by Nancy Naigle
“Nice to meet you. I’m Savannah. You must be Brooke’s best friend.”
“You know Brooke?” Her face lit up.
“Not exactly. I’m renting the apartment next to her boyfriend. He mentioned it.”
“Mike is amazing. Come with me. I’ll show you the locker room so you can put your keys and stuff away. Then, we’ll get you a mat, and trust me . . . you are going to love this. Don’t overextend, just move however your body lets you.”
“I’m probably going to make a fool of myself.”
“No! Oh, no. You just get into your zone. Trust me, the people around you just fall away when you get to the right place. No one is watching you. No one is judging you. I promise.”
“I might have to live here then.”
“I know what you mean.”
Savannah cast a sweeping look around the space. “You’ve got some nice artwork in here.”
Jenn looked around. “I wanted to create something peaceful and uplifting.”
“You’ve accomplished that.”
“Thanks.” Jenn turned and backed into the door to the locker room, pushing it open with her rear end. “This is the locker room. All of the lockers have a key already in the lock for you. Just take one.” Jenn dug a melon-colored wristband with her logo on it from her pocket. “You can just slip the key right into the little pocket on this. My gift to you just for showing up to try.”
“Thank you. That’s a great idea.” Savannah slipped off her shoes and put them in the locker. “That mural is amazing.” And this time it wasn’t just small talk. The painting covered every square inch of the wall and extended right up to the ceiling into one of those sky murals that made you forget you were inside, like the ones at the Venetian in Vegas.
Jenn sucked in a breath. “Long story about that.”
“Must have cost a fortune.”
“Nope. Barely cost a thing, actually.” Jenn scrunched her lips and stared at the mural. “That should have clued me in that something was wrong. I thought I was being a brilliant barterer. It is pretty, though. You should see the one in the men’s locker room. You think this is amazing. That one is . . .” Her voice trailed off and she didn’t even finish her sentence. “Come on.” Jenn led the way to a rack full of yoga mats. “Pick one.”
Savannah picked out a purple mat and followed Jenn back out front. She wondered if the murals had anything to do with that message. She cursed herself for getting caught up in the idea that there was something behind that police blotter entry. Scott had already said it was nothing, and he sure did have his thumb on the pulse of this town.
“Do I need to fill out any paperwork or anything?”
Jenn shook her head. “No. Just enjoy your afternoon with us and catch up with me at the smoothie bar afterwards. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Class starts in about five minutes.”
Savannah hung back. “I’ll be right there. I just want to enjoy this painting for a moment.”
Jenn gave her an awkward smile, then one of the other ladies grabbed her and they walked out of the locker room together talking about the intricacies of something that must have been a yoga move, because it wasn’t anything she’d ever heard of before.
Leaning against her locker, Savannah examined the painting. It was truly beautiful art. There wasn’t one evil thing about it that she could see. Even the colors were peaceful. Colorful hot air balloons filled a perfect sky. Different shapes and colors. There were the regular lightbulb-shaped ones, and fancy ones, like one that looked like a sunflower, another that looked like Darth Vader, and one that looked like a cabin that was so intricate that she wondered if they could really even fly a balloon with so many chambers.
As the room began to empty, Savannah headed out to the main room and took a spot in the far back corner.
An hour later Savannah felt like she’d had one of the best workouts she’d ever been through, and yet there hadn’t been one pounding running move or one grunting lift. She hit the locker room, took a quick shower, and then memorized that mural as she toweled off. No matter how she tried to twist the bright colors or images into some sort of symbolism, it didn’t make sense that this would upset anyone. Even the clouds were playful shapes. The one in the far right that had a stormy color to it looked like a squishy, soft stuffed bunny. She gathered her things and went out to the smoothie bar.
A huge container of cucumber water sat on the end of the brightly colored counter, where Jenn and another gal were pushing smoothies across to a few of the people who had been in the class and a couple of folks who seemed to have just stopped in for one.
Jenn waved to Savannah. “I made one of my special JB smoothies for you.”
“JB?”
“Jenn’s Balance.” She winked as she handed the bright-purple concoction across the bar. “What’s the use of having your own business if you can’t name some cool stuff after yourself?”
“Thanks,” Savannah said, and took a sip from the neon pink straw. “Very good.” She took another sip. “You know, I have an amazing recipe for a protein brownie. They’d be perfect for in here.”
“Well, aren’t you just a little Rachael Ray or something.”
“No, but Momma would have given that little girl a run for her money. There was a time when my favorite thing was to be in that kitchen with my mom.”
A short brunette walked into the studio wearing a pair of jeans and a suit jacket. “Hey.” She joined them at the bar. “What’s up?”
“Brooke, meet someone new in town. This is Savannah. She just moved in with your boyfriend.”
Brooke’s eyes went wide.
“Not like that,” Savannah said, trying to stop the joke before it went too far, besides the writer in her would die to hear her side of the story of that abduction. Looking at the pretty girl, she couldn’t even imagine something so awful happening to her. “You must be Mike’s girlfriend. I’m renting the apartment next to his.”
Brooke extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. We’re pretty new to town still too.”
“Oh, I didn’t move here. I’m just renting the apartment for a week.”
“Mike mentioned he had a neighbor and that he’d kind of blasted you half out of the apartment your first morning there.”
“It was no big deal. I was up; in fact, it was pretty good timing. I’d just been working and thinking I needed some music when he started rocking out. There wasn’t a radio in there, so it worked out kind of nice actually.”
Brooke winced. “He does love that classic rock.”
“It was fine. I like my rock a little more Southern, but he happened to pick the right song for my mood that morning.”
“Me too,” Brooke said. “If you like country music, you ought to come down to the barn dance this weekend.”
“You should come,” Jenn said.
“Maybe I will.”
“Everyone will be there.” Brooke hopped up on one of the stools.
Savannah said, “A lot happens in this little town of yours. I was at the parade this weekend.”
Jenn smiled wide. “Is Hillcrest Joyful Kixx not the most beautiful creature you’ve ever laid eyes on?”
Brooke nudged Jenn. “That’s just because you own part of him.”
“Really?” That piqued Savannah’s interest. She’d always thought only the rich and famous owned racehorses. “I overheard someone saying y’all are moving him here to Adams Grove. That’s pretty cool. Do you live on a farm nearby?”
Jenn poured a glass of water. “Oh, I live upstairs. No room for a racehorse here. I just own a piece of him. My boyfriend and I recently bought interest in him. Cody Tuggle’s mother raised him. She has several racehorses. She’s moving her whole operation here.”
“A piece of a racehorse is still more than most people ever even dream of owning,” Savannah said.
Jenn’s lips pursed. “Come to think of it, maybe I should have asked which piece. I probably own an elbow or something.”
“Maybe you’re better off not knowing,” Savannah said.
They all laughed, and Savannah was enjoying getting to know Brooke and Jenn. She really didn’t have any girlfriends her age, and this had turned out to be relaxing and fun. Maybe it was the yoga that had her so chilled out.
“You mentioned you’re new in town. How did you and Mike meet?” she asked Brooke.
“I was doing farm visits. I’m the extension agent here. Mike was watching over the farm where Cody’s mom is going to be moving. There was an instant attraction.” Brooke looked starry-eyed.
“I was talking to someone the other day who said there are way more men in this town than women. That must have worked out for you.”
“For Jenn too. We both met guys since we’ve been here. Maybe you should stick around.”
“Or not. I’m not sure I’m the relationship type. I’ve been married before.”
Brooke nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. My first marriage was a disaster. I thought if I ever got out of it, I’d never even date again. But I guess you have to be careful about those ‘never’ statements. They have a way of biting you in the butt and proving you wrong.”
“I don’t think that will happen in my case,” Savannah said. “But I won’t say never . . . just so I don’t jinx it.”
“Good plan,” Brooke said.
“So that was pretty lucky that your horse won the Derby. That’s a big deal,” Savannah said.
“I know, right? Only it was a weird day.” Jenn shivered. “Best and worst night of my whole life.”
“Yours?” Brooke half laughed, but Savannah could tell there wasn’t anything funny about what had gone down that night. “You weren’t the one he ambushed.”
“I’ll be right back,” Jenn said as she walked behind the last few stragglers leaving the building to lock up for the day.
“She gets freaked out when I talk about it.”
“Somebody ambushed you?”
“I’d just moved here. My ex-husband was harassing me so I’d hired Mike to put that to rest. Turned out getting to know Mike put me in more danger than I’d been in before I hired him. Not his fault, though. His wife had been killed by Frank Gotorow and he’d helped put that madman away back then. Only he got out of prison somehow and come back for revenge.”
Savannah admired the girl’s strength. “You were in the way.”
“Or an easier target probably,” she said. “He abducted me and held me, half-drugged as bait. Knowing the whole story now, I believe he was trying to re-create what he’d done to Mike’s first wife. I was pretty out of it, but still so scared. But I can’t even imagine what Mike felt. It hurts my heart to think of that.”
“I’m sure it does. That had to be terrifying.”
“It was. Had everything not gone exactly according to plan, I might not be sitting here with you today. The governor is giving our sheriff and my Mike an award for their heroism for what they did that night. They risked their lives to save mine.”
“I remember it being in the news. It kind of came and hushed really fast, though. I didn’t realize that was you. I’m so sorry. Are you doing okay? How do you get over something like that?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Brooke admitted.
“Can you imagine the book that would make?” She wasn’t even sure where that thought came from, and it really wasn’t very sensitive of her to blurt it out like that. The girl had gone through a terrible trauma.
“I already had some big publisher call about that. I won’t write about it. Won’t give that guy the satisfaction of getting his story in front of everyone. He’d have loved that.” Brooke looked over toward Jenn, who was taking her time getting back. “The truth is, the more I talk about it the better I feel, but Jenn gets so freaked out when I do.”
“If you need someone to chat with . . . I’m here for a little while. I’d be happy to be your sounding board. And when I’m gone. Call me. Really. We all need someone in our corner to just listen.” Savannah felt suddenly close to Brooke.
“Yeah, I’d like to bend your ear about it.” She tilted her head toward Jenn, who was saying good-bye to the last couple of people. “She’s still more freaked out than me, but then he had me out of it most of the time. She was the one watching and worrying as it all went down.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you. I read all about it in the papers. You just don’t expect that kind of thing to happen in this kind of a town, do you?”
“No.” Brooke’s tension eased a little. “But the bad guy was the only one to die that night, so that has to say something about being in the right place at the right time.”
“You’ve got that right,” Savannah said. “I remember when he first went on that spree all those years ago.”
Jenn rejoined them at the bar. “Did she tell you how he was living right here in this building?”
“Frank Gotorow?” Savannah asked.
“Yeah,” Jenn said with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t ask me to choose your friends. I obviously have a knack for sniffing out the crazies.”
“Great. So I shouldn’t feel honored that you invited me right in and treated me like you’ve known me my whole life?”
Jenn laughed. “Probably not!”
Brooke laughed at that too. “You’re different.”
“Well, thank you,” Savannah said. “On a brighter note, I love what you’ve done with this place. It’s so peaceful. I swear I could just sit and stare at that mural all day.”
Brooke glanced at Jenn. “Not many people know this, but there’s a story behind the man who painted those beautiful murals in the locker rooms.”
Savannah kept her mouth shut. As hard as it was, she didn’t want to say anything that might keep them from talking.
“You saw the one in the ladies’ locker room. Great, huh?”
“Amazing.”
“Frank Gotorow. The Goto Hell Murderer painted that mural for me.” Jenn shook her head. “That one and the one in the men’s locker room too. I let him right in. Paid him and let him crash here while he worked on them. He seemed like a quiet, quirky guy. I was so proud to barter that deal.”
Savannah saw the shiver go through Brooke. “You can’t be serious. That women’s locker room is gorgeous. So peaceful. I’ve got a fear of heights and I’m ready to book a hot air balloon ride after seeing it. How could someone like him paint something so serene?”
Jenn put her head down on the bar. “I know. I can still hardly believe it. If I hadn’t seen him physically do it, I wouldn’t believe it. I watched him work though. And he didn’t look the least bit evil.”
“Oh, but if you’d seen the painting he did where he held me captive you’d know he was nothing short of the spawn of the devil. That stuff was freaky,” Brooke said.
“That stuff was alien-like. I can’t even think about that.” Jenn seemed to try to blank the images from her mind. “It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around it.” Suddenly, she whipped out from behind the bar. And headed for the locker rooms. “Come. You’ve got to see the one he did in the men’s locker room.”
All three girls raced to the back. Jenn gave a courtesy knock. “Coming in. Cover up.” She poked her head inside and led them through the door labeled WARRIORS. “All’s clear.”
The three of them filed inside and stood side by side in front of the mural. Like the other one, this covered every wall space and even a few of the lockers.
Chills climbed right up Savannah’s spine. The serene rural setting was painted across the entire wall. Colorful flowers filled a countryside near a small pond where deer drank water so realistic that you just knew it was icy cold. The sky was Carolina blue and extended right on up to the ceiling, where a few clou
ds floated by.
“Did you just get a shiver?” Brooke asked.
“I did.” How had she known?
“I know. Right?” She pointed her finger between herself and Jenn. “Us too. Every time we stand here.”
“It’s so realistic.” Savannah ran her hand up and down her arm to chase the chill. “It’s just as beautiful as the one in the ladies’ locker room, but there’s something different about this one. Or is it just me?”
Both girls agreed. “No. It’s not just you,” Jenn said.
Savannah stepped closer, reaching toward the wall. “That shiver isn’t like the awe you feel in front of a beautiful painting. It’s different. I don’t know. It’s like . . .”
Jenn’s voice was steady. “More like it wants to hold you here.”
Savannah’s words came out as a whisper. “And not let you go.” She pulled her fingers back.
“I keep saying I’m going to buy a five-gallon bucket of paint and just paint right over them,” Jenn said.
Brooke and Savannah both shook their heads.
“No.” Brooke tilted her head. “No. I don’t think it’s time for that yet.”
Jenn walked over to the far end of the room, where a long bench straddled the space in front of the lockers. “He was staying right here in this building. I was sleeping in the same building as he was. I wonder if I’d even locked my doors at night. A million things I’ve wondered about. He painted the murals and I let him stay here and gave him a couple hundred dollars. I thought it was the best deal ever.”
Savannah raised a brow. “Well, you got more than your money’s worth.”
Jenn swallowed hard. “Yeah, but I almost got my best friend killed in the process.”
Brooke shook her head and sat on the bench. “That had absolutely nothing to do with you, Jenn. I’ve told you that a hundred times. If he hadn’t stayed here, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. Don’t lay that guilt trip on yourself.”
Savannah dropped to the bench too. She wanted a story, but she sure didn’t expect something like this.
Brooke’s mouth curled as if it made her sick to remember that day. “He’d painted every single wall in that little shack where he held me.” Brooke pointed to the mural. “The crisp colors are the only thing even remotely similar. The mural he painted there was full of rage.” She stared at the mural. “So different.”