CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

C AIN WAS ON HIS WAY DOWN THE HILL TO THE C OPPER S TAR WHEN his cell phone rang. Nick Faraday. One of the few people who had his private number.

Cain paused on the sidewalk and pressed the phone against his ear. "Nick, what's going on?"

"New location on Bart Harwell. Apparently, he was making job inquires in Bagdad. That's a mining town—"

"Not far from the ranch."

"That's right. It was three months ago. Harwell didn't get the job, and that's the last anyone has seen of him."

"So he was back in the area before the horses went missing."

"Well, he might have been. He was there three months ago, but I'm not sure where he went after, or where he is now. I'll stay on it. The thing is, your old buddy, Ray Aldridge, just filed for bankruptcy. Word is, he's blaming all his troubles on you. Says you cheated him out of the claims he was buying."

"That's a crock of bull."

"I'm sure it is. Doesn't mean he doesn't have it in for you. Either of those guys could have stolen those horses. Doesn't take much to hire the kind of thugs who would do it. Think either of them could be trying to kill you?"

"If you'd asked me that a few months back, I would have said no. Now I guess anything is possible."

"I'll keep you posted," Nick said.

"And while you're digging, check out Jenny's cousin, Eddie Spencer. He was in the bar last night. Jenny says he wants money. Thinks he deserves it because her uncle, Charles Spencer, left the Star to her and not him."

"Charles and Eddie's names both came up when I was looking into Jenny's background. I'll check him out and get back to you."

The call ended, and Cain tucked the phone into his jeans. He had set up a meeting at the Copper Star. He figured Jenny wasn't going to be happy about it, but he wasn't giving her a choice.

By the time he pushed through the batwing doors, the group was already inside, waiting for him. One woman and two men. They were sound and video experts. A guy named Max Bradley was in charge. Mike Stockton and Carrie Garner worked for him.

Cain motioned them over to one of the tables, and they all sat down just as Jenny walked up. He could see Will Price standing not far away.

Jenny gave Cain a warm smile, which he figured wouldn't last long. "You should have told me you had a business meeting this morning. I could have had everything set up for you."

"This meeting involves you, I'm afraid. You and the hotel."

"What?"

Cain introduced the group. Max was bulky, with dark hair and a speculative gleam in his eyes. Mike was red-haired, easy to remember. Carrie was petite and pretty, a brunette who exuded confidence and ability.

"Nice to meet you, Jenny," Max said for all of them.

"They do technical production in Scottsdale," Cain explained. "Make commercials, short video clips, documentaries, that kind of thing. Mostly for TV."

"So they're here to help with marketing?"

"They're here to find out what the hell is going on in your hotel."

"Wait a minute!"

Cain ignored her. "You have the equipment you need?" he asked Max.

"It's in the van. We're parked right out front."

"Get it." Cain turned back to Jenny. "I assume most of the guests have checked out by now."

"Yes, but you can't just come in here and take over like this!"

"They're going to look around upstairs. If there's something going on we don't know about, there's a good chance they can find out what it is. You want to know the truth, don't you?"

"Well, I . . ." She turned as the swinging doors opened and the small group walked back in carrying equipment.

"You want the truth, right?" Cain repeated.

"Yes. What is that stuff?"

"I have no idea. Whatever it is, they'll be looking for audio feeds, video cameras, things like that. They need access. If they do any damage, I'll pay to have it repaired. Deal?"

Jenny set a hand on her hip and glared at him. "There is no way that murder in room ten was caused by a couple who got in a fight. Not after what I read in the journal and what Leslie said. Think about what happened to you in that room, Cain. You don't believe that was real?"

"I don't know. Let's find out. Room ten hasn't been rented since the murder, right?"

"No, it hasn't been rented."

"Fine, we'll start there." He walked over and dismissed Will for the day, then motioned for Max and the others to follow him and led them through the saloon into the hotel lobby next door. Jenny walked behind them, clearly pissed off.

Cain turned back to her when they reached the front desk. "We'll need keys to the empty rooms in both sections."

Jenny's sigh held resignation. "All right, fine." Heather stood by as Jenny sorted through the room keys, checking to be sure which rooms were unoccupied, and handed them over.

"The cleaners are working up there," she said to Cain. "I'll go up with you and explain what's going on."

Cain just nodded, and the two of them headed upstairs, trailed by Max and his crew. Cain knew Max Bradley from Scottsdale. They'd been introduced by a friend who was trying to convince him to make some commercials. It would improve Barrett Enterprises' image, his friend had said.

Cain hadn't been interested, but he'd liked Max Bradley, respected his professionalism. With all the trouble happening at the Star, Cain had phoned, explained to Max what he wanted, and Max had promised to bring in some of his best people.

The group stopped outside room 10, and Cain opened the door. It smelled musty and closed-up inside. The carpet had been stripped, the bedding replaced. Still there was something eerie about the space that bothered him.

"See if you can find anything unusual in here," Cain said, hoping like hell they would.

"We'll take a good look," Max promised, and his crew set to work. Jenny watched for a moment, then went down the hall to explain to the women cleaning the rooms that guests had checked out of that morning.

"I'll leave you to it," Cain said to Max. "The room keys have numbers. Dig around, poke some holes in the walls, do whatever you need to. I'll take care of the repairs."

"All right."

"I'm particularly interested in this room. Let me know what you find. Jenny and I will be downstairs."

An hour later, Cain glanced up to see Max walking toward him. Cain rose when the man reached the table.

"Nothing so far," Max said. "And believe me, if there was any kind of equipment in the room, we would have found it. We took a look at the electrical, tested for something in the walls, knocked a hole in the ceiling, and looked up in the attic. Nothing."

Jenny walked up just then. "I heard what you said. Are you sure, Max?"

"As sure as I can be without tearing the whole damn room apart."

She flicked Cain a sugary smile, but spoke to Max. "Thank you, Max. I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Nothing in there, but we're just getting started on the rest of the hotel." Max left to go back upstairs, and Jenny went back to work, staying mostly where Cain could see her. That was something, he supposed.

Irritated with the results of Max's search, he sat back down in his chair. He'd been sure they'd find something in that room.

He amended that. After the things that had been going on, including the disturbing sounds he had heard in Jenny's room last night, he wasn't sure of any damned thing.

But there was something about room 10 . . . It took a lot to scare Cain. He'd been afraid that night—afraid of himself. Half of him was sorry it wasn't all fake. The other half was relieved to discover that whatever had happened, he hadn't been played for a fool.

He took a couple more Advil and was glad when they finally kicked in.

An hour later, Cain was going through his email and text messages on his phone when he looked up to see a grinning Max walking toward him.

"You need to come see this." Max glanced over at Jenny, at work behind the bar. "You both need to come."

Cain signaled for Jenny to join them.

"Max has something to show us," Cain said. Jenny flicked Max a glance, and then the three of them walked to the stairs. As they reached the top, Max turned right and headed into the new section.

"We didn't find anything in the older part of the hotel, but in the new section . . ." He joined Mike Stockton, who stood in the middle of the hallway next to an aluminum ladder. Mike pointed up at the ceiling, where a hole had been cut.

"What'd you find up there?" Cain asked.

"Better if you just go up and see for yourself," Max said.

"I'll go," Jenny said, but Cain rested a hand on her arm, letting Mike go up first.

Mike waited next to the opening to help Jenny into the attic. Cain went up behind her, and Max followed. The attic was coated in a layer of dust, the air choking with it.

Cain frowned at the cluster of odd-looking instruments in the dim space. "What is that stuff?"

Max spoke to Jenny. "You told Cain some of the guests reported seeing a transparent man in a bowler hat walking down the hallway."

"That's right." Jenny cast Cain a glance.

"What they were seeing was a hologram." Max ducked to avoid the low ceiling and made his way over to a laptop computer sitting on a card table.

"The actual video was made somewhere else," Max said. "It was brought here and projected by a laser. They used holographic film plates, optical lenses, mirrors, and an anti-vibration setup to make it all happen. The hologram was controlled by the computer. There's a tiny opening where the image was projected into the hallway."

"I can't believe it," Jenny said, her eyes big as she stared at Max. "So all of it was fake?"

"This is all we've found so far. Cain told us about the sounds you heard in your bedroom. That's where Carrie is now."

"Bring the laptop," Cain said. "Leave everything else the way it is. This is a problem for the police."

When they returned downstairs, Carrie was waiting for them in the hallway. "I found something in Jenny's bedroom. Bring the ladder."

They all marched in that direction, Mike carrying the lightweight aluminum ladder.

Carrie pointed to something wedged out of sight in the molding around the ceiling over the bed. "One up there. Another one over near the corner." She pointed to a spot mostly hidden by the drapes. "Small wireless speakers. Whatever you heard was a recording, probably controlled by the laptop."

"I can't believe it." Jenny sank down on the bed. She looked up at Cain with such despair it made his chest clamp down. "Why would someone do this to me?"

His jaw tightened. "That's what we're going to find out."

Mike climbed the ladder and pried the small speakers out of their hiding places. "I'll take another look around, make sure there aren't any more."

"We'll need to check the rest of the rooms," Max said.

Jenny just nodded.

Cain set a hand at her waist. "Come on, honey. Let's let them do their job. We'll be downstairs," he said to Max.

Back in the saloon, Cain seated Jenny at one of the tables. Noting the pale color of her face, he went over to the bar and had Barb pour her a shot of whiskey, then set it on the table in front of her.

"Drink that," he commanded. "You look like you need it."

For once, she didn't argue, just took a long swallow of the dark liquid and relaxed back in her chair "So none of the ghost reports are real? What about room ten?"

"Let's wait till Max is finished."

Jenny nodded dully. "I still can't believe it." She looked up at him. "What about the ghost I saw at the Grandview? You don't think . . . ?"

"What . . . ? That the Grandview has also been bugged? I doubt it, but I'll have Max and his crew check it out. Whatever is going on, it's happening here. It's directed at you personally."

"Like my broken china?"

"Yes, and the snakes."

She shivered. "I still can't believe it. Not after so many reports of ghosts over the years."

"We'll find out. Drink your whiskey. I'm going back to the bar to get myself a beer."