All Night Long

along the path.
    Whatever was going on here, it
didn’t
involve her. It was a family matter.

Eight
    Jason lowered himself into one of the porch chairs and drank some of the coffee that Luke had just poured for him. He grimaced, “You know,” he said, “if you invested in one of those high-tech Italian espresso machines you might be able to manufacture coffee that was actually drinkable.”
    Luke sat down and stacked his heels on the railing. “I don’t drink coffee for the taste. I drink it because it’s hot and because it helps me to focus.”
    “Mind if I ask what you’re focusing on at the moment?”
    Luke looked toward Cabin Number Five. “Irene Stenson.”

    “Thought so. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that she’s not one of your average guests.”
    “You could say that we sort of bonded last night.”
    “Boy, howdy is that what you call it up here in the mountains?”
    “Different kind of bond,” Luke said. “What Irene and I have is the type of connection that you form when you find a dead body together.”
    [_”What?” _] Jason sputtered on a swallow of coffee.
    “Last night Irene went to see an old friend here in Dunsley. Senator Webb’s daughter. Found her dead from a bad mix of booze and pills.”
    “Hang on here.” Jason lowered the mug very slowly. “Are you talking about the Senator Ryland Webb who is getting set to make a bid for the White House?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “His daughter’s dead? I didn’t hear anything about that on the news.”
    “You will soon. I understand it was the lead story in the
Glaston Cove Beacon
this morning.”
    “You know, for some strange reason, I don’t get the
Glaston Cove Beacon.
As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard of it.”
    “Neither have a lot of other folks. But it got an exclusive because Irene works for that paper. The news about Pamela Webb will probably hit all the major media this afternoon or tomorrow morning.”
    Jason frowned uneasily. “Booze and pills?”
    “That’s what it looked like.”
    “Suicide?”
    Luke studied the lake. “Or an accidental overdose. Hard to be sure.”
    “Hell of a shock, finding someone like that.”
    Luke felt his jaw lock. He knew all too well what Jason was really thinking; what everyone else in the family would think when they found out what had happened. For the past six months they had all been growing increasingly worried about him. This business with Pamela Webb’s death was only going t larm them all the more.
    “It was a lot harder on Irene,” he said quietly. “I never met Pamela Webb while she was alive. But Irene was close friends with her for a time back in high school.”
    “And you just happened to be with Irene when she found her old friend?”
    “Yes.”
    “How did that come about, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    “I got curious when I saw her leave the lodge late last night, so I followed her,” Luke said.
    “Just like that, huh?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You do that a lot?” Jason asked cautiously.
    “Do what?”
    “Follow your guests around town?”
    “No. Mostly I try to avoid the guests as much as possible. Most of them are a damned nuisance.”
    “But not this one?”
    “She’s a nuisance, too.” Luke drank some more coffee. “But she’s different.” Time to switch to another topic. “Why did you come up here today, Jase?”
    ” I told you, j ust wanted to see how things are going with you.”
    “Try again.”
    Jason made an impatient sound and swept out a hand to indicate the cabins and lobby of the Sunrise on the Lake Lodge. “Give me a break. The Old Man is right.
    You don’t belong here. You’re no more cu ut to run a third-rate motel than I am.”
    “I’m not cut out to work in the family business, either. Tried that, remember? It didn’t go well.”

    “But that was because it got all mixed up with what was happening between you and Katy at the time,” Jason said, very earnest now. “Gordon and the Old Man want you to give it another chance.”
    “Don’t think that would be a good idea,” Luke said.
    “The Old Man is worried. So is everyone else.”
    “I know that. There’s nothing I can do except keep telling you that I’m okay.”
    “Mom and the Old Man are convinced that you’re sinking into a clinical depression because of what happened when you and Katy went away together.”
    “I’m not depressed.”
    “You keep saying that, but no one’s buying it.”
    Luke raised his brows. “It’s a