From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,55

there if I asked you.” He saw that his words hit home. She would have come because she trusted him. Because she had every reason to trust him. “Where were you headed in such a hurry?”

“I was looking for you. I assume you have my grandmother’s passkey. I want to open the door to that room before anyone destroys any evidence they might have left behind.”

He looked at her, remembering the creepy things that had happened in the months he’d been here alone. “I have the passkey in my room. I didn’t want to leave it at the main desk.” He sighed again and raked a hand through his hair. “You can’t think I had something to do with this.”

They’d reached his room. He stepped inside. It took him a moment to locate the key. He turned to her, holding the passkey on the once-red, now-faded ribbon that her grandmother used to wear around her neck. “Let’s go check room 33. Unless you don’t trust me to go with you.”

“I don’t know what to think right now.”

He handed her the passkey. She put it around her neck. It upset him that she didn’t trust him. “Good idea keeping it around your neck,” he joked. “What are the chances I would ever get it off you?”

She shot him an unamused look. “Yes, what are the chances?”

He walked with her down to number 33. He’d gone to the room when he’d first gotten to the hotel. He’d had the crazy idea that he’d pick up some vibe, some sense of Megan. It was ridiculous. For years after her death, other staff had lived and breathed in that room after it had been fine-combed by the cops and then cleaned hundreds of times. He hadn’t found Megan in there any more than he’d found her anyplace else in this hotel.

Casey used the passkey to open the door. As it swung open, he caught the once-familiar scent. His reaction was like a punch to the gut. He stood frozen in the doorway as Casey entered the room and began to search it.

No wonder she’d reacted the way she had. The perfume was so Megan. He could picture her, all confidence and defiance. Poor little rich girl. Wasn’t that what someone on the staff had called her? While she’d complained about her life, he’d always thought that she didn’t have a care in the world. How little he’d known.

Casey stopped at the small table next to the window. She bent down, running her finger over what appeared to be a mark on the carpet.

As she slowly rose, he saw her touch the top of the table with a finger and then hold it up to her nose. The movement had dispersed the scent into the air again. He breathed it in, assaulted with memories, all bittersweet. He’d never known Megan. He wasn’t sure anyone really had.

“Someone dragged this table over by the door,” Casey said. She pointed to another spot on the carpet, this one closer to the door.

“They probably used some kind of spray device to disperse the perfume into the hall.” Had whoever had done it been waiting for someone to come by as they hid behind the locked door? Or was this just for her—the reason they’d left the note for her?

Finn felt a draft and quickly stepped to the window. He shoved aside the drapes and could see where the screen had been bent when it was shoved aside. He looked for tracks in the soft dirt outside, but there were none. There was a rock ledge along the exterior. It appeared someone had been coming and going from an adjoining room.

Turning, he met Casey’s gaze. He doubted that the two of them were the only ones who remembered Megan’s perfume, but whoever had left the note had been targeting her. Targeting them both. “The person could have gone out the window. Or wanted us to think they did.”

“I’m sorry I thought it was you,” she said.

He nodded, still upset that she didn’t trust him. “Whoever did this might have wanted to come between us. Isn’t that what Megan had done with you and your grandmother? If so, it almost worked.” He raked his fingers through his hair again. “This could be all for the reunion.” But even as he said it, he remembered those sleepless nights when he’d heard things and been convinced he wasn’t alone.

“If they did it to scare me, they’re wasting their time. I’m leaving as soon