Zoe Donovan Mystery: Haunted Hamlet Part 13

"Can you remember what he looked like?"

Tricia finished off her second drink. She set her empty gla.s.s on the bar and then turned to look at me. "If you want to know every little detail about what happened at the Henderson house, we're going to be in for a pretty long discussion. I don't suppose you want to throw in a pizza and another rum and c.o.ke?"

For the story of what happened the night the counselors died, I'd throw in lobster, but I didn't say as much.

"Okay," I agreed. "How about we move to a booth?"

"Sure."

I placed our order for a small pizza and another drink for Tricia and then joined her in the booth she had chosen at the back of the room. Luckily, at this time of day the bar was nearly deserted, so there were no prying ears to listen in on our conversation.

"So about the guy you were helping . . ." I began as I put down her drink and sat down across from her.

Tricia frowned. "I don't know a lot about him. I met the dude in the park the morning of the party. He asked me to help out, and after I agreed, I followed him up the mountain to that creepy old house. The guy had set up some pranks, and all I had to do was get everyone to gather in one specific room." Tricia looked directly at me. "I had no idea anyone was going to get hurt."

"Yes, so you've said. I'm really not trying to place blame here; I just want to find out what happened."

"Yeah, okay."

"So the film student went up to the secret room when you got there?" I asked.

Tricia looked surprised. "There's a secret room? Cool."

"You didn't know about the room?"

"No," she said. "The guy said he was going upstairs, and that was the last I ever saw of him. When the people from the camp showed up, I suggested we go into the room the dude had indicated I should lead them toward. They all started drinking and things got weird. When the girl got hit in the head with the lamp, I left. I had my own car and the dude had already paid me. I didn't want nothing to do with any prank where people were going to get hurt."

"Did you ever tell anyone about that night?"

"Not that I can remember. Sometimes I get so wasted, I forget pretty much everything that's happened to me. Can I get another drink?"

"Sure, but only if you let me drive you home."

"Yeah, that probably would be best."

When the bartender delivered Tricia's pizza, I asked him to bring another drink. I waited until she had eaten the first slice before continuing.

"So the guy you helped . . . what did you say he looked like?"

"Tall. Skinny. Brown hair, brown eyes, I think. It's been a long time, and to be honest, I've spent the past thirteen years trying to forget the whole thing."

"Would you recognize him now if you saw a photo?" I asked as she dug into her second slice of the cheesy pie just as the bartender brought her fourth-and, as far as I was concerned, last-drink.

Tricia shrugged. "You want a piece of this?" She shoved the half-eaten pizza toward me.

"No thanks. Did you get the feeling that anyone other than you knew they were being filmed?" I asked.

"No, I don't think they knew. I think the pot was laced with something. Everyone was acting really weird."

"Who brought the pot?"

Tricia took a long swig of her drink before answering. "I think the film student brought it. He asked me to pa.s.s it around after everyone got settled."

I remembered that Dawn had said that Rachael knew about the pot ahead of time. I wondered if she was in on the prank. Since she was dead, we might never know.

"You said you left after Carol was. .h.i.t in the head. One of the survivors indicated that the wound didn't seem all that bad."

"It wasn't anything more than a sc.r.a.pe. The chick was pa.s.sed out from the booze, but she seemed fine when I left. I don't know what happened afterward, but I can a.s.sure you that the chick didn't die from her collision with the lamp."

"What did you do when you heard that she'd died?" I had to ask.

"Nothing. I didn't kill her or any of the others and didn't want to get involved. I never told anyone I was even there until today, and I only told you 'cause you said you had a tape. You aren't going to narc to the cops, are you?"

"The cops will see the tape. They'll most likely question you at some point."

"d.a.m.n, I need to hit the head. Can you get a box for the rest of that pizza?"

"Yeah, no problem."

Later that evening, after Zak and I had had dinner and settled in front of the fire in the living room with a gla.s.s of wine, I decided to bring up the subject that had been plaguing my thoughts throughout the day. Music was playing softly in the background, and part of me hated to ruin the romantic mood with talk of the witch who was in town to steal my Zak, but she'd been on my mind all day and I needed closure.

"Tell me about Brooke Collins."

"I was wondering when you were going to ask about her." Zak sighed in resignation.

"So you know she's in town?"

Zak set his wine down and pulled me into his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder as he caressed my arm. "She called me after you'd left for Bryton Lake. She told me she was in town and that she'd attended the events committee meeting this morning, and she indicated that she'd met you."

"Did she tell you that she was moving to Ashton Falls?"

"She did, but to be honest, I doubt she will. At least not for the long haul. Brooke tends to have a short attention span. My guess is she's here on a whim, and when things don't work out, she'll leave."

I curled my legs up under myself on the sofa and snuggled into Zak's side. "Did she tell you about the auction?"

"She did. In fact, asking me to partic.i.p.ate was the reason she called, or at least the reason she gave for calling. She wanted us to get together to talk about the event."

"And what did you say?" I held my breath as I waited for his answer. I'm not sure why his response was so important, but it was.

"I told her that I was in a committed relations.h.i.+p with a woman I loved very much and planned to marry, so therefore I wasn't really single."

I smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Zak turned and kissed me. I'm not sure how, but somehow I was sure Zak wasn't telling me the whole story. His kiss had a desperation to it.

"There's more."

So I had guessed. I watched the flames flicker as the fire burned down while Zak gathered his thoughts. The rain had returned, giving the room a cozy feel. It seemed such a shame to ruin it with talk about some girl Zak had probably dated once or twice many, many years ago. I was about to suggest we just change the subject when he continued.

"There is more," Zak said again. "Brooke said that I was technically still a bachelor and therefore eligible for the auction. She also reminded me that the money the event would bring in would go a long way toward balancing the town's budget and buying the volunteer force the fire engine it so desperately needs."

Brooke wasn't wrong about the budget.

"I told her there were plenty of single men in town who would be happy to partic.i.p.ate, but she pointed out that I was the only single male who was going to draw in the out-of-town crowd with the big bucks. If I didn't partic.i.p.ate, we might as well not bother."

I hated to admit it, but Brooke was probably right.

"So where did you leave it?" I asked.

"I told her that my partic.i.p.ation was totally up to you."

I was happy Zak hadn't agreed without talking to me about it first, but I hated to be in the position of being the bad guy with the town, which really did need the money.

"You know she only came up with this plan so she could bid on you herself."

"If I agree to do the auction-and I'm not saying that I will-I would make it a stipulation that as event organizer, she would be prohibited from bidding on me or any of the men who volunteer to partic.i.p.ate; however, you could always bid on me."

"We both know I can't afford you, and if you give me the money to bid on you, it will look fixed."

"True. Maybe I should just donate the money the volunteer firefighters need," Zak said. "I'm not interested in dating anyone but you."

I laid my head on Zak's shoulder. I was so lucky to have him in my life. I knew he loved me, but I also knew that if I allowed him to, he'd partic.i.p.ate for the good of the town.

"If you partic.i.p.ate, the other guys in town will also. Chances are that as long as they're there, these women Brooke seems to think she can attract will bid on the others when they realize there's only one of you. If Brooke is correct in her estimation, the town stands to make a lot of money. I really don't see how we can pa.s.s this up."

Zak turned so he was looking directly at me. "Are you sure?"

I smiled. "I'm sure. As long as Brooke can't win, I think I can deal with you going on a very platonic dinner date if it will help the town. After all, you let me go on a date to help Ellie."

"Yes, I did, didn't I?"

I picked up my wine. There was a little voice in my head screaming at me to move on from the subject of Brooke Collins. I really, really should have listened to that voice. You know what they say about asking questions you don't really want the answers to . . .

"So what exactly is the deal with you and Brooke?" I blurted out in spite of the warning bells and whistles going off in my brain.

Zak hesitated.

"I won't get jealous," I promised.

He still didn't say anything.

"Okay, I probably will get jealous, but I'd rather hear about your relations.h.i.+p from you rather than her. You know she'll tell me if you dated."

"Yes." Zak sighed. "She probably will."

"So you did? Date?"

I was already regretting the fact that I'd brought up the subject. One of these days I'll learn to listen to my instincts.

"Brooke and I met when I was living in Paris, after I sold my company and set off to see the world. We both missed the States, and we got to talking and ended up living together for six months."

"You lived together?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Looking back, it was a huge mistake. I didn't love her, at least not like I love you. We did have fun together, and I was feeling displaced after leaving my home and selling the company I'd spent so much of my time building. Brooke brought a sense of the familiar into my life. I needed that familiarity at that point in time."

"What happened?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I knew I needed to know. "What happened between you?"

I hoped they'd had some huge fight and Zak was going to tell me that they hated each other, but I had the feeling that wasn't it at all. Zak wasn't the type to hate anyone.

"When it came time to move back home, Brooke wanted us to move to New York, and I wanted to move back to Ashton Falls. We couldn't agree on a compromise, so we went our separate ways."

"So you just broke up with her before coming home last year?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think it was important to tell me that you had just gotten out of a serious relations.h.i.+p?"

"It wouldn't have made a difference."

"Of course it would have," I spat.

Zak grabbed my shoulders and turned me so that I was looking at him. "Zoe, I love you. I've loved you on some level ever since I met you in the seventh grade. Brooke was a mistake. The moment I saw you after returning home, I knew I could never love anyone other than you. I know I should have told you about Brooke, but I wanted you to love me back so very desperately. I was afraid you would let her get in the way of what we can have together."

"You lied," I accused.

"I didn't lie. You never asked."

I stood up. "I need some time to think about all of this. I'm taking Charlie and going to the boathouse."

Chapter 13.

Wednesday, October 29

Talk about a truly horrible night. Ellie tried to talk some sense into me when I showed up at the boathouse, but I was furious, so there was no talking to me. I loved Zak and I knew I couldn't let this come between us, but I really didn't know how to handle the raging emotions that were battling inside me. It hurt so much that I wasn't the first woman Zak had cared about enough to live with. How was I going to deal with that knowledge?

"You need to go home and talk to Zak," Ellie encouraged. She'd been great, listening to me rant for most of the night. Neither of us had gotten any sleep, and I knew we both felt like we were running on fumes.