Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (20 page)

When Starr finally stopped laughing, she
asked, "What family secrets? Anything really good?"

Charlie hooted, which got them going again
for another few minutes. When they were finally laughed out,
Charlie said, "Maybe one or two. Depends which side of the family
you're talking about. What about you?"

Starr shook her head. "Totally boring," she
said. "No pirates or wizards or even skeletons."

"Bummer." Charlie's eyes lit up. "Hey, you
wanna see something cool?"

"Sure. I just want to put some stuff in my
backpack for later," Starr said. She checked to make sure her
mother wasn't around, then grabbed a handful of buns and cheese
from the buffet and stuffed everything in the Ziploc bags she'd
brought.

"That's a great idea," Charlie said.

"I always get hungry," Starr explained. "I'll
put some more in so you can have some later, too." She returned to
the buffet, glad she had brought extra bags. "Nothing worse than
getting hungry miles from food," Starr said wisely as she returned
to the table.

Charlie stared at the bulging bags and then
at Starr, as if Starr was an exotic creature from Neptune. Then she
started giggling like a madwoman, which got Starr going again and
the two left the dining area, laughing hysterically and completely
unaware of the amused looks from the other employees.

When Diana woke him up for yet another
sunrise hike, Fowler took one look at the clock and begged off. He
let her think he was still too tired to hike at this hour. As soon
as he was sure she was gone, however, he got up, showered and then
called Viv, hoping she hadn't gone out yet. She had never been an
early morning person, but the way things were going, he wouldn't be
surprised if that had changed. What he didn't want was to play
phone tag with her.

Fortunately, she answered on the third ring
and he could tell she had still been sleeping.

"This had better be good," she snapped with a
husky morning voice.

"It's always good Viv, darling," he said.
"It's David and there's a bit of a glitch, so I need you to wake up
and pay attention."

"Hang on."

The sound from the other end was suddenly
muffled, meaning she had put the receiver down on the bed and he
stared out the big picture window in his room that overlooked the
woods. Other early birds were already taking off to hike somewhere
and he wondered again what the attraction was. After one day he was
ready to sleep for a week and take an elevator if more than five
steps were involved.

"OK, what's up?" She was back.

"It's taking longer to get her out of here
than I expected," he said. "So you'll have to hang on until I
contact you. Also, she picked up your message and just about went
ballistic."

"Oh crap."

"It's OK," he said. "I convinced her you were
a prospective client who didn't understand that it wasn't OK to
call me here. But don't call here again. Just wait until you hear
from me. You can use the time to get familiar with everything.
Also, don't come here to eat for any reason. Anywhere else is
fine." Then a thought occurred to him. "Better not eat in Ruby Cove
either. Just to be safe."

"Anything else?"

"Did you bring everything on the list?"

"It's all here."

"Good girl. Now don't forget, I'll call you
as soon as we're good to go."

"I'll be here," she said.

He was about to hang up when he got a
brainstorm. "By the way, what did you tell the desk clerk when you
checked in?"

"Just said told him I was here for a couple
of days."

"OK," he said, thinking quickly. "Here's what
I want you to do. Go back and tell him your plans have changed and
you might be here for a couple of weeks. They probably don't have
other reservations, but let's be sure. I don't want any
surprises."

"A couple of weeks?"

"Just to be safe," he said soothingly. "It
won't come to that, but I don't want to have to change rooms in the
middle of everything."

"If you say so. If there's a problem, how do
I reach you?"

"You can't," he said flatly. "You'll have to
wait. But don't worry, there won't be." He stole a quick look at
the clock, worried that Diana might decide to shorten her hike. The
last thing he needed was for her to catch him on the phone.

"Listen, Viv," he said. "Gotta go. And thanks
for being such a pro. I'll definitely be making this worth your
while."

"I'm counting on it, David."

He hung up and decided to check the
restaurant to see if Diana was back from her hike. If not, maybe he
could surprise her by joining her for the sunrise after all and win
a few Brownie points.

Viv hung up slowly and stared at the phone
for a long time without really seeing it as she tried to decide
what to do. She wondered if she should tell David she had already
eaten at the diner in Ruby Cove. She had worked with him on quite a
few jobs, so knew he wanted all the details, no matter how small.
He hadn't said
not
to eat in Ruby Cove when he had given her
the instructions, but now that he told her not to, she hadn't
wanted to say anything about it until she had time to think. The
one thing she didn't like about David was how volatile he could be.
He didn't lose his temper often, but when he did, she didn't even
want to be in the same state with him, let alone the same room.

She knew he hadn't given her all the details
of the con he was running. That was typical and normally she didn't
care. But this time it would be nice to know. Maybe she should tell
him about the dinner at Ole and Lena's, but since she didn't have
any idea what he was up to, she wasn't sure. At this point, it
didn't seem like a big deal, but with David she could never be
entirely certain.

Viv sighed, realizing her thoughts had tuned
into a merry-go-round and that she wasn't getting anywhere. Bottom
line, though, was that she needed the money and didn't want him
getting pissed off at her. So that was the deciding factor.

She was willing to bet it wouldn't make any
difference, so she decided not to say anything. She just wouldn't
eat there again. Which was a shame, because she had really enjoyed
her pasta salad last night and there were several other things on
the menu she had wanted to try.

Oh well… Viv shrugged and moved on to
figuring out what the hell she was going to do with herself while
she was waiting and where she was going to eat now that the diner
was off-limits. Some of the time could be used putting the
finishing touches on her part of the operation. She really hadn't
had a chance to take care of everything before she got to the North
Shore, so a day or two extra was a plus. But that still left her
with a lot of time on her hands. If she was going to be stuck here
for days, she'd have to come up with something. She also knew David
well enough to know he'd expect her to be waiting by the phone when
he finally did call.

Viv curled her lip. She hated waiting for
anyone or any thing. She timed just about everything in her life
around whether there'd be a long line or not. While she recognized
that sometimes it was necessary, it drove her insane with boredom.
Not to mention there were a zillion other things she'd rather do
with her time.

Which brought up the subject of
breakfast.

It sounded like David was unlikely to need
her before tomorrow, so Viv decided to act as if she was actually
here on vacation. Since she couldn't eat or do anything else in
Ruby Cove, she decided to go to Grand Marais and find the right
makeup and get something to eat. There had to be at least one
decent restaurant up there.

Diana stood on the edge of Storm Point. The
cliffs stretching to the horizon on either side of her had been
little more than a long dark wedge until just a few moments ago.
Now, as the sun slowly pulled itself over the horizon, they began
to glow in shades of pink and deep rose. Diana knew from previous
visits that the effect would only last a few minutes, but it was
worth getting up early to see. The glow of the cliffs against the
still dark water of Lake Superior was, at least to her, one of the
best experiences of the North Shore. The only sounds were the waves
lapping at the rocks and gulls screaming as they circled,
incessantly searching for food.

Diana watched the lake change colors like a
woman trying on fancy dress gowns one after the other. First deep
blue, then the pinks and greys and finally a silvery blue as the
sun freed itself from the horizon and rose triumphant into the sky.
The path of the sun glittered smoothly across the reach of water
unmarred by even the smallest of breezes.

But Diana wasn't fooled. She had been at
Storm Point when the wind had blown so strongly that trees had been
bent nearly flat and the waves had pounded so fiercely that plumes
of water had reached high above the edge of the cliff. Lake
Superior might look beautifully placid on an ordinary day, but its
deadly nature revealed itself during the storms that tossed huge
ships around like bath toys. Treacherous currents and vicious winds
off Storm Point alone had been responsible for at least
twenty-three shipwrecks since the late 1800's. And that wasn't
counting all the other ships the Lake had taken at other points
along the shore and out in the middle far beyond the reach of
land.

While she loved experiencing the wild side of
the lake, Diana was grateful the weather was on its best behavior
this week. She had always loved the North Shore and was thrilled
she could share it with her new husband.

Although, as she walked back to the Lodge,
Diana couldn't help be a little disappointed that David hadn't
wanted to join her this morning. When they were planning their
honeymoon, Diana had had visions of the early morning hikes they
would take to see the sunrise, followed by a hearty breakfast
overlooking the lake. Then more hiking followed by High Tea and
then perhaps a stroll to watch the sunset, followed by a romantic
dinner, perhaps a soak in the hot tub and then a soft bed and long
nights of passionate lovemaking.

David had insisted that he loved to hike and
had been enthusiastic about Diana's ideas. Nor had he suggested
anything that had conflicted with her plans. So Diana had assumed
he was in favor of everything they talked about. Now, as she sat at
the table by the window and watched the sun glisten on the lake,
she realized that her idea of an early morning walk and her
husband's were vastly different. They had been here for two days
and he hadn't crawled out from under the covers before eight. In
fact, when she had woken him up this morning, he had looked at the
clock, made a strangled sound and pulled the covers over his
head.

Diana checked her watch, hoping David would
at least join her for breakfast this morning. She wanted to leave
for the Temperance River so they could get in a good hike while it
was still cool. Diana knew she could just go on by herself and then
join David later for lunch, but that wasn't the way she wanted to
spend her honeymoon.

It all made her wonder if he had been as
candid with her as she had believed. She sipped her coffee
half-heartedly and considered the best approach to take.

As the waitress placed an order of Swedish
pancakes and a pot of lingonberry jam on the table, Diana's eye was
caught by a sparkle in the waitress's long blonde hair.

"I love your earrings," she said as she saw
the intricate design of gold and glass beads. She looked at the
woman's name tag. Jessica. One of her favorite names.

"Oh, thank you," Jessica said as she
straightened.

"Where did you get them? Somewhere around
here?" Diana hoped that was the case. She was addicted to finding
wonderful local things whenever she went somewhere.

"Jan's Rock Shop in Ruby Cove," Jessica told
her. "She makes all kinds of wonderful things."

"She makes them?"

"Uh huh. There are all kinds of things from
other local artists, but Jan makes the jewelry."

Diana was surprised she hadn't discovered the
store on one of her previous trips. Maybe it was because the name
made her think it was geodes and that kind of thing, but it clearly
was a lot more than that.

"Where in Ruby Cove?"

"Right next to The Bookworm. It's definitely
worth a stop."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to check it out."

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No thank you." As Jessica walked away, Diana
made a mental note to stop in at Jan's Rock Shop to see what she
could find. She had a gorgeous peach dress that was just crying out
for gorgeous earrings to go with it. If Jessica's earrings were
anything to go by, she might just find what she was looking for
there.

As Diana bit into the first delicate bite of
the Swedish pancakes, David slipped into the seat across from
her.

"Good morning, darling," he said. "I'd hoped
to be early enough to walk with you at least part of the way. But I
promise, this is the last time I'm going to be lazy and miss seeing
the sunrise with you."

Diana smiled, feeling the worries about her
husband vanish like the morning fog. Everything was going to be
just fine, after all.

Before going to bed last night, Fae had made
a list of all the resorts along the North Shore and listed them in
order of price and exclusivity. Devious Dave's history indicated
that he targeted people who had pots of money and she figured that
if he was running a con up here, he was likely pick one of the high
end resorts. Eventually she'd get to all of them, but she'd start
at the top and work down. The biggest hurdle, of course, was that
she had no idea what his time line was. He might not be up here for
months, or he could be here now. Plus, it was always possible he
had simply scouted the area and decided it wouldn't work for what
he had in mind.