Room for Murder - Tim Myers [72]
“I don’t even have to call Smiley O’Reilly,” Alex admitted. “I’ll bet he’s been hopping the last few days.”
Armstrong nodded. “I don’t think the man’s had a wink of sleep since the storm hit. Some folks got slammed pretty hard, and some it barely touched.” Shifting his feet, the sheriff added, “Just thought you might want to know, seeing how you were involved in all this. They just found Grady Hatch.”
“Where was he, heading for the border?”
Armstrong shook his head. “He never made it that far. From the look of things, he tried to head out on foot when he saw his camper all bashed in. The storm must have picked him up and thrown him like an old rag doll. I won’t even make you guess where his body finally ended up. He’s not twenty feet from the spot where he killed Oxford Hitchcock.”
“I never would have believed him capable of murder,” Alex admitted.
“Funny thing, you never know what’s going to set a body off like that. Well, I’d better get back into town. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Thanks, Sheriff,” Alex said.
After he was gone, Alex stayed outside, staring up at the lighthouse. He’d survived his second hurricane inside its safe walls, the first one since he’d been born on that Halloween night years and years ago. It was there for him always, a haven of safety when the world around him was going insane.
Alex looked back inside through the window of the Main Keeper’s Quarters and saw Elise working at the registration desk.
No matter how hard she tried, there was no way Elise could deny the power of that kiss they’d shared.
He’d just have to find a way to convince her that it had been right and good, and not a mistake.
It could be tough going, given Elise’s vulnerability and her fear about ruining their friendship.
But he’d do his best to show her that they belonged together as more than just friends.
It was definitely a task worth taking on.
And now a peek at Booked for Murder, book 5 in the Lighthouse Inn mysteries by Tim Myers.
Booked for Murder
By Tim Myers
Chapter 1
“I know I shouldn’t admit it, but I’ll be glad to see the last of that monstrous emerald,” Elise Danton said as she and her employer, Alex Winston, watched the final group of gawkers pass through the lobby of The Hatteras West Inn on their way to see the Carolina Rhapsody Emerald. The spectacular gem was currently being exhibited in one of the guestrooms of the Main Keeper’s Quarters, but the show was nearly over.
Alex said, “We were lucky to get it. Reston Shay hasn’t had that stone out of his vault in ten years. Look how many folks have come to Hatteras West to see it.” Alex owned and operated The Hatteras West Inn, a property nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains sporting a replica of the Hatteras Lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The inn’s guests stayed in either the Dual or Main Keepers’ Quarters; it was a heavy workload for just two people, but somehow they managed well enough. Unfortunately, part of that was due to the inn’s constant less-than-stellar occupancy rate.
Elise frowned, her nose crinkling slightly. “These people aren’t paying guests, Alex. I hate to bring this up, but that’s what we need right now.”
He didn’t need the reminder; nobody knew the precarious state of their finances better than Alex did. Now that they had both buildings of the inn up and running at full capacity, he’d hoped to bring in enough to actually stop using red ink in his account books, but it hadn’t panned out that way. Emeralds had been found on Winston land by one of their guests, but the location of the strike had vanished with her when she’d died. The sale of the stones she had managed to discover had been enough to rebuild the Dual Keeper’s Quarters building after a tragic fire, but what had once seemed like an abundant source of money eventually ran out.
“Don’t worry. Things have a way of working themselves out,” Alex said, wishing he could rely on something more substantial than hope in comforting Elise. “Let’s forget about business for now and enjoy the emerald while we still can. Reston