The Nora Abbott Mystery series Box Set

by Shannon Baker

  It seemed unbelievable that Lisa, mountain goat that she was, would lose her footing and fall. Even more unlikely was that the fall would snap her neck so cleanly, killing her instantly.

  A stone stuck in Nora’s throat. Instantly killed, like Scott. Only her husband’s death hadn’t been an accident. Nora pushed the thought away.

  So many hikes, so many miles they’d covered together—Nora couldn’t believe they’d never share another adventure again. Her throat tightened. How could Lisa be gone?

  Nora stretched the kinks from her back and walked into the hotel. She approached the front desk and the young man behind it.

  “I need a room for tonight.”

  He shook his head slowly. Any quick movement of his body might have caused his khaki chinos to slide the last half inch off his narrow hips and puddle on the floor at his feet. The company tie didn’t quite cover a dark stain on his wrinkled Oxford shirt. “I’m really sorry, ma’am,” he said. “This bike race’s eaten up all the rooms. There’s nothin’ left anywhere around Moab.”

  Nora leaned on the chest-high counter in the cool, tastefully decorated hotel lobby. A teenaged girl clanked dishes while she straightened up what was left of the breakfast buffet in an alcove off the lobby. Just one more problem. But one that would have to wait. She had a half-hour to get to Lisa’s funeral, and though she’d hiked the trail with Lisa before, she didn’t remember the exact location of the trailhead and how far up the creek the mourners would gather.

  She left the air-conditioned lobby and walked into the hotel parking lot, the summer sun blazing overhead. Memory stalled her—her last conversation with Lisa, just days ago. She’d been updating her on all of the Trust’s projects.

  Nora had munched on her deli turkey sandwich and caught up with Lisa via Skype.

  Lisa’s eyes twinkled, even through the blur of the screen. She sat in front of her laptop in her renovated cabin in Castle Valley. She’d chosen Castle Valley because it was an enclave of like- minded liberals twenty miles outside of Moab. “This is an unbelievable experience. I’m learning so much! Not only about the land but about the history and about making a film.”

  Nora couldn’t fault Lisa for lack of passion and energy. She swallowed the chipotle-laced turkey. “What about results? Is the film ready?”

  Lisa laughed with the carefree delight Nora always envied. “You’re so you—always cutting away the bullshit and going for the kill.”

  Nora slurped her coffee. “What about it? You’re at deadline and thirty grand over budget.”

  Lisa looked startled. “That much? Wow. This is so worth it, Nor. This place—god, this place is gorgeous. You’ve got the funding, right?”

  “Not millions, but enough for the proposed budget you just exceeded. That’s not the point. I need something to show the board. Even more important, are you ready to take it to Washington?” The hard knot of worry balled in her belly, and she wadded up the remainder of her sandwich in the paper wrapper.

  “I know the goal, Nor.” Lisa ran a hand through her long mass of dark waves. She licked her full lips, chapped by days in the sun. “And I’ll get it done. I sent you some footage.”

  “And it’s as amazing as you’ve said. But you’re spending a ton of money, and I haven’t seen the whole thing.”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “You’ll be impressed by the dawn images, Fat Bottom-Line Girl. It’s probably the shot that will seal the whole deal. How could anybody deny the park expansion after seeing it?”

  “I know you’re going all George Lucas out there, but you’ve got to wrap it up. Time is running out.”

  “Da, da, da …” Lisa sang the doomsday notes and grinned at Nora, the sunlight streaming in through her home office windows and highlighting her own glow. “Lighten up, chica.”

  Nora shoved the coffee away, suspecting it contributed to the sour burn in her belly. “Maybe I’ll get Cole and we’ll come to Moab next week. You can show it to me then.”

  “Speaking of Cole and gorgeous, how’s that hunk o’ burning love of yours?”

  The air surrounding Nora brightened, and an irresistible smile replaced her responsible executive director face. “Cole is great.”

  “And he’s still treating you like a queen?”

  Movement behind Lisa captured Nora’s attention. Rachel bent over a table and shuffled through a pile of papers. “Hey, Rachel,” Nora teased. “Would you keep Lisa on task and get me that film?”

  Lisa hunched her shoulders as if taking cover.

  Rachel whipped her head toward the computer screen. She glared at Nora across the miles. “You’re the boss. You do it.”

  Rachel spared one scathing look for Lisa and whirled around. Footsteps stomped and a door squeaked open, then slammed closed.

  Nora raised her eyebrows and waited for Lisa.

  Lisa shrugged and showed a toothy grin tinged with discomfort. “She’s cycling. You know how emotional women get.” Rachel and Lisa had been together for three years. Last year, Nora had met them in Minnesota for their wedding. Same-sex marriage hadn’t been legal in Utah at the time, but Minnesota had seemed like such a random pick. As far as Nora could tell, they were the perfect couple. “What’s going on?”

  Lisa’s false cheer slipped. “She’s had enough of the film, I guess.”

  Lisa glanced toward the door, then leaned closer to the screen and lowered her voice. “You gotta understand. Rachel’s family has been out here forever. She’s, like, fourth-generation Mormon. Obviously she’s evolved, but it’s not easy for her.” Lisa’s eyes twinkled as she teased. “Out here, everyone is on one side or the other. The hip, smart folks, like me, are for expansion, and the Neanderthals are on the other side.”

  “So Rachel doesn’t believe in park expansion?”

  Lisa was quick to respond. “Oh, she’s on board. But it’s causing her some grief, okay?”

  “Her family is harassing her?”

  Lisa shrugged again. “A little more than that.”

  Alarms jangled Nora’s nerves. She tried to squelch the reaction—okay, overreaction. “Explain.”

  “The brakes went out of my old Toyota pickup last week. Rachel thinks someone tampered with them. But they were shot and needed to be replaced.”

  “Lisa!”

  Lisa tossed her hair. “See? You and Rachel are more alike than you know. In fact, if you didn’t have that strange preference for men, you and I might be married now.”

  Maybe for people with normal lives, no one tampered with brakes or plotted murder. But in Nora’s world, these bizarre and dangerous things happened. “Be careful.” But what she wanted to say was “Run!”

  Lisa looked over her shoulder again. “Listen. I probably shouldn’t say anything, and I promised myself I wouldn’t until I get more information. But you know me, I can’t keep a secret.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. She’d kept her gayness from her family for over twenty years.

  “But this is important. I was out at Fiery Furnace and I found this petroglyph—”

  The door squeaked in the background.

  Lisa jerked her head around. She turned back to the screen and the conspiratorial tone vanished. “Okay. Have a great week.”

  “Lisa, wait.”

  Lisa blew a kiss at the computer screen. “Love you, babe.” She severed the connection.

  Nora climbed into her dilapidated Jeep. Abbey wagged his tail and slapped his tongue in Nora’s direction. She scratched behind his ears. “You’re a good boy,” Nora said, more to practice a solid voice than anything else.

  Nora drove east out of town for several miles. The road ran along the Colorado River, which was usually wide and smooth here, a serene glide. Today, though, red silt raged, probably the result of a heavy rain upstream, swelling the banks. At least the water had a channel to travel here. In the open desert, it would cascade down any indentation and create dangerous flash floods.

  She needn’t have worried about locating the Moonflower trailhead. Cars
and pickups and bikes spilled from the dirt parking lot to line the road.

  Lisa had taken Nora on this trail before. It was one of her favorites. It wound next to a creek, along a valley of willows and cottonwoods. Then the trail climbed out on top of slick rock and, after a couple miles, dipped back into a box canyon with the sweetest swimming hole, complete with a rock slide. Nora and Lisa had spent a few lazy afternoons sunning on the rocks, swimming and talking about life.

  They’d discovered the spot together on their first backpacking trip to Canyonlands. They later learned it was a favorite spot for locals. Nora remembered one sunny day when she’d had an epiphany about her life.

  Nora had sat up on the warm rock. “I know what I’m going to be when I grow up,” she said to a dozing Lisa.

  “The first woman president of the New York Stock Exchange?” “That,” Nora agreed, “and an advocate for the environment. I want to do business and conservation.”

  Lisa rolled over and propped her head on her elbow. “You’re not as confused as you think you are.”

  Nora would miss Lisa’s way of clarifying her life.

  Nora and Abbey climbed out and followed a group of three down the road, into the lot, and onto the one-track dirt trail. Watching the group ahead stung her. They were dressed in what Lisa referred to with rolled eyes as “Moab chic.” One woman wore a short black skirt and leggings with Chacos on her feet. Another woman wore a green broomstick skirt and covered her head with a battered straw cowboy hat. The guy with them sported dreds that hung down to the middle of his back and were gathered in a tie-dyed bandana. He wore baggy shorts and a wrinkled T-shirt.

  Deep drifts of fine, red sand covered the grass, burying smaller shrubs and piling around the willows. The destruction of a flash flood showed in the narrow canyon. It must have been a wild hour or so as the water screamed through, drowning anything unfortunate enough to be trapped on the canyon floor. Now the sand piled in drifts, still damp from yesterday’s afternoon shower, and the clump grass and white flowers of the bindweed and evening primrose poked through the surface.

  Vertical walls of sandstone rose high on either side, creating a slot canyon. Their variegated layers blended from yellows to reds with blackened surfaces near the top. The leaves of the cottonwoods rattled in the soft breeze with sweeping arms creating cover from the sun.

  Nora and Abbey plodded after the others. She longed to feel the strength of Cole beside her, but he had his own problems to deal with in Wyoming. He’d been tight-lipped about that on the phone the last couple of days.

  The day warmed enough that Nora removed her light jacket and tied it around her hips. It slapped against the back of her shorts as she trudged up the trail. Sand squeaked under her hiking boots with every step. She’d briefly considered dressing more formally but rejected the idea, knowing Lisa would think it pretentious. The burbling creek felt too cheerful for Nora’s heavy heart. Even the air betrayed Nora’s mood, smelling green and moist and full of summer’s growth.

  The three people ahead of Nora slowed behind an elderly couple making their way up the trail. Behind her, hushed voices of more people broke the silence. Bushes closed in on the hikers, and trees shaded the path. In a few moments Nora and the others entered a large clearing created by several slick red rocks. The creek, now back to normal after the flash flood some time ago, bubbled happily as it wound around the rocks and bumped against the cliff wall.

  About fifty people crowded together under the willows and elms.

  Rachel stood next to the creek. Her blond hair hung straight down her back. Her pale skin only highlighted her red-rimmed eyes and nose. Nora wanted to hug her, to tell her that it would be all right— but it wasn’t all right. Rachel might love again. She might build a life full of exciting and fun challenges, might go on to be successful, and each day might radiate with happiness. But as Nora knew from her own experience after her husband’s death two years ago, the pain would strike at odd moments. It would rush in like a black tide and wipe out the carefully constructed levy around her heart.

  Not overly dramatic, huh, Nora? Okay, well, maybe that was all flowery and nostalgic. Nora and Scott had been headed for divorce, and it’s likely that after they split, Nora would have felt a measure of the loss she felt now when she thought of Scott. But he hadn’t had the chance to divorce Nora. He’d been murdered.

  And Nora had stood on a mountaintop in Flagstaff, in very much the same way Rachel stood here.

  Nora found a place at the back of the crowd so that Abbey could lie in the shade and not be stepped on. He settled under a bush, lowered his head to his paws, and dozed.

  The crowd mostly consisted of outdoors types of various ages— from twenty-somethings all the way to gray-hairs. All wore hiking or casual clothes. Nora didn’t spot any of Lisa’s family, and she hadn’t expected to. They’d turned their backs on Lisa when she’d come out her sophomore year, and as far as Nora knew, Lisa hadn’t wasted any time trying to bring them back into her life.

  A man about Nora’s age in faded Wranglers and cowboy boots stood by himself. He held a black felt cowboy hat that left a ring around his light brown hair. His lips flattened in a look of irritation and he glared at Rachel. Another, more handsome man stood behind Rachel, close enough to touch her. Nora wondered if he was her brother, though with his dark wavy hair, trim and fit body, and alert expression, he looked like her opposite.

  Rachel cleared her throat. “I’m happy to see all of you here. Moonflower was Lisa’s favorite place.”

  Rachel’s composure impressed Nora. She’d barely been able to tie her shoes after Scott’s death.

  “There is nothing Lisa would have loved more than all of you gathered here in the sunshine.”

  Nora stared at the rock under her feet and fought the lump lodged in her throat. Someone sniffled. An older man put his arm around a gray-haired woman and pulled her close.

  Rachel held her shoulders erect, her head high. “What I loved most about Lisa was her one hundred percent devotion to whatever she believed in.”

  Nora lost her fight for control and let the tears spill down her face. A smile threatened Rachel’s pale lips. “She’d spend hours watching the giant white flowers of datura open in the evening, delighted with the hawk moths that came to pollinate it.”

  Rachel swallowed and continued. “After hiking trails all over the world and covering almost every foot of her beloved southern Utah wilderness, Lisa died from a freak accident. How did the land she loved so well betray her?”

  Rachel’s voice wavered and she pulled her shoulders back. “When we backpacked together, I always headed out on a mission. I’d pop out of the sleeping bag ready to hit the trail, putting miles under my feet. Lisa loved to linger. She’d sit quietly with one more cup of coffee and watch the sun slide over rocks, shadows changing slowly. She’d pause on the trail to watch a toothpick-size lizard perform pushups or just to listen to the stillness of the desert.” Rachel swallowed a hiccup. “I loved to spend time outdoors with Lisa because she forced me to stop and appreciate what I might otherwise zoom past.”

  Rachel swiped at tears. “Thirty-three years weren’t enough for someone so vital and passionate. She should have had a lifetime to savor, more time to help the land she devoted herself to. And I needed more years to love the woman who brought me so much happiness.”

  A sob sounded from somewhere to the right.

  Rachel’s voice hardened and rang clear in the morning sun. “It was her passion for this place, southern Utah, that killed her.”

  The anger in her tone made Nora lift her head.

  Rachel’s eyes burned into her. “I loved Lisa. But she could be stubborn.” This message seemed aimed at Nora. A subdued chuckle of agreement sounded from those gathered.

  “She couldn’t leave well enough alone.” Rachel’s glare was so fierce a few people turned to look at Nora.

  Rachel started to shake. All at once, her knees buckled. The man behind her leaped forward and closed his
arms around her. She leaned into him and buried her head on his shoulder. He spoke in a clear, strong voice. “Rachel would be pleased if you’d join us for a reception at Read Rock Bookstore on Main Street.”

  Rachel’s eyes looked vacant in her pale face, as if she’d used up every bit of emotional strength she possessed. She dropped her head, and the man took hold of her hand, and led her toward the trail.

  Nora glanced up and met the malevolent stare of the man with the black cowboy hat. His dark eyes bored a hole through Nora’s forehead. He slammed his hat on his head, pulled it low over his eyes, and stomped away.

  He must have picked up on whatever ill will Rachel had directed her way.

  A small group of people spoke quietly, several of them with wet eyes, some sniffing. “Obsessed with the film.” “Probably exhausted.” “Wonder what will happen with the film?”

  Most people dribbled away from the clearing with heads down.

  If they spoke at all, their words were too quiet for Nora to hear.

  Eventually the mourners disappeared, leaving Nora shaken. She lowered herself to the ground, and Abbey rose from his spot under the tree. He sauntered over to her and accepted her caress.

  Before Rachel faded, she’d been angry with Nora. Did she think Nora was responsible for Lisa’s death? Lisa had begged Nora to fund the film. Had Lisa jumped in over her head, making her careless?

  The sun danced through the branches. Humidity from a recent rain weighted the air and brought out the spice of sage and muted scent of damp sand. Life continued in an almost insulting way.

  Nora wouldn’t have been able to stop Lisa even if she hadn’t funded the film. Lisa would have found another way.

  Still, Nora’s being here stabbed Rachel like a splintered arrow. Nora didn’t want to cause her any more pain. She decided to quietly head back to Boulder.

  She stood and brushed the dirt from her hiking shorts. A flash of blue caught her eye. Her heart jumped to her mouth, and she went numb.