With Baited Breath (16 page)

“It’s a recent development,” Tori admitted.

“What would your mom and dad say if I let you take over the business?”

“Hopefully, ‘good luck.’”

“And if they didn’t?”

“You may have noticed; we’re not all that close.”

Herb nodded. “Your grandmother and I were unhappy that our kids grew up and moved away. We figured they would, but not to other states. She was heartbroken.”

“And you?”

“I always thought your dad would show an interest in the business. That we could be Cannon and Son.”

“But not Cannon and Granddaughter?”

“It never occurred to me,” he said. He let out a long breath. “I tried to talk your grandma into leaving this place, but she wouldn’t hear of it. The word ‘snowbird’ became a dirty one around here. But that’s what
I
want. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“What if I could turn this place around? What if I could make it pay for both of us?”

“Honey, you’d have to be a miracle worker.”

“You’ve got your pension and social security. Could you live on that in Florida?”

“I sure could, but it’s only that money that’s kept this place going. I couldn’t pay the taxes here
and
live down south.”

“I could get a job substitute teaching during the winter and run this place in the summer.”

“It wouldn’t be enough,” Herb said firmly. “I’m sorry, Tori, but you need to face reality.”

Tori nodded. “I guess I’ll pack up tomorrow and go back to Rochester. Maybe I can find a roommate and get a job at McDonalds.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. I told you, you can stay here as long as you want. I like having you and your friends around. I don’t suppose I’ll find a buyer right away. Might be a year or more. That should be long enough for you to get back on your feet.”

“I’d like to stay,” she said.

“Good.” He patted her knee. “Kathy said supper was nearly ready. You coming?”

Tori nodded.

Herb got up and headed out the door. Tori followed, literally dragging her feet.

When she got to the kitchen, the table had been set and Herb had retaken his seat. Tori helped Kathy serve supper before she sat down, too.

Conversation was nil as they passed the salad bowl and helped themselves to it and boiled sweet corn Kathy must have found in the freezer. Herb dug in, but Tori had no appetite.

“Kathy, I knew you could bake cookies, but I had no idea you were such a good cook,” Herb said.

“If I intend to serve guests at my bed and breakfast, I had to learn to cook. My mother was terrible at it. She gave me a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking when I was in high school. It took me a couple of years, but I made almost every recipe.”

“Which ones didn’t you make?” Anissa asked.

“Aspic,” Kathy said and wrinkled her nose. “I mean, where do you buy leg of cow to make gelatin, anyway?”

Tori managed a weak giggle.

“Eat up,” Herb advised, and gave her a wink.

Tori picked up her fork and caught sight of Kathy who gave her a comforting smile that seemed to say we’ll talk later. If there was a way for Tori to ever own the Cannon compound, it would be Kathy who figured it out.

A little kernel of hope flickered within her once again.

CHAPTER 13

Clouds had gathered in the sky to the west, which was stained with Easter egg colors of peachy-pinks and mellow blues. “It sure is pretty here,” Anissa said as the three women headed for the boathouse. “I think I’m going to like living here. Now if I can just support myself to afford it.”

Tori said nothing, but took the lead. Herb kept an old Chris Craft wooden boat that looked like it had been an extra from the movie
On Golden Pond
. Tori remembered riding in it years ago, but Herb hadn’t launched it in at least a decade. It would need a lot of work if some collector wanted to restore it. But it sat in the boat house, taking up valuable space that could have been used by a paying tenant. She’d mention that to Herb. There had to be more ways they could promote what they had and make the business pay for itself. She’d mention it to Kathy first, but not that night. They had other things to contend with.

Tori threw a switch and the dusty light bulb hanging over the boat barely brightened the gloom.

“I think your grandpa’s right,” Anissa said, looking around at the cobwebs that seemed to fill every corner. “This place is filthy. And I think Kathy’s right; we’re never going to be able to see what’s going on at the house from here.”

“I know, but I wanted Gramps to see us come out here. We’ll leave the light on and go sit in Kathy’s car when it’s fully dark,” Tori said.

“Is there anywhere to sit?” Kathy asked.

“I thought I saw some old folding chairs up in the loft. We may as well go up there.”

Kathy and Anissa followed her up the ladder. Another dusty light bulb failed to brighten that space, too. Tarps covered a pile in one corner. Tori pulled one free and found a load of metal lawn chairs that had once been painted in primary colors, but were now rusty and dirty from disuse.

“A wire brush would get rid of most of the rust on these and we could repaint them to look like new,” Kathy suggested. “They’d look darling out on the lawn. Great for curb appeal.”

“Sounds like you want to help Gramps sell this place.”

“Don’t be so quick to give up on your dreams. I’m not.”

“You’ve got an inheritance coming in a few months; I don’t.”

“Me, either,” Anissa said.

“That talk you had with him didn’t go well, did it?” Kathy asked.

Tori shook her head.

“I wouldn’t push the idea now, but we’ll figure something out.”

“And if he sells it fast?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Kathy repeated with authority.

Tori would have loved to believe her.

They pulled the chairs out and dusted them off as best they could before pulling them to the windows on the south side of the boathouse. “That was really interesting what your grandpa had to say about rum runners,” Anissa said. “I had no idea that kind of thing happened around here.”

“Did you know there were stops for the underground railroad all along the shore of Lake Ontario?” Kathy asked.

“How do you know?” Tori asked.

“I’ve been Googling like crazy since I first thought of buying that house across the road. I need to find ways to market the whole guest experience, and sell the area to people as well.”

“You’re going to have to call it something other than the house across the road—if you get it, that is,” Anissa warned. “Have you got a name for your B and B?”

“That’s one idea I haven’t come up with yet. Willow Point is nearby, but not close enough. Still, there is a willow tree on the property, but it doesn’t look healthy. I can’t use that in the name if the thing is going to fall over in the next big wind storm.”

“Good point.”

They spent the next half-hour brainstorming names, but Kathy shook her head so often she was in danger of incurring an injury. By then only a whisper of light shone over the left rim of the hills surrounding the bay.

“We should probably go sit in the car now,” Tori advised.

“I’m not sitting in the back,” Anissa said firmly. “I get car sick.”

“The car won’t be moving,” Kathy pointed out.

“Are you sure you want to risk it?” Anissa asked.

Tori tried to stifle a smile.

They climbed down the ladder and Tori did a little reconnaissance. The drapes were drawn in the living room, but she could see flickering light from the television. Herb was probably snoring in his recliner. Still, they crept around the darkened Lotus Lodge and walked in the shadows near Resort Road to reach the highway, then tread on the sandy shoulders of the highway so as not to get their shoes wet from the heavy dew. Kathy unlocked the car and they climbed in, with Tori in the back. “We’re going to have to share the binoculars,” she said.

“Say someone does come along to squat in your house overnight; where do you think they’re going to come from? The bar?” Anissa asked.

“I don’t think it’s one of their customers,” Kathy said. “They’ve got bathrooms for both sexes.”

“I want to know how they’re getting in without smashing a window or kicking in the door,” Tori said.

“A key, of course,” Kathy said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, but who’s supplying it? Presumably, the owner doesn’t want someone messing with his property if he hopes to sell it—especially people who are going to use it as their personal toilet. It’s definitely detrimental to making a sale,” Tori pointed out.

“What if,” Anissa began, “whoever is using the house is also the one riding on the bay in the middle of the night?”

“The lights your daddy saw?” Tori asked.

“Why not?”

“Like the rum runners?” Kathy asked.

“Yeah. Think about it, this is rural New York, hundreds of thousands of acres of nothing but fruit trees to be picked. Some farmers might hire illegal immigrants.”

“I haven’t seen any Homeland Security vehicles patrolling the area,” Tori said.

“But they do around the port of Rochester. I’ve seen them parked,” Kathy said.

“I’ve seen them, too,” Anissa said.

“What if it’s worse than illegal aliens?”

“You mean terrorists?” Kathy asked.

Tori shrugged. “We don’t have secure borders.”

“You think we should be worried about an invasion from Canada? They seem like pretty friendly people to me,” Anissa said.

“Could be drug runners,” Kathy suggested.

“Maybe,” Tori said. “And what about that guy we heard about with the crew-cut? He’s been hanging around here lately, but nobody seems to know anything about him.”

“He’s usually at the bar in the evenings. We could go talk to him.”

“And say what? ‘Hi, guy, are you smuggling illegal aliens, or dope, or terrorists?’ Yeah, I’m sure he’d spill the beans to two little white gals like you,” Anissa said.

“Would he spill to you?”

“You think I’m going to walk into that biker bar at night without a bodyguard? No-sir-ee,” Anissa declared.

“The bikers aren’t that bad,” Kathy said.

“Yeah, they’re usually old guys reminiscing about their glory days,” Tori agreed. “I mean, I hardly ever see a young person on a bike, and when I do, they’re stupid not to be wearing leathers.”

“I wonder what time your daddy saw those lights on the bay,” Kathy said.

“I got the impression it was late,” Anissa said.

“How late is late?” Tori asked.

“Middle of the night. I wish those pages hadn’t been missing from his diary. I’ll bet they would have told us all about his suspicions,” Tori said.

“His house wasn’t broken into. How would someone know he wrote that down in a diary?” Kathy asked.

“Yeah, how?” Tori agreed. “Those missing pages could just be a coincidence. I mean, were there pages missing from any of the other journals?”

Anissa hesitated. “I couldn’t say for sure. I haven’t read them yet. It’s still too soon after he passed for me to face them.”

Tori could understand that. Her grandmother had recorded the message for the business’s voice mail greeting. She was sure she’d cry the next time she heard it, but she hoped Herb wouldn’t suggest they change it any time soon, either.

“What are we going to do if we catch somebody breaking into the house?” Anissa asked.

“Call 911,” Kathy said emphatically. “There’s no way we should put ourselves in harm’s way.”

“And how fast do you think they’re going to come out here in the sticks?” Anissa said.

“The State Police have a barracks just outside of Worton. They could probably be here in ten or fifteen minutes,” Tori said.

“And if the bad guys saw us watching, they might be long gone before the cops could ever get here,” Anissa pointed out.

“Then at least whoever was trespassing would stop peeing in my house,” Kathy said.

“It’s not your house!” Anissa cried.

“Yet,” Kathy remarked.

Tori sighed. “We don’t even know if anyone is going to show up at the house tonight—or tomorrow. How long should we keep up a stakeout? Days? A week?”

“Yeah, and why would a bunch of bad guys draw attention to themselves on a weekend?” Anissa asked. “I mean, this place is pretty dead now, but I’ve got to think there’s less risk of being caught on a weeknight.”

“So, you think we’re wasting our time?” Kathy asked.

“If we’d brought the bottle of wine with us I might have had a different opinion.”

“I could go get it,” Tori suggested.

Anissa shook her head.

“But think about it. Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights of the week, and yet someone was in that house last night and left their calling card on the wall,” Tori pointed out.

“Yeah,” Kathy agreed. “They’re either very brave or very stupid.”

“I’ll go with stupid,” Anissa said. She sighed. “Do you guys mind if I bow out of this little stakeout? I don’t know if I have a taste for this kind of adventure.”

“That’s okay,” Kathy assured her. “You’re probably right about us wasting our time. But I’m willing to sit here for another few hours just to make sure.”

“I’ll keep you company. It’s either that or listen to Gramps snore. He doesn’t give up the remote—even when he’s fast asleep.”

“I’ll catch up with you tomorrow and we’ll finalize plans about going to Rochester to get more of your stuff,” Anissa told Tori.

“Sounds good.”

“Good night,” Anissa said, and got out of the car.

Tori got out, too, taking her place in the front seat. She and Kathy sat in silence and in less than a minute, they heard the engine on the big blue pickup rumble to life. They listened until it faded into the distance.

“I wish her daddy’s diary hadn’t been tampered with,” Kathy commented. “Maybe he was killed because he figured out whatever was going on around here.”

“What if he just pissed someone off?” Tori asked.

“You mean someone like Biggie Taylor?”

“Maybe. What if he just messed up a page or two of his journal by spilling coffee on it and ripped them out? It could be that you and I have just watched too many crime shows during our lives and have vivid imaginations, which is why the worst appeals to us.”

“I like to think I have an
active
imagination, especially when it comes to problem solving,” Kathy said. “You can’t be successful if you don’t think outside the box.”

Tori retrieved her phone and checked the time. It was only 10:30. Maybe what they should have done was take turns on watch, with one of them spelling the other after three or four hours, but then where was the fun in that? Not that they’d actually had any fun so far—but it was probably good that Anissa had gone home, because now she and Kathy could talk candidly.

“I was angry that you brought up the subject of me running Gramps’s business.”

“I know,” Kathy said, “but I knew you’d forgive me. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“Yeah, I do, and now it’s out in the open. But his mind is made up.”

“Oh, he says that now, but we will change the way he feels,” Kathy said with authority.

“I wish I had your faith. How do you think that will happen?”

“I’ll have to think about it.” Kathy moved the binoculars up to her eyes and stared at the house bathed in shadow.

“Jerry never called back with an answer about your offer, did he?”

“Technically, it expired about five hours ago.”

“Will you submit another one?”

Kathy lowered the binoculars and sighed. “Yes, but I’m annoyed to have to do so.”

“You offered full price. Do you think they wanted to jack up the price after Lucinda Bloomfield looked at the house?”

“Maybe. If she said she wasn’t interested in buying, I can’t see why they’d reject my offer. If I have to, I’ll offer a cash deal.”

“But isn’t that everything you’ve got in the bank? How will you live until your inheritance comes through?”

Kathy bit her lip. “I’ll figure something out.”

Tori reached for the binoculars, and looked at the house. “Unless you’ve got eyes like a cat, you probably can’t see much more with these things than I can.”