Chapter One
“Are they sword fighting again?”
Molly Appleton, and her friend, Ivy Roberts, worked at the Sutherland Inn in Bleak Bay, Alaska. It was a chilly February afternoon, and they were on the third floor cleaning one of the guest rooms, which looked like a heavy metal band member had rented the room for the night—clothing and alcohol containers were strewn everywhere.
The Smith brothers had been living at the inn for a few weeks, and they were downright strange, at least in Molly’s opinion. Although the Smith surname was common, their first names were all unusual—Link, Faro, Mydon, Jude, Crispin, Blaze, Rowan, and Destrian.
They were in Blaze Smith’s room. Molly had spent the first few minutes tossing his discarded clothing into a wicker hamper. Long-term guests at the inn had the option of using the washing machines downstairs, but evidently, he hadn’t bothered.
They’d also found a half a dozen cups, and bowls from the communal kitchen. Ivy had gathered them all up and took them downstairs for washing. Technically, guests were supposed to do their own dishes, but the inn needed the money. They literally couldn’t afford to anger any of the Smith brothers. Their financial support was keeping the business afloat for now.
“Yes, but what else is new?” Ivy chuckled. “Hmm, you know, it might be the whole phallic symbolism thing, but watching them parry, and thrust with a sword is kinda sexy, or maybe I’ve got a medieval knight fetish.”
“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that.”
She’d caught the show before, but Molly couldn’t see their unusual guests at the moment because she was in the windowless bathroom. Although, she could hear grunts and the clang of metal.
“Whatever works for you.”
It was -39°F, and Molly didn’t need a visual to know the brothers weren’t dressed for the weather. They’d had more than a few bare-chested battles, acting like it was a warm spring day, instead of the dead of winter. And yet, none of them got frostbite or suffered through hypothermia.
It was downright weird, and shouldn’t be possible, which was the whole point of this current secret mission. Molly was sick of questions, and she wanted some answers.
“What are you doing in there anyway? We already finished cleaning the bathroom.”
“Um, I found a couple of spots we missed on the floor.” Molly held her breath, hoping Ivy would believe her. She’d always been a terrible liar.
“Well, hurry up, we’ve got two more rooms to finish.”
The Sutherland Inn had once been a farmhouse, and it had been in Amy Sutherland’s family for generations. The enormous white house had a long, wraparound porch, with a dozen bedrooms, and three floors, so it was a pain in the butt to clean. It had a charming, shabby-chic kind of vibe, which was popular with mainlanders.
Both Molly and Ivy wore several hats because it was a small family business. They did everything from light cleaning to checking guests in and out. In exchange for being on call at night, they also got free rooms. As a college student, Molly needed all the financial assistance she could get, and Ivy was saving to buy her own ballet studio.
“I’ll only be a minute.”
“Hey, genius, you left the mop in here. Seriously, what are you up to?” Ivy stood in the doorway with a hand on her hip.
Evidently, her lie hadn’t been successful. She couldn’t think of another plausible one on the spot either, so Molly decided to fess up.
“Looking for DNA.”
There was a long judgmental pause.
“Um, gross. I imagine you’ll find a lot of it. Captain Innuendo is kind of a man whore.” Ivy often referred to men by nicknames, Molly thought it was probably a way of minimizing their importance.
“Not like that. I need something I can use for a DNA sample like a hairbrush or toothbrush.”
“And why are you doing this?”
“Because something strange is going on here, and don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Well, I know they’re peculiar but so what? All that matters is, they’re staying here, and paying good money to do it. Ergo, you, and I get paid.”
“Well, I care about scientific inquiry, and something is not right here. I’m going to get to the bottom of it, if it’s the last thing I do.”
There was a reason Molly loved math, and science so much. Every problem had a solution, and she liked her existence to be well-ordered, and reasonable.
“By testing him?”
“Yes.”
Molly didn’t want to say anything until she had concrete evidence, but she suspected there was more to the brothers than met the eye. To be precise, they were an anomaly and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Molly hoped their genetic information would tell her something useful.
“Whatever.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “You get ‘em, Nancy Drew and don’t forget to punch one of them in the solar plexus while you’re at it.”
She was 5 foot 10 in her stocking feet. Ivy had a willowy build with long dark hair which she’d pulled into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. In addition to working at the inn, Ivy had a job at Mahalo coffee. Her work ethic was truly fearsome, and Molly didn’t know where she squeezed in enough time to sleep.
“Hmm?” She was only half listening to Ivy. Molly rummaged through drawers but didn’t find anything.
Didn’t the man brush his teeth or hair?
“The solar plexus. She always hits people there.” Ivy pantomimed punching somebody in the gut, for good measure.
Ivy might be a ballerina, but she had an aura of bad-assery. She favored black leather boots, and jackets, and loved saying she’d “cut a bitch” if necessary.
Molly believed her. It might have something to do with growing up in the foster care system. Ivy had been abandoned as a child, and she’d learned how to take care of herself the hard way.
Molly was an academic, and more comfortable with books than people. She had poker-straight, light-brown hair, blue eyes, and wore wire-framed glasses. Molly was 5 ½ feet tall with a thin build. She had a thing for turtlenecks, and cardigans, and Friday nights spent at a library, gathering a big pile of books to read, instead of a party.
“Are you listening to me?” Ivy asked.
“Yes, but I’m merely satisfying my curiosity. No one’s going to get punched.” She rifled through drawers but came up empty.
“Molly...?”
“What?” Molly didn’t have time to fool around. Any minute, Blaze would come charging up the stairs, and she wouldn’t get this chance for another week until they cleaned the room again.
“What is the solar plexus?”
Molly didn’t even have to think about it. “It’s a series of ganglia and radiating nerves from the sympathetic system situated in the stomach.” She was in her junior year of college and planning on becoming a biomedical researcher after she finished medical school, and her residency.
“Then why didn’t the author just say so?”
“I don’t know.” Molly had never read the Nancy Drew books. Instead, she’d been fascinated by the classics like Little Women.
“I know why you’re so squirrely about this.” She snapped her fingers. “You took his temperature, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Okay, fine, I did.”
She heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I can’t believe you!”
“Why?”
“Guess.” Ivy narrowed her eyes. “And what did you find out?”
“His temperature was far too high. It registered in the 140’s.”
“So what?”
“So, he should’ve been in a coma or dead, not roughhousing with his brothers.”
“Weird. And was he mad?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Meaning you don’t know?”
“Well, it’s hard to tell. You know, I don’t read people well.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why do you work here anyway? This isn’t your kind of place.”
She shrugged. “To learn.”
Molly didn’t have the greatest social skills. While she’d been a whiz in school, she found making friends difficult. It’s one of the reasons she’d accepted this customer service position at the inn. Her mother, Leslie, said interpersonal skills were invaluable to a biomedical researcher. If Molly wanted to secure funding for her projects, she’d have to convince people to give her money, which required charm, and persuasion.
She didn’t possess either of those qualities.
And then she found a slick stainless steel comb in the nightstand drawer. There were a few strands of hair clinging to it, along with the roots, which she could use.
“Ha! Yes, I found it.” Molly pulled a Ziploc bag from her pocket, and plunked the comb down into it, before zipping it up, and tucking the baggie away again for safekeeping. She resisted the urge to do a victory dance.
“And what about ethics?”
“What about them?” Molly could hardly wait to get to her mother’s lab.
“Have you learned about those yet?”
She blinked, finally understanding what Ivy was driving at.
“What? I’m not going to do anything bad. It’ll be used for a quick analysis, for my own knowledge.”
“Oh yeah? Tell it to the jury, sister.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic, what the Smith brothers don’t know, won’t hurt them.” She lifted her chin, daring Ivy to say something.
“Maybe not, but this counts as theft, and it’s definitely creepy.”
“You’re entitled to your opinion.”
“And shady as crap.”
The glee train came to an abrupt halt.
“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
Ivy sighed “No, your secrets safe with me.” She frowned. “Come to think of it, I could blab to Amy, and she wouldn’t care.”
“Oh?”
“Have you notice she’s distracted lately?”
“Yes, she spends all of her free time with Faro.”
They were both friends with Amy Sutherland, even though she was technically their boss. Over the past few weeks, she’d been dating Faro Smith, and they hadn’t seen much of her.
Molly had never been in love, but from what she understood, it was all-consuming, so she hadn’t given it much thought. Actually, Molly figured it was a huge waste of time. There were much more interesting things then mooning over some guy. There would be plenty of time for love later on after she’d gotten established in her career, and was ready to settle down.
Leslie Appleton, her mother, had gotten married young, and then divorced five years ago, which had been devastating for the entire family. Her mother said they had drifted apart, but Molly always suspected her brother’s illness had put a strain on their marriage.
Ivy frowned. “No, I think it’s more than that.”
“Like what?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, but my Spidey senses are tingling.”
“You think something’s wrong?”
“I only know she’s not telling me everything, and I don’t like it.”
Ivy and Amy had been best friends since they’d met in college. Maybe Ivy was so upset because this was Amy’s first serious relationship and Ivy felt left out?
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. Well, I’m gonna get started on Crispin’s room.” She picked up a bucket of cleaning supplies from the floor and looped it over her arm. “Will you finish up in here?”
“Absolutely.” Since she’d obtained the sample, Molly could concentrate once more.
“Excellent and try not to commit any more felonies.”
Molly fisted her hands. “It’s not a felony, it’s a scientific experiment.”
“Denial, party of one, your table is ready.” Ivy cupped her hands leg a megaphone.
“I’m not in denial.”
“Oh, yes, you are, but I don’t have time to argue about it.”
After Ivy left, Molly turned her attention to the carpet.
The room was pretty standard—gray carpet, white walls, with a queen-sized bed and nightstand and a chest of drawers along the wall. Molly put in her earbuds and started up the vacuum cleaner. As she zoomed over the floor, Molly listened to the latest Science Friday podcast on NPR.
One of the reasons she loved this job, was the mindless nature of the employment. It gave her time to think, in between bouts of providing customer service, like Albert Einstein’s stint working in the patent office while he reflected on his theories.
And then somebody grabbed her from behind.
With a screech, Molly let go of the handle, and the contraption fell to the floor. She whirled around to find Blaze watching her, and it took her a moment to take all of him in. Like his brothers, Blaze was tall, with large shoulders, and packed with muscle. Blaze was also bare-chested, and his abdominals stood out in sharp relief.
He filled a room with his presence, as though there were more to him than met the eye. Blaze had brown hair, and brown eyes, a neatly trimmed beard, and his skin had a copper appearance. Every once in a while, Molly thought his eyes flashed blue, although it must’ve been a trick of the light.
Most women would consider him devastatingly handsome, and he knew it, too. He was an outrageous flirt, but Molly didn’t really care one way or the other. She had more important things to do than make eyes at a stranger.
This afternoon, he wore a pair of tight blue jeans and black riding boots which came below his knee. When they’d first arrived at the inn, the brothers had dressed like Renaissance fair rejects. Since then, they’d gone shopping at the local general store and started incorporating normal clothing like jeans into their wardrobes.
He plucked the earbuds from her ears. “Well, if it isn’t you?”
He’d asked her up to his room a couple of weeks ago, and she’d declined his invitation. A man like Blaze probably had a harem at his beck and call, and she didn’t want to be one of many, no matter how hot he was.
“Yep, it’s me.” Molly leaned over and picked up the vacuum cleaner, before switching it off. When the roar was silenced, the room seemed unusually quiet.
His lips twitched. Blaze had an engaging little grin, and Molly found herself returning the smile before she was even aware of it. She couldn’t help it, the expression was a mixture of little boy mischief, and sensuality, all wrapped up in one.
No doubt, countless women had fallen for his charms.
“And what are you doing in my room, dove?” He almost purred the question, taking a few steps closer.
For some perverse reason, Blaze had insisted on calling her by the nickname. She supposed it could be considered affectionate, but Molly found the pet name annoying.
“Why do you keep doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Don’t pretend. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Because it suits you, dove. Since we’ve been here, I’ve become quite taken with those animals. They are symbols of peace, of beauty, and I find their soft, cooing sounds comforting.” He made it sound like he’d done a Wikipedia search for the bird.
“Let me ask again, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
He thought she’d come here to see him?
“Pay attention to the context clues.” Molly gestured to the equipment surrounding her, and the lemony scent of furniture polish hanging thick in the air. “I was tidying up, until somebody nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I apologize.” And while he said the appropriate words, Molly doubted his sincerity. For one thing, his dark eyes danced. It made her feel like he was in on a joke she didn’t understand.
Molly never knew what to expect from him, and found their encounters nerve-racking, yet exhilarating. She was an introvert and preferred her own company or a small group of trusted friends. Being in social situations with new people was out of her comfort zone.
“Its fine, I’m nearly finished anyway.” She unplugged the sweeper, and Molly fumbled with the cord, winding it around the handle.
Blaze made her nervous and not in a I-have-a-test-in-twenty-minutes way. It was more like the time she’d ridden the Tilt-a-Whirl at the local county fair. Blaze made her stomach jerk, and she got dizzy around him.
As she rushed for the exit, Blaze stepped into her path once more.
“Are you quite certain this isn’t a clever ruse? I thought you might’ve reconsidered my offer and wished to be alone with me.”
All the Smith brothers spoke in an unusual manner, overly formal and archaic at times. It was yet another piece of this puzzle.
“Nope, I’m only doing my job. Speaking of, I should be going.” Molly bolted out the door before he could say another word. However, she could feel his eyes on her until she turned the corner, almost like a physical caress.
Molly patted her pocket and skipped off to the next room.
Soon, I’ll have my answers.