Whispering Springs. Amanda Stevens

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      “Someone can always get in. It wouldn’t take much skill or strength to scale the wall. Remind me again of the room arrangements?”

      “Your room is across the hall, of course, and Ava is next to you. Celeste is at the end and Jane is across from her. There’s an empty room between her room and this suite.”

      Dylan thought about the flash of light he’d seen earlier. He could have sworn someone had been watching him from a balcony doorway. “You’re sure no one else is staying at the ranch besides staff? Not even in the cabins?”

      “The last of the guests checked out over the weekend. I reserved the whole place for a week, so no one else should be arriving until Saturday. Except for Tony, of course. He’s still due in tonight.”

      Dylan stepped out on the balcony. Twilight had deepened to nightfall and a few stars hung low on the horizon. He could see the glitter of the moon through the trees, but the leaves muted the illumination. He took out his cell phone and shone the beam across the floor and all along the rail, looking for any evidence left by the intruder. Then he straightened and gazed down the row of balconies. A curtain billowed next door.

      He went back inside and latched the French doors. “You said the room next door is empty, correct?”

      “Yes, why?”

      “Wait here while I check something out. Don’t let anyone in while I’m gone.”

      Blair shivered as her gaze darted to the bed. “What am I supposed to do with the doll?”

      “Leave it. Don’t touch anything. I’ll take care of it when I get back.”

      He left the suite and strode down the hallway to the next room, pressing his ear to the door before knocking. He couldn’t hear anything inside and the door was locked. He retraced his steps to Blair’s suite. When she let him in, he went back out to the balcony.

      Blair trailed after him. “Dylan? What are you doing?”

      “Trying to figure out how someone got into your suite.” He climbed on top of the railing and then hoisted himself up to the roof. From his vantage, he had an expansive view of the property. Light from the downstairs windows and patios cast an anemic glow over the grounds, but the woods beyond lay in deep shadow. The night was so quiet he could hear the ripple of leaves and the gurgle of a creek beyond the trees. To his right, the escarpment was a jagged silhouette against the navy sky.

      He scanned the cliffs and probed all along the tree line. If anyone was out there, they were well hidden by the night.

      Lifting his face to the sky, he closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to calm a festering worry. Something was wrong. He could sense discord all around him, could hear it in the eerie saw of the breeze that blew through the pinions. In the whisper of water over rocks from the springs. Somewhere on the ridge a coyote howled, followed by a series of yips and barks that lifted the hair at the back of his neck. They sensed it, too, he thought. He wasn’t particularly insightful and definitely not clairvoyant, but he’d learned a long time ago not to second-guess his instincts.

      The doll was a troublesome development. Nuanced and diabolical, Blair had said. Maybe they were both overthinking the situation, but Dylan couldn’t shake the notion that more was going on beneath the surface. That the threats to Blair and Tony Redding might be nothing more than a clever ruse to lure Dylan and the others to Whispering Springs. But why?

      * * *

      A FEW MINUTES LATER, Dylan hurried along the edge of the roof and dropped down onto the next balcony.

      Parting the billowing curtains, he stepped inside. The layout and furnishings were similar to those of his room. King-size bed facing a large armoire with a flat-screen TV and bar. Desk and chair situated in front of the French doors. Bathroom and closet just off the entry. A quick search through the armoire drawers and closet yielded nothing. The room appeared spotless, bed neatly made, fresh towels in the bathroom. It was possible the cleaning staff had left the balcony doors open by mistake, but he kept going back to the flash of light he’d seen from the escarpment.

      He went out into the hallway, glancing both ways before returning a second time to Blair’s suite. She answered his knock at once.

      Before he could say anything, she leaned in to murmur, “Ava’s here.”

      “Where?”

      She pointed to the bedroom. “The door was open and she saw the doll. I couldn’t stop her from going in.”

      He said nothing else as he moved out of the foyer and into the sitting room. Ava stood just beyond the bedroom doorway. She had her back to him, but she spun as soon as she heard him approach.

      “Have you seen this?”

      He took in her pale face and wide green eyes. “Yes, I’ve seen it.”

      “What do you make of it? What kind of sick joke is someone trying to pull here?”

      Before he could answer, Blair came into the room, keeping her distance from the bed. “It’s not a joke. It’s a warning effigy.”

      Ava looked aghast. “A what?”

      “Blair,” Dylan cautioned.

      She gave a helpless shrug. “What’s the point of keeping her in the dark now? She’s already seen the doll. Besides, maybe she can help keep an eye out.”

      “An eye out for what? For who?” Ava glanced from Blair to Dylan, her expression turning resolute and suspicious. “One of you had better start talking. And don’t give me any nonsense about scorpions and spiders. Just tell me the straight-up truth. What’s going on here?”

      Dylan eyed Blair carefully. “It’s your call.”

      She nodded before turning back to Ava. “Long story short, Tony is negotiating a merger for Redding Technologies. There’s been a lot of opposition within both companies and from outside competitors. That’s not unusual, but a couple of weeks ago, he started getting threatening phone calls at work. Then last week our house was broken into and someone left a message on the bathroom mirror.”

      “What was the message?”

      “‘Tell the truth.’”

      “Tell the truth,” Ava repeated with a pensive frown. “And you think that message has something to do with the merger?”

      “Coming after the phone calls, it seems a logical conclusion,” Dylan said.

      Ava shot him a glance before turning back to the bed. She wore that look again, the one that told him she wasn’t about to accept anything at face value.

      “Do you know what truth they’re talking about?” Ava asked.

      “Tony doesn’t talk much about his business deals,” Blair hedged.

      “Did you call the police?”

      “No, because he doesn’t take the threats seriously. He thinks the opposition is trying to rattle him. If we go to the police, they’ll know they’re getting to him. It would weaken his bargaining power.”

      “He’s СКАЧАТЬ