15. Dane
FIFTEEN
Dane
While the girls went into the living room, Ashford stuck by me in the kitchen. I opened the fridge and took out a few bottles of sparkling water.
“This is a nice place,” Ashford said.
My buddy hated small talk as much as I did, and he wasn’t nearly as good at it. “You can say whatever it is you want to say. Hit me with it.”
He crossed his arms and pushed out his chest. “It’s something Callum told me. He thought it was weird that you just happened to be with Grace last night, and then she was so quick to leave with you. He thinks there’s something going on with you two.”
“Did he ask Grace? Did you?”
“She doesn’t like when we get overprotective. That’s why I’m asking you. Especially since she spent the night here. And not in some hotel room on another floor, but here in your suite.”
“Yes, she did. You’re not the only one who’s protective.”
Ashford’s jaw tightened. “Grace told me that you two met at your grand-opening party. Which you didn’t bother to tell me.”
I tried to keep the surprise off my expression, though I wasn’t sure I was successful. But I was glad she’d shared that tidbit with her brother. I didn’t want to lie to my friend. “I didn’t think it was crucial to tell you.” It was true enough. But if he already knew she’d been at the grand opening, then would she mind me sharing the potential tie between that night and the break-in?
She wasn’t here for me to ask. So I had to make my own call. Ashford was her brother, and I preferred having him in the loop if this involved her safety.
“But we think the break-in at her place yesterday could’ve been tied to the grand-opening masquerade,” I said.
“ Why ?”
I explained what little we knew. How she believed someone took a red mask from her room, as if they’d gone specifically looking for that item. Then, this security footage “glitch” that had prevented an ID of Ms. Scarlet or the man who’d confronted Grace in the lobby.
“This is a weird situation,” Ashford said. “I don’t get any of it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Does Teller Landry know about this lead? He didn’t mention it to me.”
“Grace didn’t mention any of this to the chief, no.”
“The hell? Why not?”
“Grace was flustered and upset last night. She only told me the red mask was missing later on, after we’d had dinner. Maybe she needed time to process.” There was no way I’d reveal what else she said about her hesitation to tell Landry the truth.
And maybe some small part of me wasn’t eager to admit to Ashford that I’d nearly had a one-night stand with his sister.
Ashford pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Teller. He needs to know about this.”
“I agree, but don’t you think we should pull Grace in as well? She’s the actual witness. We should also handle this in the office, since I guess you don’t want to hash it out where Maisie can hear.”
“Yeah. Good point. I’ll get Grace.”
I put out a hand. “No, I’ll get her. We can talk in my office. Maybe you can call Landry and explain what’s going on?”
I went to the living room, where Maisie had Emma and Grace sitting on the carpet, playing some kind of game. “Sorry to interrupt,” I said. “Can I pull Grace away for a moment?”
She got up, and we walked over to the kitchen. “What is it?”
“Ashford and I both feel you should tell Chief Landry about the red mask being stolen last night.”
Her eyes went round. “What did you tell Ashford?” she whispered.
I made a calming gesture. “Nothing too personal, I promise. Ashford said you’d already mentioned you were at the grand opening. I shared that the break-in could be connected, and Ashford wants to give those details to Chief Landry. Which was also my advice last night. Are you willing to do that? Ashford’s in my office right now. We can call the chief.”
“Fine, I will. Since it’s not a secret anymore that I was at the party. But I don’t appreciate you teaming up with Ashford and springing this on me.”
“Grace—”
She pushed past me, walking toward the office.
Shit. I didn’t like having her unhappy with me. But I stood by my decision to share more details with Ashford.
I followed her into the office and shut the door. Grace stood stiffly by the desk while Ashford put Chief Landry on speaker. “Teller? Grace is here.”
“Hi, Grace,” the chief said calmly, all business. I gave him some credit for that. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
She cleared her throat. “I realized that something was missing from my room. A red mask I wore at the hotel grand opening.”
She shared the same story with Teller that she’d told me. Meeting Ms. Scarlet in the ladies’ room, Dirk Lancaster mistaking Grace for someone else, and then the mystery man with the shaved head bothering her. Only the vaguest details about meeting me.
“I tried to get security footage of the two people we haven’t been able to identify,” I added. “Came up empty-handed.”
“Hmm,” the chief said. “This woman you call Ms. Scarlet. She had bright red hair, Grace?”
“Yeah. About halfway down her back. She was very beautiful. Unusually so.”
The chief hummed again. “Actually, I wonder if this connects to another mystery that came across my desk recently. We got a call a week ago from someone looking for a woman with red hair. The caller said she was his friend, that she’d gone missing. He claimed she’d been in Silver Ridge, though neither of them were locals. Woman was named Nina Jamison. Does that ring any bells?”
I glanced at Ashford and Grace. “No,” she said. “Not at all.”
“Well, the caller refused to give his name. He was calling from an unregistered number. Burner phone. When my officer asked more questions, the caller hung up. But then we checked around with local hotels.”
“Including the ski resort?” I asked.
“No, we didn’t get that far up the list. We found a Nina Jamison registered as a guest at a roadside motel. Turned out she never came back to her room a couple of weeks ago. Left some of her belongings behind. The motel owner had taken a photo of her ID when she checked in, since that’s his policy.”
“But the motel owner didn’t report her missing?” Grace asked incredulously.
“He said it wasn’t that unusual. She didn’t leave anything of value behind. But he sent the photo of her ID to us. Nina had red hair, and I’d say she’s…very attractive. Objectively speaking.”
Grace arched her eyebrow. “Objectively,” she repeated. “But she’s no Ayla Maxwell?”
The chief made a choking sound, while Grace and Ashford flashed smiles at one another. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but I was grateful for the brief levity, if only because it lightened Grace’s mood.
But there was something I had to know.
“When was this Nina Jamison last at her motel room?” I asked.
The chief recited the date.
“That’s the same night as the grand-opening masquerade,” I said.
“Grace, I’m emailing you the image of Nina Jamison’s ID. See if you recognize her.”
Grace took out her phone and checked her messages. She sucked in a breath. “It’s her. That’s Ms. Scarlet. The woman who gave me the red mask.”
So it was possible Grace was the last person who’d seen Jamison before she vanished. If that anonymous caller was to be believed.
“And you’re positive that the intruder yesterday stole that same mask?” the chief asked.
Grace paused a moment, thinking. Then nodded. “I’m sure. Yes. But I have no idea what any of it means.”
None of us did. This story had started out strange, and it was only getting more bizarre.
And somehow, Grace was in the middle of it.