The Hidden by Heather Graham Page A

housekeeper, Scarlet knew. Among other things she discreetly managed guests who wouldn’t leave on time or caused problems in any way.
    “What did you find?” Trisha asked.
    Linda didn’t answer right away.
    “Oh, just tell them,” Ben said.
    “His hearing aids,” Linda said.
    Heads lowered around the table as people tried to hide their smiles.
    “Laugh at me,” Ben said. “It will be good for your souls. Linda, this is Diego McCullough. He’s an FBI agent, and he and some of his friends are here for a few days. They’re friends of Scarlet’s.”
    “Nice to have you,” Linda said, sitting down at the table. “Terrible what happened. Do you have any idea what’s going on?” she asked Diego.
    “I don’t know anything yet. We just got here this morning. My fellow agents are in town right now, though, seeing if we can be of assistance.”
    “Is it like it is on television? Do they get all mad when you guys show up?” Gwen asked, sounding eager for it to be true.
    “There are certainly some police who are territorial, but not many,” Diego said with a shrug. “Usually, everyone just wants to catch the bad guy.”
    “I get that,” Terry said, nodding. “I’ve heard there are, like, dozens of serial killers at large in the United States at any given time. It’s scary, if you ask me.”
    “It
is
scary,” Diego said, then turned to Linda. “You didn’t hear anything last night, either?”
    “I wasn’t here,” she said, and smiled. “I had a date. The police questioned all of us, though. Every one of us had to make a statement, even if we weren’t here.”
    “He must be quite a guy,” Trisha told her. “She’s so picky,” she added to the others.
    “Hey, my time is precious. We should all be picky,” Linda said.
    “Maybe, but as stunning as you are, you deserve to be even pickier than the rest of us,” Charles said.
    Linda cast him a disapproving look. Scarlet had a feeling Linda was simply offended that he would compliment another woman over his brand-new bride.
    Gwen apparently didn’t appreciate his comment, either, and she must have kicked him under the table, because he suddenly grunted in pain.
    Ben clearly picked up on what was happening and quickly changed the subject. “Well, I’m just glad all of you decided to stay on here. Trisha and I really appreciate your loyalty.”
    “It’s kind of strange, actually,” Gwen said.
    “What’s that?” Linda asked her.
    “To be honest, Charles and I were torn about where to spend our honeymoon. The Stanley is just so famous, and it’s known to be haunted, plus the Stephen King connection is so cool. Years ago,” she said, reaching for her husband’s hand, “I was in the area, and I heard about this place, so I read up on its history. It’s really sad, the way Nathan Kendall and his wife were killed. And now this couple...it’s like history repeating itself. It’s tragic, but it’s scary, too.”
    “And sick,” Charles said.
    Everyone fell silent at that point, until Diego turned to Gigi and Clark and asked, “Did you hear anything?”
    “We were in Boulder, having dinner with friends—we weren’t here,” Clark said.
    “And you two?” Diego asked Gwen and Charles.
    “We were...” Gwen blushed and fell silent.
    “Occupied,” Charles said. They smiled at one another, still holding hands.
    “I just didn’t hear anything at all...except for Charles,” Gwen said.
    Scarlet could feel the general consensus around the table. Too much information.
    “Then you got one of your migraines and took something for it, but you were still tossing and turning so much that I took a sleeping pill myself,” Charles said, rolling his eyes and looking at Diego. “I think Armageddon could have come and we would have slept right through it.”
    “Migraines are tough,” Linda said, looking sympathetically at Gwen. “My mother used to get them. We had to keep the house dark and silent, and we kept bringing her cold towels for her