“I guess I have time to run you through the basics.” Odette winced, and a faint whiff of burning hair passed through the hallway. “Three minutes, I’m guessing. You want to know why you can see me, right?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“From what I’ve figured out from other psychics in the last thirty years, you need three things to be able to see ghosts.” She held up three fingers and ticked off the first one. “First of all, you need to be inclined to do so—”
“What does that mean?”
“Do I need to reiterate that I have a limited time to tell you this? Stop interrupting me.” She cleared her throat and started again. “All children have the inclination, but it usually fades when we progress into adulthood. Some adults keep it. That’s you. You probably remember having encounters with spirits when you were younger, but your parents convinced you they were dreams or nightmares.”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you know that?”
Odette glared at me for my second interruption. I shut up.
“Second,” she went on, putting down another finger, “you need to have been in the presence of death. Riley has always been inclined to hear us, but she only started honing the ability to do so after she watched her mother die, remember? You’ve seen someone die too, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I have.”
Odette didn’t ask for clarifications. “Third, you have to share blood with us.”
“I’m sorry. What?”
A wisp of smoke rose from Odette’s clothes, but the source of the fire wasn’t visible yet. She scrambled to her feet. “Do you remember what happened on your first full morning at King and Queens?”
“A vase fell in the kitchen of my suite,” I said. “I cut myself cleaning up the glass and—no.”
“Yes.”
“I bled on your photo album,” I recalled. “The one in the drawer full of old pictures of the original resort. Is that what you’re talking about?”
“It did the trick.” Odette receded toward the emergency exit. With every step away from me, the smoke dissipated.
“You knocked over the vase, didn’t you?” I realized out of the blue. “I convinced myself it was a coincidence.”
Her image faded away, but her voice lingered. “Nothing at King and Queens is ever a coincidence.”
14
By the time I got my shaking body under control and made it down to the lobby, I was a good thirty minutes late to Daniel’s interrogations. I was surprised he hadn’t sent Jazmin upstairs to fetch me like yesterday. Knowing her, she’d come up with the perfect excuse for my tardiness, and because she had a face no one believed was capable of lying, Daniel probably believed her. When the elevator spit me out on the ground floor, I paused in front of the reflective doors and combed my mussed hair with my fingers. It was hopeless. Only a hairbrush and a good pump of detangling serum would negate the mess left over from writhing around on the floor upstairs. Bags painted pink puffy half-moons under my eyes, and I’d accidentally put on the same shirt from yesterday. The wrinkly fabric smelled faintly of the olive oil I’d spilled during lunch. I scrubbed at the stain as I headed for the Eagle’s View. Angry voices in the first-floor hallway stopped me in my tracks.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
It was Nick and Oliver, close to Tyler’s room at the end of the hallway. Daniel had blocked off the entire corridor with velvet rope—since he didn’t have any crime scene tape handy—and forbidden us from entering that area of the hotel. So what were Nick and Oliver doing there? I hid around the corner to eavesdrop.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Nick was saying in a hushed, insistent voice. “It’s a crime scene.”
“You think I don’t remember what happened here?” Oliver snapped. “My son died! I deserve to see him.”
“He’s not here, remember?” Nick said, exasperated. “They moved his body to the storage freezer in the kitchen so it wouldn’t decompose. Seriously, Oliver, let’s get out of here before Hawkins realizes we’ve been gone for too long.”
“Let go of me!”
A punch landed, and someone grunted. A quick peek around the wall showed Oliver cradling his fist as Nick straightened up. There was a dent in the drywall. Nick had ducked in time to avoid Oliver’s blow, and Oliver’s knuckles ended up in conflict with the wallpaper.
“Don’t you get it?” Nick hissed. “I’m trying to protect you. I’m not out to get you. You’re already on thin ice. Hawkins thinks Tyler’s death is taking a toll on your sanity. I can’t say I blame him. If he finds you anywhere near the crime scene, it’s going to reinforce the idea that you did this yourself.”
Oliver shoved Nick, who stumbled before catching himself with his cane. “Don’t you dare accuse me of murdering my own son. I know you, Porter. You’re a snake in the grass waiting to strike. I don’t trust you. Stay out of my way, and if you do anything to compromise the detective’s investigation, I’ll kill you myself.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot skyward, but he raised his cane in compliance. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it. You’re on your own from now on, Watson. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
As Nick limped away from Oliver, I ducked out of sight and ran toward the Eagle’s View to get a head start on him. At the double staircase, I looked back to see Nick crouching below the velvet rope. He looked both ways as he stood up and reached up to shake out the lapels of a suit jacket that didn’t exist. After two days in his satin blue, he’d switched to a gray, long-sleeved King and Queens T-shirt with the resort’s logo—a large crown flanked by two smaller ones—printed on the front in crimson. He smoothed the wrinkles from the T-shirt and shook out the legs of his matching sweatpants. As he picked at the screen-printed logo, I suppressed a laugh. He looked out of sorts in the athletic gear. I took the remaining stairs to the Eagle’s View two at a time before Nick could catch up.
“Finally,” Jazmin said as I joined her and Riley at what had become our regular booth. “What happened? Why did it take you so long? Are you okay?”
“Jazmin said you saw Odette again,” Riley added. “What did she say?”
“Let me catch my breath.” The cool leather of the booth pressed through the legs of my jeans. I shivered and looked around. Everyone was wrapped up in sweaters and jackets. Imani and Ari had brought a blanket down from their room. It was colder than usual in the Eagle’s View. Either the storm was infiltrating the resort or Oliver didn’t want to pay for the heating bill. “What’s been going on?”
“Same as yesterday,” Riley said. “Detective Hawkins is keeping his interviews going. It doesn’t look like it’s going well.”
She nodded toward the bar, where Daniel argued with Matisse. Matisse gestured at the other employees. When Daniel glanced over at them, Imani threw the blanket off of herself and slid away from Ari. Liam, who looked as though he hadn’t moved from his spot yesterday, made no inclination that he’d overhead whatever Matisse was saying. Karli, behind the bar, polished a glass with a dish towel, too distracted by Daniel and Matisse’s discussion to notice the glass no longer sported any water spots. Matisse stood up, knocking his bar stool against the one behind it.
“This conversation’s over,” the assistant chef announced loud enough to for everyone to hear. “You don’t have any more to go on than you did yesterday. Pretending otherwise is a disservice to all of us. I thought you were going to do better today, Detective.”
“We’re not done, Matisse,” Daniel said.
Matisse shrugged him off and ducked under the bar to join Karli on the other side of it. The two of them disappeared into the kitchen together.
“Liam,” Daniel announced. His sturdy tone and squared shoulders weren’t enough to negate Matisse’s walkout. Respect for the detective was declining at a rapid rate. “You’re up next.”
“No thanks,” Liam said.
“Mr. Lavi, this is not the time to act like a lazy stoner,” Daniel chide
d. “Get over here.”
“I told you everything I know yesterday.” Liam pulled his neon-yellow ski cap over his eyes, propped his feet up on the chair across from him, and lay back for a nap. “I don’t have anything else to say.”
Daniel slammed his fist against the counter, startling Ari out of her blanket cocoon. “Can I get one person to cooperate with me? Just one! Where the hell are Porter and Watson anyway?”
“Here,” Nick announced. He cleared the last step into the lounge with a huff. “Pardon my tardiness. This leg isn’t the easiest to get around on. I believe Mr. Watson stopped in the restroom on the way back. By the looks of his hastiness, he might be a while.”
Daniel threw his hands up. “For the love of God.”
“I’ll sit for the next interview,” I offered, raising a hand. It trembled in the air, a leftover result from my run-in with Odette. “We didn’t really get a chance to talk yesterday.”
“I don’t need y—forget it,” Daniel said, giving up. “Fine, Lucia. Meet me at the bar.”
Jazmin hooked a finger through one of my belt loops. “What are you doing?”
“Prying open an opportunity.”
All eyes were on me as I crossed the bar and sat with Daniel. Did the others think he was giving me preferential treatment? If he was, it worked to my advantage. For whatever reason, Daniel trusted me more than the employees. Why else would he have asked me to help him move Tyler’s body?
“What have you got so far?” I asked Daniel, heading off his own questions. “Because from the way Matisse ditched you, it sounds like you aren’t making much progress.”
“They’re all hiding something,” Daniel muttered. “I can tell. Every single one of them exhibits classic signs of lying. Fidgeting, eyes darting back and forth, wording their statements as vaguely as possible. I can’t get any of them to confide in me.”
“They don’t trust you.”
He looked up in affront. “Excuse you?”
“Don’t get offended. Would you rather I lied to you?” I said. “Look at how you’ve handled this situation. No one woke up this morning excited to be stuck in this lounge for the second day in a row. You can’t keep people cooped up like this and not expect mutiny. We’re only an hour in, and you’ve already got a revolt on your hands.”
Daniel ripped a page from his notebook and crumpled the paper. “What am I supposed to do? I tried calling the force again, but I can’t get a hold of them. The roads are blocked, and I doubt Nick’s snowplows are going to make it here from White Oak. I’m trying to solve a murder, Lucia, and this is the way I know how to do it.”
“This isn’t the police precinct,” I reminded him. “The reason you have everyone in this room listed as a suspect is because you don’t have any other information to go on. You can’t be sure the killer is here. How do you know he or she didn’t slip in and out during the storm? This could all be for nothing.”
“I can’t trust that,” he said.
“So we’re all guilty until you determine otherwise.”
“It’s the safest way to do this.”
“I disagree,” I said. “If you keep forcing us all together like this, someone’s going to break, and it won’t be to your advantage. If you want my advice, let everyone go their separate ways. Let them go to their rooms or the gym or the indoor pool. It’s not like they can leave the resort anyway with this amount of snow. If you give them the sense of freedom, they might be more willing to open up to you.”
“And if one of them is the killer?” Daniel asked. “How am I supposed to keep everyone safe when they’re all spread out?”
“Take advantage of that too,” I said. “Follow them. See what they get up to in their spare time. What do they talk about? Who do they hang out with? If you want clues, you’ll find them in between the lines of employee gossip, not in this damn lounge.”
“You think?”
“Have you ever worked at a place like this?” I said. “It’s like high school, complete with cliques and gossip. You think the employees are lying to you? It’s because they are. They know everything about this place because all they do is watch and listen. Pay attention to them. They’ll be your best source of information if you let them.”
“Hmm.” Daniel pivoted on his stool to review the trio of employees on the couch, but Oliver lumbered into the lounge, drawing Daniel’s gaze. “What about the others? Oliver and Nick? You, Jazmin, and Riley?”
“If you were allowed to take my word for it, I could cross me, Jazmin, and Riley off your list right away,” I said. “As it is, I probably can’t do that, so follow us too, I guess.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Did you just give me permission to stalk you, your best friend, and your babysitting client?”
“How else am I supposed to convince you we’re innocent?”
“Just to be clear,” he said. “You think I should dismiss everyone from the Eagle’s View and follow them around for the day to see if anyone confesses to killing Tyler Watson?”
“You’d be damn lucky to get a confession out of anyone,” I pointed out. “But yes, that’s the idea.”
He drummed his pen on the counter. “Did you ever work for the law?”
“No. I’m an actor, Daniel. The closest I’ve gotten to the law is when I played Officer Krupke because there weren’t enough men for our local production of West Side Story. I got rave reviews, by the way.”
“Just wondering how you came up with this idea.”
I tapped the side of my head. “Common sense, Detective.”
“Great,” he muttered. “Apparently, my wife got that in the divorce too. Okay, everybody!” He clapped his hands and stood up. “Miss Star has brought up a solid point. Staying in the lounge is doing us more harm than good. Therefore, you are all free to leave.”
Everyone gave a half-hearted cheer, and Daniel rolled his eyes. Matisse and Karli emerged from the kitchen to listen to the rest of his statement.
“Yeah, yeah. Go where you wish, but please don’t leave the resort,” he said. “It’s dangerous outside, and emergency services won’t be able to reach us if someone has an accident. Keep an eye on yourself and each other. If you see anyone acting suspiciously, report it to me as soon as possible. This is an open homicide investigation, people. Tread carefully. I’ll be looking around the hotel for additional intel.” He paused, waiting for a reaction, but no one spoke or moved. “Er, that’s it, I guess. You’re dismissed.”
No one needed further encouragement. Chairs scraped and tables wobbled as everyone got up at once. Oliver was the first one out of the Eagle’s View, disappearing down the stairs and into the lobby like one of the ghosts haunting his resort. The employees followed suit. Imani and Ari skipped off. Liam trudged after them, his eyes empty and hollow. Karli and Matisse returned from the kitchen. From the smell of maple syrup and cinnamon, they’d been making breakfast together. Jazmin and Riley waited for me while Nick lingered behind, letting the others get a head start before he used his cane to get to his feet.
“I don’t suppose any of you have a suggestion as to how to pass the time,” he said as I joined Riley and Jazmin. “I get bored rather quickly. Cabin fever, you know?”
“There are plenty of places to go in the resort,” Riley chimed in. “The gym or the swimming pool.”
Nick tapped his shin with his cane. “I don’t exercise much anymore.”
His slim figure and toned hands spoke to a different truth, but I didn’t question it. The lie probably had something to do with his injury, and though he spoke about his leg with apparent nonchalance, I suspected he was more insecure of his disability than he let on.
“The library then,” Riley suggested. “My dad knows I like to read, so he put a lot of effort into our collection. We have everything. Classics, sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, poetry. There are really comfy chairs in there. You’ll never get bored. If you ask nicely, Matisse will bring you a hot chocolate. Ask for the marshmallows. He makes them himself.”
/> “A hot chocolate with marshmallows and a good book,” Nick mused. “That doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a snowy day. Thank you, Riley. Perhaps you should manage this resort. You certainly know how to take care of its customers.”
She smiled sweetly. “I learned everything I know from my mother.”
The reply caught Nick off guard, which was exactly what Riley was going for. “Yes, I imagine so,” he said. “Such a shame what happened to her. Such a shame. Well, I’ll be going now. Would anyone like to join me?”
“We’re going to go up to our suite,” I said. “It was a long night, and we didn’t get much sleep. We could all use some tea and a nap, don’t you think, girls?”
“Tea and a nap sounds great,” agreed Jazmin.
“Dibs on the bed,” Riley added.
Jazmin swung an arm around Riley’s neck and dug her knuckles into the kid’s hair. “Not if I get there first, you ruffian.”
Riley squealed, wormed out of Jazmin’s grasp, and ran off. Jazmin chased after her, their footsteps thundering down the double staircase.
“I better go after them,” I said to Nick with a laugh. “Everyone thinks Jazmin’s more mature than me, but they’ve never seen her babysit. She’s easily influenced by mischief. If they’re not supervised, they might burn down the hotel.”
Nick’s cane slipped against a spot of water on the floor. He caught the edge of our vacant table to prevent himself from tripping. “Interesting choice of words.”
“Poor choice of words,” I corrected. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Are you okay? You look uncomfortable.”
He hid his pained expression with a poorly constructed smile. “It’s these sweatpants. Lovely material, so soft, but my size wasn’t available in the gift shop. It’s a bit precarious to walk in them.”
“Do you need help down the stairs?”
“No, no,” he insisted. “My navigational skills are well-practiced. I was a stubborn young man, and the fault prevailed into adulthood. I’m off to the library. Enjoy your nap, Miss Star.”
The Haunting of Riley Watson Page 25