The Inheritance (Happy Endings Resort Book 1) (5 page)

“Come on. Let’s go get cleaned up and if you want we can curl up on the couch and watch a movie. He slid my shirt back into place.

“What?” I was shocked. He didn’t want to have sex or for me to return the pleasure? “Don’t you want . . .?” I adjusted my pants as he grabbed his shirt from the deck floor.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you and taste you since you stepped into my office. Drew’s photos did no justice to how beautiful you are in person.”He leaned down and started putting the fire out. “Don’t get me wrong, I want you. I want you more than you know.” He shook his head. “But I want you to stay after tomorrow.”

“I thought we . . .”

“I thought I could, but . . . Christ I sound like such a girl right now,” he laughed in disbelief.  I really couldn’t disagree with the kind of emotion he was expressing for someone he had just met.

“I don’t know how much of a good idea it is to get involved with someone who lives so close. I mean we would live . . .”

“On opposite sides of the lake. There are a bunch of people who live here that I don’t see a lot of or interact with, or even really know.” He offered me his hand and we made our way back into the cabin.

“You are a very unusual kind of guy, Mr. Jason Duke.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and closed the door behind us.

We spent the rest of the night doing exactly as he had said. We sat on the couch, him in the corner and me leaning back against his chest.

Chapter Seven

I MUST HAVE fallen asleep because 8the couch was where I woke up, covered in a light blanket. I looked around, but Jason was not in the living room or kitchen.

“Jason?” I stood up and pulled the blanket off of the couch and folded it, placing it on the back of the couch. “Jason?”

“I’m here.” He stepped out of the bedroom where I had spent the night that first night. “I was getting dressed and just got a phone call.” He looked saddened and concerned at the same time. “What happened? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost?” I moved over to him and helped him sit down at the kitchen table. I got him a glass of water and took the seat opposite him.

“I was on the phone with the police. They are on their way over.”

“Police? Why are the police on their way over?” My stomach was knotting.

“There was . . .they found . . .the maintenance crew was out by the dock over on the east side of the lake.” He rubbed his hands up and down his face, taking deep breaths. “I can’t believe . . . they found . . . it was far back by the edge of the property . . . back away from the . . . the same place . . . the same fucking place.” I just looked at him as he rambled.

“What the hell are you talking about? What did the maintenance crew find in the same place” I asked, but part of me kind of already knew what he was going to say.” I took a deep breath and got up from the chair I had been occupying. I kept my focus on the picturesque view out the front window. The lake, spread out with the reflection of the sun shining down on the water, was gorgeous.  I didn’t want to hear what he was having trouble saying. I didn’t want our night together to be ruined by a nightmare beginning today.

“Rupert, one of the maintenance crew, was making his rounds and he saw . . .” He now had his elbows on his knees and he placed his head in his open hands.

“He found . . .” I was interrupted by a knock on the door of the cabin.

“That would be the police.” Jason grumbled from behind his hands and moved to stand up.

“I’ll get it.” I moved to the door as another knock sounded.

I opened the door to find a man and a woman dressed in suits standing on the porch. Two uniformed police officers were standing behind them.

“We’re looking for a Mr. Jason Duke and a Ms. Rory London.” The man to the left in the beige suit showed me his detective’s badge. “I’m Detective Henry McDonald,” he said as he offered me his card. “And this is my partner, Detective Pam Hall.” The woman dressed in the black suit stepped forward and offered me her card. “May we come in?”

“Yes, please come in.” Jason said, sounding nervous and distraught as he appeared beside me.  I stepped back and he lead the way back to the kitchen table. Jason held out a chair for me and then took the seat closest to me. The two detectives took the opposite seats and the two uniform officers stood closer to the front door.

“Ms. London I understand that you are the new owner
of . . .”

“Actually, Rory has . . .”

“Yes, I’m the new acting owner. We are still in the process of getting all of the papers signed and finalized.” I squeezed Jason’s knee under the table. He covered my hand with his own and squeezed it. “Do we need to go out . . .”

“No. We actually have a photo of the victim. We need to keep the crime scene clean. The fewer people in the area the better.  We have everything taped off.  The crime scene investigators are already out there,” Detective McDonald said pulling out a file folder.

“These pictures are graphic, but we do need to get a photo ID.” Detective Hall offered before her partner opened the folder.

“If it’s a resident, Rory hasn’t met everyone who lives here, and if it was a guest, we would have to ask . . .”

              “Rupert Hendrix said he believed it was a resident, but he couldn’t be sure because he refused to look at the photograph or the body. He asked that someone else be asked to do the identification.” Detective McDonald slid the folder in front of Jason. “If he is a resident, then you’ll be able to give us a positive identification?”

“I’ll do my best.” Jason released my hand for just a moment, wiped his sweat dampened hand down the leg of his jeans, then returned his hand over mine.

He took a deep breath, then opened the folder. I tried not to look. I really did try. I didn’t want to see a dead body. I had only met a few residents. When Jason squeezed my hand and he shoved the folder away, my eyes landed right on the picture of Drew Parker. I couldn’t hold back the gasp the came out of my mouth.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! That’s Drew! That’s Drew! Drew is dead! Oh my God! Jason! Jason that’s Drew!” I started shrieking.  “Somebody killed Drew. Why? Why would somebody do that?” Tears were rolling down my cheeks. I knew I really didn’t even know Drew, and he had been investigating me for Betty, but he was dead.

“Rory is right. That is Drew Parker.” Jason sighed. “We just saw Drew last night. We were at High Bar.”

“Were you there together?” Detective Hall asked.

“No. I was in the restroom and came out and he was sitting with Rory.” Jason looked over at me.

“Was he bothering you?” Detective McDonald asked.

“No. He wasn’t bothering me. It was only the second time I had ever even met him.”

“Can you tell us exactly what your contact with Mr. Parker was?” Detective McDonald sat up a little straighter like he didn’t want to miss anything I was about to say.

“It was really nothing. The day before I had met with Jason.” I glanced at Jason who smiled reassuringly at me. “I found out about my inheritance of the resort. I went to High Bar and had a bit too much to drink. Drew and Stixx kept an eye on me and then called Jason to pick me up. Then last night he came over to the table and asked if I remembered him. I hadn’t because I had been pretty lit.” I giggled nervously, embarrassed by my behavior. “He was taking credit for keeping an eye on me at the bar until Jason came to pick me up,” I stated matter-of-factly. Detective Hall excused herself when her cell phone rang.

“And you Mr. Duke?”

“I’ve known Drew since he moved in here about five years ago. He is a private investigator. I’ve never used his services personally, but clients have.” The detective must have noticed our exchange of glances.

“Have you used Mr. Parker’s services, Ms. London?”

“No. As I said I just met him the day before yesterday.” I paused. “That was the first time I had ever met him.”

“But not the first time he met you.” Detective Hall stepped back to the table and we all looked up at her. “There were files found in Mr. Parker’s trailer of you Ms. London.” Then all eyes turned to me.

“I just found out about that last night, myself.” I looked at Jason.

“Betty had Ms. London investigated before she came to me about leaving the property to Rory. I was actually planning on calling Drew this morning to ask him to bring the files over here for Rory to see. As Rory said, she only found out the other that not only had she been left the resort, but had been investigated. Drew had made a comment last night that he had been the investigator.” I was feeling almost as if Jason were trying to defend me, but wasn’t sure why.

“Ms. London, can you tell us where you were last night?” Detective McDonald looked directly at me, almost challenging me. I looked at Jason and he nodded.

“I was here with Mr. Duke last night.”

“The whole night?” Detective Hall questioned.

“After I left the High Bar, I called a cab to bring me back here. Buddy, the night guard, brought me here to Jason’s cabin to get my car and I drove out to Betty’s place to think. That’s where Jason found me and we came back here and we talked.” I felt myself blush at what else we did. “Then we watched a movie and fell asleep. I woke up on the couch this morning just after Jason got the call that you were headed here.”

“So you were here all night?” Detective Hall raised an eyebrow.

“Yes I was.”

“And how long were you out at Ms. Moss’ house?”

“I have no idea.” I looked them each in the eye. “I sat in my car for a while and actually fell asleep. Jason woke me up.”

“You were out at Mrs. Moss’ house as well? And how long were you out there before you woke Ms. London in her car?” Detective McDonald interjected.

“Are you accusing me of something?” Jason sounded defensive now. “I left the bar after paying the bill. Then I spoke to Buddy at the guard shack and asked if he had seen Ms. London. I wasn’t entirely sure where she may have gone. Buddy confirmed he had taken Ms. London back here to my cabin to retrieve her car and that she had not left the resort. We were going to head out to Mrs. Rodwell’s cabin earlier, but went to dinner instead. That’s where Drew had told Ms. London he had been the one to investigate her. When I got back out here, I figured I’d take a drive out to see if she was out there, and she was.” Jason looked over at me. “Ms. London was asleep in her car and I tapped the driver’s side window to wake her up. I told her I would get her all of the files I had on her inheritance, as well as the files from Drew, and she could go through all of them.”

“You sound like a lawyer Mr. Duke.” Detective Hall squinted her eyes at Jason.

“I am.”

“And how long were you out there at Mrs. Rodwell’s cabin?”

“No more than thirty minutes,” he quickly answered.

“And you returned here together and spent the night together?” Detective McDonald said almost with a hint of asking if we had sex last night.

“Jason and I just met the other day and he is the only person here that I know. He took care of me when I was intoxicated the other night. I spent last night here because I had nowhere else to go, and like Jason said, he was going to get me the files Betty had collected on me.”

“And how well did you know Mrs. Rodwell?”

“I didn’t know her at all. Apparently, she was my aunt,” I sighed and was getting a bit annoyed that they were sitting here wasting time while there was dead body across the lake that needed to be taken care of.

“So a woman you had never met left you trailer park and campground? Why?” Detective Hall asked.

I looked at Jason. “I honestly have no idea.”

“Ms. London was Mrs. Rodwell’s only living relative. That was the reason for Mr. Parker being hired. He was asked to find all of Mrs. Rodwell relations. Ms. London was the only one.”

“We’ll need those files,” Detective McDonald almost demanded.

“I can have copies sent over or, if you would prefer, you can send an officer over to the office. I will have my secretary meet them over there.” Jason answered and looked over at me. “I’d rather not leave Rory alone.”

“We’ll send an officer over there. Please ask your secretary not to retrieve the files until our officer is there and we have someone to witness the copying of the files. We are not leaving anything to chance this time.” Detective McDonald sighed.

“This time?” I looked between the detectives and Jason. No one answered me. “This time meaning what?” I asked again with a bit more concern.

“The body I told you about last night,” Jason almost mumbled.

“The body? You mean the one marked on the map?”

“Excuse me? You have a map with a body marked on it?” Detective Hall asked.

“It was on my windshield when I came back to pick up my car. I sat here for a couple of minutes looking out at the lake before I left, and that was actually what drew me out to Betty’s cabin.”

“An where is this map?” Detective McDonald inquired.

“I left it in my car.” I moved to stand up, but Detective McDonald, who was sitting closest to me, stopped me.

“We’ll send an officer out with you to your car to bag that map.”

The map was still sitting on the passenger seat where I had tossed it. My stomach turned when I saw the spot where the body had been drawn.

When I returned to my seat at the table, Detective Hall looked at me. “Are you the only one who touched the map?”

“I showed it to Jason while we were at Betty’s house. I told him that was why I had gone there.” I looked at Jason.

“I grew up here, so I had heard the stories about a body being found. I figured it was a scary story that got passed around over the years.” He shrugged. “And before you ask, yes, I touched the map as well, when Rory showed it to me.”

I noticed the detectives looking over the map and exchange a look. They whispered something and then looked back at the map.

“Mr. Duke, when was the last time you were over at the boat dock area on the other side of the lake?”

“Been a while. I only stay in the cabin on some weekends and in the summer. Mrs. Rodwell always came to the office to discuss her arrangements.”

“And you Ms. London?”

“The only places I’ve been are here and Betty’s.”

“Was Drew’s body at the dock?” I covered my mouth. I couldn’t stop seeing his body in the picture that was shown to Jason. Jason and I both looked toward the detectives for an answer. They looked at each other.

“Actually, Mr. Parker’s body was found right here.” Detective McDonald pushed the map from my car in front of us and pointed to the spot on the map where the body figure had been drawn.

“Oh my God!”