“Please,” Elise said. She waved her hand at Cassie. “No one is more upset than Mallory at the book’s publication and clearly she just came here to make a scene and yell at me. If anyone was going to murder me or those around me to get even with me, it would be her. Scottsdale is part of a major metropolitan area—murders happen.”
Mel exchanged a look with Angie. Elise seemed awfully cavalier about the deaths of three people all by rather grisly means. Her narcissism really was breathtaking.
“Elise, you have to take this more seriously,” Cassie chided her. “Your life could be in danger.”
“Pish,” Elise said. “I’m going to the bar to celebrate my fame and fortune. Join me?”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cassie said.
“No one asked you to think, did they?” Elise asked. She tossed the end of her scarf over her shoulder and strode out of the room. “Come on, first round is on me.”
“What do I do?” Cassie asked Mel.
“We have to stay with her,” Mel said. “If someone is out to get her, they won’t do it with an audience. This may be their best chance.”
Ray pushed off the wall and said, “Well, since you two are safe, I’m tapping out.” He pointed at Mel and Angie. “You two I’ll take a bullet for, but no one else.” He headed for the door and the ladies fell in behind him.
“Aw, come on, Ray,” Angie said. “After this long night of surveillance, you could probably use a beer. You’ve earned it. My treat.”
Ray made a face like he was considering it. “Since you put it that way. Lead on.”
Angie looped her arm through her brother’s and led him down the ornate hallway towards the wood-paneled bar tucked into a room beside the main entrance. Mel and Cassie fell in behind them with Mel trying to glance around Ray’s broad shoulders to get a glimpse of Elise. She must have hightailed it to the lounge for a cocktail, because there was no sign of her in the lobby.
The bar was quiet, with only a few businessmen sitting at a center table watching a basketball game on the large-screen television. A pitcher of beer was in front of them, and several plates of bar food. They were clearly in for the long haul.
“Where did she go?” Cassie asked. “She said she was going to get a drink, right?”
“I don’t see her,” Mel said. “That’s weird. We were right behind her.”
Angie and Ray went to the bar, leaving Mel and Cassie to look for Elise. Mel saw a woman in the hotel uniform of a pair of navy slacks and white dress shirt walking by and she called out to her.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Did you see a woman come in here, middle-aged, dressed all in white with a beige sweater and a long brown-and-white scarf? She just did a book signing?”
“No, sorry,” the woman said. She barely slowed her walk, and Mel just caught the name Laura on her nametag before she fled the room.
“That was abrupt,” Cassie said.
“And not helpful,” Mel agreed. She joined Angie and Ray at the bar.
“Good evening, pretty ladies,” the bartender greeted Mel, Angie, and Cassie. “What can I get you?”
“A beer,” Ray answered. “And none of that fancy microbrew stuff. I want a real man’s beer.”
The bartender ignored him and his scowl, and Mel took the opportunity to question him.
“Did you see a middle-aged woman come in, dressed in white with a beige sweater and a scarf?” she asked.
The bartender shook his head. He had a thick head of hair, which he wore in a knot on his head. His beard was trimmed close and his mustache was long and curled up on the ends. The white dress shirt he wore looked a few sizes too small as it molded to his muscular frame, looking on the verge of tearing right down the middle.
“I haven’t seen anyone come in except for those guys and you all evening,” he said. He pointed to the table of men watching the game. “You can see why I was so happy to see three pretty ladies arrive.”
“They’re all taken,” Ray said with a glower. “Now how about my beer?”
The bartender scowled at Ray. “I’m just making conversation, don’t have a fit.”
“Oh, I’ll have a fit if I want,” Ray argued.
The bartender turned away to pour Ray’s beer, but Mel put a hand on his arm, holding him in place, and said, “Sorry, but is there another bar in the resort or is this it?”
“This is it,” he said. “But there is seating outside. If you’re looking for someone, she might have gone out there.”
He pointed at two glass doors on the opposite side of the room before grabbing a glass and pouring Ray’s beer. Mel turned and glanced at Cassie. “I’ll bet that’s where she is,” she said. “I’ll check out there and you can check the booths in here.”
“I’ll come with you,” Angie said.
“No, you stay and watch the door in case she comes in,” Mel said. “I don’t want to lose her again.”
“Be careful,” Angie said. “Ray, go with her.”
Ray had just lifted his pint glass to his lips. He glanced between them and put his glass down. “Fine.”
“Call me if you see her,” Mel said to Cassie.
Mel crossed the room and pushed through the heavy glass doors. It was cooler outside and she took a deep breath of the night air. The immaculate lawn of the golf course beyond the patio smelled damp and fresh with a recent watering.
Cushy loungers filled the patio and there was a fire pit off to the side with a couple sitting beside it, enjoying the quiet.
Mel approached the couple and asked if they’d seen Elise, using the same description she’d given the bartender and the hotel staff person. The couple shook their heads.
“Sorry,” the woman said. “We’ve been the only ones out here for the past hour.”
“Thank you,” Mel said.
