“He’s babbling something,” she said, looking up at Sadie with wide eyes. “He’s not making sense.”

  “Do you have your phone?” She had left hers inside somewhere. When Penny nodded, she crouched next to Walter and said, “I’ll take over here. Call for an ambulance. Mr. Bennington? Walter? Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “It happened again,” he said, reaching up to clutch her arm with enough force to hurt. “He’s back, and he killed someone else.”

  He raised his other hand to point toward the open door to Room Ten. At Penny’s terrified look, Sadie rose to her feet. Leaving Walter in her friend’s care, she walked toward the open motel room. It should have been locked. They had locked all of the rooms that weren’t ready yet, and Room Ten was the worst of them. Now, she couldn’t remember whether they had locked it or not. Neither of them had been inside since the first day.

  It seemed to take forever for her feet to carry her to the open doorway. She hesitated at the threshold, then stepped inside… only to immediately stumble back out when she saw the body sprawled on the floor where the missing bed used to be.

  Elena. The kind grocery store clerk who had come early to their open house to bring them homemade sweet tea was dead, and the scene Sadie saw didn’t leave a doubt in her mind that she had been murdered.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The ambulance took Walter away in a rush, but he was the only one who got to leave for hours after the police arrived. Sadie stood with Penny, watching numbly as the authorities took over the scene. They began questioning the onlookers soon after. Sadie realized with a sickening lurch that whoever killed Elena had been at the open house and might even still be there. She hadn’t seen the other woman since she left the lobby shortly before eleven.

  She darted a glance toward Bailey, where she was standing in the shade of her delivery van with Josh. Had she been the last one to see Elena alive? Was her kind persona just an act? She wished she knew what the history between the two women was. It was clearly bad, but she had no idea whether it was bad enough to lead to murder.

  By the time the sheriff made his way over to them, Sadie and Penny were both sweltering. The sheriff was a tall man with a goatee that made him look like a villain in a bad western and a revolver on his hip that only served to complete the look. He tipped his hat to them as he approached.

  “Ladies,” he said in a southern drawl so thick she had to wonder if he was putting it on. “I’m Sheriff Islington. Mind if I ask y’all a few questions?”

  He started with what happened when Sadie discovered Elena’s body and worked all the way back to when the two of them decided to buy the motel. Sadie wasn’t sure what that had to do with the murder, but she answered everything she could.

  “I’m curious about what exactly led two twenty-something ladies to decide to move from Lexington to somewhere like Greencreek,” the sheriff said. “Nothin’ wrong with the town, of course, but this area doesn’t exactly have much to appeal to city folk.”

  “We’re both twenty-seven,” Penny answered. She rubbed her leg as she spoke, though it had been years since the incident with the bus, it still bothered her, and they had been standing for a long time. “And we didn’t want to move to Greencreek, exactly. We would have moved just about anywhere for a property as perfect as this one.”

  Sheriff Islington gave the building behind them a skeptical glance. “You’re gonna have to expand on that one for me. I don’t think anyone’s ever called Bennington’s old place perfect, not even the man himself back in its heyday.”

  “It’s perfect for us,” Penny insisted. “Between the kennels and the price, it’s like it was meant for us.”

  “Y’all were specifically looking for a motel that came with kennels attached?” He still looked skeptical. Sadie realized with a prickle of disconcert that they might be suspects, not just witnesses. As the two newcomers and the motel’s owners, they probably stuck out like sore thumbs.

  Penny nodded, but Sadie was the one who spoke up this time. “I know it probably sounds weird, but it’s something we’ve been talking about for years. I’m a dog trainer, and Penny’s worked in hotels since she was twenty. We always imagined opening a business together, and we wanted it to be something that played to both of our strengths. A dog motel seemed perfect. We can do boarding and training for the locals, but also do daycare for our guests so they don’t have to worry about trying to bring their dogs to every activity or leave them in their room or a hot car. We talked about it a lot before Penny found the property. It was too perfect to pass up, and we both wanted a change anyway after…”

  The sheriff’s eyebrows rose so high they almost vanished under the brim of his hat. “Go on,” he urged.

  Sadie glanced at Penny. She was the one who had been more hurt by what happened, after all. She reached out to give her friend’s hand a squeeze. Penny took a deep breath.

  “I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me over Christmas,” she said. “No, not just cheating… He had a whole other family. A fiancé, kids, all of that. I was the other woman. I just didn’t know it.”

  “He was friends with my boyfriend,” Sadie added. “They actually met through us. My boyfriend spent the past two years covering for him and helping him hide his double life from both of us.”

  “We dumped them both immediately,” Penny said. “Jerks. We wanted a change of scenery after that, and then in May, I found this motel online, and well… here we are.”

  The sheriff chewed on the end of his pen as he looked them over scrutinizingly. “I see. Y’all make a lot of impulsive, life-changing choices?”

  “It wasn’t impulsive,” Penny said quickly.

  At the same time, Sadie said, “Not usually, no.”

  He looked between them and lowered his notebook. “Well, I’d wish you good luck, but you’re going to need a darn miracle after this. I’m going to have to ask y’all to clear out for the rest of the day while we get the forensics team in from Atlanta to do their thing. I’ll also need access to any security cameras you have on the property. If you need help finding a place to go for the night… well, you can search for other motels as well as my deputies can. You’ll find something.”

  “Are we free to go?” Sadie asked. She glanced at the small crowd of people that were still waiting for their turn to be questioned.

  The sheriff followed her gaze. “You’re welcome to stick around until everyone else clears out, but I can’t let you go in the building, not even to get your things. I’ll make sure my deputies get you the necessities before you leave, like your phone and your wallets.”

  “What about my dog? He’s in the lobby. He’s probably eaten half of the hot dogs by now.”

  “He friendly?” At her nod, the sheriff said, “I’ll get someone to bring him out to you. In the meantime, sit tight. This is going to take a while.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Their nightmare was just beginning. It didn’t really begin to sink in for Sadie until she was on the road, following Penny forty-five minutes away to the motel they were going to stay at overnight. In the back, Jasper was happily unconcerned, napping in her SUV’s overpowered air conditioning after his long day of playing host at the open house.

  Sadie envied her dog for that. For her part, it was all she could do to keep her eyes on the road and not pull over somewhere to cry. Or scream. She wasn’t sure which.

  A woman was dead. The brief look she had gotten of Elena’s body kept flashing through her mind. Buried under the visceral horror was another type of dread. What was going to happen to the motel now? Dealing with its bloody past would have been hard enough when the most recent murders took place two years ago, and the killer was behind bars. But now… now it seemed possible that they hadn’t even caught the right person.

  No one was going to stay at a motel an active serial killer was still haunting.

  It was late by the time they finally made it to the other hotel. They didn’t talk much when they got there, they just went to bed, Sadie cuddled up with Jasper in one, and Penny clutching a spare pillow in the other. Even with the door locked and the knowledge that no one else on earth knew where the two of them were staying, she kept waking up during the night certain she would see someone standing over her with a knife.

  She woke in the morning to the sound of Penny’s voice, with Jasper’s cold nose snuffling in her ear. Pushing the dog’s head away so she could sit up, she saw her friend pacing by the bathroom, her phone pressed to her ear. When she saw that Sadie was up, she gestured at her to wait a moment, thanked the person on the other line, and ended the call.

  “That was the Sheriff Islington,” she explained as she tossed her phone on the bed. “He said we’re free to go back to the motel, though he strongly suggests that we give the whole thing up as a bad idea.”

  Sadie knew the flare of defiance in her friend’s eyes well. “He might be right,” she said, even though she already knew what Penny’s answer would be.

  “No way. We can’t give up, especially not now. That’s what the monster who killed Elena wants. If we give up now, we’re letting him win.”

  “Or her,” Sadie said.

  “Huh?”

  “I’m just saying… we don’t know the killer is a guy.”

  “I don’t think female serial killers are exactly common,” Penny said.

  Sadie shoved her blankets off and stood up. Jasper danced around her, his whip-like tail whacking the bed frame. “Did you see Elena again after she and Bailey went away somewhere to argue?”

  Her friend faltered. “No… I guess I didn’t. You really think she did it? She seems so nice.”

  “I have no idea,” Sadie admitted. “It could have been anyone who was there. The only people I know for sure aren’t guilty are me and you. Well, and Walter, too. The guy had a heart attack just finding her body. Committing a murder probably would have killed him outright.”

  “Maybe he was faking,” Penny said as she began to pick clothing out of her overnight bag. “If you think about it, it almost makes sense. He’s the old owner, so he probably still has copies of the keys, and he’d have been around when the murders happened two years ago as well.”

  Sadie, who had been reaching for Jasper’s leash, faltered. “I’m sure the police would have looked into him back when the murders started.”

  “Maybe they did, and he framed the guy they arrested to keep them from getting too close.” Penny grabbed her bag of toiletries. “Look, I’m not saying I really think that old man killed a bunch of people, but I don’t think we should discount anyone at this point. I don’t want to give up, but I don’t want one of us to end up as the next victim, either. We should install security cameras on more than just the kennels.”

  “Yeah. Let’s swing by the hardware store on the way back and pick some up. I’ll ask Sam if he can help us install them.”

  Penny paused, her hand on the bathroom door as she frowned. “Maybe we should buy a drill and do it ourselves.”

  “Sam wasn’t even at the open house.”

  “That we know of,” Penny said. “He’s weird, Sadie. He nearly attacked us with an axe that first day. I meant it when I said we shouldn’t trust anyone, and Sam Walker’s at the top of that list.”

  Sadie pressed her lips together. Maybe her friend had a point, but she had spent more time with Sam than Penny had. Sure, they hadn’t exactly been able to chat while they were working on the kennels, but he seemed normal enough to Sadie. Plus, he would have had plenty of chances to hurt them if he wanted to.

  And yet… the world was full of the gravestones of women who trusted their guts when they shouldn’t have.

  “Fine,” she muttered. “We’ll get a drill when we pick up the security cameras. But you’re the one who’s going up on the ladder to install them.”

  Penny rolled her eyes, but she looked relieved as she vanished into the bathroom. Sadie made sure she had her room key, then stepped outside with Jasper. While he sniffed at the narrow strip of grass that bordered the road, she tried not to think about what was waiting for them back at the motel. The police would have taken the body, but she doubted they’d gotten on their hands and knees to scrub the carpets in Room Ten.

  The day was just beginning, and they already had a long list of things they had to do. It was far from the triumphant celebration after a successful open house that she had imagined. Penny was determined to see this through, but Sadie’s doubts had returned more powerfully than ever. Buying the motel might have been an impulsive mistake but sticking with it after what happened to Elena… that was a choice they were making with their eyes wide open. She just hoped they didn’t come to regret it.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Even though they had only been there for a week, they had already become something of regulars at the hardware store. The cluttered, crowded store had supplied everything from paint to polish to cleaning supplies. The best part, at least as far as Sadie was concerned, was that they allowed dogs to come in.

  Jasper, who seemed to think that life had turned into one giant vacation, was thrilled to explore the narrow aisles as they gathered what they needed. More security cameras, a drill, and after some discussion, new locks for every single door on the motel.

  It was an expensive shopping trip, and they huddled at the end of one of the aisles for a few minutes to discuss how to divvy it up. They were still arguing about it when the electronic bell over the door let out a chirp, and Jasper turned toward the newcomer eagerly, his tail nearly knocking a can of spray paint off the shelf behind him.

  Sadie and Penny looked up at the same time, and they both fell silent when they saw Bailey. The young woman looked like a wreck. She made a beeline for the aisle they had just come out of, the one that contained door hardware but paused when she saw them.

  “Oh… it’s you two,” she said. “I thought you left.”

  “We did,” Penny said. “But we came back. We have a motel to run.”

  “You’re really going to keep trying? Even after all of this?”

  “We don’t have much of a choice,” Sadie said, subtly nudging Penny with her elbow. Her friend was glaring at Bailey openly, which seemed like a bad idea if the woman was behind Elena’s murder. “We spent everything we had to buy it. Even if we decide to sell, it’s going to take a while to get it listed, and we need to make sure we’re secure in the meantime.”

  Bailey glanced into their cart, taking in the security cameras and the heap of new locks. She shuddered.

  “I don’t know how the two of you can stand to go back there so soon after…” She broke off and swallowed heavily, then changed the subject. “I’m here to pick up a new lock too, for Sunshine Desserts. Josh quit out of the blue this morning when I told him I wasn’t planning on opening the store today. He’s never been the most reliable employee, but I think he’s gone for good this time. I asked for his keys back, and he said he lost them, but I know that’s bull because he locked up for me yesterday. I don’t think he would do anything, but I don’t like that he won’t give the keys back, so here I am.”

  Sadie frowned. Josh had been at the open house too, and he had disappeared at around the same time Bailey and Elena did. Penny was right. They had to treat everyone as a potential suspect.

  “Why did he quit?”

  Bailey sighed. “He said he’s tired of me being an unreliable boss. If you listen to him, then I’m constantly either making him stay late or cutting his hours without warning. I think the truth is he’s upset about what happened to Elena, it made him lash out at the first thing that inconvenienced him. Either way, I’m done. I’m not going to have an employee that shouts at me.”

  “Did he know her?” Sadie asked.

  “We both did.” Bailey hesitated. “She opened Sunshine Desserts with me four years ago and worked there with Josh and I up until last year. She was my best friend.”

  “What happened?” Sadie asked. There was still a part of her that wondered if Bailey could be behind the brutal murder, but she couldn’t ignore the parallel of two best friends opening a business together. She hoped it wasn’t a sign of how things would end for her and Penny.

  Bailey shook her head in response. Her eyes brimmed with tears that she swiped away angrily. “She almost killed someone who had an allergy. It was an accident, but she laughed about it afterward, and I just couldn’t stand to have her in the shop after that. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to change the store’s locks and go home.” She took a step away, then paused and looked back. “I think the two of you are crazy for doing this. Just list the motel for sale and go back to where you came from. Nothing good is ever going to come out of that place.”

  With that ominous warning, she left them alone in their aisle. Sadie exchanged a look with Penny, but they were both keenly aware of Bailey in the next aisle over and neither said a word until they had paid for their purchases and were back outside with their vehicles.

  “I’m sorry,” Penny said as they loaded their things into the back of her crossover.

  “Why?” Sadie asked, surprised.

  “This whole thing was my idea. I got us into this mess, and now I don’t know how to get us out.”

  “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. We both read about the murders, and every article we found stated that the killer had been caught and sentenced. Besides, I wanted to do this, too. You didn’t force me to sign the title. You didn’t make me stay up late every night for two weeks straight coming up with my business plan for the dog kennel. I might have been a little more cautious than you were, but I was all in before this happened.”

  “And now?” her friend asked.

  Sadie hesitated. “Let’s see what happens with the case.”

  It was the best she could offer at the moment. There was a part of her that wanted to run back to Lexington as fast as she could and try to write this nightmare off as a blip while she got back to her normal life, but she knew this might be her one chance to do something more with her life. She couldn’t give up on her dreams. Not yet.