Krewe of Hunters: The Hidden Part 16

"What if the killer is long gone?" she asked.

He shook his head. He was serious, the light gone from his dark eyes as he looked at her. "Stay close to Meg. She's a crack shot, and she'll be armed. Adam will look out for you, too, but he leaves the action to the Krewe. Be careful and listen closely. You just don't know what insight you might gain tonight. Or what ghosts might speak," he said lightly.

When they reached the door, Brett opened it for them. "Nice to come home and feel certain no one else is here," he said lightly.

Scarlet had never so much as thought about it before all this started. Now she was grateful as h.e.l.l to have the alarm system.

"Yes, it definitely is," she said.

And yet, she realized, she'd looked immediately at the statue of Nathan Kendall and her muscles tensed, as if she was certain he might have moved again.

He hadn't.

She relaxed, then felt silly for worrying in the first place.

"Let's get moving," Diego said huskily. "An hour pa.s.ses quickly."

He looked at Brett, who looked back at him and nodded, and somehow she read the message that pa.s.sed between them. Brett would stay in the apartment tonight, while everyone else was off doing things.

A sentinel.

"Have fun tonight," Brett said. He smiled, turned and headed for his bedroom at the end of the hallway.

Scarlet followed Diego into her room.

And she quickly learned why he'd wanted her to be aware that an hour pa.s.sed quickly.

Jane Everett was a beautiful dark-haired woman in a business suit. Diego and Matt picked her up at the Denver airport at seven.

She greeted Matt with a hug and told Diego she was delighted to have another Krewe member. "So, are we heading straight to the remains?" she asked.

"If you don't mind," Diego said.

"Wait 'til you see what Jane is able to do," Matt told him. "You'll be amazed."

Jane smiled at Diego as Matt drove. "It's beautiful out here. I love the East, but I'm from Texas, and I do miss the West."

"Fill her in on what we know so far," Matt instructed him. "You're closest to the case."

As they drove, Diego told her about Scarlet's call, the strange photos on her camera and the way the statue had appeared in her bedroom. He related the history of the Conway Ranch and Nathan Kendall, and also explained that the man had nearly two hundred descendants, which might be a factor in the case.

"Adam told me that the Parker murders were essentially identical to Nathan and Jillian Kendall's deaths. But he also told me that no one's been able to determine how the man found up on the mountain died, whether it was violence or natural causes."

"That's true. But if we can find out who he is, maybe we can find out what he was doing up there and whether someone might have wanted him dead. Not to mention someone out there somewhere is looking for him," Diego said.

Jane was studying his face as he spoke. "You have a feeling it's all related, though, don't you? And that finding out who he is will help you solve the Parkers' murders."

"Yes, I do."

"I'll get right on it," she promised. "This has made the national news, you know."

"I know it's all anyone is talking about here," Matt said.

"I picked this up in the airport," Jane said, and pulled out a newspaper. A stock market downturn had taken the headline, but just below the fold was an article about the strange copycat murders in Colorado. The fact that the husband had been related to the husband in the original murder was mentioned, as well. So was the fact that the police seemed to have no suspects, and no clues.

"Well, the second bit's true," Diego said.

"Their car hasn't shown up yet, but the a.s.sumption is that the murderer found them in town and forced them up the mountain. There was nothing helpful at the scene, either-no hairs, no fibers, nothing."

"But we do have suspects," Diego said.

"Diego thinks there's a good chance it could be someone at the Conway Ranch," Matt said. "Guest, staff, even one of the owners."

"And you don't?" Jane asked.

"I'm not willing to narrow it down yet. I definitely think it has something to do with the past, though what, I'm not sure," Matt said.

"We're working it from every angle we can find," Diego told her. "They never solved the murders of Nathan and Jillian Kendall. I believe the killer now is counting on our inability to solve these murders, too."

"But why kill the Parkers? They didn't own the ranch. Does the killer have some kind of grudge against the original owners, so he's going to run around the country and try to get rid of everyone who's descended from Nathan and Jillian? Surely that would be almost impossible. There's no inheritance, is there?"

Diego shook his head. "The family lost owners.h.i.+p years ago. Ben and Trisha Kendall bought the property."

"So it's not as if he's killing off all the possible heirs," Jane mused. "Well, I'm looking forward to working with this skull. Maybe..." She paused, looking at Matt.

"He's Krewe now," Matt said quietly.

"Maybe the skull will talk to me," she said.

Diego knew that should probably make him wonder about her sanity, but after what he'd seen on the zombie case, it made perfect sense.

"I'm all for the skull talking to you," Diego said. "I'm all for anything that will solve this case before anyone else gets killed."

There were more elegant hotels in the world and there were more historic places to visit, and there were certainly more ghosts at other venues, as well.

But Scarlet loved The Stanley; it offered history, beauty and charm, along with the splendor of the Rocky Mountains.

They'd visited room 217, where Stephen King had come up with The s.h.i.+ning, and rooms 401 and 428, which were reputed to be haunted. Their guide had cheerfully told them that yes, if you were flexible with dates, you could to stay in any one of them.

They'd learned about the man who'd built the hotel, Freelan Oscar Stanley, the wealthy man who had, along with his brother, given the world the Stanley Steamer automobile. He had first come to the area in 1903 because he was suffering from tuberculosis. His wife, Flora, had wanted a home like the one she had left behind in Maine, and so The Stanley had come into existence. Flora herself still sometimes came in ghostly form to visit and play her beloved piano.

The hotel itself was beautiful, a grand white building built in the Colonial Georgian style, and their guide showed them through the lobby area and out to the majestic front porch before they headed to the next building on the tour, the theater.

Scarlet still didn't have her camera, and while she might have snapped some shots with her phone, she was too restless. The others all seemed to be enjoying themselves tremendously, though, and she was glad for them. She tried to envision what it would be like if the murders remained unsolved and everyone had to keep on looking over their shoulders for a killer.

Ben and Trisha might decide that it was just too depressing, too stressful, staying on at the ranch, always wondering if the killer would come back, maybe for them.

She would have to move on herself, though where and to do what, she didn't know.

She lingered on the porch, feeling a little numb. That wouldn't happen. The one thing she knew for certain about Diego was that he never gave up. His cases didn't always end the way he wanted, but he always solved them.

Scarlet looked up and found Meg standing next to her. Adam was busy talking to their guide, probably discussing some piece of history. The other three were avidly flas.h.i.+ng away.

Meg gave her a curious look, then flushed and looked away.

"What is it?" Scarlet asked.

"Nothing. None of my business," Meg said.

"Now you have to tell me whatever you were thinking, because not knowing is going to drive me crazy."

Meg took a deep breath and said, "Okay, but remember, you asked. I haven't known Diego long, and I only just met you, but under circ.u.mstances like these, you get to know people quickly. So knowing what strong, smart interesting people you both are, and seeing how much you still care about each other, I can't figure out what happened between the two of you. You seem like the most perfect couple in the world."

"Far from perfect," Scarlet said, then paused for a long moment and finally said, "Work."

"Yours?"

"His," Scarlet said, letting out a sigh. "Ironic, huh, since I called him the minute I was in trouble."

"Not ironic-natural," Meg a.s.sured her.

"I guess," Scarlet said, shaking her head in puzzlement at her own behavior. "The thing is, I knew what I was getting into. We met, he flirted. We dated. It was whirlwind, but we were madly in love. We were married within months of our first meeting. It was bliss at first. I adore Brett, he's not just Diego's partner, he's my friend, so I never felt shut out. And Diego was genuinely interested in my job. I was working on a very old Native American site near downtown Miami. And when we had free time, we both loved horses, sun, the local beaches..."

"Sure sounds like a divorce in the making to me."

Scarlet hesitated, then went on. "Somehow, so slowly that I didn't even realize what was happening, things changed. First it was just a special dinner."

"He didn't show up?"

Scarlet nodded. "Then it was a banquet with my colleagues."

"Because he was working?"

Scarlet winced and looked down, and then met Meg's eyes again. "Then it was the miscarriage."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Meg said. "You were in the hospital, you'd lost a child-and he wasn't there?"

"To be fair," Scarlet said, "he didn't know I was pregnant. I kept looking for the perfect moment to tell him, but he was in the middle of a case and was never there. And then I wound up in the hospital. I called and called, but in the end...they released me before he ever returned my call. I just saw this bleak life where I'd always be alone, no matter what happened. When he did come home-upset because the case wasn't going well-I told him I was leaving, that I had to get away, go somewhere else. I was calm. He tried to make up, but I was just done."

"I'm so sorry," Meg said.

"He's a great guy. He's just too focused on what he does. I still love him. I probably always will."

"I think he'll always be in love with you, too," Meg said, and then looked at Scarlet questioningly.

"So what the h.e.l.l am I doing now?" Scarlet said, her tone dry. "That is what you want to ask me, isn't it?"

What was she doing? It was crazy. But they'd been married, and it was only natural...

She hadn't wanted to be alone.

But that wasn't really why she'd insisted he sleep in her room.

And now they were like a pair of high school kids, eager and anxious, making love like rabbits just because they had an hour alone.

Even in the midst of this mess.

"None of my business," Meg a.s.sured her. "None of it was."

Scarlet never had a chance to respond, because she looked out to the broad lawn and saw the man.

The man who had stopped her in town. The man she had seen at the cemetery. He was standing behind a large family group and looking up at where she was standing on the porch.

"Meg!"

"What?"

"He's here!"

"Who's here?"

"The stalker-the man I saw in town and at the cemetery."

"Where?"

"There!" She pointed. "Right behind those people."

Meg walked firmly in the direction Scarlet indicated. Scarlet followed, ready to indignantly accost him.

But when they got to the spot where she had seen him, he was gone.

Meg stopped and asked, "Did you see where he went?"

"No," Scarlet said, frustrated.

"We'll find him once we're all corralled in the bas.e.m.e.nt again," Meg said.

But they didn't see him there.

Meg told Adam what had happened, and Scarlet described the man to him.

Adam listened gravely, said he hadn't noticed him and then looked for him in the crowd, as well.

But he hadn't reappeared by the time the tour finished.