Read Cloudy with a Chance of Ghosts (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 4) for Free Online Page A

going on around us.  
    The corridor seemed to last forever. I began to tremble and I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the elevator without crying out or breaking into a burst of speed.  
    But finally, there it was in front of us. I threw myself inside and reached for the railing, leaning hard and trying to catch my breath. I looked back down the hall. Nothing to see—but a high, eerie sound—like the plaintive cry of the damned--seemed to follow us until we got those doors shut.  
    I turned to Jill and tried to smile, but she’d noticed. How could she not? And she was frowning at me, puzzled. I forced a smile. I didn’t want her to think I was going nuts.  
    She shrugged lightly and began talking again.  
    “Listen.” As we hit the lobby, she turned and grabbed my arm. “I know a woman who works here. She’s at the concierge desk right now. I’ll go over and see if I can get any information from her on Keri. Why don’t you go to the lounge and get a drink and wait for me there?”
    I nodded, glad for a chance to sit somewhere and calm down. I slipped into the darkened lounge and found a table in the corner. I took a deep breath and looked around the room, half scared at what I might see. Not a ghost in sight. What a relief. I smiled at the waitress and ordered a cup of decaf. By the time she came back with it, I was myself again.  
    “Can I ask you about someone who’s staying here right now?” I tried.
    She nodded helpfully and said, “Sure, but I’m not likely to know many of them.”
    Wishing like crazy that I had a picture to show, I said, “The name is Keri Shorter. She’s a nice looking woman, about forty, with a neat bobbed haircut, glasses and a professional look to her. She…”
    “I think I do know her,” the waitress said. “Keri, yes! She’s been staying here all week and it’s not to hit the beaches. She comes in for an afternoon mocha and then has a White Russian before she goes to bed. We’ve chatted a number of times as I got to noticing her. Did you try her room? She’s rarely in this early, but…”
    “No, she’s not in,” I said hastily. I didn’t want to say any more about that. “Do you have any idea what she’s doing here in the Destiny Bay area? I mean, since she’s not the usual tourist type, maybe she gave you a hint as to what she…”
    “Oh sure, honey,” the waitress said, being super helpful. “She’s a journalist and she’s here working on a story. She didn’t tell me the fellow’s name, but he’s some rich guy with a mansion up on the Gold Coast Shore. Not one of the movie stars, she said. She told me she knew something secret from his past and she was planning to do a tell-all about him for some magazine. She didn’t tell me the details, unfortunately. And believe me, I tried to pry out some of the juicier ones she hinted at. But she’s real nice. I’m sure she’ll tell you about it too when you catch up with her.”
    “That would be nice,” I said, trying to be noncommittal. “Thank you so much. You’ve been a big help.”
    Jill appeared and slid in across from me. “My concierge friend didn’t know much,” she told me in a stage whisper, competing with the piped in music. “She gave the computer records a whirl, but the only thing she found out was that Keri’s home address is in Boston.”
    I nodded and quickly reeled off what the waitress had told me. Jill was impressed.  
    “So it looks like she really was working on a story. A story about Carlton Hart, huh? What do you suppose her angle was?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling that is exactly what Debbie is trying to find out.” I frowned, thinking. “You know, it is strange that we didn’t find any paperwork or recording equipment or anything a journalist might use to keep notes on what she was finding out. Do you suppose they have a strong box or something like that here in the hotel—some place where she could have kept her notes from