From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,27
Ben’s some kind of scientist—”
“Infectious disease specialist,” he interrupted. “And it’s Benjamin, not Ben.”
Jason continued as if the man hadn’t spoken. “Patience is a fancy magazine editor, Devlin is a real-estate agent... So what about you, Case?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw Casey flinch at the nickname. “She’s a hotelier at one of the finest hotels in San Francisco,” he said. Casey shot him a surprised—and not necessarily appreciative—look.
“What is a hotelier?” Jason asked with a laugh. “It sounds...dirty.”
“She runs the entire hotel,” Finn snapped, hating that he was letting the man get to him. “I would think someone like you would already know that, since don’t you live in your father’s hotel?”
Jason nodded. “You got me there. In the past ten years, I’ve accomplished nothing. If I wasn’t overeducated and not nearly as smart as the rest of you, I would have known Casey couldn’t have put this together. Because if she had, I never would have been invited. Isn’t that right, Case?” Finn wasn’t about to touch that remark as Jason turned back to the others. “Who needs a beer?”
“I believe you left out a couple of people, Jase,” Patience said and motioned with her head in the direction of Jen and Shirley.
Jen tilted her wine bottle at Patience. Her smile was venomous as she looked at Jason across the campfire. “I work in my aunt’s antiques barn, but I’m sure you already know that. Shirley manages the local motel. Any of you have a problem with that?”
“Easy,” Jason said, holding up his hands as the tension around the fire rose to a new pitch. “No bloodshed, already. Also, no judgment, especially from me. I would have gotten to you, but I got distracted.”
Finn knew what was coming. Patience slowly turned her gaze on him and tilted her head. “Who exactly is Casey’s date?”
“Not one of the staff,” Finn said. “That’s why I was surprised to receive an invitation.”
“Oh, come on, Finn,” Jason said. “I heard around town that you’ve been living in the hotel for months. Odd, to say the least. You must have some connection to Megan or you wouldn’t have gotten an invitation. You wouldn’t be here now.”
Finn chuckled. “You’re right. Seems everyone here knew Megan, myself included. I came here a few months early to solve her murder.” He turned to look at Jason. “What’s your reason for being here, Jase?”
“Me? Like I said, I just came to have fun.” He laughed and looked around the group before returning to Finn. “But I suspect there’s more to your story.”
“You got me there,” Finn said. “I’ve since decided to buy the hotel and the land.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Casey as the news swept around the fire. Like him, she had to have seen everyone’s surprise, especially Jen’s and Shirley’s. Being locals, they knew that he’d been squatting there a good portion of the winter and early spring and had assumed he was homeless and broke.
But it was Devlin’s openmouthed reaction that pleased Casey the most, he saw. “What’s this?” Devlin demanded.
“I’m making an offer and taking care of the paperwork in the morning,” Finn said.
Devlin shifted his gaze to Casey. “I thought we had a deal.”
“Not hardly. I kept waiting for a formal offer, and you kept making excuses and putting me off, trying to get a better price,” she said, returning his glare.
Finn could feel Jason’s gaze on him. Speculating? Or had he already figured out who he was? Either way, Jason was enjoying this. Finn thought the man would like to see them all at each other’s throats. Finn wondered how long Jason had been in town. Long enough to hear about Finn spending months in the hotel, which meant he’d been here for a while.
“Finn? Finn what?” Devlin asked, also turning to look at him.
He’d known it would be out once he contacted his lawyer, accountant and banker in the morning. “Finnegan James.”
Devlin’s gaze widened in shock as he recognized the name. He swore under his breath and kicked a rock into the firepit. Finn saw Jason smile. He really was enjoying himself. Maybe too much.
“Let’s not argue.” Jen took a drink from the wine bottle and passed it to Shirley, who simply stared into the fire as if she wished she were anywhere but there.
“So we have no idea whose brainchild this was,” Jen said, looking around at them all. “Kind of macabre and ghoulish, just like Megan.” Most everyone laughed. “But no