Claudia stood up and extended a hand to Danielle. “I’m Claudia Dane, and this is my sister, Rachel. I assume you’re Danielle Boatman?”
Warily, Danielle shook Claudia’s hand and then Rachel’s. She glanced briefly at Marie, who shrugged in reply.
“Yes…I am. So what brings you to Frederickport and our B and B?”
“My sister and I had time off, so we thought a little escape from our hectic life might be relaxing,” Claudia said as she sat back down and picked up a glass of tea. “The Oregon coast is such a lovely area.”
“Pshaw, they didn’t come for the Oregon coast,” Marie said from the sidelines.
Danielle glanced from Walt to the empty chairs facing the sofa and gave a little nod. Flashing Danielle a smile, Walt sat down in one of the chairs while Danielle sat in the other one.
“We have another couple arriving this afternoon, also from Huntington Beach. Any chance they’re meeting you here?” Danielle asked politely.
“Really?” Claudia frowned. She shrugged and said, “No. It’s just my sister and me. Hmm…I guess this is a small world.”
“Do we know each other?” Walt blurted.
Claudia glanced from Danielle to Walt and found herself looking into his intense gaze. Refusing to look away, she stared back. “I don’t know. Do we?”
If Danielle didn’t know better, she would think they were having a blinking contest, and so far, there was no winner. Danielle cleared her throat and then said, “Walt has amnesia.”
A smile curled Claudia’s lips as she turned to face Danielle. “Does he?”
“Yes. He was in a car accident this past March. Before the accident, he lived not far from Huntington Beach,” Danielle explained.
“And you look familiar,” Walt lied.
“What did you do when you lived in California?” Rachel asked.
“I was a real estate agent,” Walt explained.
“And now you’re a writer?” Claudia asked.
Walt looked to Danielle and explained, “She recognized my name when I introduced myself.”
“Now that you mention it, I do recall reading the author Walt Marlow had amnesia. Such a fascinating story,” Claudia said as she sipped her tea.
“Do we know each other?” Walt asked.
“Wouldn’t I have told you that?” Claudia asked with a smile. She set her glass back on the table. “I’m also a real estate agent, and I suppose it’s possible our paths have crossed. But I meet so many people it’s difficult for me to remember them all.”
“How did you get amnesia?” Rachel asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who had amnesia. I thought it was something people only got on soap operas.”
“As I mentioned, Walt was in a car accident,” Danielle explained. “He was unconscious for a few days, and when he woke up, he didn’t remember anything about his life.”
“I also read you and he are engaged. Is that right?” Claudia asked.
Danielle nodded. “Yes. We’re getting married on Valentine’s Day.”
Claudia arched her brows. “Isn’t that a bit risky? What happens if he suddenly remembers he has another family somewhere—another wife?”
“She knew Clint. She knows perfectly well he wasn’t married,” Marie snapped. “She’s here to start trouble!”
Walt studied Claudia a moment and smiled. “While I can’t recall anything that happened prior to the accident, I know who I was, and I have a basic knowledge of what my life was like back then. Unfortunately, I can’t recall any of the people I once knew, not even my fiancée, who was killed in the car accident.”
Rachel tossed her suitcase on one of the twin beds. “I’ll take this one.”
“I don’t care. Take whichever one you want.” Claudia dropped her suitcase on the floor and walked to the bedroom window. Moments earlier Danielle had shown them to the room they would be staying in. Claudia assumed she was alone in the bedroom with her sister. What she didn’t know, the ghost of Marie Nichols sat perched on the dresser listening. Pulling back the curtains, Claudia looked out the window. “I want to know what kind of game Clint is playing.”
“I’d like to know what kind of game you’re playing,” Marie asked as she watched the sisters.
“Why didn’t you just tell them you know him?” Rachel opened her suitcase and started unpacking.
Claudia wandered back from the window and sat down on what would be her bed for the week. She faced her sister. “I’m waiting to have that conversation with Clint when we’re alone.”
“Maybe he really does have amnesia. The way he was looking at you, it was like he was trying to place you.”
“That’s what I thought after he first opened the front door. I don’t think even Clint is that good of an actor. But I could be wrong.” Claudia kicked off her shoes and pulled the pillows out from under the bedspread. She fluffed up the pillows, sat on the bed, and put her feet up on the mattress while leaning back on the pillows. She looked up to the ceiling. “I don’t hear any footsteps up there. I don’t think Clint’s in his room.”
Rachel finished hanging her clothes in the closet. “This entire thing is so bizarre.” Rachel yawned.
“Tired?” Claudia asked.
“Exhausted. When we go home, you’re driving. We should have flown.”
“Whatever…”
“I’m going to take a nap.” Tossing back the covers on her bed, Rachel climbed under the blankets. “Let’s talk later. I’ve got to get some sleep.”
Marie sat in silence for a few minutes, watching as Rachel curled up in the bed with her eyes closed and her back to her sister, who lay silently on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“Well, this is boring,” Marie said before disappearing.
Claudia stood up and started for the door.
Rachel opened her eyes. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go find Clint so we can have that conversation.”
“If you can get him away from that Danielle for a few minutes,” Rachel said with a yawn before closing her eyes again.
Claudia stepped out of the bedroom and looked down the hallway toward the stairs leading to the attic. According to what Danielle had told them when giving a quick tour of the house, Clint—or Walt, as Danielle called him—lived on the top floor. According to Danielle, the attic had been recently converted to a bedroom suite with a sitting area.
Claudia stared up at the ceiling. “How did you get her to remodel the attic for you, Clint?” She hadn’t heard any footsteps overhead, so she was fairly certain Clint wasn’t in his room. She just hoped she would be able to catch him alone, without Danielle.
Stepping lightly in her bare feet, Claudia started down the hallway, toward the stairs leading to the first floor. She paused a moment when she reached the closed door to Danielle’s bedroom. Pressing her ear against the door, she listened. Someone was in the room, she could hear them moving around, opening and closing drawers. Claudia smiled. She didn’t hear any voices, so she assumed Danielle was in the bedroom alone. Hopefully this meant she would find Clint alone downstairs, and the two of them could have a little talk. She continued down the hallway and to the stairs.
Holding onto the handrail, she made her way down to the first floor, careful not to make a sound. She wanted to surprise Clint—catch him off guard. Once she reached the first floor, she headed to the parlor and then the living room. Both rooms were empty. The downstairs bedroom was locked, but she didn’t expect to find him in there, and no one was in the downstairs powder room. Just as she reached the doorway to the kitchen, she heard a woman’s voice.
Claudia froze. A woman’s voice meant Walt was not alone. The door to the kitchen was ajar; she stepped closer to listen. To her surprise it was Danielle’s voice. She peeked inside the kitchen, hiding behind the partially closed door.
Danielle sat at the kitchen table with Marie, drinking a cup of coffee and dissecting a cinnamon roll—popping each small piece into her mouth before breaking off another morsel.
“When they wake up from their nap, I’ll go back up there and keep an eye on them,” Marie told Danielle. “See what those two are up to.”
“They must be the ones who sent that letter.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. Where’s Walt?”
“He went upstairs to get those notes he left in my room. I imagine he’s up in his room by now, working on his new book.”
“Don’t you think he should stay down here, keep an eye on those two?”
“Considering they’re upstairs, not sure what good it would do. He can’t really lurk around guest bedrooms—especially women guests. It’s not like Walt’s invisible anymore.”
Claudia stared dumbfounded into the kitchen. At first she thought Danielle was on the telephone. But then she spied the cellphone sitting on the counter, plugged into a charger. The animated way in which Danielle carried on the conversation with her imaginary friend—the hand motions, the facial expressions—it made Claudia think she was talking to someone sitting at the table with her—not talking on the phone. But there was no one else at the table.
Of course, if Danielle was wearing a Bluetooth headset, it would be possible for her to talk on the phone while it was plugged in on the counter. Claudia frowned. From where she stood, it didn’t look as if Danielle was wearing a headset. Curious, Claudia listened in for a few more minutes to the one-sided conversation. Unable to contain her curiosity a moment longer, she barged into the kitchen with a cheerful hello.
Danielle immediately stopped talking and looked up to Claudia.
“I thought you were talking to someone in here,” Claudia said as she walked to the table, glancing around.
“Umm…sometimes I think out loud,” Danielle muttered. “I thought you were taking a nap?”
“I was wondering if I could get a glass of water to take back upstairs with me.”
“There’s a pitcher of fresh iced water and glasses in your room, didn’t you see it?”
“Is there?” Claudia smiled. “I must have missed that. Well…” Claudia yawned. “I think I will take that nap now. Thank you.”
Her sister’s snoring was not the reason Claudia shook her awake a few minutes later. “Rachel!”
Groggily opening her eyes, Rachel glared at her sister. “Why did you do that?”
“Danielle Boatman is certifiable!”
Frowning, Rachel rubbed her eyes and sat up in the bed. “What are you talking about?”
“I went downstairs looking for Walt, and I found Danielle in the kitchen, talking to herself!”
Rachel shrugged. “I talk to myself sometimes.”
“No. This was a full-on conversation. At first I thought she was on the phone.”
“Maybe she was.” Rachel yawned again, now fully awake.
Claudia perched on the edge of her sister’s bed. “There was no cellphone in her hand, and she didn’t have anything in her ears. She was having a conversation with an imaginary friend. It was not like someone just talking to themselves.”
“So tell me, in this conversation, was she like asking herself questions and then answering herself? I worked with a woman who used to do that. A real weirdo.”
Claudia shook her head. “No. It wasn’t like that. It was a conversation—like something you might hear if she had been on the phone. You know, with missing pieces of the conversation so you don’t know exactly what they’re talking about. Like someone is answering her, or asking her a question. It was freaking bizarre.”
“Does she know you overheard her?”
“Yes. I wanted to see if she was wearing a headset, so I walked into the kitchen under the guise of needing some drinking water.”
Rachel glanced to the table with the pitcher of water and glasses. “We have drinking water.”
“I know that. I forgot. But that’s not the point.”
“So what did she say?”
“She said she was thinking aloud.”
“Maybe she was.” Rachel shrugged.
Claudia adamantly shook her head. “No. You would have had to have been there. Danielle Boatman thought she was talking to her imaginary friend. She’s off her rocker. No wonder Clint has been able to manipulate her.”
“Aren’t you making more of this than it really is? I mean seriously, lots of people talk to themselves.”
“Do you know what she said? She said, ‘It’s not like Walt’s invisible anymore.’”