“Hey there.Nice to meet you,” George said, touching the brim of his ever-present baseball cap.Dougie, wearing the exact same uniform as George, mimicked his greeting by tapping the visor of his hat.
“I’m George and this is Dougie,” my resident barfly continued.“We’re friends of your daughter and loyal customers of her establishment here.It’s a real honor to meet you.”
My father immediately extended his hand.“Oh, it’s very nice to meet you both too.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I overheard Sophie saying that you two are pretty mean trivia players,” George said with an engaging grin.“Dougie and I here were looking for a team, and we were wondering if you might want to play with us until your daughter gets back.”
I glanced at my mother, fully expecting her to come up with an excuse to sidestep the whole situation.But to my utter shock, she tapped the bench beside her.“Sure.Have a seat.I can’t say that Will and I are great trivia buffs, but we enjoy it.”
I tried to keep the stunned look off my face.
“Great.That’ll be fun, and I’ll be back very shortly,” I said quickly, taking this unlikely opportunity to skedaddle.
As I hurried toward the door, Dougie and George were already settling in with my parents.I couldn’t help but appreciate them stepping in to keep my folks company, even if it was a little unexpected.
Of course, my parents were about to find out just how much Dougie and George had understated the truth about their trivia skills.I was pretty sure my mother was going to have a lot to lament about by the time I got back.
FIFTEEN
“What areyoudoing up here?”I asked Oliver, sidestepping his question as to why I had appeared at the inn.“Do you have to stay up here most evenings like this?”
Oliver shook his head, a tired smile flickering across his face.“No.Normally, I leave a sign with my cell number on the desk.That way, if someone comes in late, they can just contact me.”He exhaled deeply, the weight of the day visible in his posture.“But tonight?I’ve got a feeling I’m not going to sleep at all.”
He paused and ran a hand through his hair before continuing.“The actors were already needy guests before today.I can only imagine how much worse they’ll be tonight.”He leaned back slightly, his voice dropping with frustration.“Most of them aren’t exactly thrilled about having to stay here until Justin gives them the all-clear to leave.And I’m not thrilled to be here alone with them, period.”
“Alone?Where are Cameron and Henry?”
“They left for Boston about an hour ago.Your boy has already set up a meeting with his lawyer about the situation here.And of course, Henry wasn’t going to stay with me, given how things ended between us.So, I’m here alone, feeling like Shelley Duval.”
I frowned at him, not following.
“Shelley Duvall—when she was in The Shining,” he prompted.“Alone in a spooky hotel.Jack Nicholson wielding an axe.”
“Oh, gotcha.”Although I did think that was a bit of an extreme comparison to his current situation.Then again, I wasn’t staying here alone in an old inn with a potential killer.
“What if I told you that I could calm your nerves and you’d be able to go to bed and sleep like a baby?”
“I gave up the devil’s lettuce years ago.Besides, if you found it in your grandmother’s stuff, it’s probably no good anymore anyway.”
It was true—my grandmother didn’t shy away from indulging in a little marijuana every now and then—or at least that’s what I’d heard from some of the locals.But I wasn’t offering Oliver chemical relaxation.No, what I had in mind was something entirely different.Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that he’d be on board with my plan.Truth be told, I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure it was legal.Actually, scratch that—I was pretty sure it wasn’t.But that wasn’t going to stop me from using every angle I could think of to get him to agree.
“No.I don’t have anything like that,” I admitted, prefacing my idea with some context.“But Idoknow that none of our potential suspects are at the inn right now.Because every one of them is over at Steamy’s Pub.”
“Yeah.That does make me feel a little better,” Oliver admitted, picking up his coffee mug—the one with the wordsI’d rather be quiltingin colorful patchwork lettering on the side.He took a slow sip, then sighed.“But they will be back and I will be up all night looking over my shoulder.”
“Or,” I countered, leaning slightly across the table.“We could catch a killer.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes, taking another sip of coffee before setting the mug back down.“What exactly are you thinking?”
“Well,” I replied, a sly smile creeping across my face.“I’m thinking this might just be the perfect opportunity to take a look around their rooms.”
I fully expected him to veto the idea, so I was shocked when he took a final sip of his coffee and stood.“Sure.Let’s do it.”
I frowned, feeling oddly disappointed.“Really?I was sure I was going to have to coax you into it.”
He shrugged.“Well, I work here.I can go into their rooms.Maybeyou’renot supposed to go in their rooms, but why would I care?I’m probably not going to have this job much longer if I have any say in it.What’s Cameron going to do?Fire me?”
I followed him as we headed toward the staircase.“So, did you find out what Cameron’s plan is for the inn?”
