Room for Murder (Book 4 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (9 page)

Alex had just finished cleaning the
newlyweds’ room when he heard someone call him from the hallway. As
he stepped out with his cart, he saw Tracy Shook standing in front
of the main desk.

“
I’m over here,” he called
out, emptying the trash can topped off with The Tattle Tale, a
weekly supermarket gossip sheet that favored alien babies and Elvis
sightings, into his cart’s bin. He never would have pegged the
newlyweds, with their “his” and “hers” matching notebook computers
as readers of the rag, but then that was one of the most
interesting things about being an innkeeper: folks were constantly
surprising him. From the rumpled blankets and pillow in the comer,
it looked as if Mr. Jones had spent last night on the floor again.
If the way the two of them argued was any indication, Alex wondered
if the man ever got to actually sleep in the bed.

Tracy said, “Alex, I just had to come by and
talk to you. Have you heard the news?”

“
Armstrong told us last
night. I’m sorry about Oxford. I know he was a friend of
yours.”

Tracy said, “I’m sorry too, for more reasons
than you can imagine. That’s not what I’m talking about, though. I
won’t even make you guess. This is all so insane. Conner’s decided
to take Oxford’s place and run against me. He’s already got his
campaign slogan: ‘Vote for the Right Shook’. Can you believe
that?”

Alex said, “I hate to say it, but it sounds
exactly like something Conner would do. Did Armstrong find you last
night?”

She nodded. “He tracked me down at Mama
Ravolini’s. The first quiet meal I’ve had since I started this
campaign, and the sheriff joins me for a late dinner to interrogate
me. He even asked me for an alibi, if you can imagine that.”

“
I told him you couldn’t
have done it. Was he satisfied with your whereabouts?”

Tracy said, “Not particularly. I was home
alone most of the afternoon when I wasn’t out searching for Oxford.
I had the phone off the hook so I could get some peace and quiet,
and nobody came to my door, so I guess I don’t have any alibi at
all. I didn’t kill him, Alex. We were opponents, but I genuinely
liked the man.”

“
Don’t worry, Armstrong
will find the real killer.”

“
I hope so. I can’t imagine
what Conner will do with all of this.”

Alex said, “Tracy, you can take the gloves
off now and get a few shots in yourself. You know Conner’s
weaknesses better than anyone else in the world.”

A mischievous grin crossed her face. “You
know what? This might be fun after all. He’s been hiding behind
Oxford sniping at me. Now let’s see how he likes it out on the
front lines.”

“
There’s the spirit,” Alex
said, glad to see the fire in his friend’s eyes.

“
I’m not letting him get
away with this ‘Right Shook’ business either. I’ll show him who the
right Shook is. Alex, thanks for the pep talk.”

“
Hey, what are friends for?
Is Shantara still helping you with your campaign?”

“
Oh yes. That’s where I’m
going right now. With all of her customers, we’ve got a built-in
support system.” Shantara Robinson ran Elkton Falls’ general
store/craft gallery/mercantile. Tracy had chosen well. Not only was
Shantara well liked by the community, but she had nearly as many
visitors every day as Buck’s Grill. Alex knew Buck had backed
Oxford Hitchcock, but he wondered if there was a possibility that
the big man would swing his support to Tracy instead of
Conner.

Alex asked, “Have you thought about talking
to Buck about supporting you now that Oxford’s gone?”

“
I tried, but he’s backing
Conner. I understand, he supports his party.” Tracy smiled as she
added, “Sally Anne’s pulling for me though, so I’ve got a spy in
the enemy camp.”

With her dual assignments, Alex wondered
when Sally Anne had time to wait on her customers.

Tracy said, “I’ve got to run, Alex. Thanks
again for all your support.”

“
Let me know if there’s
anything I can do. I mean it.”

She patted his cheek. “I know it. Bye
now.”

Alex finished his cleaning chores for the
morning and was just about to look for Elise to offer her lunch
when Mor drove up. Alex walked out and met him on the front porch.
The big man was carrying two paper bags, a large one and a much
smaller one.

“
I didn’t call you,” Alex
said with a grin.

“
I know. I got lonely, with
Les gone and all. You can’t tell me nothing in this place is
broken.”

“
Sorry, we’re in good
shape, but if you hang around long enough, I’m sure something will
need fixing. What’s in the bags?”

“
A surprise, and lunch. I
grabbed a couple of burgers at Buck’s. You supply the Cokes and
we’ll eat out here.”

Alex said, “You feeling okay?”

“
Yeah, I’m fine,” Mor said,
puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

“
The last time you bought
me a meal, I was in the ninth grade and Greg Frye had just stolen
my lunch money.”

Mor shrugged. “I need to talk to you about
some wedding stuff, so I thought we’d do it over burgers.”

Alex grabbed two Cokes and met Mor back out
on the porch. Mor said, “I got a hamburger for Elise, too.”

“
I don’t know where she
disappeared to. I guess I’ll have to eat it myself,” Alex said with
a grin.

“
Tell you what, we’ll
arm-wrestle for it.”

“
Why don’t you just go
ahead? I’d hate to deprive you.”

After taking a few bites, Alex asked, “So,
what do we need to talk about for the wedding?”

Mor looked down at his feet. “It’s not
exactly the wedding. It’s the bachelor party.”

Alex laughed. “Don’t worry; I know how to
throw you a party.”

Mor said, “That’s just it. Emma’s putting
her foot down. No women, no carrying on, shoot, I had to fight her
to get alcohol approved. Beer’s the best we can do.”

^“
Is this a wake or a
bachelor party? I can’t imagine the most eligible bachelor in seven
counties giving up his last rite without a fight.”

“
Well, you can believe it.”
Mor said. “We’re both getting a little long in the tooth for that
foolishness anyway. You know what I’d like, just between the two of
us?”

“
I don’t have a clue,” Alex
said honestly.

“
I’d like to grab a few
beers with you and Les, toast the old life, then get to bed early.
I’ve been to too many parties where the groom got so carried away
he was barely awake to enjoy the ceremony the next day. No sir, my
wild days are far behind me. Are you disappointed in me?” Mot
asked, his gaze on the smaller bag in his hands.

“
Are you kidding?” Alex
asked. “I was almost looking forward to my speech compared to
throwing you a bachelor party.”

Mor said, “That’s a relief. So it’s
settled--It’s going to be just three old bachelors hanging out and
trading stories one last night.”

“
Sounds like a plan to me,”
Alex agreed. “Okay, if you’re not going to bring it up, I will.
What’s in the other bag?”

Mor held it out to him. “Reach in and
see.”

Alex put his hand in the bag gingerly and
pulled out a small square of wood with an E etched on its face. He
dug his hand back in and found ten more Es inside, all carefully
lettered and smoothly polished.

Mor said, “I know the inn’s Scrabble game
lost all of its Es when one of your guests took them as souvenirs,
so I decided to make you some new ones.”

“
The game won’t be as
challenging this way,” Alex admitted with a smile. “Thanks, I
appreciate this.”

Mor said, “Hey, it’s the least I can do for
someone who’s not going to throw me a bachelor party.”

Alex laughed. “I can do better than that. I
won’t throw you a birthday party either when March 11 rolls
around.”

Mor looked at his watch, then said, “I’d
better get moving. I’ve got a list of jobs a mile long to do at
Grady Hatch’s place. Did you hear he’s putting his house up for
sale? He wants to buy a motor home and see the world. I’ve got to
admit, there’s a part of me that would love to go with him.”

“
You’d get bored in three
days, and we both know it. You’ve got to have something to do to
keep yourself busy, my friend, and your roots go down in this soil
as deeply as mine do.”

Mor grinned. “It’s true enough, but a man
can dream, can’t he?”

“
They haven’t found a way
to tax it yet,” Alex agreed as Mor left.

Alex half expected to find Elise working in
the lobby, but she was nowhere to be found. The butterflies were in
full force now.

Their date was only a few hours away.

Chapter 8

Alex felt like a teenager waiting for Elise
in the lobby of the Main Keeper’s Quarters. He had on his best
suit, actually his only suit, since there wasn’t much need to wear
one in his line of work. His truck, as old as it was, was freshly
washed and he held three roses he’d gotten in town for Elise.

Paul Jones, the newlywed, came out while
Alex was waiting for Elise. “Have you seen Sheila?” he asked,
taking in Alex’s attire.

“
No. sorry. I
haven’t.”

Paul gestured to the flowers. “Okay. I’ll
bite. What have you got, a big date?”

Alex nodded. “The biggest.”

Paul shook his head and laid a hand on
Alex’s shoulder. “Be careful, my friend. That’s all I’m going to
say.”

“
Thanks for the advice,”
Alex said, fighting to hide his smile.

Enough of this waiting around, Alex thought
to himself. He knocked on Elise’s door, the flowers nearly
strangled in his nervous grip.

Elise had on a sundress, nothing fancy or
formal by any stretch of the imagination, but she looked absolutely
stunning to him.

He offered her the flowers. “Here. These are
for you.”

She didn’t take them at first. “Alex, I
didn’t realize this was going to be so formal. Give me a few
minutes and I’ll change.”

“
You look great just the
way you are,” he said as he held the roses out again.

She took the flowers, then said, “Nonsense.
I can be ready in ten minutes.”

“
Elise, it isn’t necessary.
You really do look great.”

She shoved him gently back toward the lobby.
“But we don’t match.”

Alex protested, “Then let me change.”

Elise wouldn’t hear of it. “Go on, I won’t
be long.”

There was no nonsense in her voice, and Alex
knew this was a battle he wasn’t about to win. Should he have told
her they were dressing up for dinner? Granted, Mama Ravolini’s
wasn’t exactly the Ritz, but it was the best Elkton Falls had to
offer for fine dining. He often wondered why no other restaurateur
tackled Elkton Falls. Though he loved the owner Irma Bean dearly, a
little variety in eating dinner out would have been nice.

Elise was as good as her word, coming out
ten minutes later wearing a fancy shimmering blue dress that barely
touched her knees. She’d swept back part of her hair, too, adding a
formal touch, instead of the casual ponytail she usually wore
during working hours.

Alex said, “Wow. You look wonderful.”

“
Thanks. And thanks for the
flowers. You shouldn’t have.”

“
I couldn’t help myself,”
Alex admitted as he grinned. “Let’s go.”

He had placed a sign on
the front desk that said,
out for the
evening
, and Elise asked, “Are you sure
about deserting our guests like this?”

“
They’ll be fine without us
for one night,” Alex said.

He held her door open as she slid onto the
truck seat.

She really was stunning. Alex couldn’t
believe they were finally going out on a real date.

Oddly enough, their conversation, normally
as free flowing as a river, was dammed into a few uncomfortable
remarks on their way into town. A new tension had sprung up between
them, and as hard as he tried, Alex just couldn’t seem to break the
strain.

“
Is everything all right?”
he finally asked as they neared the restaurant.

“
It’s fine,” Elise
said.

Alex said, “You know, my mom used to say
everything was fine when what she meant was that it was simply
bearable. That’s not the case here, is it?”

Elise said, “Alex, when I say something’s
fine, it’s fine. Don’t read anything into it.”

“
Sorry, my mistake,” he
replied as he slid into a parking spot.

Elise, realizing her words had been too
sharp, said, “I guess this is just new to me, being out with you
like this.”

“
We spend all day together
every day,” he said.

“
Not like this.”

Alex opened her door. “No, you’re right.
This is better.”

Irma made a fuss over them
as they walked in the door, leading Alex and Elise to a table with
a
reserved
placard on it. “You two look wonderful. Now enjoy
yourselves.”

As the first course arrived, Alex said, “I
took the liberty of ordering your favorites ahead of time.”

Elise just nodded.

Alex found himself fiddling with his napkin,
searching for something to say that had nothing to do with the
Hatteras West Inn or their guests. Surely the two of them had more
in common than their work. So why was it suddenly so hard to think
of anything?

As a desperate last measure, he said,
“You’ll never believe this, but I found a marked-up copy of The
Tattle Tale in the newlyweds’ room.”