Stuck with S'More Death

by Nicole Ellis

  Mikey nodded and gripped Adam’s hand. Adam pulled him up, setting him down on the wide spot just above him. Mikey’s face was ashen and blood trickled down his arm from a network of scrapes.

  I had never been so scared in my entire life, even when I had a gun pointed directly at my face.

  “I’m going to need you to climb up in front of me. I’ll be right behind you. It’s just like the climbing wall at the playground, and I know you’re going to do a great job at it. You’re my little monkey.” Adam rested his hand on Mikey’s back. Mikey nodded, a determined expression coming over his face.

  “Ready?” Adam asked, patting Mikey’s leg.

  He nodded and started climbing. Only a few minutes later, his head appeared above the side. Tomàs leaned down to grab his little arms and Adam pushed him up the final few feet, then climbed up himself, sitting for a moment next to our son—finally safe.

  I rushed over to them, tears streaming down my face. I grabbed Mikey in my arms and buried my face in his hair, pulling him tightly to me. I was shaking so much that Mikey pulled away and asked, “Mommy, are you ok?”

  I blinked back my tears and smiled weakly at him. “I’m ok, honey. I was just so worried about you.”

  “I’m ok, Mommy.” He stood and offered me his hands. Adam pushed himself up from the ground as well, and we joined Desi, Tomàs, and Anthony where they stood safely away from the edge. They huddled around us, everyone’s voices giddy with happiness that this hadn’t ended in tragedy.

  Sela stood off to the side. “That’s why I told you not to go so close to the edge.”

  We all stared at her.

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Do you want to continue this hike?”

  I shook my head rapidly. “No way. We’re going back to the cabin right now.”

  The others agreed, and we made our way back down the trail to the resort. After we reached our cabin, I collapsed into a chair on the deck, my knees so wobbly that they were no longer able to hold me. I felt as though every ounce of energy had been drained from my body.

  The boys were playing inside the cabin, acting as if nothing had happened. I don’t think they even realized how much danger Mikey had been in. Or at least, as little kids, they had quickly forgotten. That was probably for the best, as I didn’t want their vacation to be ruined. I, however, would never forgive myself for allowing myself to get distracted and not watching Mikey more carefully. I vowed that this would be the best vacation ever, even with all of its mishaps. Nothing was more important to me than my family.

  13

  Adam and I spent the afternoon with the kids in our cabin, playing as many games of Candy Land with Mikey as he wanted. I kept kissing Mikey and hugging him close to me. We’d come way too close to losing him.

  I wanted to stay with my family all afternoon, but I still needed to coordinate with Del for the Labor Day celebration on the upcoming weekend. Del was in charge of the boat races and I’d volunteered to run the other events. I had the medal for the winner of the boat race and ribbons for all of the other activities, but I wanted to confirm that all the items we’d need for the games—like a rope, spoons, eggs, and ties—would be available.

  Mikey drew a card with a yellow square on it and moved his playing piece ahead to the next yellow space. I chose my card next and noticed Mikey rubbing his eyes. I nudged Adam.

  “I think it’s time for someone’s nap,” I whispered.

  He nodded. “How about we finish up this game and then we all take a nap?”

  Mikey looked like he wanted to protest, but instead he yawned. “Ok, Daddy.”

  Usually he wouldn’t want to take a nap, insisting that he wasn’t tired, but the adrenaline had worn off from his ordeal out on the trail. When the game was done and we declared Mikey the winner, he dutifully crawled into his twin bed in the other room. Adam set Ella in her Pack ‘n Play next to him and they both fell asleep instantly.

  “Now what?” Adam eyed his book on the end table.

  “Go ahead and read it. If you don’t mind, I need to talk to Del about a few things for this weekend.”

  “Yeah, no problem. While you’re gone, I’ll try to figure out what we want for dinner.”

  “Thanks, honey.” I gave him a big hug. “It shouldn’t take long.”

  He waved at me and then settled down in the comfy chair in the living area to read his favorite author’s latest thriller. When he’d been a corporate attorney, he hadn’t had much time for his own hobbies, so it was nice to see him enjoying life again.

  I wasn’t sure where I’d find Del, so I tried knocking on the door of his mobile home first. No one answered, so I turned around to survey the resort. From here, I could see a great deal of the area, but not everything. I didn’t see Del.

  After checking the boathouse and the garden shed near the campfire pit, I finally found him weeding the flower beds next to the office.

  “Ah, so you’re the one with the green thumb.” I jutted my thumb at the hanging flower pots.

  He smiled and stood, running a rake over the immaculate flower beds to capture any stray weeds. “Yes. My mother always had a huge flower garden when I was a kid, and I guess it rubbed off on me. I love competing with myself every year to see how big the flowers in the hanging baskets can grow.”

  “They’re beautiful.” I admired the hanging baskets once again. Bees buzzed around the giant blossoms cascading over the sides of the pots. I’m sure Adam would be jealous of Del’s green thumb if he saw them. “I bet you’ll miss them when you sell the resort.”

  He seemed taken aback. “How did you know I wanted to sell the resort? I didn’t think Leah wanted to admit it was a possibility, much less tell people about it.”

  I shrugged. “Sela told us today when were out on a hike with her.”

  He grimaced and clutched the handle of the rake tighter.

  “Ah. I should have known.”

  For someone who supposedly was in a relationship with Sela, he didn’t appear too fond of her.

  “This probably isn’t any of my business, but does Leah know you’re dating Sela?” I watched him closely.

  His face fell. “I wouldn’t say I’m dating her. We were both out at Rex’s Place last week and ended up sitting next to each other at the bar. I may have had too much to drink and said more to her than I should have.” He sighed. “It was nice having a woman’s attention, but I shouldn’t have led her on. Leah always said Sela had a thing for me.”

  “So you do want to sell the resort?”

  He leaned on the rake handle. “It’s not so much that I want to sell the resort, but more that I can’t be here anymore.”

  “Can’t?

  “Remember what Leah was like back in Seattle? She was so fun and lively.” His face twisted wistfully.

  I nodded. “I do.” She’d been so entertaining to be around and I had fond memories of spending time with her after work at happy hour every Friday. “So how do you think coming out here changed her?”

  “She became obsessed with the resort. I know I’m the one that talked her into buying the property in the first place, but once she was out here, she lived and breathed the resort. There wasn’t any time left for me.”

  “She mentioned you’d been having some financial difficulties with the resort.”

  He gazed out toward the lake. “The hospitality industry is never easy. We had so many customers cancel their reservations last year when we had those big forest fires in the area—not that I blame them. If I could have left then, I would have too. The smoke was horrible.” He sighed. “We never quite recovered from that and have been playing catch-up on bills ever since.”

  “So selling the resort makes the most sense.”

  “It does business-wise, but unless I force the sale, I don’t think Leah will ever realize that.” Sadness crossed his face. “Jed wanted me to sell the resort and join him in a business venture—start fresh somewhere else.”

  “Oh?” I didn’t say much, allowing him room to t
alk.

  “My cousin had come into some money recently from a past business, and he wanted us to pool our money and open a bar or something back home in North Dakota.”

  My heart lurched in my chest. Was Jed’s past business venture a cover for ill-gotten gains from the jewelry store robbery? The more I learned about him, the more I wondered if there was some merit to my crazy theory that he’d robbed the store.

  “Wow. That would be different.” I peered at him. “Do you think you’ll do that now?”

  “Nah. It was more Jed’s thing. Besides, I won’t get enough proceeds from the sale of the resort to buy a car, much less a bar.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss. It sounds like you and he were quite close.” I already knew that from Leah, but I wanted to hear what Del would say.

  “We were. The two of us were all that remained of our family. Now, I guess I’m the only one left.”

  “Do the police know anything yet about who could have killed him?”

  “Not that I know.” He toed the ground with the tip of his sneaker then looked up at me. “You probably came to find me for some reason. Did you need something from me?”

  I smiled. “I wanted to touch base with you about the celebration this weekend. Is everything set with the boats for the race now that you’ve got them all back?”

  He nodded. “Everything should be on track. I’ve got the tug-of-war rope all cleaned up. It was pretty dirty from lying in a heap in the shed for the last year. And everything else should be easy to set up. We need a couple dozen eggs for the spoon race and a few other things, but the catering is the biggest thing. Leah said you were taking over that part of the celebration. Did you get everything sorted out with the restaurant in town that’s catering?”

  “I have a few more things to check on, but so far, so good.”

  “Great.” He looked up at the sky. “It’s going to be a hot one today. I’d better get this done before it gets too horrible.” He motioned to the gardens that stretched around the side of the office.

  “Sure, sure. I’ll let you get to it.”

  He started raking the gravel away from the decorative edging on the flower bed. I walked away slowly, thinking about what he’d said. It didn’t sound like he was dating anyone else and he seemed to miss Leah—or rather the person she’d been before they moved to the resort. I didn’t blame him. I’d seen a change in my old friend as well. I admired her passion for the resort, but I wondered if it had become too all-consuming for her.

  I returned to our cabin. I heard Lina crying next door, but our cabin was silent. I tiptoed in past Adam and checked on the kids—still sound asleep. In the living room, I flopped down on the hide-a-bed couch.

  Adam looked up from his book. “Did you get everything worked out?”

  I nodded.

  “Good.” He smiled at me. “If you need help with any of it, let me know. I’m sure Tomàs and Desi are up for helping too.”

  “Thanks.” I regarded him. “I really appreciate you supporting me on this. I know this is supposed to be our vacation and now I’m working for part of it.”

  He shrugged. “Leah’s your friend and she needs help. I’d do the same if it were my friend.”

  A rush of love came over me and I walked over to him, kissing him squarely on the mouth. He looked at me in surprise.

  “What was that for?”

  “For being such a good husband.”

  He winked at me and said, “I’ll have to be good more often.”

  To that, I slugged him in the arm and he laughed, closing his book.

  “Did you think about what we’d have for dinner?” I asked.

  “Desi came over and said Anthony had been begging for roasted hot dogs. Is that ok with you? We can roast them out in that small fire pit in front of our cabins.”

  I mentally assessed our food provisions. “If she’s got hot dogs and buns, that’s fine with me.”

  “I think she does, but you might want to check.”

  “I’ll go ask her,” I said as I walked toward the door.

  Over at their cabin, Desi was pacing their deck, gently bouncing Lina in her arms.

  “I can’t get her to sleep.”

  Lina scrunched up her face and let out a cry in response to her mother’s proclamation.

  “Do you want me to try?” I held out my arms for my niece.

  “Sure.” Desi handed her over. “Tomàs and Anthony are napping inside, and I didn’t want to wake them up.”

  In my arms, Lina cried softly a little, then settled down and fell asleep.

  “Seriously?” Desi said. “I’ve been trying for hours. You’re like the baby whisperer.”

  I rocked Lina in my arms. “She was probably just about to give up. Maybe having someone else take her helped.”

  “Well, I don’t really care at this point, I just wanted her to sleep.” Desi fell into a chair and rested her head against the back of it. “Ah, this is nice.”

  I laughed and sat down in the chair next to her, being careful not to move Lina too much.

  “Adam said you wanted to roast hot dogs for dinner.”

  She made a face. “I didn’t say that. I said Anthony wants to. I’m not a fan. But we brought the fixings with us, so I couldn’t say no.”

  “How about we suffer through the hot dogs and then get something we want in town tomorrow while the boys are out fishing?”

  “Works for me.” She turned to face me. “Adam said you were out talking to Del?”

  “Yeah, I needed to confirm a few things for the Labor Day celebration with him.” A bird squawked in the tree next to the deck, distracting me for a moment.

  “Did you ask him about that witch, Sela?” She leaned forward.

  “I did. He said they were never dating—not that she wasn’t interested in him. I think he still has feelings for Leah.”

  “Which explains why Sela hates Leah’s friends so much. Still, her behavior today wasn’t very professional. You should really tell Leah about what happened with Mikey.”

  I sighed. “I might, but I don’t want to stir up any more drama than there already is. I thought this vacation would be more relaxing.”

  Desi laughed. “There’s always something. I think you’d be bored if everything went according to plan.”

  Over at our cabin, I heard Ella crying.

  “I’d better get back over there. Hot dogs out front at five?”

  “Works for me.”

  I carefully handed Lina back to her mother and went back to attempt a second try at being a baby whisperer.

  14

  That night, they started up the bonfire again for s’mores—to create a sense of normalcy, I guessed—but we didn’t attend. I wasn’t sure that I could be there after finding Jed’s body at the fire pit. We fell asleep with the faint odor of smoke drifting in through the windows along with the fresh pine-scented air. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant and reminded me of all of the happy times I had had camping in the past.

  When I woke in the middle of the night and got up to check on the kids, the smell of smoke was stronger. I stood still, sniffing the air. The fire should have been out hours ago. What was going on?

  I pushed aside the curtains in our room and looked out the window. Above our cabin, a fire blazed in the fire pit. I hastily put on a sweatshirt and my flip-flops and rushed out the door. I couldn’t think of any reason why there would be a fire going at this time of night.

  I reached the fire pit and stopped short. Luckily, this time there weren’t any bodies, but the flames were consuming something that wasn’t logs. What looked to be every single life jacket that the resort owned had been piled in the middle of the fire pits and set ablaze. An empty gas can had been left near the edge of the graveled area and the scent of gasoline filled the air, competing with the smoke.

  My eyes darted around, but I saw no one in the area. I needed to tell Del or Leah. Her house was closer, so I ran over to it and pounded on the door. The lights were off, and she must�
��ve been sleeping. I knocked again. Finally, a light came on and I heard footsteps in the house coming toward me. Leah flung the door open.

  “Jill, what are you doing here?” She pulled her pink bathrobe closer against her body and folded her arms across her chest. “Is something wrong?”

  I tried to catch my breath and then responded, “Somebody set all of the life jackets on fire.”

  Her eyebrows shot up and her voice became elevated. “Where?”

  “In the fire pits. It looks like they used gasoline.”

  Her face blanched. “I was hoping that whoever was doing this would stop.” She turned away from me and said over her shoulder, “I’ll call Del.” She disappeared for a minute or two and then came out, wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.

  We hurried back to the fire, with which was still burning brightly. Flames licked at the pile of blue and red life vests, sending plumes of black smoke into the air. Del ran up to us from the direction of his mobile home, wearing only a short sleeve shirt and jeans.

  He assessed the situation and kicked the gasoline can far away from the fire. “We’ve got to get this thing put out before anyone else sees it.” He ran over to the shed to retrieve a hose, which he hooked up near the fire, directing the water at the flames.

  When there was nothing left but smoldering pieces of what used to be life jackets, Del and Leah stared at the fire, their arms hanging limply by their sides.

  “Del,” she said softly.

  “I know. We have to figure out who’s doing this. This is getting out of hand.” He closed his eyes for a moment and ran his fingers through his hair. “Did they burn all of the life jackets? Those things are expensive.”

  “I don’t think so. But it’s so dark that it’s hard to tell.” Leah motioned to the boathouse. “Let’s check and see.”

  I wasn’t sure that I should be a part of this, but I was already involved, so I followed them down to the lake.