Dangerous Secrets by L. L. Bartlett, Kelly McClymer, Shirley Hailstock, C. B. Pratt

and showed me she still
held it.
    ‶ Are you sure you were
pushed?″ Richard asked again.
    ‶ Yes, dammit! I must′ve
interrupted them—him, her—before they could do whatever it was they wanted to
do in our room.″ I sank back on the pillow, frustrated. ‶ Oh,
my head.″
    ‶ You don′t seem concussed,
but if you have any problems—double vision, nausea, anything unusual—call
me.″ He shook a finger of warning at me. ‶ I′m serious.″
    ‶ Okay.″
    He rose from the chair. ‶ Hang on. I′ll
go get the Tylenol.″ He finally noticed the room. ‶ Boy, this place
really is small.″ Then he was off.
    Maggie sat on the bed beside me. She took my
hand, radiating fear. ‶ I want to go home.”
    I squeezed her fingers. ‶ We can′t. Not
until the police say so.″
    ‶ Whoever did this could have
killed you.″
    ‶ Everyone was accounted
for....″ I thought about it for a moment. ‶ Well, I′m not really sure
about Susan and Zack, or the blonde bimbo and her boyfriend, but—″
    ‶ You can′t suspect Zack
and Susan.″
    ‶ I suspect everyone except you
and Richard.″ She frowned. ‶ How well do you know the
Dawsons, anyway?″
    ‶ Not well,″ Maggie
admitted. ‶ This
is Susan′s second marriage. She met Zack in Mystic, Connecticut, a couple
of years ago. He used to own a landscaping business and was living on his
sailboat. I guess they fell in love. He sold it and his business and they
bought the inn a little over a year ago.″
    ‶ And you haven′t even seen
or heard from her in at least ten years, right?″ She wouldn′t meet
my gaze. ‶ Susan′s
carrying a secret about Eileen that even Zack doesn′t know.″
    Maggie looked up at me. ‶ How do you
know?″ Her frown deepened. ‶ Why do I even bother to
ask?″
    The silence that followed weighed heavy between
us. I squeezed her hand again, hoping she′d feel reassured. Stupid
really, since someone had deliberately hurt me, proving just how ineffective I
was as her protector.
    Richard knocked on the door, pushing it open.
Maggie rose, went into the bathroom and got me a glass of water. I downed the
pills he gave me.
    ‶ Get some rest,″ Richard
ordered. He looked at Maggie. ‶ Come get me if he′s too stupid or macho to
admit he′s having problems.″
    ‶ I will,″ she promised.
    ‶ See you at breakfast,
right?″
    ‶ Thanks, Rich.″ I gave him
a wan smile. Words couldn′t express my gratitude for him being here. And
I still didn′t really know why I needed him.
    He gave us a smile, and then closed the door
behind him. I watched Maggie lock it.
    ‶ Why do I feel like the worst is
yet to come?″ she asked.
    ‶ I don′t want to scare
you, love, but I′ve felt the same way all day.″
    ‶ Damn, I wish we′d never
come here. Damn it all!″ Teary-eyed, she hurried to the bathroom and shut
the door.
    I sank into the mattress. Someone had been up
here, either in our room or contemplating entering it. Here, where none of the
other registered guests would go—not unless they had something to hide ... or
to plant. Maybe Richard and I should have checked all the empty rooms on the
second floor.
    Could someone still be hiding there—listening
to us?
    Who?
    Why?
    Maggie said Kay Andolina had been the first to
find me. Could Susan or Zack have pushed me, then come downstairs by another
route? I didn′t even know if the inn had a back stair. I′d have to
check it out in the morning. At that moment, I wanted to do nothing more than
escape in sleep, because in sleep I was oblivious—of blame, of fear. And much
as I wanted to deny it, I was beginning to feel afraid.
    And I didn′t like it. Not one damn bit.

Chapter 10
    I was up early the next morning. Thin gray
light came in the window at the far end of the inn’s empty second floor hall.
Shoeless, I padded down its length and found no back staircase. I′d been
waiting since before dawn to investigate the other rooms on the floor. All were
sealed with the same flimsy locks on