Chapter 6 Sam
SAM
Sam found the generator shed more comfortable than he expected from the name, and a lot more private than sleeping on a married couple’s bedroom floor, however accommodating they might be.
It was as much workshop as generator housing, an open, heated space, with the emergency generator in its own room off the main concrete-floored shop.
Mauro had provided linens and an air mattress, along with further apologies which Sam brushed off.
He had done a tour in the military as a young man, and between that and his years operating a private detective agency, he had certainly slept in worse places.
He woke slightly disoriented in the dark, and when he opened the door, he found that it was still very early, with the Christmas lights gleaming and only a faint trace of light in the sky. Snow had fallen in the night; there was a fresh white blanket covering the trees and cars.
Good thing we’re not going anywhere for a few days. By then the plows should have the roads back in good shape, assuming they didn’t get even more snow.
He left his things tucked under a workbench for the moment, put on his coat, and made his way to the lodge, trying and failing not to fill up his hiking shoes with fresh snow.
Maybe he could beg a pair of spare boots off Mauro; it looked like their feet might be close enough to the same size.
He caught a glimpse of Mauro snowblowing the walks around the lodge, but the man seemed busy, so Sam decided not to bother him.
The lobby was very quiet, the dining area not yet open for breakfast. Sam texted Charlie.
She didn’t answer, but he figured she probably wasn’t awake yet; she often slept in as late as he’d let her.
She had checked in with him as requested the previous evening, until letting him know she was ready to sleep.
In spite of the inevitable clashes that went with raising a spirited teenager, she was a good kid. He hoped this weekend would be fun for her.
There was a coffee machine in the lobby, and Sam fixed himself a cup and wandered around, looking at things. The Christmas tree held his interest for a moment, and then he went to look at the charity auction items.
Each item had a number and an associated sheet of paper for guests to write their bids with the provided pencils.
There was a variety of different stuff. He’d only glanced at it earlier, but now he wondered if he ought to bid on anything in here for Charlie.
They had exchanged gifts back at home, and he had a small present for her in his bag, but something unexpected might be nice.
He looked for something she might like. There were a few different book-related items (a collection of romance novels; some books of winter poetry; a pile of YA adventure novels), as well as holiday gift baskets, sweet treats, and similar things.
Jewelry was on display as well, inexpensive pieces from local artists.
Sam took a careful look at those, just to make sure he knew what was there in case Maggie—well, in case of Maggie.
He really didn’t think she was going to steal anything, though.
Fawkes said she seemed very sincere in her efforts to go straight.
She had been seeing a therapist to deal with her kleptomania, and had tried to return everything to everyone that she could, even sold her car and some of her other belongings to pay for the pieces she no longer had.
And she was here at the lodge this weekend because she wanted to physically work off her debt to them.
She deserved to be trusted, not treated like a criminal, Sam thought.
He wrote down bids for a few things, leaving his room number in lieu of a name, as many of the other guests had done. A few of the bid sheets and numbers seemed to be associated with blank spaces on the tables. Items that Mauro and Hester had removed for safekeeping, perhaps?
“Good morning,” Hester said, coming up to him with a cup of coffee. Her reindeer antlers were jaunty on top of her head this morning. “Mauro says he put you down for the night in the generator house. I am so sorry about the mix-up.”
“It’s fine. It worked out well enough.” An immediate image of a naked Maggie floated through his head, followed by his stallion emphatically insisting on bringing her hay and oats in bed.
I don’t think she’d appreciate any part of that. Cut it out.
“Oh, are you bidding?” Hester asked. “Let me know if you have questions about anything. The auction benefits the food bank, so it’s all for a good cause.”
“Actually, I did have a question.” Sam gestured to one of the empty spaces. “Are there some items that aren’t out yet?”
“What?” Hester’s head whipped around. She frowned. “No, there should be items in those places. I wonder if Mauro moved something? I wonder if ...”
She trailed off, but Sam could guess what she was thinking.
“Maggie wouldn’t have touched anything here. I’m sure of it.”
Hester frowned, staring at the empty space while she sipped her coffee. “I—hope not, but you know that she—”
Before she could finish, the door opened and Mauro came in on a draft of cold air. He immediately swooped over to greet her with a kiss.
“Brrr. Cold.” But she didn’t seem to mind. “I’m glad you’re here. We need to ask you something. Did you move any of the auction items last night?”
“No, I think we were going to leave them in place. Wasn’t that the arrangement?”
“Yes, well ...” Hester gestured. “There are at least three things that were there last night and aren’t there now.”
“Oh.” Mauro took another look. “Oh ... oh no.”
Mauro and Hester had a record of all the auction items. In the hotel office, they pored over the list. Assuming the list was accurate, the missing pieces appeared to be a fruit basket, a set of fancy towels and perfumed soaps, and a basket of snacks and tea.
“Maybe one of the guests got hungry in the night,” Mauro suggested, half-joking.
“You know, a magpie could have easily—”
“No,” Sam said firmly. “It’s not her. I’m sure of it.”
He wasn’t positive why he was so sure, only that he couldn’t see her breaking the terms of the arrangement she had been so sincere about keeping.
Also, these were an odd set of thefts compared to her earlier ones.
Sam’s analytical mind was already arranging and comparing, and it didn’t fit.
Maggie’s problem was that her magpie was drawn to shiny, sparkly things.
But a fruit basket? He just couldn’t imagine Maggie running off with a basket of pears and oranges tucked under her arm, no matter how tasty-looking.
“Do you have any security footage?” Sam asked. Or any security on it at all, he thought.
They didn’t. The hotel had no security cameras in its public areas.
Mauro explained that this was because of their shifter clientele.
They did have a closed circuit camera set up in the lobby in the summer, when they had human guests coming and going all the time.
But shifters were so alert to being caught on camera in their shift forms that Hester and Mauro preferred to safeguard their guests’ privacy.
Sam would normally support this, but it was highly inconvenient in this particular case.
“It could have been anyone,” Hester said, rubbing her forehead.
“It could even have been housekeeping or one of the kitchen staff, removing some food items because of concerns they might spoil.” She turned her head at the sound of clattering and voices beyond the wall.
The kitchen was coming to life for the morning.
“I can ask. I need to check the breakfast menu anyway. With last night’s snow and another storm scheduled to move in tomorrow, we might have to ration some items until the roads are cleared. ”
“Excuse me?” came Maggie’s husky voice from the doorway. “Can I help?”
She was standing there in a plain cream-colored sweater and jeans.
Her hair fell in waves over her shoulders, a rich dark mahogany brown with gray streaks.
Last night he had been too distracted by the eyeful of creamy nakedness to notice her face at first, but now it was all he could see. She was ravishing.
Unfortunately, what he said was, “Where’s Charlie?” He realized only as he said it that it might have come out accusing.
Maggie’s friendly smile faltered. “She’s in the room, still asleep. I didn’t want to wake her.”
Sam smiled, hoping to coax her warmth back out. “She’ll sleep until noon if you let her, but I figure there’s no harm in it on a vacation.”
“Sorry, I need to interrupt for a minute.” Hester didn’t sound sorry, and she met Maggie’s eyes with an unrelenting stare of her own. “Were you in your room all night?”
Maggie stiffened. “Yes,” she said. “Did—did something happen?”
The slight crack in her voice, a brief glimpse through her emotional armor to the vulnerable woman underneath, gave Sam the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to put his arm around her. Hold her close, tuck her against his shoulder, reassure her that nothing would ever hurt her again.
“Yes,” Hester said. “Some items went missing from the charity auction. I need to know where you were last night.”
Maggie’s hint of vulnerability vanished beneath a rigid, brittle calm. “It wasn’t me. I was in the room all night.” Her gaze skidded back to Sam. “Your daughter can vouch for me.”
Sam doubted if Charlie would have noticed if Maggie had been gone all night.
Charlie not only could sleep through an earthquake, but she actually had, during a trip to visit her cousins in California.
(A very small one, but still.) However, he was still confident down to his bones that Maggie was innocent.
“Yes,” he said. “My daughter’s a witness.
But if Maggie says she didn’t do it, I believe her. ”
Hester huffed out a breath. “You’re willing to stake your reputation on her innocence?”
“Yes,” Sam said without hesitation.
The look that Maggie gave him was unforgettable. It was brief, wondering, and completely open, without any hint of her previous guardedness. Her eyes were full of shocked gratitude. It was all too clear that she wasn’t used to people sticking up for her.
And then it was gone beneath chill calm. “I’ll get ready to work if you need me. Or leave. Whatever you want.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Sam said. He turned to Hester. “We can’t accuse her without evidence. That’s not what I’m here for. I’m a detective, so let me get to work and figure out what actually happened.”
“Fair enough,” Hester said. “I need to get to the kitchen.” She glanced at Maggie. “I’m going to need you for the breakfast rush. Say in about an hour. Will you stay with Sam in the meantime?”
“Yes, of course.” Maggie sounded dazed. Sam glanced at her, hoping she was all right. He still couldn’t read anything from her face.
“That’d be fine,” he said. “Actually, I could use your help, Maggie. Want to come with me for a bit?”
Maggie nodded.
“I’m putting a lot of trust in you,” Hester said quietly to Sam. Her gaze swept across Maggie. “Both of you.”
“We won’t let you down,” Sam told her.
But the person he truly couldn’t let down was Maggie.
That liquid-eyed gaze was imprinted on his soul.
She didn’t seem to know how to deal with someone taking her side.
And now that he had seen it, he knew down to the bottom of his boots that he was going to have to figure this out and clear her name.
If no one had ever stood up for Maggie or protected her in her life, which was what that look told him, he was going to be the first. And he had no intention of letting her down, no matter what.