The Ghost of Valentine Past Read online

  Shaking his head, Adam turned back toward the parking lot.

  When Adam parked in front of Pier Café, ten minutes later, he spied Danielle and Chris walking toward the restaurant. Hastily getting from his car, he slammed the door shut and sprinted to catch up with them, while calling out, “Chris! Danielle!”

  They both came to a stop and turned to face Adam.

  Slightly out of breath when he reached them, he said, “I tried calling you about an hour ago. I wanted to let you know I spoke to escrow this morning.”

  “Is everything okay?” Chris asked.

  “Looks like escrow is closing early. By this afternoon you’ll be a Frederickport home owner.”

  Before Chris could respond, Adam turned his attention to Danielle, looking her up and down with a curious expression. “When did you take up jogging?”

  “Jogging?” Danielle frowned.

  “I just figured…” Adam looked her up and down again, taking in her disheveled appearance. “Have you looked in a mirror this morning?”

  Wrinkling her nose, Danielle backhanded Adam’s arm. He only laughed at her tepid assault. He then looked back to Chris, noting that he didn’t look much better.

  “Ahh, now I get it,” Adam said with a dry chuckle. “Active morning in bed for you two? Grabbing some food before round two?”

  Danielle rolled her eyes and turned toward the restaurant. As she started for its door she said, “Adam Nichols, you have a dirty mind.”

  “Actually, I rather like how he thinks,” Chris said with a laugh, as he and Adam trailed behind her.

  “So you really didn’t spend the morning in bed together? That’s rather disappointing,” Adam said as he and Chris followed Danielle inside the restaurant.

  “Tell me about it,” Chris said dryly.

  “So why do you two look like something the cat dragged in?”

  “We spent the morning at the police station,” Chris explained.

  Without asking for an invitation, Adam followed the pair to a booth and sat down with them.

  “We don’t have to eat with him, do we?” Danielle said with mock seriousness.

  Chris picked up the menus at the end of the table, handing one to Danielle and then one to Adam. “He’s my Realtor, Danielle. And I want to hear about my new house.”

  “What do you mean you spent the morning at the police station?” Adam asked.

  Peeking over her menu, Danielle looked at Adam. “Peter Morris was murdered last night.”

  “You’re kidding me? Who killed him?”

  “That’s the question of the hour,” Chris replied. “And technically, he was murdered early this morning, not last night.”

  The next moment the server came to their table, filled their coffee cups, and took their order. When she left them, Adam asked, “Where did it happen?”

  “In the parlor at Marlow House,” Danielle told him.

  “Holy crap, seriously? Not really surprised someone finally killed the hustler. But in Marlow House?”

  “I always figured it would be in the library with the candle stick, not in the parlor with the fishing knife,” Chris quipped.

  Danielle couldn’t help but laugh. “Are we awful? The man is dead. And it was horribly gruesome.” She shook her head and took a sip of coffee.

  “That’s pretty cold. Even for me,” Adam said. “What happened? I take it neither of you killed him, or you’d be in jail right now. Although with Chris’ money you’d probably be out.” He looked at Chris and arched his brows. “You didn’t kill him, did you? After all, I’m counting on making a lot of money from you on real estate commissions in the future, and I’d rather not have to do it from your prison cell.”

  “God no,” Chris snorted.

  Danielle went on to tell Adam about how they had found the body in the parlor and spent the morning at the police station, answering questions.

  “Any idea who did it?” Adam asked when she finished recounting the morning’s events.

  Chris picked up his coffee cup and looked across the table at Adam. “Officer Morelli seems to think it was me.”

  “I suppose if Joe has to pin this murder on someone, you’d be the best candidate,” Adam said.

  “Why me?” Chris asked incredulously.

  “Maybe the blood on your hands when Heather walked in?” Danielle suggested.

  Looking at Chris, Adam nodded toward Danielle. “I was thinking more along the lines of getting rid of the competition.”

  “I’d hate to think Joe would do something like that,” Danielle said with a sigh. “It’s one thing if he sincerely thought Chris did it. Hell, he once believed I’d kill my cousin. But I can’t imagine him trying to pin a murder on someone for a personal reason. And anyway, Joe knows there will never be anything between us, and Chris and I are just friends.”

  Adam glanced over to Chris, noting his unreadable expression. “So what was your motive? Hell, I’d have more of a motive to kill him than you.”

  “Don’t say that too loud,” Danielle scolded. “From what I recall, jail didn’t agree with you.”

  “You have a point.” Adam cringed.

  “What would your motive be?” Chris asked.

  “I suppose you could say I lost a girlfriend to Earthbound Spirits. Isabella and I broke up after she got hooked up with them.” Adam explained.

  Danielle was just about to take a sip of water when she paused and looked across the table at Adam. Lifting her brows, she said, “According to Will Wayne, you might have even more of a reason to kill Morris.” She sipped the water and then set the glass back on the table.

  “Will Wayne? Isabella’s father?” Adam asked.

  “I ran into Will a few weeks back. He told me someone called him up and claimed Morris was responsible for Isabella’s death,” Danielle explained.

  “Who called him?” Adam asked.

  Danielle shook her head. “I’ve no idea; neither did he. Some anonymous caller.”

  “It was probably a prank call. A crappy one,” Adam said.

  “That’s what I told Danielle, when she told me,” Chris said.

  Danielle shrugged. “Will seems to think it might be possible.”

  “What did the chief say? Something like that would have to involve the coroner,” Adam said.

  “That’s pretty much what I told Will. But I haven’t said anything to MacDonald about it.”

  “Not even this morning, when you were being questioned?” Adam asked.

  Danielle frowned. “Why would I say anything?”

  “I’d imagine they’re looking at all possible motives,” Adam explained.

  “Will didn’t have anything to do with Morris’ death,” Danielle insisted.

  “I’m not saying he did.” Adam set his mug on the table and looked over at Danielle. “I don’t believe anyone murdered Isabella. She had an aneurism, according to the coroner. Anyway, if Earthbound Spirits had something to do with her death, they wouldn’t have been so careless with the body. Kind of hard to cash in on her will without a body.”

  “They didn’t know Stoddard was going to hide it.” Danielle grew silent for a moment and then looked up. “Maybe you guys are right; it probably was a prank call.”

  “Why do you say that?” Chris asked.

  “Isabella had already changed her will when she died. And I’m sure Earthbound Spirits knew the will they had was outdated.”

  “But they did put it into probate,” Adam reminded.

  “When Will and I discussed a motive for killing Isabella, we agreed that Earthbound Spirits probably felt confident claiming Stoddard forged the current will, because of what he’d done with Lily. Not to mention, Stoddard was dead and not there to defend his claim on Isabella’s estate.”

  “I see where you’re going,” Adam said. “At the time Isabella died, Morris had no idea Stoddard would hide the body, or end up getting murdered.”

  “If Earthbound Spirits was responsible for Isabella’s death, the motive certainly wasn’t t
o get their hands on her estate. If Stoddard had called the police the moment he found Isabella’s body, the chances of the courts favoring Earthbound Spirit’s claims over Stoddard’s would have been a long shot.”

  “So I wonder who the caller was, and why pick on poor Will,” Chris said.

  “Obviously it wasn’t anyone who knew anything about Earthbound Spirits,” Adam said.

  “Why do you say that?” Danielle asked.

  “Well, you said they accused Morris of killing her. Morris never did the dirty work. It would have been Cleve.”

  “Actually, the woman mentioned Cleve,” Danielle said. “According to the caller, Cleve refused to kill Isabella; so, Morris got someone else to do it.”

  Frowning, Adam looked from Danielle to Chris. “I’d find that hard to believe.”

  “Why is that?” Chris asked.

  “Cleve would never refuse Morris anything.”

  “According to the caller he did,” Danielle insisted.

  “Caller…did you say it was a woman?” Adam asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  Adam shook his head. “Nothing…just thinking.”

  Chapter Twelve

  After leaving the diner, Chris and Danielle headed for Ian’s. It was still too early to get into Marlow House. When they arrived, Lily was asleep in Ian’s bedroom, while he worked in the dining room on his newest project. Chris and Danielle lounged on the sofa, watching an old movie, with Sadie napping by their feet.

  They had been watching the movie for about thirty minutes when Danielle glanced over to Chris, silently studying his profile. He really could be a model, she thought. His sandy colored hair was slightly longer than it had been when he had first arrived at Marlow House before Christmas. While it could benefit from a comb—as could hers at this point—she had to admit there was something sexy about the tumbled and casual look. The dark circles below his blue eyes reminded Danielle of their stressful morning.

  “You’ve been awful quiet, are you okay?” Danielle asked.

  His eyes still on the television, he asked, “Do you think we’ll see Morris?”

  “Walt saw him before he woke you up, so it’s possible. But, I really hope he’s moved on.”

  They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the old black and white movie, when Chris asked, “Danielle, you know back at the diner when you told Adam we were friends?”

  She smiled. “Yeah. We are friends.”

  “Actually, you said, just friends.”

  “Well…you know what I mean.” Danielle scooted down on the sofa, propping her feet up on the coffee table.

  “Before all this happened…I was going to ask you today if you wanted to go out with me tomorrow night…for Valentine’s Day dinner.”

  With her arms crossed over her chest as she remained slumped down in the sofa, her feet on the table, Danielle looked over at Chris. “You always ask women out at the last minute? And Valentine’s Day? Sheesh. I always heard Valentine’s Day dates were made at least a week in advance.”

  “You’re the one who said we were just friends.” Chris smiled.

  Danielle shrugged. “True. But it is Valentine’s Day. Maybe I already have a date.”

  “With who, Walt?”

  Danielle arched her brows and smiled. “Maybe. After all, he did take me to Hawaii last night. Although, our trip was cut short due to Morris’ untimely demise.”

  Chris looked from the television to Danielle. “I know about the dream hop—or at least I figured it was something like that. Walt said you told him you were cold, but you were asleep.”

  “If it had been a little warmer, it would have felt just like a beach in Hawaii.”

  “It wasn’t real, Danielle.”

  “It felt real.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “There’s no harm in a dream hop,” Danielle said defensively.

  “It is if it becomes a substitute for…” Chris let out a sigh and leaned back in the sofa.

  “Substitute for what?” Danielle asked.

  He studied her for a moment before answering. “Substitute for a real relationship.”

  “I’m not ready for that kind of relationship, anyway,” Danielle said in a whisper.

  “Why, because of Joe? And how he didn’t turn out to be what you thought?”

  Danielle shook her head. “I know now, I wasn’t ready to get into a relationship when I first went out with Joe. So much was going on back then. I’d lost my husband just six months earlier, had just moved to Oregon, was trying to get a new business off the ground. And then everything spun out of control with Cheryl being murdered. Even if all that hadn’t happened, I wasn’t ready for anything but casual friendship. It was probably for the best that things didn’t work out between Joe and me.”

  “Just as long as you don’t allow the—unique relationship you have with Walt to interfere with your—your real life.”

  “What Walt and I have is real.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I’m just not in a hurry to get into a serious relationship. There is so much I need to do first.”

  “Then agree to go out with me tomorrow. You know, I’m anything but serious.”

  Danielle laughed. “You have a point there. Most of the time I think of you as that unemployed guy who prefers to live on some friend’s boat and enjoy life, rather than a secretive philanthropist.”

  “Not sure if I should be insulted or flattered.”

  “I suppose a little of both. About tomorrow night; why don’t we see how things are going by then? Who knows if the cops will descend on us again, or what might come up. And it probably will be difficult to get a table at a restaurant anyway.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Sadie leapt up, knocking Danielle’s feet from the coffee table. The golden retriever started to bark and then ran to the front door.

  Leaning toward the coffee table, Danielle picked up the remote and turned off the television. “It sounds like someone’s at the door.”

  They both started to stand up when Ian entered the room with Adam Nichols. “I found this guy on my front porch.” Ian flashed Adam a smile and then returned to the dining room to work, leaving the new arrival with Chris and Danielle.

  “Are you stalking us?” Danielle teased.

  “Be nice,” Chris scolded.

  “Sometimes I wonder why my grandmother thinks you’re sweet,” Adam told Danielle.

  “What’s up Adam?” Chris asked.

  “Figured you two would still be here. I’ve got sort of a good news, bad news thing going on. Couldn’t really deliver the good news by phone, so I thought I’d bring it in person.”

  “What good news?” Danielle asked.

  Adam held up a set of keys. “Thought I’d bring you the keys to your new house. Technically speaking, you really shouldn’t go in until it records, which should be by four this afternoon.” He tossed the keychain to Chris.

  “So what’s the bad news?” Chris asked. He and Danielle sat back down on the sofa.

  Adam took a seat in the recliner. “I just got a call from my grandmother. She was telling me all about the nice young man I’d just sold a house to—and how his last name is really Glandon, and he’s loaded.”

  “How did she find out?” Danielle asked.

  “She already knew I’d sold Chris a house and that it was closing any day now. As for the rest—she heard it on the radio. I guess the story of Peter Morris’ murder—and how Chris Glandon found the body—is out there. I believed they referred to you as the illusive philanthropist who’d been held up in the quaint bed and breakfast—site of today’s grizzly murder. They didn’t mention anything about Chris Johnson, but Grandma figured it out.”

  “I’m surprised she still referred to me as a nice young man considering I was found with a dead body—one that had been brutally murdered.”

  “Well, Grandmother loathed Morris, and if she thought you were the one who killed him—which I don’t believe she does�
��she would probably want to give you a medal.”

  Chris looked at the set of keys in his hand, giving it a brief toss. Clutching them, he looked from Danielle to Adam. “I guess this changes everything. I suppose I was being overly optimistic thinking I could live here as Chris Johnson.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Danielle asked.

  “Considering Chris put the house under one of his companies, I don’t think it’ll be all that easy for people to just come into town and find where he lives. At least not by looking in the property records. Hell, half of the houses in my property management program are held in some company set up by the owners for tax purposes,” Adam said.

  “I’m not really surprised this came out,” Chris said with a sigh.

  “If you decide not to stay in Frederickport, I could list it for you or put it in my property management program,” Adam suggested.

  “While I’m not thrilled, I have no intention of leaving. I’d hoped I could fly under the wire for a bit longer, but I always knew this was a possibility. And it’s not like I’ve droves of paparazzi chasing me. I can handle the letters and inquiries from people asking for a donation, I just hate when they show up at my door.”

  “What if you purchased another property in the area, under your real name, while you live in the house you just purchased?” Adam suggested.

  “Chris could afford that, but wouldn’t it be pretty obvious no one was living at the house?” Danielle asked.

  “I was thinking more of a house he could use as his headquarters. He did tell me he was looking for something.”

  “Headquarters?” Danielle looked from Adam to Chris.

  “Since my parents’ death, I’ve been doing most of my charity work through my attorneys. And while I trust them, I know I need to get more hands on—there’s too much money involved, too much temptation, and possibility for fraud.”

  “I told Chris I’d be more than willing to take over the responsibility for him. I already have an office.” Adam grinned.

  “Oh my…” Danielle closed her eyes briefly and fought the urge to laugh. “That thought is rather frightening.”

  “You have no trust in me, Danielle,” Adam scoffed.