Mystery at Rocky Point (eBook)

Chapter One

Life in a Northern Town

More hurt than angry, Carla spins her Rolodex and then tosses it across the room. She watches as it sinks to the bottom of the fish tank. “He wants to meet me at the bowling alley? How will romance blossom between the strikes and balls . . . or is that baseball? It doesn’t matter, I always strike out.” Carla has been a real estate agent most of her adult life; not that she would ever consider herself an adult. Adults are serious, have their lives in order, and are always preparing for their future; but at twenty-nine, Carla is ready for the next party, a cute boy, and any adventure that knocks on her door.

Today, Carla has exciting news to share with Toby, her first boy crush. They have been “just friends” as far back as grade school, which was the beginning of Carla’s bad luck with boyfriends.

Carla pulls into the parking lot at Murphy’s Bar and sees Toby talking with Daniel, his most recent significant other. As she tries four times to back her car into a space, Daniel yells out, “Clown car!” while Toby is shaking his head and trying not to laugh.

Daniel suddenly realizes he’s late for work and jumps to his feet. He kisses Toby goodbye and waves to the struggling Carla who’s still trying to park. When she finally gets her car in a spot, Toby opens the door and gives her a big hug.

“Let’s go for some breakfast, girl.” Carla and Toby grab an available deck table overlooking the gardens. Scanning the menu he asks,

“What are you going to have? I was thinking, over easy, hash browns, and BACON!”

Carla blinks at the menu, runs her finger down the page, closes it saying,

“Oh, I don’t know.” She taps her fingers on the table. “Oh, let me look at the menu again.” Toby calls the waitress over and orders two Bloody Mary’s.

He sympathetically looks at Carla struggling and exclaims,

“It’s a brand-new day to improvise! Are you feeling like sunrise, sunset, or five o’clock somewhere?” The waitress brings the drinks over as Toby grabs the menu from Carla and hands it to the waitress,

“She’ll have scrambled, fresh fruit, and I’ll have my usual. Thank you.” The waitress wink/smiles at Toby and then heads to her station. Toby hands Carla her drink,

“Here’s a toast to us, our futures, and brand-new adventures.” Toby takes a long drink and then another, “I needed that.” Carla puts her drink down and says, “You know, Toby, speaking of a new adventure, there’s this great old property on the shore that’s available. I think I can talk them down to your price range.” Toby begins to laugh, “Again? What are you thinking now? A horse stable, hot yoga, a stripper car wash?”

Carla takes a quick drink,

“No, The Deer Run Inn, near Rocky Point. Fun, fun, fun! I know it could be a money maker!—But the stripper carwash sounds interesting.”

The waitress at another table drops her tray after hearing Carla mention the Deer Run Inn.

Carla sees the distressed look on her face and excuses herself from the table.

Not letting Toby in on her mission, she follows the waitress to her station.

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

“Oh yes, I just had a moment.”

“Well, it seems you were upset when I mentioned the Deer Run Inn.”

The girl tenses up again and takes a deep breath.

“That’s an evil place where the dead still walk.”

“What do you mean? That seems a bit unbelievable?”

“No, it’s true! My friends and I would hang out down by the shore at night, drinking and, you know, just hanging out. One night we saw a light in the attic window and decided to check it out. We made our way through the dunes and up onto the deck. I swear I’m not lying, but we saw this glowing woman walking up on a balcony and a small child following her! Then this big old pirate ghost flew out of the lodge and knocked us off our feet. He looked down at us with an evil mean look and then laughed at us! We got out of there as quick as we could and promised never to return.”

“Oh, ok, honey, I’m sorry for that . . . you take care.”

Carla gives the waitress a sympathetic smile and then walks back to the table where Toby is watching.

“What is up with her, is she alright?”

“Oh yes, Toby, she’s talking about glowing spirits and flying ghosts, but I believe she’s just hung over—now what about investing in that property?”

Toby puts his finger up to his mouth,

“Hmm, let me think, ah, yes, you are insane! I have a limited, mysterious inheritance, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Carla takes a big drink of her Bloody Mary,

“You’ve been trying to find something to do with your life, and this will make you money. It will be fun, and of course, I’ll help.” Toby is about to take another drink when Daniel shows up at the table, takes the drink out of Toby’s hand, and chugs it. Toby looks surprised and concerned,

“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at work?”

“I was laid off, cutbacks.”

Daniel takes a seat and orders another round of drinks from the waitress who followed him over. Toby leans over and gives him a sympathy kiss, “It’s ok, you’ll find another.”

Carla gets up to leave, “Think about it, call me.”

The waitress brings the tray of food and drinks over, as Carla blows kisses and is gone.

Daniel clinks glasses with Toby and begins to eat Carla’s breakfast.

“What was that all about?” asks Daniel as he pops a slice of cantaloupe in his mouth.

Toby watches Daniel feed his face and laughs to himself,

“She wants me to buy some resort.”Daniel continues to stuff food in his mouth and talk at the same time.

“The old Deer Run Inn near the North Shore? The hotel manager told me the family has all died off, and the granddaughter wants to get rid of it fast. So, what do you think? You can hire me, ha ha, win! win!”

Toby downs his Bloody Mary and says,

“Well, I guess we’ll see what Carla can do.” Next morning, Toby and Daniel arrive at Carla’s office in the lively tourist town of Rocky Point. Toby tries opening the door, but it is locked. Daniel peers in the window but cannot see anyone.

“Daniel, wait here while I go around back.”

Toby sees Carla in her car trying to apply lipstick with her car mirror. The lipstick breaks from the holder as she continues to apply it with shaking hands, and Toby calling out to her,

“Are you going to walk the streets today, or sell me some property?”

Carla, startled in her seat, quickly finishes, and tosses her makeup in her purse. She gets out of her car, pulls her dress down with a cat call,

“Good morning, lover.”

Her lipstick is way outside of her lip line, but Toby does not say a word.

They walk around the front of the building and meet Daniel at the door. Daniel looks at Carla’s smeared lips and chuckles to himself and Toby.

Inside, Carla shows them the property file and asks if they want to go see it. The front door opens, and the mailman comes in. He hands Carla her mail and sees her badly applied lipstick. He unconsciously moves his hand over his own mouth and looks to Toby and Daniel. They smile and shake their heads, “no don’t say anything!” The mailman nods “ok” and quickly leaves.

Oby stands up, “let’s go see it.” Carla closes the file, “I’ll drive. I know a shortcut.” They all pile into Carla’s car and head out on the coast highway. After a short drive, they come upon a flagman for a bridge repair. He holds up one line of traffic to let the other go, and vice versa. Carla stops next to the flagman.

“How long is the bridge project going to be? I need to know if my business will be affected.” The flagman looks in the car window and sees Carla’s red smeared face. He burst out laughing and then catches himself when he sees Carla’s eyes open wide. Carla investigates by looking in the rearview mirror and sees her silly face. She turns to see Toby and Daniel trying to hold their laughter. She is furious and about to give them heck when the flagman shouts and waves her on.

Embarrassed and a bit angry, she jumps the car ahead and tries to wipe her face while driving—no one saying a word the rest of the way. She pulls into the resort parking lot and brakes hard at the entrance. The boys jerk forward as she declares, “We’re here, all out, break a leg, I mean watch your step.”

Once out of Carla’s car, they pause and look up at the entrance of The Deer Run Inn. Daniel stretches his arms up at the entrance. “This looks impressive—so far so good.”

Carla walks up the stairs to the porch, and the boys follow. She selects a key from a ring of...