Murder at the Rose Inn (A Springvale Mystery, Book 2)

By Pattie Zamen

FBI Agent Cayla Carter came to Springvale with her team to help catch a serial killer. After Detective Kaleigh Maloney and FBI Jeremy DeWitt are injured by a stalker, it up to her and Detective Miguel Hernandez to step up and talk the lead.Will they be able to catch the killer? Or will their attraction for each other get in the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pattie Zamen
• Release date: Feb 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310068409

Pattie Zamen

Pattie Zamen was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. She has a variety of hobbies, but the one constant is reading. She enjoys both Mysteries and Romance and loves to combine both in the books she writes. Presently she is living in Arkansas with her husband Ray.

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Murder at the Rose Inn

A Springvale Mystery – Book 2

By: Pattie Zamen

This book is published by Pattie Zamen at Smashwords.

Copyright 2015 Patricia Zamen

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Prologue

Here we are, said the man opening the door to the hotel room. Wait, I need to carry you over the threshold Mrs. Delaine.

You better not drop me William Delaine, was the giggling response.

Well hold still, I don’t want to trip over the train of your dress, said William as he carried her into the room and gently deposited her on the bed. Do you need any help getting out of the dress? I need to go take a shower to wash off this beer they spilled on me.

If you can undo some of the buttons on the back, then I should be ok. It will be nice to make love to my husband, not a brewery, she replied softly kissing him, giving him a preview of what was to come later. Using his help to get up from the bed, she turned her back to face him and lifted her long curly brown hair so he could reach the tiny pearl buttons going all the way down her back.

His fingers felt clumsy as he worked the satin loop over each of the pearl buttons. He had been waiting all night to do this, take this dress off her one button at a time. He was tempted to forgo the shower for now, but the odor of the beer his friends had dumped on him during the reception was making him gag in the small room. Even taking off the clothes wouldn’t be enough. It had drenched his hair and gotten under his clothes. The scent clung to his skin. Nothing but a good shower would do. He would leave his clothes in the bathroom so he could shut them in there when he was done. Most hotels had an exhaust fan. Keeping them in there with the fan going should keep the smell down. He could throw the shirt in a sink of water to help get the smell out of it, his boxers as well, but the suit would have to be dry-cleaned. He probably wouldn’t get his deposit back anyways. Good thing he had come by earlier and left a bag with a change of clothes to wear tomorrow when they left here.

The dress began to slip off her shoulders and he bent down slightly to kiss the nape of her neck before stepping back. Ok, I’ll be as quick as I can, you set the mood out here, and I’ll join you in bed. Stealing one last kiss before he headed to the bathroom he slipped off his tuxedo jacket from his six-foot frame and started undoing the shirt buttons as he walked in the small room and shut the door.

Humming to herself, excited about the night to come, Cheryl mouthed the words to the song running through her head as she removed the remaining clothes and pulled back the blanket and sheet on the king size bed. Looking around the room, she decided what she needed to do to set the mood. Looking at herself in the bright lights, she frowned. The lights made her look funny, or maybe it was the mirror. Either way, she didn’t want to see herself while they were having fun in bed, she would be too self-conscious. ‘So those lights off’ she decided. Hearing the shower running, she knew it wouldn’t be much longer before he came and joined her. Deciding on just one small light away from the bed would be good. The soft glow would be just enough for him to be able to see his way to the bed. She slipped on her white silk negligee and slid under the sheets. Now she just had to wait for her new husband to come to her.

Stalking back to the bathroom, his task done, he snatched his pack down from the overhead area where he had stashed it. Pulling his clothes back on he checked the bathroom to make sure he didn’t leave any trace behind. Reaching back into his pack, he removed the object he would be leaving and went back out to the bed area.

Placing the object next to her, slightly under her leg to hold it in place, he took one last look around the room. Picking up his pack, he slung it over a shoulder and went to the door. Peering out the peephole, he saw there was no movement out in the hallway. Opening the door, he exited, making sure the door latched behind him. Strolling towards the stairs, he removed his latex gloves and put on a pair of work gloves. Shoving the latex ones in a pocket, he entered the stairwell and disappeared into the night.

Chapter One

Detective Miguel Hernandez hung up his phone and shook his head. There must be some mistake. He wouldn’t strike again this early, would he? Sighing, he opened up his cell phone again and scrolled down the numbers in his call history. Finding the one he wanted, he dialed.

Cayla Carter stopped her packing and picked up her phone. Seeing it was Miguel brought a smile and a slight increase in her heart rate. She enjoyed working with the sexy detective on this case. She was going to miss seeing him every day. It was going to be a task of hers to find a way to stay in touch with him. Tossing her blonde hair, she made a mental note to ask Kaleigh if Miguel had a steady girlfriend. Hello, she said her smile coming over the line clearly in her voice, miss me already? she asked, coyly twisting one of her short blonde locks.

You’re not going to believe this. I just got a call from the station. They got a call from the Rose Inn. There’s been another double murder.

What? her voice raising an octave. Dropping her hand to her chest, she pursed her lips, shaking her head from side to side.

Yeah, they want you and the guys to come with me to check it out to see if we think it’s the same perp or if it’s a copycat. Forensics is on the way and the medical examiner too, I’m sure by now. So we need to get over there if we want to see the bodies before the medical examiner release them and they get moved.

Well Jeremy is still in the hospital, but I can call the others, her voice a little stronger and back to its normal range, she was back in agent mode.

Yeah, Kaleigh is probably with him. The captain forced her to take a week of medical leave to make sure she’s over her concussion before she comes back to work. We both thought we would have longer before he struck again, so he might rescind and let her back early.

Ok let me get them on the phone and we will meet you there, she replied. Getting his agreement to the plan, she sighed. She wanted to have more time with him, but not at the expense of another couple dying. Going out of her room into a conference room, she went to a door and rapped on it. Matt Porter, one of the other FBI agents there with her in the town of Springvale opened the door, his bag in his hand all packed and ready to go. His short black hair and six feet frame had him towering over her just over five-foot two frame, but his twinkling blue eyes brought a natural charm to him. Put it down, we got a call, Cayla informed him, dialing the number for Jason Hall who was in another room with Mark Schmidt. Updating them of the situation, she hung of the phone and tossed it in her purse. Going back to her room, she picked up a bag containing two laptops and other equipment she would be bringing to the scene.

Meeting Matt out in the hallway, they walked to the elevator together as he said, I thought it was a waste of time for us to head back. I knew we would be coming back as soon as the killer struck again.

I know, I just didn’t think he would strike again so soon.

Entering the car on its arrival the doors started to close only to open again. Mark and Jason joined them, their expressions somber at the news she had given them. Mark was almost identical in build to Matt but had light brown hair and eyes. Jason was the short one of the males in the team standing just under six feet. His sandy blonde hair was just darker than hers was, and his green eyes were showing concern.

Are they sure? ask Mark with a raise of his right eyebrow.

No, she responded her blonde head bobbing in the sea of darks suits. They want us there to check it out to determine if it is the same perp.

Did you call in to the office about it? ask Jason.

No, I thought I would wait until we see what we have. It’s early, no point in calling them until we have some info, giving the men a shoulder shrug.

Did you call Jeremy and let him know?

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, she said, No. You know him. He would leave his hospital bed to go to the scene. They put him on medical leave for at least two weeks most likely up to eight before he can resume active duty. I’m sure his docs would appreciate him using at least a week of it.

Nodding his head in assent, Matt unlocked the black Expedition and climbed into the driver’s seat. Cayla joined him in the front passenger seat as Jason and Mark entered an identical vehicle.

Securing her seat belt as Matt started to drive, Cayla reviewed the events leading up to this in her mind to see if she missed anything. The town of Springvale had suffered three double homicides of a bride and groom on their wedding night. The FBI was called in after the third time. If Miguel is right, this will be the fourth set. Cayla had arrived with Matt, Mark, Jason, and her brother Jeremy. Normally, she wouldn’t be allowed on the same team as her brother, but his tech person had sustained a compound fractured leg a few days prior to the dispatch of the team and would be out of commission for several months. Since their mom had remarried, Jeremy and Cayla had different last names. Jeremy looked like his dad, over six feet tall with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, while Cayla looked like their mom, short with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. Most people even in the FBI didn’t realize they were related, and they kept it to themselves. Only their team knew as well as supervisors and Cayla had told Kaleigh and Miguel when they first arrived in town.

Stan Johnson was arrested for the attack on Kaleigh and Jeremy. Their supervisor back at the office had called them late last night, telling them to return in the morning and let the local police handle the follow up investigation. She was sure they had gotten the right man despite Cayla’s, and Matt’s protests. Now it seems Cayla would be calling her back and letting her know she was premature in her assessment. Cayla was sure about Stan not being the murderer, and depending on what they found at the Rose Inn, the other one where the first two murders were committed, she might be right. The first two had been committed at the Rose, but then he moved across town to the local chain hotel. They never found an explanation as to why. Now it seemed he was back. Was it because it was the Rose? Or was there another reason why he had come back to this hotel. Maybe their presence at the chain hotel had deterred him.

Arriving at the quaint inn, Cayla exited the SUV and pulled her bag over a shoulder. Taking in the rose boxes at the entrance, the ivy hanging off a gray brick wall and the wooden swing under a canopy just to the side, she liked what she saw. Looking around the lot, she spotted Miguel’s distinctive Mustang and she had to hide the smile brought to her face. Taking out a kit from the back of the vehicle, she joined the others as they walked into the hotel as a unit. Some of the reporters already there were filming and Cayla blinked as a flash went off in her face, her hand instinctively going to her gun. Giving the offending photographer a stern look, she dropped her hand and continued on her way. Stopping in the lobby, she watched the gathering crowd outside. Going to an alcove where, due to the privacy glass windows, the crowd wouldn’t see her, she took out several camera devices and started the related program on her laptop. Activating each of the devices, resembling a small mirror, she had pulled out, she handed several to Jason who had followed her.

He in turn obtained the keys for the Expedition she had ridden in from Matt and went back out to the two vehicles. Entering each vehicle in turn, he put several of the cameras in place to capture the crowd from various angles while appearing to be looking for something to cover his actions. The forensic vehicle from the Springvale Police department arrived and he hurried over there. Glad to recognize Jackson with his over six-foot frame and bald head getting out of the vehicle he surreptitiously passed over one of the devices and in a low voice explained what it was. Jackson planted the small mirror type object in the vehicle so they would have another angle. To cover his being there, Jason helped Jackson retrieve some of the items he would need in the hotel. Rejoining the other agents inside, he nodded to Cayla as he joined them waiting for the elevator.

Returning his nod, she hoped the cameras would help. She knew the hotel did not have any external surveillance cameras. It was a small independent hotel and while there were three floors, there were only eight rooms on each of the upper two floors. A conference room took up some of the space on the first floor. Also, the owners had a two-room suite so there were only two rooms available on the first floor. Recalling what Kaleigh had told them before about this hotel, there was no designated honeymoon suite, but the hotel was a nice clean one.

She viewed the surveillance from the other hotel and was disappointed in the quality and coverage. While it was too late to catch the murderer leaving the scene, if he returned to watch what was happening, she hoped to catch him this time. The digital quality would be much better than the taped over tapes she had from the other place. While Jason had positioned the ones outside, she had added a few to capture the interior as well. She made a mental note to request more from the station when she called in to advise the supervisor of their findings.

Taking the elevator up to the third floor, she walked down the hallway and took in her surroundings. The Rose Inn might be independently owned, but the décor was much nicer than the chain hotel where she was staying. The carpet under her feet was plusher, the walls while painted, were a bright cheery color and had several paintings, which did not appear to be the replica kind the other hotel had. Moving towards the yellow crime scene tape, she nodded to the officer showing her badge and signing in, passing the board to Mark before ducking under the tape. Taking a pair of gloves and booties from the boxes setting on the floor, she put them on and then entered the room where she watched Miguel taking in the scene.

Walking by the bathroom, she saw the medical examiner, Mary Beattie, in there with the body of the male. He was naked, his clothes around him smelling strongly of beer covering the beige tile floor. An object, appearing to be his shirt, was in the sink, floating in water. The exhaust system in the bathroom had tried valiantly