headed toward the first corridor of guest rooms, but just as I went to swipe the key card, something flickered out of the corner of my eye. I spun around. It was a white curtain covering the window at the end of the corridor. An invisible wind fluttered it about, a draft from the heating system perhaps.
And then the familiar prickle crept in. It started at the base of my spine and crawled up my back like a spider, spreading its web of unease across the entire surface of my body. This was the worst I’d ever felt it. The hair on my arms stood on end. Sweat moistened my temple. Something whispered over my shoulder, its cold breath chilling the back of my neck.
“Check the old wing,” it said.
I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t face whatever terrifying creature owned that voice. I waited—eyes squeezed shut, facing the room door—until the prickling subsided. Then, and only then, did I run as fast as possible from the hallway.
The worst part was knowing the voice was right. The old wing. Of course Riley would know about it. She might even be drawn to it. Forty-nine souls lingered in that burnt-out space. What if some of them had never left? I checked the lobby for Oliver before ducking into the dilapidated corridor that headed east. With every step toward King and Queens’s second restaurant, it grew colder. Was it a lack of heating supply, or did something else suck the warmth out of these walls?
Through the old kitchen, the abandoned ballroom was dark and drafty. Snow pounded against the stained-glass windows. I hurried across, feeling too exposed in the empty middle part of the room, and ducked under the chain into the original lobby. Here, the prickling started again, subtle this time, like a quiet guide into King and Queens’s depths. It lured me in, and I picked my way across the ruins of the front desks and into the hallway beneath the stone archway. I recognized it now. It was the same as the one in the pictures from the photo album. The people in that album had died in these hallways, preserved at King and Queens forever.
I crept through the dark hall, shaking with every breath. I feared each corner and shadow. The slightest movements caught the attention of my peripheral view. Ash sprinkled from the ceiling. A splinter of wood rolled to the floor. I didn’t look straight at anything until I reached the window in the gentlemen’s cigar room. A security light from outside shone through it, flooding the room with bright white light. I wandered over to the spot of normalcy and gazed out. The storm was getting worse. Snow flurried through the security light and buried Crimson Basin beneath it. I inhaled deeply. This spot was okay. It was calm. It was protected—
A blood-curdling scream lanced the cool air like a hot knife. I tore away from the window, vaulted over a pile of debris, and followed the sound into the next room over. There, sitting on the desk in the center of the room, was Riley, eyes rolled back so that only the whites were visible, mouth open to deliver the scream that made the walls cry with dust and ash.
“Riley!”
I shook her by the shoulders. She paused long enough to take an incredible breath then renewed the library with a fresh wail. Apparently, she wasn’t moving without a little encouragement, so I lifted her off the desk and carried her out of the library myself, grinding my teeth as she screamed right into my ear. As I walked beneath the stone archway, the feeling that someone was watching from the far end of the hallway, near the ruined emergency staircase, returned in full. I did not look behind us.
Getting Riley through the gap in the ballroom door was a challenge, but I eventually managed at the price of a scratch on my lower back. From there, I jogged with her across the ballroom and through the old kitchen. As soon as we emerged from the seasonal restaurant, Riley stopped screaming. She heaved for breath, wrapping her arms around my neck as we made our way into the main lobby.
“I got you,” I muttered. “It’s okay, Riley. I got you.”
She might have responded, but my ear was ringing from all the screaming, and I couldn’t hear her. In the lobby, I set her in one of the leather chairs near the fireplace and knelt down to check on her. She was pale and sweating, but she didn’t appear to be hurt.
“Riley, what happened?” I said, tucking her damp hair behind her ear. “What were you doing in the old wing? Why were you screaming like that?”
Riley’s trademark stare returned. She gazed over the top of my head. At something? At nothing? At someone? I snapped my fingers to get her attention.
“Riley, what happened?” I asked again.
She looked right at me and said, “She set me on fire.”
10
“Who set you on fire?” The lobby picked up my whisper and tossed it into the embers of the fireplace. Riley trembled in the leather chair. Her skin was frigid and damp, as if she’d taken a walk outside in the storm. “Riley?”
“Riley!”
Oliver, Nick, and Jazmin emerged from the elevator, having finished their sweeps of the resort. When Oliver edged me out of the way and knelt by his daughter’s side, she drew her legs into her chest and wrapped herself into the smallest knot possible. No matter how much Oliver pushed or prodded at her, she wouldn’t unwind herself.
My legs wobbled as I tried to stand. Squatting for so long had drained them of blood, and I was already shaking from the stress of carrying Riley through the old wing. Jazmin caught me around the waist and helped me up. We drew away from the father and daughter, joining Nick, to give them some room.
“Where did you find her?” Jazmin muttered.
“In the old wing,” I whispered. “Screaming her head off in the burnt-out library. She didn’t stop until I got her out of there. I’m half-deaf now.”
“Christ.”
“That’s not all.” I checked over my shoulder to make sure Oliver was busy consoling Riley instead of listening in to our conversation. “Someone—some
thing—told me to check for her in the old wing. I felt it right over my shoulder, as if it was standing right behind me.”
Jazmin tightened her hold around my waist. She wouldn’t let me go, as if she could keep me from slipping into the sinister underworld of King and Queens by sheer force of will. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” I said. “And I think Riley can feel it too. She said someone set her on fire.”
Nick’s cane clattered across the floor. He’d lost his grip on it again. I picked it up and handed it back to him. He nodded his thanks. The noise echoed through the lobby, interrupting Oliver’s plea to get Riley to speak to him.
“Fine, don’t tell me what happened,” he said. “Let’s get you to your room and into bed.”
“No,” Riley said, her voice hoarse. “I want to stay with Lucia.”
Oliver glanced at me. “Honey, Lucia is tired too, and I don’t think it’s the best idea—”
“She can stay with me,” I offered. “I don’t mind at all.”
“You already have your friend with you,” Oliver reminded me. “And I’d feel more comfortable if Riley stayed in her own bed tonight. Thank you, though.”
He reached for his daughter, but she grasped him tightly, digging her fingernails into his arms as she whispered, “Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Detective Hawkins is watching over Tyler’s room,” said Oliver. “Your brother isn’t coming out anytime soon, okay? You’re safe, Riley. Let’s go.”
She shook her head.
“Riley. Oh, for Pete’s sake.” He picked her up, grunting with the effort. This time, she didn’t protest, but as he carried her away, she looked over his shoulder at me, her eyes boring into mine with a secret she couldn’t share with anyone else.
“It’ll be okay,” I called out, blowing her a kiss. “Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”
The Haunting of Riley Watson Page 16