Honeymoon for murder, p.1
Honeymoon For Murder, page 1
part #8 of Lighthouse Inn Series
HONEYMOON FOR MURDER
By
TIM MYERS
Lighthouse Inn Mystery #8
HONEYMOON FOR MURDER
By Tim Myers
Copyright © 2017 Tim Myers
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Honeymoon For Murder (The Lighthouse Inn Mysteries, #8)
Books by Tim Myers | Lighthouse Mystery Series
Candlemaking Series
Soapmaking Series
Cardmaking Series
Slow Cooker Mysteries
Standalone Cozy Mysteries
Paranormal Adult
Romantic Fantasy
Suspense
Short Story Collections
Middle-Grade Readers
Young Adult Mysteries
Young Adult Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Books by Tim Myers writing as Chris Cavender | Pizza Mystery Series
Books by Tim Myers writing as Casey Mayes | Mystery By The Numbers
To Patty and Emily.
I wouldn’t be writing this one without you both!
Alex and Elise go away to Bear Creek Lodge for their honeymoon, but instead of a relaxing time, they quickly discover that someone died in the room next to them recently. Was it suicide, as the police suspect, or murder, as the newlyweds begin to believe? Their investigation covers the guests at the lodge as well as a new array of eclectic townsfolk, and they soon discover that there is a great deal more going on at Bear Creek than they ever would have suspected.
Chapter 1
It was supposed to be the honeymoon of their dreams.
Instead, it turned out to be a nightmare that Alex and Elise Danton Winston, newly married and very much in love, nearly didn’t survive.
“Alex, I can’t believe we were lucky enough to get a room at the Bear Creek Lodge on such short notice,” Elise Danton Winston told her brand-new husband as they drove closer and closer to the mountain complex where they were about to spend their honeymoon.
“Honestly, luck didn’t have much to do with it. Charlie Granger owed me a favor, and I finally decided to cash in on it,” Alex told Elise as he patted her knee lightly. Despite what others in Elkton Falls might have thought about Alex’s battered old pickup truck, he knew that it would deliver them safely to their destination, and so far, it had done an admirable job getting them to the lodge. “It pays to have friends in high places, doesn’t it?” he asked with a chuckle.
“I’ll say. I’ve read about this place online, and it looks magnificent. What exactly did you do for the innkeeper, Alex?” Elise asked. They were currently four hours away from their beloved Hatteras West Lighthouse Inn back in North Carolina, driving deeper and deeper into the Tennessee Mountains toward their goal. When they’d been forced to delay their scheduled honeymoon due to a murder in the family, they had convinced Elise’s parents to take the trip instead. The older couple had enjoyed themselves immensely, and they were both now back at their own inn in West Virginia.
“We’ve known each other for a while now, at least by phone,” Alex explained. “Charlie bought Bear Creek Lodge long after I’d been running Hatteras West. Belinda Sheen was his first guest three years ago, as a matter of fact.”
Elise smiled at the mention of Belinda’s name. “Wow, that woman really loves to travel, doesn’t she?”
“Given the limited nature of her chosen territory, she does manage to get around,” Alex said with a smile. Belinda had a quirky requirement for traveling, which wasn’t all that unusual in and of itself, at least for folks who liked to stay at Hatteras West. The only condition Belinda insisted upon was that her destination had to always be south of the Mason Dixon Line. Alex had asked her about it once, and she’d told him that she had nothing against northerners; she simply couldn’t stand the way they drank their tea. If it didn’t ooze out of the pitcher due to its high sugar content, Belinda was simply not interested in drinking it, and the woman loved her tea nearly as much as another guest of theirs did, an older man named Evans Graile who stayed with them frequently when he was in the country, even though he lived near the inn.
“So, what does Belinda have to do with how you two got acquainted?” Elise asked him.
“Let’s just say that Charlie’s opening weekend was less than spectacular. Whatever could go wrong did. His chef quit on opening day, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the cook happened to be married to his only maid. They both stormed off in a huff and left him high and dry. Charlie was ready to throw in the towel when Belinda convinced him to call me before he gave up.”
“What could you possibly tell him to get him calmed down enough to listen to anything you had to say?” Elise asked him. “Alex, I know how easy you are to talk to, but I can’t imagine Charlie being very receptive to a stranger’s advice, given the circumstances.”
“That’s the thing, though. I started telling him about some of my past failures as an innkeeper, all conveyed in humorous form of course, and I had him laughing soon enough. After that, I was able to give him some solid advice, both short term and long, and we became friends, at least via the telephone. The truth is, we’ve never met, at least not face to face.”
“Why ever not?” Elise asked him.
“It’s simple enough to answer. We’re both innkeepers,” Alex said with a smile. As Elise nodded in understanding, he asked her, “When was the last time your parents took a vacation, besides our honeymoon, I mean?”
“I think I was in second grade, but it might have been third,” she admitted.
That brought up something he’d been meaning to discuss with her, and this was as good a time as any. “Elise, do you mind that we won’t be traveling much once we get back from our honeymoon?” Alex asked her. “I don’t have to tell you how demanding Hatteras West can be.”
Alex’s bride snuggled as close to him as she could manage, given that her seatbelt was still engaged. “Alex Winston, being with you at our lighthouse inn for the rest of my life is all that I want.”
Alex smiled at her quickly before looking at the road again. It was too treacherous for him to allow himself to be distracted for more than a single second. This was no interstate they were on now. In fact, it was barely even paved. Charlie’s lodge was secluded; there was no doubt about that. But that was what Alex had wanted, a chance to get to know his bride in a brand-new setting without a lot of distraction or interference. When he’d made his request to Charlie for a room, his friend had been delighted to host them. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I do, too,” he said.
“The turnoff has got to be coming up soon, doesn’t it?” Elise asked as she peered at the map unfolded in her lap. Charlie had warned Alex that GPS was unreliable around the lodge, and it was nearly impossible to get a cell phone signal in the mountains they were in. That was fine with Alex. If there was trouble at Hatteras West while they were away, he didn’t want to know about it. There shouldn’t be, though, since they hadn’t booked any guests, but Emma and her husband, Mor—who also happened to be Alex’s best friend—were staying at the inn while they were gone just for good measure.
“It should be around here somewhere. How does anyone ever find him? We get complaints about Hatteras West being isolated, but this is crazy,” Alex said, and then he spotted one of the signs they’d been instructed to look for. It was a cut-out piece of plywood twelve inches wide by six inches tall in the shape of a black bear. Within it, there was an arrow pointing to an offcut road just after they had to go over a small, shaky-looking bridge. Alex had to slow down, or he knew that he’d miss the turn altogether.
As they drove the last two miles down what was little more than a beaten path in the woods, Elise said, “Wow, when he said his place was secluded, he really meant it.”
“We could always find a hotel in Knoxville or Gatlinburg, if you don’t want to spend our honeymoon out here in the sticks,” Alex offered. There was nothing wrong with big cities in his mind, but he didn’t relish spending his honeymoon amongst crowds of other people. Still, if that was what Elise wanted, he’d do it, with no questions asked.
After frowning for a moment, Elise spoke. “Honestly, places like that are a bit too crowded for me, too, but if you want to go, I’m okay with it,” she said tentatively.
Alex laughed for a moment before he spoke again. “Elise, we need to stop tiptoeing around each other. Just because we’re married now doesn’t mean that things have to change between us.”
She joined him in his laughter, and Alex could feel the tension pour out of them both. “I know,” she said. “I’m just not sure how to act around you now that we’re actually married. I’ve never had a husband before.”
“I’ve never had a wife, either. Don’t change a thing, and we’ll be good,” Alex said as he suddenly jerked the wheel hard. The left front wheel left the path, and he narrowly avoided hitting a large tree.
“What just happened?” Elise asked after he got them straightened out again and back on the path.
“Did yo
“See what? What was it, Alex?” she asked. “Honestly, I was looking at you, not the road.”
“It all happened so fast I couldn’t even say whether it was a man or a woman, but whoever it was came out of nowhere and jumped right in front of the truck,” Alex said, slowing down even more and glancing in his rearview mirror to see if he could get a good look at whoever it was that he had almost struck.
“You didn’t hit them though, did you? Of course you didn’t. We would have felt something. Let’s just keep going,” Elise said worriedly as she looked up at the sky. Though it was barely past five, darkness was already beginning to creep into the world. The road had been difficult enough to negotiate in the daytime. Alex couldn’t imagine how tough it would be traversing it at night. The mountains effectively cut off a great deal of their sunlight, and Alex found himself wishing that someone had built a lighthouse in the mountains there as well. Hatteras West was unique, though, and for very good reason. Building it had been an expensive and massive undertaking, one that his ancestor would never have tackled if it hadn’t been for his homesick bride. Alex had often wondered about the enormity of the undertaking when he’d been a bachelor, but now it made perfect sense to him. There was nothing, and he meant absolutely nothing, that he wouldn’t do for Elise, including building a tower of her own just for her, if that was what she needed to be happy.
They rounded another bend, and Alex slowed as he passed through two trees that were perched extremely close to the road. He hadn’t realized that he’d been holding his breath until they made it safely through.
Finally, they were there at last. As Alex pulled into the gravel parking area, he saw a man standing outside on the porch of the massive lodge. The moment he saw their truck, he grinned and began to wave as he walked toward them. Alex had seen a few pictures on the lodge’s website, so he knew that they were being greeted by none other than the owner himself.
Alex got out, and after he held Elise’s door for her, he turned to their host. “I’m happy to finally get to meet you,” he said as he extended his hand.
“The same goes for me, tripled,” Charlie said as he shook it vigorously. He was a slight man, barely over five and a half feet tall, and Alex doubted that he weighed more than a hundred and fifty pounds. He was rugged looking though, with dark-brown hair, a manly bushy beard, and arms that were bristling with muscles. His handshake could have been crippling if he’d wanted it to, but there was nothing but warmth in it for Alex.
After they shook hands, Charlie said, “I can’t tell you how happy I am you called, you two.” He turned from Alex and offered a hand to Elise. “You must be Elise. I hope you realize how lucky you are having this man in your life.”
“As a matter of fact, I’m well aware of it,” she said with a smile. “This place is amazing.”
Alex glanced at the lodge and nodded in agreement. The building was elegant and yet rustic at the same time. Wooden beams lined the front, and the exterior was made up of weathered gray shingles and large expanses of glass and stone. It looked as though it belonged more on the coast of Maine than buried in the Tennessee mountains.
Charlie nodded with barely a glance back himself. “The original owner grew up on the east coast, and he first built this as a retreat for him and his family before it was converted into a lodge.”
“How many rooms do you have?” Elise wondered.
“Eight when we’re fully occupied,” Charlie replied.
“Is that all? How do you manage to turn a profit?” she asked him curiously.
Alex chuckled. “No shop talk, Elise. We agreed.”
“Sorry,” she apologized, blushing slightly.
“Are you kidding? I love it,” Charlie answered. He might have been small in stature, but there was nothing tiny about his laugh or his smile. He turned to Elise and explained, “The way we do it is we charge premium prices and serve the best food you can imagine.”
“Do you have any trouble getting guests?” Alex asked. He couldn’t help himself. The innkeeper in him was always searching for ways to make Hatteras West more profitable without making any basic changes in the small-town services he provided for their visitors.
“I know it’s remote,” Charlie said with a grin. “I took your advice though, and it’s really paid off.”
Alex frowned. “My advice? What did I say?”
“You told me to find a way to turn all of my negatives into positives. I realized that other lodges were closer to amenities than I was, so I focused on emphasizing the remoteness of the location. The lack of cell phone service was a puzzler at first, but then I realized that in this connected world, there would be people who would pay top dollar for the privilege of being beyond the reach of computer connections and cell phone service.”
“There’s really a market for that?” Elise asked him.
“You’d be amazed,” Charlie said. “Now, let’s get your bags so we can get you settled in before dinner. I’m sorry I don’t have a honeymoon suite on the premises to offer you.”
“Hey, we’re just happy you have room for us,” Alex said.
His friend’s face clouded over for a second before he answered. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to be a problem, at least not at the moment.”
“Why? What’s wrong? Has something happened?” Alex asked him, concerned by his friend’s troubled expression.
Charlie started to reply when someone called to them from the road. A large older woman sporting an angry scowl came storming up to them, and she didn’t stop until she was inches from Alex’s face. She wore tweeds and heavy hiking boots, and she had a hat perched on her head that had seen better days. “Were you trying to kill me back there, you maniac?”
“Helen, take it easy,” Charlie said, trying to calm the woman.
“I will not. I was minding my own business when this terror nearly ran me down in his truck, and I demand an explanation,” she insisted.
Alex knew how to deal with bullies, which this woman clearly appeared to be. “You’re lucky I didn’t hit you. Why did you just jump out in front of my truck like that? That’s a blind turn in the road, and it’s amazing I didn’t plow you down. Do you have a death wish or something?”
They held each other’s gaze for a few long, tortuous moments, until Helen finally broke the contact, barking out a laugh. “You’d think so after how stupid I just was, wouldn’t you?” She slapped Alex on the back. “You know what? You’re right. I was wrong. I like you.”
“Thanks?” Alex asked, not sure if it was something he should be happy about or not. Her sudden change of attitude had caught him off guard.
“Trust me, it’s a good thing,” Helen said. “When I’m not being shackled to this place, I run a company with over five hundred employees, and not a one of them has the spine to put me in my place when I need it. How would you like to come to work for me?”
Alex was baffled by this woman’s behavior, but he didn’t even need to think about her offer. “No, thanks. I already have a job I love.”
“We’ll be friends, then,” she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m Helen Brisbane.”
“We’re Alex and Elise Winston,” he replied, tentatively taking her hand.
After turning to face Elise, Helen studied her for a few moments before asking, “Are you just another pretty face, or is there something lurking beneath the surface?”
Alex didn’t even consider speaking up and defending his new wife. Elise was more than capable of doing that herself, and he knew that her good looks were a sore point for her, so it was best that he didn’t get involved with that particular exchange. “I suppose you’ll have to stop blustering long enough to find out sometime for yourself, if you can ever manage it,” she said calmly.
“Woohoo, you’re a matched set,” Helen said with delight as she clapped her hands together. “Charlie, it’s about time we got some fresh blood around here. This place was getting to feel like a ghost town. When’s dinner? I’m famished.”
“Fifteen minutes,” he said, clearly nonplussed by the woman’s aggressive behavior.
“What’s on the menu? No, don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.” Before heading inside, she added, “I want to sit with them.”
