“Thanks,” I said with a huff. “Now I’ve got that song in my head.”
She stuck out her tongue. “You’re welcome.”
We both dug into our food. I considered telling her about seeing Marie trying to seduce Franco, but then Christopher joined us, and I didn’t want word to get back to his cousin, Butch.
I scanned the dining room to see if Marie was behaving strangely toward Franco, but he wasn’t there. Della sat with her brother, Dion, while Benji sat alone. Marie stayed at her buffet station, making ten times as many crepes as the group could eat.
The three of us were debating a second trip to the buffet when Dion came over, turned around the chair next to Jessica, and straddled it.
“Hey, Red.” He waggled his eyebrows, the movement causing his densely-curled hair to roll forward and back.
“My name’s still Jessica,” she said, a trace of amusement on her lips.
He picked a crumb of food from her plate and put it in his mouth. “Did Butch say anything to you about the float tanks? I bumped into him this morning, and he said he was shutting them down to do maintenance.”
She batted her eyelashes. “He didn’t say anything to me.”
His voice deep and throaty, he replied, “I hope they get fixed right away, because I can only think of one thing more relaxing than floating in those tanks with you.”
She put her hand on his chest. “Not in front of my friends,” she squealed. “Have some decency.”
He winked at her, then got up from the chair and re-joined his sister.
I said to Jessica, “Anything you want to tell me?”
She rolled her eyes. “You guys, it was nothing. We were both really relaxed when we got out of the tanks, and we had one little kiss in the hallway. That’s it.”
Christopher and I exchanged a look. There’d been a lot of romance happening at the lodge overnight. What would tonight bring?
The three of us voted, and the result was unanimous. A second trip to the crepe buffet was in order.
I’d started with a sweet one, so I helped myself to one of the sugar-free savory crepes, loading it with scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage, plus some fried green tomatoes Marie insisted I try. The local ones weren’t in season yet, but hers had come from a greenhouse she was sampling as a new supplier.
“We’re here to test things for the lodge,” I said as I stacked my plate. Jessica repeated the same mantra.
Della came up to Marie and asked if there were any gluten-free crepes for Franco.
Marie snapped, “Why doesn’t he ask me himself? Why’s he hiding in his room?”
Della said, “I think Franco might be sick. He smelled funny, and he wouldn’t get out of bed. I told him he was stinking up the room, and he just grunted and told me to get lost. I only came to breakfast because I couldn’t get the patio door open for fresh air.”
“Sorry about that,” Marie said. “The door on the room at the end is defective. Butch should have told you when you checked in. Don’t worry, we’ll have it fixed before the grand opening, and I’ll have Butch check the ventilation.”
“Do you think I should bring a doggie bag to Franco?” Della asked.
“We’ll make him a nice one.” Marie grabbed a plate and whirled around the buffet, piling the plate with gluten-free options for Franco, and explaining the ingredients of each item as she went.
Della accepted the full plate and said to Marie, “You’re a nice lady. I mean that, for real. I want you to know, no matter what goes down, that I really respect you.”
“Thanks,” Marie said, looking equal parts confused and satisfied.
She was handing cutlery to Della when a thunderous sound cracked through the dining room.
We all silently looked around at each other. Then everyone started talking at once, asking what the noise had been. We gathered around Butch and Marie for answers.
“Was it a hunter?” Christopher asked. “I’m no outdoorsman, but that was a rifle, wasn’t it?”
I said to Marie, “It’s Monday today. What time is your construction crew getting here?”
She answered, “That wasn’t my crew. They’ve got the next few days off, so we can relax in peace.”
Christopher said, “We won’t be getting much peace if we’ve got rednecks shooting up the place.”
“The lodge is totally safe,” Butch said vehemently. “Let’s nip these rumors in the bud. The land is all marked off with big signs saying No Hunting.”
Marie turned to him, her eyes wide behind her thick glasses. “But that noise…”
“Don’t you worry, little darling. It’s not even big game season until the fall. That crack must have been the mountain letting off a little steam.”
“Steam?” Marie’s chin trembled. “You mean like a volcano?”
Half of the group gasped. Were we on an active volcano? People started talking evacuation plans.
Butch raised his arms and yelled for everyone to shut up. Once we were quiet, he said, “We’re not on a volcano. I don’t have the maps handy to give you all a geology lesson, but you have to trust me on this one.”
Dion said, “It might not have been a big game hunter, but could it have been someone shooting wild turkey?”
Butch rubbed his chin. “Shouldn’t be. Not enough grain seed for turkeys on this rocky terrain.”
“But it’s possible, right?” Dion asked.
Butch turned to Christopher. “Let’s say that thunderous crack was a hunter. How about you and I head outside and give some redneck the scare of a lifetime?”
Christopher looked at me with his eyebrows raised, as though he was asking me for my permission, or a good excuse.
“Have fun,” I said cheerfully. “Wear something bright so nobody mistakes you for a turkey.”
Chapter 17
After our third helping of crepes, Marie finally cut us off.
Sounding like a mother, she said, “Get outside right now and enjoy this perfect weather. You’re here to test-run all the amenities. This morning, Butch has you scheduled for snowshoeing.”
There weren’t many takers. Christopher and Butch were still off in search of rifle-wielding hunters, Dion said he’d already promised to test the gym equipment, and Della had disappeared to her room with the plate of food for Franco. That left only Jessica, Benji, and me.
Benji tried to get out of it, pleading, “I’ve got my work with me, case studies about Psilocybe semilanceata, and other… boring chemistry stuff you wouldn’t care about.”
“I’m a chef,” Marie said. “We’re both chemistry geniuses, in our own ways. The difference is I get to chop things. Getting my hands and body moving is what keeps me sane. I know you’re going through a rough patch, but you’ve got to keep going. Get your skinny butt off that chair and go snowshoeing, right now.”
She clapped her hands and literally shooed him out of the dining room, along with Jessica and me.
I hadn’t been snowshoeing since a winter trip in high school, when we’d used huge snowshoes that looked like tennis rackets and smelled as if they were made of animal parts. By comparison, the sleek, modern snowshoes we found in the trekking hut beside the lodge resembled something you’d connect to your laptop. The gear was fashioned from lightweight aluminum and neoprene, sorted into different sizes calibrated for various body weights.
Jessica, who had been snowshoeing many times, explained, “Men and women have different thigh bones. See how Benji’s thigh comes straight down from his hip, whereas our thighs curve inward?”
“What?” He looked down at his leg, then at ours, then his, then ours. He had a very serious expression.
“This won’t be on the final exam,” Jessica joked as she socked him on the arm. Benji wasn’t expecting her tomboyish punch, and fell back onto some unpacked cardboard boxes.
Jessica helped Benji up and continued, “Because of that curving thigh bone, women have a narrower stride. That’s why the women’s snowshoes are shaped differently.”
&n
bsp; “So, I shouldn’t wear these cool red ones?” I set down the red snowshoes I’d been planning to wear, from the men’s section, and chose yellow ones from the women’s section.
“Now you’re cooking with fire,” Jessica said.
Benji picked up the red snowshoes and studied them as though the components were a logic puzzle. The snowshoes had adjustable straps, so they fit a variety of footwear. While Benji stared at his, I used my hands on mine. Through trial and error, I figured out how to get the straps around my waterproof hiking boots. He was still examining the bindings after I was done and ready to go.
“Benji, lighten up,” I said. “Life isn’t a chemistry equation you can solve by thinking. Marie’s right. We could all stand to get out of our heads and live a little.”
“I’ll try,” he said, then he put on the snowshoes.
We all borrowed some hats and scarves from the trekking hut, then set off on our way up the mountain.
Once we made it past the muddy patches around the lodge, the modern snowshoes worked like a dream, floating us on top of the snow. We climbed toward the peak, on a path marked by orange arrows fastened to the majestic trees that stood tall on either side of the trail. Crisp mountain air invigorated us to casually race each other, competing to see who could stay in the lead.
I was puffing, but happy. After weeks of working on the computer or in my car, I loved stretching my legs in such a gorgeous winter wonderland.
We’d been trekking more or less straight up for thirty minutes when Benji staggered off to the side and hugged a tree.
Jessica, who had barely broken a sweat, teased him. “Is that all you’ve got? For someone with such a health nut business, I expected a little more competition.”
“I know,” he said between gasps. “I’m a total fraud. I don’t deserve to live.” He leaned forward and put his face in his hands.
Jessica grimaced at me and asked quietly, “Is he crying?”
“We broke him,” I said.
She went to his side and patted his back. “Don’t be sad. I’m sorry I offended you. I have a weird sense of humor and I’m always rough on guys. Honestly, it’s not great for my dating life.”
He wiped his cheeks and looked up at her. “But you’re so beautiful,” he said. “And the more you act so nice toward me, the worse I feel about poisoning you with the Rainforest Delight.”
“But you didn’t do that on purpose, did you?”
He was slow to answer. “The lawyers… they say… I shouldn’t admit to any wrongdoing until there’s evidence, but I don’t know if I can lie if I have to take the stand.”
Jessica glanced at me, then said, “You knew.” She took a step back. “You knew there was a problem, a fungus in the batch, and you didn’t issue the recall until people started getting sick.”
He didn’t answer.
She lunged forward and shoved him on the shoulders. “Admit it. You knew, and you didn’t do anything.” She shoved him again, harder.
He fell backward into the snow. He shot me a guilty look as he got up again and stumbled away, tripping over the snowshoes. He continued to run, downhill, back toward the lodge.
I went to Jessica and put my hand on her shoulder. I could feel that she was shaking.
“Are you okay?”
“Give me a minute.” She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
After a moment, I said, “What happened to letting things go?”
She gave me a bewildered smile. “Maybe you and your thirst for justice are rubbing off on me. Did you see that? I really went after him!”
“Should we go catch him? I’ll hold him while you shove snowballs down his pants.”
“Let’s give him some time to think about what he’s done.”
“Sure,” I said.
She bit her upper lip and stared at the trail leading back down for a moment, then suddenly pushed me—not hard enough to knock me down, but enough to upset my balance.
Laughing, she called back over her shoulder as she bounded up the trail, “Last one to the top is a rotten egg!”
Even with our narrow, modern snowshoes, we staggered back to the trekking hut as bowlegged as first-time cowgirls, tired but smiling.
Benji had made it back already and returned his equipment. We wiped down our gear, returned everything to its right place in the hut, then went back to the lodge.
We stopped in the room to check on Jeffrey and freshen up. Christopher wasn’t in his adjoining room, so we went in search of him.
The recreation room was empty, but we heard people talking in the next room, the gym.
We stopped just outside the door, when we heard Dion and his sister fighting.
“You need to date someone your own age,” he said.
She yelled back, “So what if I prefer older men! I like someone who’ll take care of me. That’s not a crime. And I don’t appreciate you going around to Franco behind my back and poisoning him against me!”
“What?”
“You told him about me and Butch, didn’t you? I don’t even know how you found out, but you did, and you told Franco this morning, and you ruined everything.”
“What’s this about you and Butch? What are you talking about?”
“Franco was furious! You should see the damage he did to the room. I’m not paying for it, either. This whole thing, it’s all on you.”
“What are you even talking about?”
“Don’t lie to me!” she wailed. “I know what your liar face looks like. I know you better than you know yourself, and that’s your liar face.”
“Della, calm down. Start from the beginning. What happened this morning?”
Instead of calming down, she swore at him as she stomped her way toward the gym’s exit. “I’m leaving this stupid resort! You and Franco can get your own ride back into town! Don’t try to stop me, either, because I’ll punch anyone who gets in my way!”
Heeding her warning, Jessica and I dove toward a door across the hallway. On the verge of giggling, we let ourselves into a small room to hide from her. We waited, listening to the sound of Della’s stomping heels fade away as she left the wing.
Jessica started laughing. “Am I hallucinating, or are we actually hiding inside a utility closet?”
“By the look of all the fiber-optic cables and panels, we are definitely in a utility closet. Maybe we’re both hallucinating.”
She pinched my arm.
I pinched her arm.
We both giggled like teenagers.
“Stormy, I can see why you like detective work. This is fun.”
“Will it still be fun when you find out we’re locked in here?”
Her blue eyes widened, and she reached for the handle. The door opened and she breathed a sigh of relief.
I smiled, because I’d known the door wouldn’t be locked. It was against code to have doorhandles installed so people could accidentally lock themselves in supply rooms and janitorial closets, never mind what you see in comedy movies. Stairwells, however, were another story entirely. I’d found that out the hard way while working on a case for Logan, and since then I’d made it my business to become an expert on doors.
We let ourselves out and continued our search for Christopher. Our next stop was the lobby, where we found Dion and Butch standing by a stack of construction materials.
Butch rested against the pile of wood, his elbow propped up casually. He said to Dion, “I don’t know what you heard, but sometimes I sleepwalk. If someone saw me in a place I wasn’t supposed to be, I must have been sleepwalking.”
“Were you sleepwalking last night after midnight?” Dion asked, his baritone voice hard with aggression. “Or this morning, around five o’clock?”
Butch shrugged. “How would I know, if I was asleep?”
“You have keys to all the rooms, don’t you?”
“I do, plus there’s a full set over there at the check-in counter. Anyone could—” He turned to point at the reception desk and stopped talking when
he saw us. “Hello, ladies. How did you find the snowshoe adventure?”
“Super.” I gave him two thumbs up.
Jessica said to Dion, “What’s going on with Della? She mentioned something about leaving the resort.”
“Good,” Butch said. “I mean, no, she can’t go. Did she say why?”
Dion stepped back and swayed from side to side. “Uh… maybe we should go check their room. Della said something about Franco making a mess.”
“A mess?” Butch straightened up from his casual pose. His nostrils flared and his shaved head flushed a shade of pink.
He moved toward the northeast wing, rolling his shirtsleeves up over his tattooed, muscular forearms.
I started to follow, sensing trouble, but Jessica stayed in the lobby.
“I’ll keep looking for Christopher,” she said.
I nodded as I left her. That was one big difference between us. She’d also sensed trouble, and had the opposite reaction.
I ran to catch up with Butch.
Chapter 18
Butch banged on the door to Franco and Della’s room.
Della yelled through the door, “Go away!”
Her brother, who’d come with us, said, “Leave her alone for now. She’ll cool off.”
The door handle jiggled as she locked it from the inside.
Butch pulled a large ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.
“I can’t be part of this,” Dion said. “I’ll go see if Marie needs help with lunch.”
He turned and left, but not before I noticed his eyes were open wider than usual. He’d struck me as a stoner from the moment we met, because of his droopy eyelids. They looked anything but sleepy now. I watched him as he walked away, glancing back at us every few paces.
Meanwhile, Della was trying to block the doorway with her body. “Don’t be mad.” She took off her sunglasses and batted her eyelashes at Butch as she shifted into a provocative pose within the doorframe. “I swear I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Let me see him,” Butch said. “You wait in the hall with Stormy while I go in and deal with it.”
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