Page 9 of The Claiming of the Shrew (Fated Mountain Lodge #4)

LEAH

For the first couple of hours, the rehearsal kept Leah too busy to think about anything else—including Fawkes, who amiably wandered about, obeying the barked orders of various people telling him to fetch that, bring this, carry the other thing.

Leah checked all the flying rigs carefully, especially Gloria’s, since most of the flight sequences were Peter Pan’s.

The other actors had to fly occasionally, but Gloria was in the harness a lot, and if anyone had it in for the production or its star, she was likely to be a target.

“For whatever it’s worth, I don’t think it’s personally aimed at you,” Leah said, checking the straps around Gloria’s waist and shoulders for the twentieth time.

“I wish I had a flying shift form,” Gloria said anxiously.

She shifted into a rhinoceros, which she found mildly embarrassing.

In this particular case, Leah had to admit it was dangerous not just for her but for everyone around her.

“Something swift and graceful and winged. If I go sailing into a tree face-first?—”

“You’ll be fine,” Leah said, thinking, but not adding, Shifter healing will repair the damage in no time, at least if you manage not to turn into a rhino mid-fall.

But the test run of the effects went off without problems, including the flight harnesses and fireworks around the pirate ship battle. After that there wasn’t much for Leah to do.

“I’m gonna go run lines, Maggie,” Leah called. “In the lodge.”

Maggie grunted a response. She was busy helping Alana with the blocking on the pirate ship fight.

Leah found and rescued Fawkes in the costume trailer, where evidently he had been put to work sorting out pirate hats.

“There is an absolutely insane amount of work that goes into these things,” Fawkes remarked as they headed over to the lodge. “I had no idea.”

“Yeah, there is. Quick, let’s escape before anyone sees us and gives us a job to do.”

“Why are we escaping, exactly?”

“Because,” Leah said with a furtive glance around, “everyone is here, on set, and absolutely nobody is in their rooms or trailers. Perfect skulking conditions.”

“Goodness, you’re sneaky,” Fawkes said admiringly.

“Wait’ll you see what I’m going to be sneaky about next.”

The front desk was unstaffed at the moment, with Hester presumably busy somewhere around the lodge.

There were a couple of people in the lobby, guests who were not members of the troupe.

No one was paying much attention to them.

Leah made a beeline for the desk, flipped open the guest ledger, and took a few pictures with her phone.

Fawkes stood in front of the desk, leaned on it, and tried to look casual.

Then she kept going, around the other end of the desk. The whole thing took a minute or less.

“How’s that?” Leah murmured.

“Amazing,” Fawkes muttered back. His eyes sparkled.

“Can we go up to your room? I don’t really want to use my campsite for a base of operations; it’s too public.”

It was only once they reached Fawkes’s door that she fully realized, her cheeks heating, that they were about to be alone in his room. The honeymoon suite, to be specific. Oh well, they were both adults. Adult mates , if her shrew had anything to say about it.

“Fawkes,” she began, as he unlocked the door, just as Fawkes said, “Do you?—”

There was a brief pause.

“Go on,” he said.

“Not important. After you?”

They went in, and Leah stared around her in surprise as her eyeballs were assaulted with a vast array of pink and white.

“Oh yeah,” Fawkes said, slightly embarrassed. “It’s the honeymoon suite.”

“It sure is.” She had been too distracted by being suspicious last night to actually notice what it looked like.

There was an absolutely enormous bed with a heart-shaped headboard and enough pink, white, and red pillows to fill a bathtub.

The covers were rucked back, and there was a suitcase open on the floor with assorted items pulled out. Fawkes was not a tidy housekeeper.

“Yeah, it’s expensive, but it was just about the last room they had left. We’re billing the client, anyway.”

“Who exactly is your client?”

“That’s confidential, but all you need to know is that it’s a rich lady who had a few pieces go missing at a benefit gala.”

“Bummer,” Leah said. “What makes you think the thief is here?”

“Because the benefit was for the city’s theater scene.”

“Oh, wait, are you talking about the silent auction last winter?” Her eyes flew wide. A number of people from the theater troupe had been there, including most of the actors. Leah hadn’t been able to go because she had to work. “I didn’t know anything was stolen from that.”

“Yes, two of the pieces that were supposed to go up for auction. She wanted to keep it on the down low and our agency has done some work for her before, insurance investigation and that sort of thing, so she contracted us to look into it. What we found is that this isn’t the first time your theater troupe has been associated with thefts of small, valuable items in their general vicinity. ”

“That’s ridiculous,” Leah said, scowling. “And it’s an awful, stupid stereotype anyway, from the days when being in show business was supposed to be less than reputable. Theater people are no more likely to be shady than the general population.”

“I’m not saying they are, but there’s definitely something going on. Maybe someone else suspects the Menagerie, as well. Your sets could have been attacked by a person wanting revenge. Have you had any incidents like the damaged sets before?”

“No!” Leah said. She plunked down on the bed, displacing a couple of pink and white pillows, then picked up a pillow and hugged it. “This is awful.”

“And that’s why we need to find the thief quickly, so we can clear the innocent. The missing pieces are a necklace set with emeralds, and a diamond choker. So keep an eye open for anyone wearing something like that.”

“Good luck with that. Nobody in the Menagerie has anything that’s not made out of rhinestones or glass.

” But even as she said it, Leah was thinking that she had seen Gloria wear some pretty nice jewelry now and then.

And Gloria was definitely one of the people who had been at the benefit last winter . ..

Fawkes sat beside her on the bed. “What were you taking pictures of?”

Leah shook off her doubts and opened her phone’s gallery. She still felt the tiniest bit irrationally disappointed that Fawkes seemed to be one of the good guys instead of a jewel thief himself. True, it would have made everything incredibly awkward, but he would be a very sexy jewel thief.

“Most of the crew are staying out in the campground,” she said, using her fingers to enlarge the photos.

“But a number of people have rooms in the hotel, for the running water and amenities. I know Gloria does, and I think Maggie does. Oh yeah, here she is. Second floor. And Gloria’s on the second floor too.

Do you have something to take notes with? ”

Fawkes grabbed a pad of hotel stationery and a pen. Leah went down the list, reading off names of people she recognized from the cast or crew. Fawkes sat next to her with his shoulder touching hers, smelling amazing and writing them down.

When they were done, Leah sighed, looking at the list.

“This is going to be a big job. Where did you go last night, anyway?”

“Snooped around the campsites, mostly. And before you ask, I didn’t see anything suspicious, but also, there were people up and down all night, walking between campsites or headed over to the hotel to use the bathrooms.”

“Surely someone must have seen something .”

“I asked questions while I was running errands today,” Fawkes said. “Hopefully not too suspiciously, just from the point of view of a curious observer.” He snorted. “At least two people said they saw a raccoon. One of them got a picture of me.”

“Your five minutes of fame as local wildlife.”

“The entire camping area is full of local wildlife. We’ve got enough wildlife here to fill a zoo.”

Leah stood up, one hand on the headboard, to look out the window. “The zoo is still full, but maybe not for long. Let’s get rolling.” She grinned. “Literally.”

“So what’s the plan here? You squirm under the door, and then—question mark, profit?”

“I got that reference,” Leah said dryly. “But ... yeah, you’re right. My shrewmobile won’t fit under the door. Okay, how about this? I slide under the door, open the door from the inside, and let you in.”

“You’re a shrew,” Fawkes said. “Shrews can’t manipulate doorknobs.”

“I’m a shrew who can turn into a person, you walnut. I have hands.”

Fawkes flushed adorably, turning pink from the collar upward. “Right. Let’s do it.”

They started with the room closest to Fawkes, occupied by an actress named Sally who played Mrs. Darling and several other minor roles in the play, as well as helping with costumes.

She had also been at the benefit. Leah couldn’t remember exactly who all had been there, but she knew most of the actors had.

Leah knocked firmly on the door, then when no answer came from inside, handed her purse and crutches to Fawkes.

Fawkes glanced over his shoulder. The hallway was empty, but he could hear voices downstairs. “Be quick. I’m not exactly inconspicuous standing here like this.”

“The complaining ‘round these parts, I swear.” Leah shifted, and then she was falling, the world turning dark as she ended up in a giant mound of enormous clothing.

She was aware of the quickening of her heartbeat, the sudden intensity of smells, the way that sounds became oddly distorted by size and distance.

Her dark prison was abruptly flooded with light.

Looking up in alarm, she saw something vast hovering above her.

Fawkes had lifted away a handful of clothing, exposing her to light.

A great hand, the size of a semi truck, shifted some more things away, clearing her a path to a door so huge that it filled the world.