From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,90
then backed out the door as Leroy read the invitation and looked up at Casey. “Did you—”
“I didn’t send those,” she said adamantly, as if it weren’t the first time she’d had to deny this. “I’d never seen one before Finn showed me the one he’d gotten in the mail. I have no idea who sent them.”
“So everyone who’s here was here ten years ago when Megan Broadhurst was murdered.”
“Except Finn. He wasn’t part of the staff, but he had dated Megan. He assumed that’s why he’d gotten an invitation.”
“You came here to sell the hotel.”
She explained that Devlin had been giving her the runaround, trying to get the price down. “Finn made me a generous offer, and I took it.”
“Devlin wasn’t happy about this?”
She shook her head. “He was upset because apparently his investors were counting on him to make the deal.”
“Who were his investors?”
“I have no idea. He kept that from me, and I didn’t really care. My grandmother recently died. I was anxious to get the place sold.”
“What was your relationship with Claude Drake?” Leroy asked.
She shook her head again. “I knew who he was because we worked together ten years ago, but I hadn’t seen him since or ever really talked to him before he left this weekend. At least, we thought he’d left.”
“Why did you question whether he had or not?”
She told him about the ghost stunt. “The lock of hair found on the tree was synthetic. It was someone wearing a wig and a white dress just trying to scare us. Also...” She seemed to hesitate. “I’m sure Finn has probably already told you about the car accident Megan was in earlier that year. It was apparently why her parents had sent her out here to work for the summer. Megan had lied about being behind the wheel. Finn found out that Claude might have taken the job here at the hotel to get some kind of revenge on Megan, since he was friends with the brother of one of the girls who was badly hurt in the wreck.”
No, Finnegan hadn’t mentioned that. He wondered if it had anything to do with these latest murders or if all of it was tied to Megan Broadhurst and her murder.
“Who had access to the wine cellar?”
“I don’t know,” Casey said. “I hadn’t been down there until tonight. I was surprised to see that someone had replaced the lock down to the basement and put a padlock on the door.”
“You went down to get wine?” She nodded in response. “Who broke the locks?”
“Finn.”
He nodded. “I’d prefer you didn’t leave town.” She didn’t seem surprised at his request, and she rose to leave but then hesitated again. “Yes?” He expected her to tell him that she needed to get back to work or some other excuse.
“There’s something I need to tell you.” He saw her swallow, and he thought, What now? “You asked me about Megan’s diary ten years ago.” He realized he was holding his breath. “I said I didn’t know anything about it.” She swallowed again. “I wasn’t telling the truth. I found the diary before Megan was killed and burned it because she’d been tormenting me and saying she’d written awful things about me in it.” Relief seemed to make her body limp. “I didn’t read it. I just burned it in the firepit.”
He swore silently. She’d interfered in a murder investigation. He doubted she was the only one. “You were sixteen, right?” A nod. “Megan had been tormenting you?” Another nod. “How did everyone feel about Megan?” he asked, suspecting Casey wasn’t the only one who’d lied.
She met his gaze. “They hated her. She plagued the entire staff. That’s why I can’t understand why they would come back here for some stupid reunion.”
“Apparently, someone had unfinished business.”
* * *
FROM OUTSIDE BY the campfire, Jason watched the bodies being brought out of the basement in black body bags. No one had told them anything except that they weren’t allowed to leave. He didn’t have to guess who was in those bags.
The cold night spring wind whipped the boughs of the nearby pines as the bodies were loaded into the back of the coroner’s van. Shirley was crying, Benjamin holding her. Jen stood staring into the fire as if she couldn’t bear to watch.
Jason couldn’t help but think of Megan. She’d been zipped up for that same ride. Like tonight, he’d stood out in the cold and watched as the body was taken away. Like then,