Page 103 of Tightrope

“What’s wrong?” he said. “... All right. I’m on my way.”

Amalie watched him hang up the phone.

“Is there a problem?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Matthias said. “Luther said he got a coded telegram telling him to expect a call from the head of the Accounting Department this afternoon. He wants to talk to me first.”

“Why?”

Matthias flashed one of his rare grins. “First rule of intelligence work. Get your cover story straight.”

He was enjoying himself, Amalie thought. He was no longer drifting. He was a man with a plan.

“What about your scheme to stay in Burning Cove?” she asked.

“Why don’t we go to the Burning Cove Hotel for dinner tonight and discuss my future? How does that sound?

“That sounds lovely,” she said. “Like a real date.”

“About time we had one of those.”

Matthias pulled her close and kissed her hard and fast, and then he was out the door.

A man with a plan.

Chapter 56

Amalie returned from grocery shopping just as Hazel and Willa ushered the last members of the afternoon tour out the door. She brought the Hudson convertible to a stop in the driveway in front of the entrance to the inn and got out from behind the wheel. There was no sign of the Packard. Evidently Matthias was still meeting with Luther.

“Another successful tour,” Hazel announced. “Slapping that big gold star and Vincent Hyde’s name on his room was a stroke of sheer genius, by the way.”

“Everyone loved knowing that they were walking past a room that was currently occupied by a real movie star,” Willa added. “We need to work on getting more famous actors to stay here.”

“That might not be easy,” Amalie warned. “We’ve got stiff competition. The Burning Cove Hotel is the first choice for most of the Hollywood crowd.”

“Sure, but there will be times when the Burning Cove will be booked solid. We can grab the overflow,” Willa said, undaunted.

“Or we could push the gangster angle harder,” Hazel said. “I can see the ads now.Vacation at the inn that is the first choice of celebrity mobsters.”

Amalie glared at her. “That is not funny.”

Hazel and Willa both looked at her in surprise.

“I was just joking,” Hazel said.

“I know.” Amalie opened the trunk of the coupe. “Guess I’m still a little tense. It’s been a stressful week. Why don’t you two make yourselves useful and give me a hand with the groceries?”

“Sure,” Willa said. She hurried to the Hudson and scooped up one of the paper sacks. “The good news is that while you were gone this afternoon we got a bunch of new reservations.”

Amalie hoisted the second grocery sack and closed the trunk. “For the tour?”

“Nope,” Hazel said. “Actual room bookings. Evidently our little inn has become fashionable, thanks in large part to Lorraine Pierce.”

Willa headed toward the front door. “Do we know what happened to her, by the way?”

Amalie followed Willa into the hall. “Matthias told me that the FBI collected her from the Burning Cove jail late this morning.”

Hazel trailed after Amalie and Willa. “Hard to believe she shot a man in cold blood. She’s a gossip columnist, for heaven’s sake. She’s probably guilty of murdering a few careers over the years but it’s bizarre to think she actually killed someone.”