Page 11

L aura hurried toward the front desk. A raised voice had brought the lobby to a standstill and one of the front desk clerks seemed to shrink before a painfully thin platinum blonde whose designer handbag swung in a threatening motion. “I don’t want Bungalow Eighteen! My husband and I always stay in Bungalow Three! My last name is Colton, too, you know!”

At Laura’s side, Roland spoke briskly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Colton. The guard at the gate didn’t realize who she was until she was past the checkpoint.”

“It’s all right, Roland,” Laura assured him. Someone needed to rescue poor Clarissa from her stepmother’s rant. She picked up the pace to intercept.

“I can escort her out.”

“No, that will just make things worse.” Laura had never known her stepmother to visit without Clive or to make a scene. But she knew the indicators of escalation. She could feel the open curiosity and horror from people gathered around. “I can handle this.”

Alexis breezed in, planting herself behind the desk in front of Clarissa. “Ms. Colton,” she greeted Glenna smoothly. “How very nice to see you again.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Glenna snapped. “I’ve been on a plane for two hours. I want my bungalow!”

“Clarissa has informed you that Bungalow Three is currently occupied,” Alexis informed her. “If you had called ahead, we could have told you it wasn’t available.”

“I don’t care that it’s not available—”

“Ms. Colton, reservations are required for Mariposa’s bungalows,” Alexis went on. “We need at least six weeks to see to personal requests. This is a five-star resort. Not a fly-by-night motel. Because you showed up without prior notice, you will enjoy all the amenities Mariposa offers with a complimentary spa package from the comfort of Bungalow Eighteen or I can call Sedona’s Hampton Inn. I’m sure they’ll be happy to give you their best room.”

Glenna bristled. She hissed. But Laura saw the handbag droop as her arm dropped. “I see I’ve been painted into a corner.”

“No, ma’am,” Alexis said, her incisive gaze not leaving Glenna as Clarissa handed her the welcome package, complete with key card and spa vouchers. “Our policy is bungalow by reservation only. Anyone who behaves as you have is normally showed the door. And yet you are getting a key card and a free massage from Arizona’s very best masseur.” She thrust the envelope at Glenna. “We hope you enjoy your stay at Mariposa, Ms. Colton. If you need anything further, my name is Alexis Reed. I’ll be your concierge. My number’s in the packet. Please, do call me.”

Glenna took the envelope slowly, as if afraid the thing contained anthrax. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and strutted out the entry doors, no doubt to hail one of the golf cart operators to take her to her assigned bungalow.

People roamed the lobby freely again, and Laura approached the front desk. She caught Alexis’s eye and mouthed, You are my hero.

Alexis lifted both hands in a prayer pose and tipped her chin down.

“Drinks on me at L Bar tonight,” Laura told her.

Prayer pose turned into a discreet fist pump. Alexis stopped when the next check-in appointment came forward. Brushing Clarissa out of the way, she said, “Take five. I’ll handle this.”

“Thank you,” Clarissa breathed and practically fled. She looked at Laura. “I’m sorry, Ms. Colton. She just started yelling. I didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s all right,” Laura assured her. “Go to the break room. Brew a cup of tea. I believe Tallulah left a dish of brownies for everyone there. Come back in half an hour. I’ll help Alexis and Sasha cover the front desk.”

Clarissa lit up. “Thank you so much! I was doing the meditation classes with Allison. Since something happened to her, I’ve been out of sorts...”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Laura said. “This has been a difficult time for everyone.”

“People keep asking for yoga classes. I just keep handing them spa vouchers.”

“That’s the best we can do for now,” Laura reminded her.

“Any idea when a new yoga teacher is coming?”

Distress trickled down Laura’s spine. She hadn’t given a thought to hiring anyone else. It would be her responsibility to do so. “Not at this time.”

Clarissa nodded solemnly. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes, on the dot.”

As Clarissa speed-walked out of L Building, Laura pressed her hand to her stomach. The idea of putting out the call for a new yoga instructor, conducting interviews and placing genuine effort into finding a replacement for Allison made her feel sick.

Roland took her elbow. “Are you all right, Ms. Colton?”

She gave him a tight nod. “Sure. Please let me know if Glenna makes any more waves.”

“Will do,” he agreed. “I’m going into a briefing with Adam. Should I tell him she’s arrived?”

“Yes,” she said. “The snow’s melted off, so Josh is directing Jeep tours. He’ll be off property for the better part of the day. I’ll text him and warn him before he returns.”

Roland walked toward the offices but snapped his fingers and backtracked. “I’ve got something for you.”

“Oh?” Intrigued, she watched him dig a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “What’s this?”

“I ran into your friend Mr. Steele out by the stable earlier,” he revealed. “He said he was looking for you.”

Laura thought quickly, her fingers tightening reflexively around the note. “I did tell him to meet me there. I suppose I forgot.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Roland returned consolingly. “He was friendly enough.”

Laura tried not to laugh at Noah being referred to as “friendly.”

“He gave you this?”

“Yeah. He said he knows how busy you are. He knew I’d be seeing you, so he wanted me to pass along a message.”

“Thank you, Roland,” Laura said. When he nodded and walked away, Laura unfolded the small slip of paper and stared at the tidy, slightly slanted handwriting.

Pearl,

I missed you. There’s a new gelding here you need to check out. He’s calm and sweet, like you. His name’s Hero if you’re still interested in getting back on the horse. If you’re not busy later, meet me at L Bar at six. I’ll have a martini waiting.

Yours,

Noah

Laura lingered on the closing. Yours. She felt herself soften again.

The note hadn’t been sealed, which meant Roland could have easily read it. Noah would have guessed that. That was why he’d used the nickname he’d picked for her. Was that why he had invited her to drinks this evening? Or why he’d said such sweet things about the new gelding’s nature and her own?

She folded the note again, trying to shove the questions into a drawer. What she couldn’t ignore was how the written words had made the waves of sickness she’d felt moments before ease.

She made a mental note to drop by both Glenna’s bungalow for a chat and L Bar for a date.

L Bar hummed with activity. Still, the atmosphere felt comfortably intimate. Patrons hovered around high-topped tables or the long bar where the personable bartender, Valerie, built drafts and mixed cocktails.

“You’re Laura Colton’s man,” she guessed when he introduced himself.

“I am,” he said.

“How’d you manage that?”

He chuckled because she meant it more as a ribbing than an insult. And she had a point. “Beats the hell out of me.”

“Is she joining you tonight?” Valerie asked.

“I hope so,” he said, looking at the doors—as if he couldn’t wait for Laura’s arrival.

Who was he kidding? He’d glanced toward the doors half a dozen times already. “She’ll have a martini, dry. I’ll have a Corona and lime.”

“Coming right up,” she said as she built his beer. “You arrived just in time, if you ask me. The boss doesn’t burn the candle at both ends. She’s too smart for that. But word is, she’s broken up about what happened.”

“You’re right.” He tried to think how to broach the subject without drawing eavesdroppers into the conversation. “You never forget the shock when something happens like that. I lost a friend of mine a few years back. It’s tough.”

Valerie passed the beer to him. She grabbed a cocktail shaker for Laura’s martini. “I don’t think anyone who knew Allison will get over it.”

Noah folded his arms on the bar. He allowed his shoulders to droop over them. “I don’t think anyone ever really gets over it. I’ll never forget what I was doing when I heard the news about my buddy.”

“I won’t forget either,” Valerie replied. “I closed the bar that night same as always. It was close to the weekend, so it was open later than it is on weekdays. My roommate woke me up the next morning with a phone call from Laura. That’s who hired me and everybody else. If there’s a staff bulletin, she makes sure everyone knows about it. Even those of us who aren’t scheduled to come in until later. That must’ve made things harder for her—having to call around and deliver the news to all the staff.”

Noah nodded. He made a mental note to track down Valerie’s roommate and confirm that she had been home around the time of Allison’s death.

“I’m glad she has someone,” Valerie mentioned as she poured the cocktail into a martini glass. She topped it with an olive. “You’re a real sweetheart for being there for her.”

He flashed a smile. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Is your band coming to Arizona soon?” Valerie asked. “I’d like to check it out.”

“I’ll have to check our schedule,” he said. “We’re taking a break right now. We’ve been touring for a while.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” she advised. “Nobody knows more about burning the candle at both ends like a genuine rock-and-roll superstar.”

“I’m no superstar,” he said.

Valerie leaned toward him over the bar, lowering her voice. “Her stepmother showed up this afternoon.”

He searched his memory files for a name. “Glenna?”

“That’s the one. Made quite a scene at the front desk. I hear there’s trouble with her father, too. She and her brothers turned down his request for a loan. Now he may be out for blood.”

Lifting the beer to his mouth, he made a noncommittal sound.

“That’s how the old man operates, from what I understand,” Valerie said, easing back with a shrug. “He never gave a hoot for his kids. But when the chips are down...”

“How else do you expect an eel to operate?” Noah groaned.

Valerie laughed. “Hey, it was nice to meet you.”

He dipped his head. “Nice to meet you, too.” Backing away with the drinks, he let her move on to the next customer. He saw the empty table in the back corner and made a beeline for it.

Laura arrived moments later in another fur-trimmed jacket—this one camel-colored. It looked as soft as he knew her skin to be. The hem floated around her knees. She stopped to speak to Valerie for a moment, then let a guest snag her attention. She passed around smiles and assurances in a manner any PR representative would have admired.

The smile didn’t dim when she found him lurking at the back table. “I’m behind schedule,” she said when she reached him. “I apologize.”

“No need,” he said, standing to take her coat as she slipped it from her shoulders.

Her bare shoulders. Christ , he thought, seeing the delicate ledge of her clavicle on display above the off-the-shoulder blouse. Every lover-like thing he could have said seemed too real. Too sincere.

You’re a knockout...

I am the envy of every man in this room...

What the hell are you doing with me, Pearl?

He held out her chair for her. When she settled, smoothing the pleat of the sunshine-yellow linen slacks she wore, he draped her jacket on the chair behind her. And, because this was L Bar—because he could feel every Tom, Dick, Harry and Valerie watching—he took her shoulders.

She turned her head slightly, and he felt her spine straighten.

He told himself it was all for show as he dropped his mouth to her ear. “I’d’ve waited,” he murmured for her. “I’d’ve waited all goddamn night for you, Colton.” Even as he chastised himself for being a moonstruck moron, he closed his lips over the perfumed place beneath her lobe.

She tilted her head. Not to shy away. He knew it when she released an infinitesimal sigh, when her pulse fluttered against the brush of his mouth as he lingered, sipping her skin like a hummingbird. He cupped the other side of her face as she presented him with the regal column of her throat.

Her shiver pulled him back. It roped him to the present, to what was real and what wasn’t. He wrenched himself away, watching his hands slide from her skin. “You’re better at this game than I am,” he muttered before slinking off to his chair where he belonged.

She watched him as he set the martini in front of her and tipped the beer up. It took her several minutes to taste her drink, sipping in a ladylike fashion that drove him to distraction.

“What kept you?” he wondered aloud.

She set the glass down without a sound. “My stepmother arrived unexpectedly this afternoon and was disgruntled when she didn’t receive the VIP treatment she thought she deserved.”

“It fell to you to unruffle her feathers?” he asked. “Don’t you have enough to handle?”

“Glenna’s family,” she said cautiously. “At first, I thought their marriage was more business than anything. Her and Clive’s courtship happened swiftly. Before we knew it, they were married. But I know Glenna takes care of him. He’s getting older. When they married, I won’t lie and say I wasn’t relieved.”

“Because that meant he was no longer your responsibility.”

She winced. “Does that make me callous?”

“Not if the rumors about Clive Colton are true,” he said. “Not if he only comes to you and your brothers for money.”

Her gaze riveted to his. “How do you know about that?”

“I’ve spoken to over half your staff over the last few days,” he reminded her. “While they respect you, Adam and Joshua, they talk.”

She looked away, noting those at the surrounding tables. In a self-conscious move, she ran her fingers through her straight-line bob.

He wanted to tell her how surprised he’d been by the loyalty of her employees—how the ones who knew about Clive’s recent visit to Mariposa had sided with the siblings, bar none. Not one disparaging word had been spoken about Adam, Laura or Joshua. Noah knew that had nothing to do with the nondisclosure documents everyone had signed and everything to do with how Mariposa was run, how staff were treated, and how devoted the Coltons were to the resort and the people who worked for them.

She wasn’t the princess of Mariposa; she was the queen, and her subjects loved her dearly.

She sighed. “I just want to know why she showed up without warning. Why she came alone. Her behavior is outside the realm of anything I’ve seen.”

“Breaks in patterns of behavior are tells,” he advised. “Dig deeper and you’ll find a motive.”

“Have you made any headway in the investigation?”

“I have a short list of people with no alibis.”

“Who?”

He tried dousing the question with a warning look.

She braced one elbow on the table’s edge, rested her chin on her hand and leaned in. From the outside, it looked intimate. Especially when her eyes roved the seam of his mouth. “Are we still in this together, Noah?” she murmured.

He, too, leaned in, setting both arms on the table. He hunched his shoulders toward the point of hers. Wanting to rattle her chain as much as she was rattling him tonight, he dipped his gaze first over her smooth throat. Then lower to the straight line of her bodice. For a split second, he wondered what was keeping it in place. The curves of her breasts were visible, and she wore no necklaces to detract from the display. The effect made him lightheaded, slightly giddy. Did L Bar have an antigravity switch?

His gaze roamed back to hers and latched on. He was half-wild with need. The effort to steer his mind back to the investigation and Allison felt arduous.

Frustration flooded him, anger nipping at its heels. Damn it. It shouldn’t be this easy to make him forget why he was there. “Why didn’t you tell me Allison was giving private lessons to guests in their bungalows?”

Her eyes widened. “She...what?”

“I thought you were her friend,” he hissed. “You say you knew her. How could you not have known what she was doing?”

Laura’s lips parted. “She didn’t tell me.”

“I’m supposed to believe that?”

Her eyes heated. “Do you really think so little of me?”

“Adam knew.”

She gripped the stem of the martini glass. “Why did neither of them think to involve me?”

“You’ll have to take that up with your brother. He said she had three clients the week of her death, two the day she died. I need to know who they were.”

“I don’t have that information,” she said coolly, pulling away from him. “You didn’t answer my question.”

She’d asked about his list of suspects. “You won’t like it.”

“It’s a little late to spare my feelings,” she informed him.

Remorse chased off his anger. He fell prey to so many mixed emotions around her, and it floored him. He’d never known anyone who could make him feel like this.

“Tallulah,” he said.

She laughed shortly, without humor. “If she’s at the top of your list, you’re reaching.”

“Erica Pike,” he continued. “Knox Burnett. Adam. Joshua. You.”

Laura stiffened. “Me?”

“You don’t have an alibi for the time in question,” he said. “Not one anyone can corroborate. I can’t cross you or the others off my list until you give me one.”

“I’m a suspect.” On the outside, she was all ice. “This may be the worst date I’ve ever had.”

“It’s not personal, Laura.”

“No,” she agreed. “You’ve made that very clear. Haven’t you? And it’s surprising.”

“What is?”

“That a guy like you can be so by the book.”

He felt a muscle in his jaw flex. “A guy like me?” he repeated.

“You don’t really think I hurt her,” she said.

“No, I don’t thi—” Fumbling, he course-corrected quickly. “That’s not the—”

“You don’t really think my brothers killed Allison either,” she surmised.

He caught his teeth gnashing together and stopped them before he ground his molars down to the roots. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I go where the facts are.”

“Speculation figures into detective work,” she said. “I’ve read enough true crime to know that. What would be Adam or Josh’s reason for drugging our yoga instructor? For that matter, why would Tallulah or Erica do such a thing?”

“I don’t have motive,” he said. “Just a list of people who claim to be sleeping at the time of her death.”

“You’ve ruled guests out?”

“No,” he said. He tossed a look toward a man in an open-collared shirt who was lifting a glass of whiskey in a toast to Valerie. “Roger Ferraday doesn’t seem to know where he was or what he was doing during the night in question. As it sits, he’s Fulton’s chief suspect.”

“Ferraday,” Laura said numbly. “He’s staying here with his teenage son, Dayton.”

“Who has a list of hushed-up misdemeanors back home in Hartford,” Noah revealed, tipping his beer to his mouth to drain the glass.

“He’s fifteen,” she said.

“Doesn’t make him or Daddy innocent,” Noah told her. “I’m also taking a look at CJ Knight.”

Her gaze pinged to his, alarmed.

He narrowed his eyes. “Does that name ring a bell?”

“Yes,” she said. “He left the morning Allison’s body was discovered. We haven’t been able to reach his manager to find out why.”

“DeGraw won’t return my calls either.”

“CJ Knight was one of Allison’s repeat students,” she whispered. “And I understand he has Bungalow One booked again after Valentine’s Day.”

“Think he’ll show up?”

“I can’t say at this point.”

“If he keeps his booking, I want to know the second he checks in.”

She rubbed her hand over her arm, discomfited. “I don’t know how you do this—look at everyone...every person without an alibi and peel back the layers to see which one of them has murder written on their heart.”

“With some people, it doesn’t leave a mark,” he said. “For some people, killing is in their nature.”

“God,” she said with a shiver.

“There are those, too, who don’t seek to harm others,” he said. “They start small and escalate. Or they claim it was an accident. Throw in the occasional plea of insanity.”

“It must do something to you,” she said, “to do this every day. To look at the dead.”

“You get used to it.”

“Do you ever have trouble sleeping?”

All the time , he thought. He didn’t grimace, but it was a near thing. “Somebody’s got to speak for them. The victims. Somebody’s got to fight for them.”

Her expression softened at long last. “My brothers took you running this morning.”

He rolled his eyes. “If that’s how they treat all your suitors, I’m starting to understand how so many dickheads slipped through the cracks.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning if they wanted to warn someone off, they wouldn’t do it at first light. They’d do it at night. They’d rustle them out of bed, blindfold them and drop them off in the middle of the desert. See if they can make it back on their own before daybreak.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve done this before?”

“I plead the Fifth.”

“Is this why none of Allison’s boyfriends ever lasted all that long?” she asked.

Before he could answer, he spotted Alexis cutting through the crowd. “I think your friend’s looking for you.”

Laura turned and waved. “I wasn’t sure if you’d join us,” she said. “I’ll fetch a glass of white for you.”

“Not just yet,” Alexis said. She placed her hand on Laura’s. “We have a situation.”

Laura’s smile dropped like a stone. “What kind of situation?”

“There’s been a leak,” Alexis answered. “There’s a van from the local news station at the gate and the front desk is getting calls. It’s about Allison.”

Laura rose quickly. “Does Adam know?”

“Yes,” Alexis said. “He’s waiting in his office.”

“Tell Roland to delay the news crew at the gate as long as possible while Adam and I reassess,” she said. “We’ll need at least ten minutes to shift into damage-control mode.”

“I’m on it,” Alexis assured her. “Who could have done this? Who would have talked to the press?”

Laura shifted her eyes to Noah.

He understood the question she was asking. “Leave it with me.”

She nodded shortly. “I have to go.”

“Go,” he urged. When she leaned in, he did the unthinkable. She’d meant her pursed lips to skim his bearded cheek. He turned his head automatically and caught the kiss on the mouth.

Her hand gripped his arm. Her fingers dug through his sleeve.

Again, he didn’t think. If he had, he wouldn’t have opened his mouth. Her eyes watched his. He didn’t close his either as he grazed his teeth lightly over her round bottom lip.

A noise escaped her. He pulled back. The heat refused to bank. His heart racked his ribs.

She stared at him, as shocked as he was.

Did she feel the heat, too?

Alexis said her name. Laura blinked. She backed away from him, turned, and followed Alexis to the doors and out.

He caught the curious looks he’d earned from those around him. Turning away, he saw the jacket Laura had left on the back of her chair.

Noah dug the cash out of his pocket, dropped it on the table, gathered the coat and left to fade into the night.