3 Requiem at Christmas Read Online Free Page B

ranger
said.
    “You’re very kind.” Juliet pulled on her gloves but not her
ski mask. The snow had stopped falling when the wind
died and the mask with its red lips and pompom nose was undignified.
    “Good luck, Officer. Keep warm,” she said and sailed out the
door.

 
 

Chapter 3

 
    Juliet made it to the Aspens without any further problems or
delays and managed to get checked in without a single hitch though with rather
more conversation than she would have liked. The manager was an art fan and once
she mentioned she was part of the group from Bartholomew’s Woods, he wanted to
know all about Raphael and Asher. He also asked her if she wanted a goldfish
for her room. Juliet stared at him until she recalled that the inn was
pet-friendly and would supply you with a pet if you didn’t have one of your
own. The goldfish would have been entertainment—and probably food—for Marley,
but since she was alone, Juliet declined the distraction.
    Her room was done in a kind of rustic Victorian style that
was comfortable and warm and inoffensively bland, and what flaws there were,
like too small a closet, were easy to ignore.
    Further proof that her luck had changed for the better, she
also caught room service right before the kitchen shut down and they promised her
the cheeseburger she had been craving for the last fifty miles. She ate it and
most of the fries too.
    Though physically exhausted, she found that sleep was far
away, and knowing that Darby had nocturnal habits she decided to give her a
call before retiring to count sheep.
    “Hello.” There were party noises and Juliet could hear
Carrie Simmons’ emotion-encumbered voice in the background. She always liked to
emote, but it was worse when she’d been drinking.
    “Darby, it’s Juliet.”
    “You made it. We were getting worried.”
    “Me too. I had a little adventure
on the way up.”
    “Are you okay? The weather has been awful.”
    “Yes, I’m fine—now that I’ve eaten. Listen, is Harrison
there with you?”
    “Yeah, he’s beginning to look sleepy though.” More liked bored with Carrie doing Mae West. Her
voice changed. “Is it something important? Do you want me to put him on the
phone?”
    “No. But do you think you could slip away from the party and
come to my room for a few minutes?”
    “Sure. What room are you in?”
    “Um.…” Juliet had to think. The rooms were named as well as
numbered. “I’m in Cedars ten. That’s second floor.”
    “Okay. We’ll be there shortly.”
    Juliet pulled the bottle of Amaretto out of her suitcase and
fetched three tumblers from the bathroom. Darby and Harrison weren’t big drinkers
but she figured that they might need something after she talked to them.
    A tap on her door came a moment later. She opened, expecting
Darby and Harrison, but instead it was Esteban and Raphael crowding her
doorway.
    “Are you psychic?” she asked, stepping back, and going to
the bathroom for the last glass. If pushed she would drink from the bottle. It
had been that kind of day.
    “You were late. We got worried,” Esteban said, stepping over
the room service tray and then setting it outside the door.
    “Well, in this case you were justified. I’ve been having
adventures. Homicidal ones.”
    Raphael sighed.
    “Tell me.”
    “We’re waiting for Darby and Harrison. I think my little journey
into weirdness concerns Harrison, at least indirectly. If you don’t mind, I’d
rather only tell this once. More. The authorities were
having a little trouble with my story and I had to repeat it slowly and
thoroughly.”
    “It concerns Harrison?”
    She could see this surprised both men. Harrison was devoted
to his music and to Darby. Juliet wouldn’t stack up her knowledge of the human
heart against say Sigmund Freud, but she knew a bit about human avarice and the
capacity for violence. Harrison possessed neither flaw. Raphael knew this too.
Murder had no business coming to call in his neighborhood.
    Esteban opened