Caught in the Frame (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by ReGina Welling (novel24 .TXT) 📕

been fear rather than anger. That made him more dangerous, because a fearful man will usually go to greater lengths than an angry one. Fully alert now, Baylee absorbed her surroundings. Dust, piles of building materials, a dimly lit light fixture, and the abject lack of noise suggested she was in one of the older, not yet renovated parts of the castle.

And she was tied up.

Panic set in, and though each movement tightened her bonds, Baylee couldn’t stop struggling against them. She opened her mouth to scream for help when, from behind her, Remy’s voice made her jump. She’d thought herself alone.

“Don’t scream, no one will hear you anyway, and I’m not going to hurt you if you cooperate.” Remy’s smarmy face was equally unpleasant as his whiny voice; even if Baylee had no preconceived notion of his repulsiveness, she would have steered clear of the man. How someone so obviously incompetent had managed to wreak so much havoc was beyond her, and she briefly wondered if some kind of deal with the devil had been made.

She heard footsteps and looked from where he’d placed her—on the floor, tied to a support beam. Remy carried her camera in his hands. “Who are you and why were you spying on me?”

Should she tell him, and hope he would let her go? Or should she trust Javier to handle the situation and find her? Remy’s next words didn’t help with the decision.

“Where’s the memory card? Give it to me, or tell me where it is, and I’ll let you go.”

* * *

EV knocked on Lila’s door while her busy mind searched for some believable pretense for keeping Lila out of Chloe’s way for and hour or so. A pointed text from Chloe settled the matter:

Um, forgot about Dalton. Tell me where you’ll be so I can send him to you.

I’m next door now, not sure yet—was all the answer she had time for before the door flew open.

“Can I come in? If you have time, I was hoping we could go to dinner in the cafe. Dalton, too.” She looked past Lila to see if Javier was in the room. “I’d love a chance to just visit with you. Talk about old times.”

“Did Chloe send you here to give Javi the third degree?” Lila was only half right.

“Can’t I just want to catch up and spend some time with my oldest friend without you picking apart my motives?” Lila cocked her head, searched EV for signs of prevarication and finding none, relented.

“Fine.” A slight chill still wafted through her voice. “Javi should be back by now.” Lila swung the door the rest of the way open, glanced down the hallway to see him turn the corner at the end of the hall. When he was near enough to hear, she said, “Javi, sweetie, we’re going to dinner with Dalton and EV who, if they know what’s good for them, will not reveal any of my youthful indiscretions.”

A glance back in the direction from which he’d come and the slowness of his steps spoke of Javier’s reluctance to be pulled away from whatever it was he’d been doing.

“Though I’d like to hear some of those; regrettably, I have an errand.” Coming up behind EV, Javier’s even teeth gleamed impossibly white in contrast to his olive-hued skin. He laid a hand on Lila’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. The look on his face did not immediately mirror Lila’s shining eyes and foolish grin. Instead, stress wrote lines around his eyes, until she squeezed his hand, and a more genuine smile appeared. That he was hiding something, EV had no doubt, but it wasn’t his true feelings for Lila.

“Can’t it wait, Dear? I’ve hardly seen you all day.” Lila in full-on persuasive mode was impossible to resist. Torn between the desire to keep looking for Baylee, and the need for everything to seem like business as usual, Javier relented. Maybe she’d had to duck in somewhere to avoid detection, and was just waiting to get clear before texting him.

“I can delay for a short time,” he allowed, as he followed EV and Lila inside and closed the door behind him. The three of them had just enough time to take a seat before Dalton’s discreet knock halted the conversation and Lila yanked the door open and pulled him in for a welcoming hug.

“Just remember,” Lila wagged a finger at EV, “Whatever embarrassing stories I have, you were right there beside me.”

“True, but you were always the one with the best ideas, I was just the gullible follower.” EV pasted an exaggerated look of innocence on her face, but Lila only hooted.

Dalton snorted. “I was the bystander; you two were forces of nature.”

“What about that time you stole a bottle of Zellner’s famous strawberry wine and we…” Javier leaned in a little closer to hear the revelation. “Never mind.”

The four took the stairs down toward the cafe on the second level of the atrium.

A charming wrought iron, glass-topped table sat in a patch of watery light. To their left, the view out the large expanse of glass showed another misty day, the sky not just threatening rain, but promising it. From what EV could tell, that was most days this time of year.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lila caught sight of a familiar head of curly blond hair. She let out a low, involuntary hiss and locked eyes with Hannah Frank. Camera phone poised, the quick flash netted her a photo of nothing but Lila’s most hateful scowl. Another pointed look sent Hannah scurrying toward the cafe exit, her mouth set in a grim, frustrated line. Lila returned her attention to the table; none of her companions had witnessed the exchange, so she shoved irritation aside and focused on the conversation at hand.

Talk turned to Ponderosa Pines, while EV and Dalton entertained with the story of how Sasquatch hunters had come to visit their small town. Lila nearly busted a