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“Haven’t spoken to him, and he doesn’t want me to tell you his name, but our text exchanges have been good—no anger or outrage that you hired a PI to track him down. Seems cool.”
“Great. I could use some cool right now. Go ahead and give him my details and tell him to reach out any time. And thank you so much, Celine. Send me your final bill.”
“Don’t thank me yet. He might decide to forgo the relationship. Like I said…jumpy.”
“That wouldn’t be your fault. I’m sure you told him what a spectacular person I am.”
Celine chuckled. “I didn’t, but you are. Take care.”
When Jessica ended the call, she placed the receiver in the cradle. Celine’s tone had changed at the end. Had Celine already read about her issues here in Fairwood? Once her half brother knew about those, he really wouldn’t want to have a relationship with her.
As she put the phone back on the nightstand, a fire alarm in the form of unremitting beeps filled the room. Jessica jumped from the bed and poked her head into the hallway.One door opened at the end, and Jessica shouted “Is this for real?”
The woman yelled back, “Not taking any chances.”
Sighing, Jessica shoved her feet into her boots and zipped them up. She sniffed the air. She didn’t smell any smoke, so she left her laptop, grabbed her purse and a jacket, and left her room.
She passed the elevator and pushed open the door to the stairs. As the woman down the hall had said, why take any chances. Luckily, no high-rise buildings were allowed in Fairwood, including hotels, so she had just three flights of stairs to navigate.
At the bottom, she shoved open the fire door that opened onto a side parking lot and sucked in the cool air. She ambled around to the front of the building. Other hotel guests and employees were scattered around the front of the building.
She spied the front desk clerk and made a beeline toward him. She didn’t even have to ask her question, as he addressed a small clutch of people vying for his attention.
Raising his hands, he said, “I don’t know if there’s actually a fire in the hotel or not, but when the fire alarm goes off, everyone needs to evacuate and stay outside until the fire department comes, checks things out and gives us the all-clear signal. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. There are a few restaurants down the road still open, and you’re welcome to enjoy our beautiful dock on the bay while you wait.”
The sun had already set, but Jessica had grabbed her jacket on the way out, so she hugged it around her body and crossed the road to the water. She didn’t want to clomp all the way out to the dock, and she didn’t want to dangleher feet in the water again, so she clambered onto a pile of rocks that stood sentry on either side of the dock.
She brushed a layer of sand from the flat of one of the boulders and sat down. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sound of the water lapping against the wooden pilings of the dock.
Sand scuffled behind her, and she whipped her head around, almost colliding with a man’s leg. When she opened her mouth to scream, he fell against her back and clamped a rough hand over her mouth.
Chapter Seventeen
She wasn’t going down without a fight this time. She drove her elbow back, connecting with a kneecap.
The man grunted and his hand loosened on her mouth. She bit into the fleshy part of one finger, gritty with sand.
He yelped. “Ow! Jessica, let go. It’s me, Denny.”
She unclenched her teeth and spit into the sand. Then she jumped up from the rock and spun around, her fists raised.
Denny flinched and flapped his hand. “That hurt like hell. I think you broke the skin.”
She snarled. “Good! What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me and covering my mouth? You’re lucky my gun was stolen.” Glancing over his shoulder at the hotel parking lot, Denny tucked his scruffy hair behind his ear. “I didn’t want you screaming.”
“You could’ve called my name first.”
“Like I said, I didn’t want you screaming.” He flipped up his hood. “People think I killed Ashley. Do you think I killed her?”
“You’re not a suspect, Denny. You’re a person of interest. As far as I know, the police don’t have any evidence against you, but you are…were her boyfriend and lived there with her. They need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, they’re gonna talk to me, all right. ‘Your girlfriend was murdered ten years ago, Denny, and now you have another murdered girlfriend. Explain that while we lock you up.’”
Her breath returning to normal, she wedged her hands on her hips. “Did you pull the fire alarm in the hotel?”
“That was me.” He patted his scrawny chest. “I knew you were staying at this hotel. Saw you go out with that cop.”
“He’s not a cop.”