Devil's Lair

by Sarah Barrie

  She huffed out a laugh and when she lifted her head, her eyes were glassy. ‘Your sprinklers will live to water another day.’

  He kissed her, keeping it light. ‘You’re amazing. You’ve done a great job of helping Paisley and even Ned, but you’re allowed to be sad too.’

  When a tear spilled over she pressed her face into his shoulder. ‘He apologised for being cranky and told me I was family. Left me stuff. He didn’t need to do that. It was nothing, what I did. I could have done more.’

  ‘Don’t do that. You added something good to the last few weeks of his life. Something he appreciated. Be happy about that. Be proud of it.’

  She sniffed, nodded and pulled away. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Let me help? I don’t feel like being in the office on a morning like this.’

  ‘You don’t have to hang around.’

  ‘And yet I still don’t feel like being in the office.’

  She stared at him suspiciously through wet eyes. ‘You really want to put together sprinklers?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ he assured her. ‘I’m all yours.’

  * * *

  Callie wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t all his. She worried over that as he worked with her, balancing her need for independence against the way Connor made her feel, what he made her want. But he had her smiling and laughing by the end of the day. And when he kissed her goodbye he had her toes curling and her pulse rocketing.

  Conflicting emotions plagued her on her way home, so the last thing she needed was a call from her solicitor with bad news.

  ‘They want half.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘They want Dale’s half. They’re arguing you shouldn’t be entitled to it because there was no will and you killed him.’

  ‘Not according to the courts, I didn’t.’

  ‘I’m not saying they’ll get it, but you know how they feel about you, Callie. They’ll draw this out, push for every cent they can get. And they’ll use the media, stir everything up again.’

  She hated that the solicitor was right, and scrambled for a solution. ‘Offer them the eighty they originally put in. Tell them that’s all they’re getting.’

  ‘I will. Callie, if you were to invest the money straight into another home, another business, no court in creation is going to make you sell the place you live in and forfeit your income to give some back. Especially with the offer you’ve just put on the table.’

  ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let me think about it.’ When she hung up she called Paisley and filled her in.

  ‘They suck,’ Paisley said down the line. ‘Bastards. But, hey, if you need to find something to invest in quickly, half of Waldron Park is available.’

  Callie didn’t miss the plea behind the joke. She walked outside and looked up at the house, thought of the possibilities. It was a beautiful old property. It had scope for development, could be the gorgeous bed and breakfast Paisley had dreamt of. Callie acknowledged the way Paisley had put her own life on hold to help her out since all this began. That she was pretty sure Cliff would have liked the idea of them taking it on. That if she didn’t want to be dragged through the courts—and the media—again in a petty legal battle, she needed an investment fast.

  ‘Callie?’

  She thought out loud as she processed the idea. ‘We’d need to get a valuer out to make an estimate on what the property is worth. No doubt a house like this will be valued at quite a lot, and due to its age, it’s sure to have issues. To turn it into a bed and breakfast there’ll be renovations, furniture to buy, redecorating to be done. It won’t be cheap—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It might not work, might not be financially viable …’

  ‘But it’s worth taking a look at the figures, right?’ Paisley said, and the hope in her voice put a smile on Callie’s face.

  ‘Let’s get things moving. Get some of those figures on the table.’

  She hung up and, excitement already building, she wandered, ending up down at the river, wondering if a trim of a tree here or there might be possible to open up the trails. As her enthusiasm increased, she thought about adding some benches down here, somewhere for guests to sit and watch the river.

  ‘Is he really dead?’

  She spun, startled. ‘Jonah. Hi. I haven’t seen you for a while.’ She bent down to pat Molly before the pup could jump on her.

  He smiled sheepishly. ‘Nan found out I was coming out here. I got in trouble.’

  ‘And yet you’re back? How far away do you live, anyway?’

  ‘I live in the blue house a bit further back towards the bridge.’ He waved a hand in that general direction.

  That didn’t give her much of a clue, but she nodded. ‘Perhaps you should head back then. Before you get in trouble again.’

  He nodded and looked up the hill towards the house. ‘Aren’t you scared being all the way out here by yourself?’

  ‘I’m not really by myself much. I did hear those devils you told me about though. They were a bit scary.’

  ‘Yep. Aren’t they?’ he said with enthusiasm. ‘Some people will tell you they never come around here. They don’t know. They don’t know how quiet demons can be to trick you into thinking they’re not there.’

  ‘Devils,’ Callie corrected, her smile dropping. ‘You mean devils.’

  ‘Oh … yeah,’ he said as though confused. ‘You know they come from under the ground, right?’

  ‘Under the ground?’

  He looked at her strangely, as though he thought she was being vague. ‘Yeah. I’d better go. Sorry about your friend.’ He ran a few steps away with Molly before stopping to look over his shoulder. ‘Be careful, Callie. Bye!’

  Callie turned to Ava’s plaque. ‘Okay,’ she told it. ‘Either there’s something not quite right about that kid or my nerves are shot.’ The conversation had dulled her enjoyment of the river, so she made her way back to the cottage to think about nicer things.

  An exciting possible future.

  CHAPTER

  26

  ‘No. No one’s job was ever threatened, no one was gagged. Don’t be ridiculous! Are you that desperate for a story?’ Connor slapped his hand against his forehead and came up with a few creative curses in his head. He should have known the goat episode would get attention. If he was honest, he was surprised it had stayed quiet as long as it had. And he really didn’t want it in the local paper. ‘No, we don’t believe it was a disgruntled employee. Yes, the police are looking into it.’ Someone knocked on the door, and when he didn’t immediately open it, the knock came again, more insistent. ‘I’m afraid I can’t comment on the nature of the incident … no, I’m not able to provide details.’ The knocking continued. Between the prying of the reporter and the pounding on the door, his temper was simmering, threatening to boil over. ‘Look, I’m afraid I’m out of time, I have a business to run. Goodbye.’ He ended the call and ripped open the door. ‘Yes?’

  It was Tom, who stepped back from the door, startled. Wasn’t he supposed to be doing a shuttle pick-up from the airport?

  ‘What is it, Tom?’ Connor asked, much more calmly.

  ‘I’ve brought the guests back but we can’t get into reception to check them in.’

  ‘Where’s my sister?’

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t have any phone numbers.’

  ‘Thanks, I’ve got this.’ Connor grabbed his keys, thought perhaps it was Meghan, not Tess, who was supposed to open reception this morning. And sure enough, he spotted Meghan as he jogged down the stairs. She was making some sort of apology to a couple of big men while children darted around them, keeping themselves occupied. The rest of the new guests were impatiently hanging around, spilling into the guest lounge. Why was she apologising and not opening the office?

  He excused his way through the jammed foyer. ‘I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen,’ he raised his voice above the noise of unhappy guests. ‘I’ll have this sorted in just a moment.’ He keyed the code into the door to open the office. Nothing ha
ppened. He tried it three times before he decided it wasn’t him getting it wrong. He located the physical key on his key ring, but it wouldn’t go into the lock. A closer look showed a key had already been broken off in it. What the hell was going on? He went back around the front to the roll-down security window and tried it out of desperation. It wouldn’t budge.

  ‘That’s why I couldn’t get in,’ Meghan said.

  ‘Someone’s changed the code. Just … bear with me.’

  Tess came through the doors. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Checking equipment for my abseilers this morning. What’s happened?’

  ‘You don’t know anything about this? The code won’t work.’ He dragged his hand over his face. ‘We need to call the security company to come and get reception unlocked.’

  ‘The key won’t do it?’

  ‘There’s already one stuck in there.’

  ‘That makes no sense.’

  ‘I don’t even want to think about how it’s possible until we get in there and clean this up.’

  ‘On it,’ Tess promised, already looking up the security company on her phone.

  Connor waited while she spoke to them. She grimaced. Pushed harder. When she hung up she sighed.

  ‘Two hours. Three, tops.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  She frowned, offended. ‘It was going to be Monday!’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said more gratefully. ‘Let’s go explain to the guests.’

  As they walked around the corner back to the guests, Callie arrived. She skirted the crowd, on her way to the coffee, he supposed. Then she saw him, smiled, and approached.

  ‘Busy morning?’

  ‘Hey, I wasn’t expecting to see you today. There’s a problem with the electronic door lock. The code’s not working.’

  ‘Has the power to it been disrupted?’

  ‘No. The screen’s displaying.’

  ‘And you don’t have a physical key as a backup?’

  ‘Yep,’ he said, dangling it. ‘Another key’s jammed in there.’

  ‘What about the security screen over the desk, is there any way to get that open from the outside?’

  She was trying to help, but she was just going over everything he’d already tried. ‘No. It’s as solidly reinforced as the door. We’re going to have to wait for the security company to get in.’

  ‘Which means we can’t check the guests in,’ Tess explained. ‘Hence the chaos of a busload of people.’

  ‘You can’t access your system through another computer? Anyone with any sort of electrical device can no doubt access their booking online and you can manually check them in, update the computer once you access it.’

  ‘We can’t write the cards for the door keys until we get into reception. I can get them in with my master key, but they won’t have any security until we sort this out. Any other ideas?’ he asked.

  Callie was chewing the inside of her cheek and studying the door thoughtfully. Then she swung her gaze up to him. ‘Got a magnet and a pair of tweezers?’

  ‘A magnet?’ he asked. ‘Would that work?’

  ‘If it’s a steel key it might.’

  ‘I have fridge magnets,’ Tess offered.

  ‘Not strong enough,’ she said.

  ‘I wouldn’t have a clue,’ he said but a call to Logan revealed there was a decent magnet in his tool kit.

  It took a bit of careful manipulation, but between Logan’s magnet and Tess’s tweezers, they wriggled the broken key out.

  ‘Callie, I could—’ Stuff it, he thought. And kissed her full on the mouth, letting go with a ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’

  He put his own key in and pushed open the door as he turned back to Tess. ‘Can you help Meghan get this underway?’

  ‘Of course. I’ll let everyone know.’

  ‘Connor,’ Callie said.

  He spun around. The way she was staring into the office had him stepping around her and pushing in.

  * * *

  Callie couldn’t move, couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of Kaicey, spread out on the floor, a macabre offering in a red circle. Kaicey’s sightless eyes reflected the horror of the last moments of her life. The memory of how Lisa had looked blurred with the sight in front of Callie and her legs lost their strength. She slumped against Connor as he pulled her out of the office and closed the door.

  ‘Tess!’ he called before his sister could rally the guests. ‘No.’

  Callie stepped away, slid down the wall and sat, trying to breathe against the tension in her chest.

  Tess stepped around Connor. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ she asked. ‘What’s wrong? Are you sick?’

  Callie shook her head. ‘We need to call the—’ She cleared her throat when her voice cracked. ‘Call the police,’ she finished. ‘Call Indy.’

  Tess reached for the door.

  ‘No!’ Connor said, but she pushed it open.

  Much as he had Callie, Connor grabbed Tess and closed the door.

  ‘Crime scene,’ he said gently. ‘Come away.’

  Tears began to stream down Tess’s face, but she brushed them away and visibly pulled herself together. I have to do the same, Callie thought. She couldn’t fall apart in the hallway. She got back on her feet, fought the shock and the spots clouding her vision. What the hell was going on? How could this possibly be happening?

  ‘Indy’s not answering,’ Connor said. ‘I’ll call—’ His phone lit up and the relief in his face said it was Indy calling back. ‘You need to come to reception,’ Callie heard him say with quiet urgency as a couple of curious guests glanced around the corner. ‘You need to come now. We just found Kaicey. Same as Orson.’ He hung up. ‘She said to wait here, not say anything and keep out.’

  Callie looked around the corner to the foyer. Something still needed to be done with the guests. They couldn’t all be milling around like this when the police arrived.

  A middle-aged man holding a little girl approached. ‘Can someone please tell us when we’ll be able to reach our rooms? This is getting ridiculous.’

  Callie glanced back over her shoulder to Connor; he was talking to Tess. ‘We’re working on that now, sir.’

  ‘What’s wrong with her?’ he said, meaning Tess.

  ‘A private matter. Please, come back to the main entrance.’ She walked with him, had absolutely no idea what to do or say, and found herself apologising to more people.

  Then Indy was charging through the doors. ‘Callie,’ she said, pulling her aside. ‘You’re aware of what’s going on?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Great. I need you to move all these people out of the way for me, okay?’

  ‘But …’ she said to Indy’s retreating back. Now what? Why couldn’t she think? How was she going to get these people out of here? When a young woman in a staff polo appeared, she waved her over. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Amy. Do you know what’s going on?’

  ‘There’s been an incident. Amy, I’ve seen you on food service, haven’t I?’

  ‘I’m the apprentice chef. I was cleaning up from breakfast.’

  ‘Great. Is anyone else in the kitchen?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘I need any and all cakes, pastries, fruits, cheeses—anything you can lay a hand on that might pass as morning tea out on the buffet, as quickly as possible. Make sure there’s lots of tea and coffee available, cold drinks for the kids. I’m sending everyone in.’

  ‘Now?’ The young girl’s eyes widened dramatically. ‘Everyone? Who are you anyway? I’ve seen you around a bit but—’

  ‘I’m the one in charge … for now,’ Callie said, mentally crossing her fingers and hoping she was doing the right thing. ‘Please just get set up. This is a situation where we need everyone working as fast as they can.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because lots of police are about to arrive.’

  Amy’s eyes moved to reception and her face took
on a concerned frown. ‘Okay—I’m on it.’

  ‘Callie?’ Meghan asked tentatively. ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘I don’t want you to worry about that right now. I need you to check all this luggage in.’

  ‘The bag tags will be in the office.’

  ‘Hey,’ Callie said when Meghan’s gaze drifted to the hallway. ‘There must be some elsewhere.’

  ‘Um. Storage room.’

  ‘Great. Let’s go.’

  Connor was talking to Indy. Tess had disappeared. Callie led Meghan right past them, helped her find what she needed. If she could keep working logically, automaton style, she’d get it done. Get through it.

  Heart in her throat, she left Meghan waiting by the entry to the guest lounge and climbed the first couple of steps in the foyer to get some height.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention!’ She got them moving and had the last of the guests disappearing into the dining room as a dozen more police moved in. Then she followed the guests to the dining room to help out.

  Because the police were still swarming in and out of the office when the guests had eaten their fill and she couldn’t find Connor or Tess, she talked to the staff and organised a shuttle run to Mt Field. Tess came back and took some outdoor activities, and Logan got back from his morning trail ride and offered to do another one, while Larissa took a petting farm tour. Callie sat those who refused all those options in the guest lounges with free beverages and snacks, to rest or play pool or darts, or watch television.

  Callie was so pumped full of adrenaline from running in all directions for so long that she jumped when Connor put a hand on her shoulder from behind as she raced back to check on the dining room for lunch service.

  ‘How’s it going?’

  ‘Okay, I think. Everyone is fed and doing something—except these few in here. I won’t say they’re not feeling put out, but at least most of them are busy.’

  ‘What did you tell everyone?’

  ‘I said it was an electronic tampering incident. That they couldn’t be checked in until their privacy and security could be ensured. That we appreciated their patience and cooperation and that all refreshments and activities would be complimentary while we sort this out.’