Chapter 11
“I hate this plan,” Dane said as we left our Uber.
“Why?” I stopped to grab a photo of the tour headquarters. “It’s great.”
Dane shook his head. “It’s horrible.”
He’d see the genius of my plan once we got what we wanted from the owner. I’d been going about this investigation all wrong. The direct approach would work best in this case. He’d see.
The clock had barely hit 9 a.m. when Dane and I walked into the CEO’s office of Southern Hospitality Tours.
Lonny Horwitz sat in a tall leather-backed chair behind a large wooden desk.
He had thick black hair that he’d parted and gelled to the side.
He was the perfect caricature of a used car salesman, but he greeted us with a warm smile.
“Mr. Horwitz,” I said as we walked into the room.
He stood and shook both our hands upon our introductions. “How can I help you two today? I expected cameras.”
“Oh.” I took a seat in a chair in front of his desk, and Dane chose the other. “This is just a preliminary interview. If we decide to go ahead with the feature on William’s death, we’ll do it again more officially.”
He fixed his tie. “Ain’t no use cryin’ over spilt sweet tea.”
“Um.” What the hell did that mean? “Right. Can you tell us a little about your business? How you started?”
It was always best to get them talking about other things before you got to the hard questions.
“Of course, darlin’,” he said, his Southern accent thick. “Did you meet my wife, Donna Lee, at the front desk?”
He waited until both of us nodded. She’d introduced herself and shown us to the office, but she’d left out the fact that they were married.
“She and I started this business ten years ago. Now, we weren’t married then, but don’t get your britches in a twist. I made an honest woman out of her right after.”
Yeah, this was the right choice. I’d called the tour company late last night as we made our way back to the condos. No one answered, probably because it was after seven o’clock at night. A second call, early this morning, they answered.
Lonny told me to head right on over after I explained we were here to research William’s death for the podcast. People loved to chat about the dead.
“That’s such a sweet story. Have both of you worked together since then?”
He nodded and turned the photo around. Their wedding picture. “Every day.”
Normally, when we investigated a death, we were truthful about our intentions. Once the police solved a murder, we spent our time talking to reporters and family. Since I’d come to Charleston to solve the case, I’d stayed undercover. But all that did was make it harder to get questions answered.
Lonny gave us a full play-by-play of his life with Donna Lee and how they came to own the building we were meeting in.
The man loved to talk. I bet if I asked for interviews from each of his employees, he’d have granted me full permission.
But then I wouldn’t have gotten to go on those cool tours.
I guess both approaches had advantages.
“When did William come to work for you?” Dane cut off Lonny mid-sentence about his wife’s love of the city’s parks. He’d grown more restless with each of Lonny’s stories.
“He was our first official employee,” Lonny answered. His words dripped with respect for William. “Thanks to him we won our first award. Best in Charleston.”
Lonny pointed to a framed certificate on the wall to his side.
Four.
Five.
Six.
“Wow, that’s a lot of awards,” I said when I finished my count at eight. Lonny seemed to love the attention.
He nodded. “Most of those are thanks to William. He could spin a tale.”
“He sounds like a valued employee.” There definitely wasn’t any animosity between Lonny and William unless he was the best actor on the planet.
“Donna Lee and I didn’t view William as an employee. He was a member of the family. We miss him every day.”
And his award-winning tour writing. But honestly, everything about Lonny seemed legit. I wondered if my boss felt the same way about me? I hadn’t won us any awards, but that might change once I solved this case.
“We heard there was a chance William planned to accept a research position at Boone Hall. Is that true?” Dane asked.
Lonny’s eye twitched. The first crack in his demeanor. “Now where’d you hear a story like that? Because whoever said it is about as sharp as a mashed potato sandwich.”
“So, there’s no truth to it?”
He grinned, getting back to his happy self from earlier. “Absolutely not. William wouldn’t leave his family.”
I wondered if William felt the same? Or did he want to branch out from the family and strike out on his own?
“This has been so informative. Thank you so much for meeting with us. I feel like this gave us great insight into your wonderful operation here and William’s life.” I stood, and the men followed my lead.
Something heavy had settled in the room, and I wanted to get out of it.
Lonny followed us out of his office. “Donna Lee, darlin’, come and meet the reporters.”
Donna Lee, a slender woman with bleached blonde hair, came to stand beside her husband.
He looped an arm around her back, and I forced my eyebrows not to lift.
Donna Lee was at least four inches taller than her husband.
I didn’t judge relationships on height, but then my gaze fell to their matching cowboy boots and belt buckles.
These two fit better in Texas than South Carolina.
That was a relationship connection for sure.
Dane made our goodbyes, and I fought for my life so I wouldn’t laugh.
We’d made it to the sidewalk before I asked, “You don’t like cowboy boots. Do you?”
Dane choked on a laugh. “No. You?”
“Never.”
“That was weird. Right?” I turned us left and started the walk back to our place. “He’s totally a suspect.”
Our interview started so well, but something flipped midway. Lonny’s answers became slightly more forced when the conversation turned to William leaving.
“Definitely.”
About twenty minutes later, when the sweat had just settled on the bottom of my breasts, we made it to the condo building.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft ding. Dane stepped out first, doing a quick sweep of the quiet hallway. I stayed behind out of habit. If the person who broke into my room was there, they needed to meet Dane before me.
Right before the doors closed, I stepped out, rubbing my shoulder. It still hurt from our wild sprint through Charleston last night.
“Next time I have to run after someone through three neighborhoods, I want hazard pay,” I said as I caught up with Dane.
And exercise leggings. For better movement.
Dane laughed but stopped so fast I almost walked directly into him just a few steps from our rooms.
“Um, Delaney?” he whispered and pointed forward.
I stepped around him to see what the hell had him spooked. We should have just run. I glanced up and froze.
A tall guy with dark hair wearing a black suit jacket stood directly in front of my rental door. In his hands he held a bouquet. Red roses. He saw us and narrowed his eyes.
“Who’s this?” Dane asked as he squared his shoulders.
I guess because the man had flowers we weren’t worried about him killing us. There could be a gun in the flowers though, so I stayed behind Dane.
For safety.
The unknown man blinked, spread his gaze between the two of us, and frowned. “I’m here to see my girlfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Dane asked and turned toward me.
I stepped around him. “I think you have the wrong unit.”
“Who the hell are you?” the man asked with a curled lip.
Dane jerked his shoulders. “That’s none of your business. This is our room.”
Yeah, if that guy had a gun, we were in trouble. I put my hand on his arm, trying to make him relax. “Calm down. Let me handle this.”
“How do you know your girlfriend is in this room? What’s her name?”
“Stacia Dresier. She told me she was here. That’s how I know.” His attitude ticked me off, but when he reached into his back pocket, I jumped behind Dane again.
There were no bullet sounds. When I risked peeking around Dane’s back, both men were staring at me.
The stranger held his phone screen out to me. It was a text message stream from a contact named “Love of my Life.”
How cute. And a little gross.
“That says room 304,” I said. “This is 204.”
He jerked the phone back toward him. “What? No.”
Dane turned toward me wearing a funny expression. “You really don’t know him? You didn’t date him?”
The guy read the message at least twice and checked it against my door. He shook his head and then walked between Dane and me to reach the elevator without another word.
“You really think I knew him?” I asked as we watched the guy get on the elevator. I crossed my arms in annoyance.
He smirked. “When it comes to you, princess, I never know what to think.”
Was that an insult? Or a compliment?
“Drama, drama, drama,” Dane said as he unlocked his room door.
“Hey!” I walked after him. “That wasn’t my drama. Nothing about that was my drama. Maybe you’re the drama.”
Why was I always the problem? Just as many things happened when he was around.
My phone beeped as I walked through Dane’s door. He was already doing a sweep of the place for safety.
The phone beeped again.