Free Betrayal with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Three) by Jenn Vakey Page B

charge by the day if you like,” she stated warmly.
    Rilynne reached in her purse and pulled out her wallet. “That would be perfect, thank you.” While the pleasant woman ran her credit card, Rilynne filled out her information in the book. Despite the size of the town, she was surprised to see that there had been several checkins earlier that day.
    “They had to move the high school reunion up a couple months this year,” the woman stated when she caught Rilynne’s perplexed expression. “You’ll be in room three; second floor and down the hall. If you need anything, please let me know.”
    “Do you mind if I ask you a question,” Rilynne asked as she took the key. The woman gave her a friendly nod. “Would you happen to know if this man came in around nineteen months ago? It would have been sometime around the middle to end of July.” She reached in her purse and pulled out the picture of Mifflin.
    “Well, let me see,” she replied, pulling out a giant book, similar to the one Rilynne had just written her name in. “Do you have a name for him?”
    “His name’s Lamar Mifflin, but he might have been staying under a different name.”
    “Would he have been staying alone?” she asked.
    “More than likely.”
    She thumbed through the pages, searching the entire latter half of July twice before closing the book. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any record of him. During that time, I only have three people check in as singles, and they were all women. The rest of our visitors were either couples or families. Have you checked with the hotel across town?”
    “Not yet,” she said, sliding the photo back into her purse. “But thank you for checking.”
    Rilynne slipped her phone out as she climbed up the flight of stairs and walked to the end of the hall toward her room. After several unanswered rings, she hung up and dialed another number, balancing the phone on her shoulder as she unlocked the last door on the right.
    “Hey, Lori,” she said as she dropped her bag onto the bed. “Is the chief in the station? I tried his cell, but he didn’t answer.”
    “No,” Lori replied. “He’s playing golf with the mayor. He should be back in a few hours, though. Did you make it back to Addison Valley all right?”
    “Change of plans, actually. I’m in a small town in Colorado named Brooks Hollow,” she stated, knowing just how silly it probably sounded.
    “What on earth are you doing in Colorado?” Lori asked. “Surely you didn’t have trouble finding Texas. Just head south, and turn left when you reach the border of Mexico.” Despite her joking tone, Rilynne could hear her confusion.
    As it always did, the twinge of guilt hit her even before she had the chance to provide an explanation. “I received an anonymous tip that Mifflin may have been here. I checked with Ben this morning, and he said that this town was one of the few places that the trace found on Christopher could have come from. You know me, there was no way I was going to sit back and wait for confirmation before coming to check it out.”
    Lori let out a quick chuckle, followed by a low sigh. “Have you found anything?”
    “I talked to the sheriff and he’s setting me up with their detective tomorrow morning. I also grabbed a map that shows where all known patches of Penland beardtongue grow, so I can see where it could have been picked up and transferred to his body,” she explained.
    “What do you think the chances are that Mifflin could still be in the area?” Lori asked.
    Rilynne let out a sigh of her own. “I would love to say that I was sure he found a place here where he felt safe enough to stick around after all this time, but I think that it would just be wishful thinking. The only thing that I’m sure of-well, as sure as I can be-is that he was here just prior to going back and killing Christopher.”
    “What can we do for you here?”
    “Sheriff Eric Stigent is going to be helping me on this end, but if he needs