Chapter Thirty-Four

Overhead, the dark clouds threatened to bring another day of rain to Frederickport, Oregon. After parking her car in front of the beach house, Carol Barns grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and prayed she would make it to the front door before the rain started falling. Just as she reached the gate, she noticed the mailbox was open, and it wasn’t empty.

“Someone forgot to get the mail yesterday,” Carol muttered, as she snatched the envelopes from the box.

“Morning Carol,” Will Wayne greeted when the nurse came through the front door a few minutes later. He sat on a recliner, remote in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, as he watched television.

“How did Karen do last night?” Carol walked over to Will.

“She finally had a good night.”

Carol handed Will a stack of mail. He frowned and asked, “What’s this?”

“No one brought in the mail yesterday.”

Setting his coffee cup down, he took the envelopes from her. “Now that I think about it, you’re right.” Will chuckled. “Wondered what you were doing bringing in mail on a Sunday.”

Slipping her purse’s strap from her shoulder, she hung it on the coat rack. After removing her jacket, she hung it with her purse. “Is Karen up?”

“Yes. Connie’s in her room with her.” Wayne set the remote on the table with the coffee cup and began flipping through the stack of mail. Most of the envelopes appeared to be junk mail, except for one enveloped addressed to him. There was no return address.

Now alone in the living room, Will tossed the junk mail onto the end table. Tearing open the envelope addressed to him, he found a letter inside—not handwritten, but printed, as was its envelope. He began to read.

“Will Wayne, I know you paid to have Peter Morris killed for what he did to your daughter. If you want me to keep your secret, you will now have to pay me…”

Crumpling the letter in his hands, Will took a deep breath. After sitting there a moment in thoughtful silence, he uncrumpled the sheet of paper and continued reading. It told how much money the blackmailer expected and where and how to deliver the funds.

“I’m sorry I ruined your Valentine’s Day,” Kelly told Lily. The two women sat together at Pier Cafe, while Ian was back at the house reviewing the edits on the Emma Jackson story.

“Aww, it’s all right.” Lily picked up her cup of hot chocolate and took a sip, leaving behind a faint whipped cream mustache. “I don’t blame you not wanting to go back to your place as long as Mitcham is on the loose.”

“I suppose I could have gone back to my friend’s in Astoria.” Looking Lily in the eyes, Kelly tapped her upper lip. Lily smiled and then picked up a napkin, wiping off the whipped cream.

“Like I said, it’s fine. I had a good time last night.”

Kelly chuckled. “Yeah, watching movies with your boyfriend and his little sister. What a great way to spend your first Valentine’s Day together.”

Lily smiled and took another sip of her hot cocoa.

“But I’ll confess, Lily. I really did not want to go back to Astoria. I felt safer staying with my big brother. Does that sound silly?”

“Given the situation, no.”

“How do you feel about staying at Marlow House after the murder?”

Lily shrugged. “I’ll feel much better when they catch the guy. But I feel pretty safe over there.”

“I don’t know.” Kelly shook her head. “Things Ian has told me about Marlow House, makes me wonder if it is cursed.”

Lily laughed. “Cursed? Why would you say that?” Haunted maybe, but not cursed.

“Ian told me about the home invasion. Danielle and Joe could have both been killed.”

“True, but they weren’t.”

Kelly toyed with the rim of her water glass, glancing from it to Lily. “Umm…what’s the deal with Joe and Danielle?”

“The deal? What do you mean?”

“I know they used to date.”

“They went out a few times, after we first moved here. But nothing came of it. Mostly because Joe thought she murdered her cousin.”

“But they worked through that, didn’t they? I mean, they seem to be friends now. She invited him to her Christmas party.”

Lily studied Kelly for a moment. “Why all the questions?”

Nibbling her lower lip, Kelly looked up at Lily. “You have to admit, he’s awful cute.”

“When I first met him, I thought he was pretty hot. He has that sexy Italian thing going for him. But…”

“But what?”

Picking a spoon up from her napkin, Lily absently stirred her cocoa. “Oh, Joe is nice enough. He just never really saw Danielle.”

Kelly frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“I guess it just means Joe was never right for Danielle, that’s all.”

“She seems pretty close with Chris. Are they together? I asked my brother, and he told me to ask Danielle.”

“Sounds like your brother. Hmm…are they together? I get the idea they’re dancing around the possibility. Now he’s a hottie!”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Kelly sipped her water.

“You suppose? Lord, I’m always saying that boy could be an underwear model.”

Kelly frowned. “Is he cuter than my brother?”

Lily smiled. “Not to me.”

The server brought their burgers and when she left the table, Lily asked, “So what’s your deal. You interested in Sergeant Morelli?”

“Well, I was, until he hauled me down to the police station a second time.”

“Technically speaking, it was the chief who had you come in for questioning.”

“But still, it was Joe who interviewed me. And I hated when he called me Ms. Bartley.”

Lily grinned. “That is your name.”

“It’s just so hard to find a good guy.” Kelly sighed.

The café door opened and in walked Heather Donovan. Lily noticed her immediately, while Kelly continued to stare dreamily into space, her thoughts occupied elsewhere.

“Heather looks like she slept in her clothes,” Lily murmured under her breath.

“I saw your car out front,” Heather said when she reached them. Without being asked, she sat down in one of the empty chairs at their table.

“So what did you do for Valentine’s Day?” Lily asked. “Danielle mentioned you didn’t stay at Marlow House last night.”

“It’ll be nice to move back to my own house where people aren’t keeping tabs on every move I make,” Heather snapped, grabbing a menu from the middle of the table.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Lily countered. “Just wondered if you did something fun.”

“Do I look like I’ve been having fun?” Heather asked.

“Wow, don’t bite my head off.”

Heather let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Lily. I’ve just had a really crappy week.”

“This has been pretty crappy all around,” Lily agreed. “You want to talk about it?”

“You know that guy who was in the paper this morning? The one they call a person of interest in Peter Morris’ death?”

Lily and Kelly exchanged glances, before Lily said, “Yeah, the private investigator.”

“He was my freaking private investigator!” Heather seethed.

“You hired Mitch?” Kelly asked.

Heather frowned at Kelly. “Mitch? You knew him?”

“Well, I knew him as Mitch. He lives in the condo below mine.”

“Really?” Heather narrowed her eyes. “Do the police know?”

“Sure they know,” Lily answered for Kelly. “If they’re looking for him, don’t you think they know where he lives?”

Heather stared at Kelly. “Doesn’t mean the police know you lived in the same building as him.”

“They know,” Kelly said quietly. “That’s why I’m staying at my brothers. I don’t want to go home until they find him.”

“So you knew him?” Before Kelly could answer, Heather said, “I guess that’s a silly question since you called him Mitch. So, were you two friends, or something? Why are you afraid to go back to your place? Is he dangerous? The paper didn’t say anything about him being dangerous.”

“No, I didn’t know him very well. I didn’t even know he was a private detective, or that his last name was Mitcham.”

“Why did you hire him?” Lily asked.

“To look into that issue with Presley House and Peter Morris.”

“What did Peter Morris have to do with Presley House?” Lily asked.

“I guess I never told you. Earthbound Spirits is the new owner of the property. They’re the ones who got their hands on it after my mother failed to pay the property tax.”

“No kidding? Why didn’t you ever say anything to Ian about it? You know he’s researching Earthbound Spirits for illegal activities,” Lily asked.

“It wouldn’t have helped Ian’s story, anyway. As it turned out, everything was handled legally. Not really what I wanted to hear. But what can I do about it now?”

“Even if everything was handled legally, I can see where you’d still be pissed. Pretty easy to hold a grudge against someone who just walked in and took advantage of the situation when you were obviously vulnerable,” Kelly noted.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Heather snapped.

Kelly shrugged. “Nothing. I mean…well…that’s just what Peter Morris did best, take advantage of vulnerable people for his own profit.”

“Well, I suppose the joke’s on him.” Heather chuckled.

“Why, because he’s dead?” Lily asked.

“No…although that way too.” Heather laughed. “What I meant was, I guess the joke is on Earthbound Spirits. You see, according to the insurance company, I was no longer the owner of the Presley Property when it burned down, something neither of us were aware of at the time. So, they aren’t obligated to pay the claim. And while Earthbound spirits got a great deal for a house on the property—the bare land is worth less than what they paid for it. Not to mention, the site still needs to be cleaned after the fire. From what I understand, the current property owner is obligated to do that, and since they never purchased home owner’s insurance for it, they’re basically screwed.”