The Inn at Holiday Bay: Clue in the Clam, Kathi Daley [early reader chapter books TXT] 📗

“Crime scene?”

“Kurt Steadman is dead. Same as the others.”

Wow, I hated to hear that. “There’s a pile of those plastic clams on the bed in the spare bedroom,” I said. “Barnaby has to be the killer.”

“Yeah. I think he is, which is why I’m here. There was a note in Kurt’s pocket about a meeting with Barnaby early this morning. The county guys are on the way. I’m going to wait here to make sure that Barnaby doesn’t decide to leave before backup gets here. The two of you are to return to your car and wait for me.”

“Okay,” I said, wishing I could wait with Colt but not wanting to push it. He already looked sort of mad. “Lacy and I will wait in the car. It’s parked down on the next dirt road to the north that veers off to the right.”

Lacy and I had made it back to my car, and I was just unlocking the doors and preparing to get in when I heard a shot that was quickly followed by another shot.

“Colt!” I took off running. I could hear Lacy calling to me as I ran faster and faster, but I didn’t stop. If Barnaby had shot Colt, I really had no idea what I was going to do. It wasn’t like I had a gun or anything. When I arrived at the house, I half expected to find Colt’s lifeless body. Instead, I found Barnaby with a bullet in his leg and Colt standing over him with a gun.

“What happened?” I asked.

“He saw me and came at me. He tried to shoot me, but he missed. I’m a better shot.” He handed me the gun. “Hold this on him while I cuff him.”

I did as Colt asked. Before Colt even had time to take the gun back, the guys from the county arrived and took over the remainder of the arrest protocol.

“I’m going to be a while,” Colt said. “You and Lacy go home. I’ll call you later.”

“I thought you lost your cell phone.”

“I did. I’ll call you from the office.” He pulled me in toward his body and hugged me tighter than he ever had before. I could hear his heart pounding under my ear. Apparently, he wasn’t as unaffected by what went on as he appeared to be.

“I’ll go home,” I promised. “But don’t forget to call.”

“I won’t. Once I get Barnaby to the hospital, you and I need to have a chat about the inadvisability of putting yourself in a dangerous position when you have no gun and no backup.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess I figured that talk was coming.”

Chapter 14

“I guess you heard that Rodney went home early,” Mylie said to me the following day after I’d arrived on the island, and she’d come over to greet me.

“Georgia mentioned that he’d checked out this morning. I guess his date with Christy yesterday didn’t go as planned.”

Mylie shook her head. “I spoke to Christy for quite a while this morning. She admitted that Rodney had more than friendship on his mind, and she admitted that she knew it and had let him court her anyway. She told me that she was mad at Noah for choosing his mother over her and wanted to punish him. She also admitted that her need to get back at Noah was childish and that she felt bad about the way the whole thing escalated into something more than it ever should have been.”

“So are Noah and Christy okay?”

Mylie paused for a moment and then answered. “I’m not sure. Christy told me that she loves Noah and wants to work things out, but she also shared that she’s not willing to get into another relationship where her husband’s mother makes decisions that affect her marriage or the way she raises her children. She feels that it’s a bad sign that Noah seemed to go back on everything they’d discussed relating to the actual wedding once his mother arrived. Based on what she said, it seems like Noah and Christy have decided to take a step back. They will continue to be friends and even date, but the wedding has been postponed indefinitely.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s for the best that all of this came out now. How is Haley doing with everything?”

“She seems fine. Kids are resilient. For the time being, Christy and Haley, and I will continue to share the apartment. That arrangement has been working to this point and will continue to work a while longer. To be honest, I’m hoping Noah and Christy are able to work it out. They seem good for each other. There is this huge issue, but maybe they can find a compromise.”

“I hope so. I really do care about both of them.” I looked around. “I know they had tickets for today’s event. Did they decide to come?”

“No. Noah and Christy both decided to skip it. I think emotions on both sides are pretty raw. But the good news is that Noah, Christy, and Haley decided to babysit Lacy and Lonnie’s kids. I guess the twins are no longer contagious, so they not only gave their clam bake tickets to the deserving couple but offered to babysit as well.”

I smiled. “That’s great. I’m happy it worked out for Lacy and Lonnie to attend. I owe Lacy after almost getting her killed yesterday.”

“You almost got her killed?”

I laughed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, it looks like Jeremy is waving us over.”

Jeremy and Nikki were helping Georgia with the food. It was to the point in the process where they needed help setting everything out on the buffet table. The