by Nicole Ellis
When we reached the boathouse, Del reached out and grabbed the lock, then dropped it as though it had burned his hand.
“This wasn’t cut. Whoever did this knew the combination.” We all stared at the combination lock, hanging forlornly from a metal loop on the open door.
“So if it wasn’t cut, it must’ve been one of our staff.” Leah leaned against the side of the boathouse and put her head in her hands.
“I suppose someone could have left it unlocked, but yeah, it’s most likely someone who works here.” Del patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. He opened the door fully, revealing the racks where they kept the life jackets. Although one of the racks was still full, the other was empty. Somebody had burned half of the resort’s supply of life jackets.
For a while, we just looked at the empty rack, none of us saying anything. Finally, Del said, “I’ll take care of cleaning out the fire pit. We don’t want the guests to see that.” He shivered in the cool air.
“You should put a coat on if you’re going to be out here much longer,” Leah said, her face full of concern.
He frowned. “Jed was wearing my coat the day he died. He couldn’t find his, so I said he could borrow mine.” Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes, but he glanced at the lake and composed himself. “I haven’t had time to get a new one yet.”
Leah and I nodded.
“I’d better get going.” He turned abruptly and stalked off toward the garden shed, leaving us standing in the doorway of the boathouse.
“I’m so sorry, Leah. This is just horrible.” I shivered. The breeze coming off the lake was freezing cold. I hadn’t planned on being outside for this long, so I was only wearing light clothing.
She looked up at me with teary eyes. “At first we thought it was a joke, but this isn’t funny. Somebody is doing this with malicious intent. Replacing the vandalized items could ruin us financially.” She pushed her hair back away from her head. “Do you think we should sell the resort?”
My eyes locked with hers. I didn’t know what to say. I knew how important the resort was to her, and I didn’t want to sway her in either direction. “Is selling the resort what you want?”
She shook her head. “No.” The tears fell quicker now and she looked up at me. “Del wants to sell the resort. I didn’t want to tell you, because I was hoping I could change his mind. With everything that’s happened in the last week, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
I gave her a hug.
“This probably isn’t the right time to make such a major decision.” I motioned to the lock. “Maybe we should lock up and go back to your house. It sounds like Del is going to take care of the fire pit, and there’s nothing you can really do until tomorrow morning anyway. You might as well get some rest.”
She bobbed her head slowly. “Thanks, Jill. I’m glad you were here this week. I don’t know if I could deal with this without having someone here to lean on. I think that’s what I miss most about separating from Del—now I’m all alone.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. We walked back to her house, and I watched as she went in safely, locking the door behind her. The sun was rising and the birds were stirring, but I was exhausted. I hoped the kids wouldn’t wake up for a few more hours so I could get in some shut-eye.
As luck would have it, when I got back into the cabin, everyone was still sound asleep. I crawled into bed next to Adam and snuggled up against him. I tried to sleep, but my attention kept shifting to the open window next to the bed. Someone had set that fire, close to where we slept, similarly to Jed’s murder earlier in the week. If I hadn’t been made uncomfortable by the close proximity of his murder before, having this happen made me nervous. Who was trying to shut down the resort? And why? How did Jed’s murder fit into all of this?
The questions spun around in my tired brain. But, much as I’d advised Leah, there was nothing I could do about it until the morning. I forced myself to close my eyes, and soon fell asleep, though my dreams were filled with images of burning life jackets.
When I woke up the next morning, I could still smell the stale odor of smoke. I lifted a section of my hair and discovered the culprit. Eww. Everyone else was still asleep, so I hopped in the shower and let the water rinse away my worries—well, as much as it could. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Adam about the burned life jackets. The vandalism hadn’t hurt me and it wasn’t my story to tell, so I decided not to tell him. We needed to get on with our family vacation and enjoy the few days we had left at the resort.
We spent the day playing in the sand and swimming in the lake. Mikey and Anthony loved the large floats I’d brought with, making me glad I’d spent the extra time to find them. When they came back up onto the beach to dry off in the sun, I excused myself to make a phone call to check on things back home.
Mikey’s school registration was weighing heavily on my mind and I hoped Danielle would be available to answer my call this time. But first, I wanted to check in with Beth about things at the Boathouse and with Fluffy. Last time I’d talked with her, she’d sounded stressed-out with the plans for the upcoming Halloween haunted house. It was my project and I hated that she was stuck dealing with Angela Laveaux while I was on vacation.
The phone rang several times on Beth’s end, but no one answered. I ended up leaving a brief message and telling her I’d try to call back later. Next, I tried Danielle. This time, she picked up and my spirits lifted. Finally, I’d be able to get the whole registration mess fixed.
“Hi, Danielle, it’s Jill, Mikey Andrews’ mom.” The springy coil of the pay phone clinked as it hit the sides of the phone booth.
“Oh, hi, Jill. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I spoke with Nancy late last week and she said we’d missed the registration deadline for Mikey to attend Busy Bees this year.”
“Oh.” She was silent for a moment. “That is true.”
I held my breath.
“But there should be room for one more in the pre-kindergarten class. Why don’t you give Nancy a call at the school and tell her I said to add Mikey in.”
I exhaled. Thank goodness. I felt as though as huge part of what was weighing me down had now been lifted. But I had to talk to Nancy about it? That didn’t sound fun.
“Um. I need to call Nancy to do that?” Danielle usually handled such things, so I was surprised she was passing it off to Nancy.
“I’m at Disney World right now,” she said. “I don’t have my computer with me. Nancy is holding down the fort at the preschool while I’m on vacation.”
Of course. It was just my luck that she was across the country from us when I needed her to be in office. Then again, I couldn’t fault her for taking a vacation before the school year started—we were doing the same thing.
“That’s so cool. I hope you’re having fun. We were thinking of taking the kids there in a few years.”
“It is nice. It’s in the nineties and way more humid than at home, but the palm trees are gorgeous and the kids are having a ball.”
I heard a lot of noise in the background on her side.
“Jill, I’ve got to get going, it’s almost our turn to ride Space Mountain.”
“Of course. Have fun. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
I returned the phone to its cradle and stared blankly at the device. I didn’t want to have to call Nancy, especially after how she’d acted when I saw her at the BeansTalk. She’d implied that I was a bad parent for not remembering the registration deadline. I wasn’t a bad parent—just a busy one, but I knew that when I called her about registering Mikey, she wasn’t going to make it easy.
With dread in my heart, I found the school’s number in my phone’s address book and punched each number into the pay phone. As much as I wanted to get Mikey’s school situation settled, I found myself hoping she wouldn’t pick up.
“Busy Bees Preschool,” Nancy chirped. “How may I help you?”
I didn’t say anything at first and she repeated her questi
on.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I had a bad connection. This is Jill Andrews. I called Danielle about Mikey’s registration and she said to have you add him to the pre-kindergarten class.”
“Oh, really? I thought that class was full.”
I gritted my teeth. “She said it was fine to add Mikey to it. Is there anything else you need from me right now?”
“No, that’s fine. But I’ll need you to mail in your registration form as soon as possible—you know, the one that we sent out that had the deadline printed at the top of it?”
I clenched the phone cord so hard that the metal coils left imprints on the skin of my palm. This had been a fun day spent in the sun with my family and I wasn’t going to let her ruin it. “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll do that as soon as I can.”
“You’re welcome.” The phone clicked and I hung up, resisting the urge to smash something with the heavy phone. I couldn’t wait until Mikey was old enough for kindergarten. I supposed I could try to get him into another preschool, but we liked Busy Bees, it was close to our house, and most of all, Anthony went there as well. For Mikey’s sake, I’d have to suck it up and play nice with Nancy for at least another year.
I walked back to the lake and forced a smile onto my face.
“Did everything go ok?” Desi asked.
I smiled. “Yes. I forgot to sign Mikey up for preschool for this year, which Nancy oh so nicely reminded me of when I was at the café on Sunday.”
“Ouch.” She winced. “I saw her talking to you, but things were so busy that day, I didn’t get a chance to ask you about it.”
“Well, everything is good now. Mikey will be in Anthony’s class again and I’ll have another year dealing with Nancy.” On second thought, maybe it would have been better if Mikey didn’t attend Busy Bees.
“I’m glad it all worked out. They send so many pieces of paper and forms home every day—it’s a wonder I didn’t forget too.” She shuddered. “I have mounds of paper at my house on seemingly every surface.”
“Me too. But enough talk about Nancy and preschool. This is our vacation!” I clapped my hands and slipped off my sandals. “Now boys, how about we build a sandcastle together?”
They ran off down to their sand toys and I followed them. The lake shone like glittering diamonds in the sun and a gentle heat rose off the sand, warming my bare feet as I walked. You couldn’t get much better than this.
15
Leah had asked me not to tell anyone about what had happened to the life vests, so on Saturday morning when Adam and Tomàs took the boys out on the lake to teach them how to fish, I didn’t say anything to them about it. I hadn’t decided yet whether or not I would tell Adam, but my husband’s early departure from the cabin gave me a little time to think about it.
While the guys were gone, Desi and I decided to take a trip into town with the babies for groceries. We piled into my minivan and drove along the winding roads to town. I could feel Desi’s eyes on me as soon as we left the resort.
“Something’s bothering you.” She peered at me from the passenger seat.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Desi knew me too well. I didn’t want to alarm her by telling her about the vandalism, but I didn’t want to lie to her either. Besides, in the past, she’d been a great sounding board when things were bothering me.
I took a deep breath. “Last night, someone took half of the life vests from the boathouse and burned them in the fire pit above our cabins.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her jaw drop.
“That’s a lot of life jackets.”
I nodded. “It is. I think Leah and Del are going to have to report this one to their insurance company.”
“And this all happened when we were sleeping right there in the cabins.” Desi’s fears echoed mine.
“Yes.” I fixed my eyes on the road while Desi processed this information.
“Was it the same person who set all the boats free on the lake? Do you think this had anything to do with Jed’s murder?”
I didn’t know how to answer her. Boats being set free on the lake was a far cry from killing someone. I supposed Jed could’ve caught whoever was doing it and they killed him for that but it seemed a little extreme to me.
“I don’t know.”
“Tomàs told me the local police think someone from Jed’s past was responsible for his death. Do you think that isn’t true?” She twisted in her seat to look at me full on. “And if it wasn’t someone from his past, who did it?”
“It could’ve been anyone who had access to the resort. I hate to say it, but I’ve even thought that it may have been Leah.” I bit my lip and stared straight ahead. Even so, when Desi gasped, I could feel her reaction to my announcement.
“Leah? Why would she want to kill Del’s cousin?”
“She didn’t like Jed very much, and he was trying to take Del away from the resort to start up a new business. Apparently Del wanted to sell the resort, and Leah was trying to convince him otherwise.” I thought back to what Del had said about Jed taking over his morning watering duties the morning he’d been killed and a chill shot through me. “It was supposed to be Del out there that morning. And Jed had borrowed Del’s jacket. What if whoever killed him thought it was Del?”
We were on a straight stretch of road, so I glanced over at Desi. She was looking at me thoughtfully.
“He was speared through the back,” she said slowly. “I suppose there could’ve been a case of mistaken identity. But that still leaves us wondering who killed him.”
We passed the sign for the town limits and I lowered the van’s speed. I drove past the jewelry store and the ice cream shop where we’d stopped the day we came to the resort. I pulled into a parking spot in the general store’s lot.
“Do you think it could have been Leah that killed Jed because she assumed it was Del? Did the resort mean that much to her?” Desi asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
I didn’t really want to think that my friend could be capable of murdering her husband’s cousin, much less her husband himself. “I suppose she could have, but it doesn’t seem like her.”
“It’s been a while since you last saw her.”
“I know.” I opened my door and the sliding door to the back so we could get the babies out of their car seats. Six years ago, Leah and I had worked together and had so much in common. Now, my life was filled by my children and she’d developed a passion for managing a lakeside resort. I’d once considered her a good friend, but had things changed so much that I no longer knew Leah?
Desi and I shopped for a while, putting the items that needed to keep cold in the ice chest we’d brought along.
“Do you want to stop for lunch?” Desi asked. “It’s almost one o’clock.”
My stomach rumbled. In worrying about everything happening at the resort, I’d almost forgotten it was lunchtime. “I saw a hamburger joint up the road there—I think they had outdoor seating by the river.”
Desi nodded. “Sounds fun.”
We got back into the van and I piloted it to the location where I’d seen the drive-in. We ordered our burgers, fries, and milkshakes from the walk-up window, and took them to eat at a picnic table overlooking the river. At this time of year, the river wasn’t exactly roaring, but there was still enough water in it to make the view scenic. A few older kids had made their way down the slope and were skipping from rock to rock, laughing as they navigated the slippery surfaces.
“Having someone murdered at the resort and now the vandalism can’t be good for the business.” Desi munched on a fry and gazed out at the river.
“No, Leah said she thinks they’ll lose a lot of business from this. And from what she said, they can’t afford to lose any more money on the resort. She’s starting to wonder herself if they should sell.”
“That will be awful if she’s forced to sell,” Desi said. “I know how difficult it can be to have the public’s
eye on you and have it affecting business.”
“No kidding, I thought we would never get over having a body found at the Boathouse. With all of those cancellations, it seemed like it would be years before we could recover from the bad publicity. Luckily, things seem to have rebounded faster than I assumed they would.”
Desi checked on Lina in her stroller, and then looked at me. “You’ve got to figure out how to help your friend. I don’t know her very well, but I can tell how much the resort means to her. Losing it this way would devastate her.”
I took a big bite of my cheeseburger to allow myself time to think. After swallowing, I said, “If we’re going to assume it wasn’t Leah who killed Jed, who could it have been?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of Sela.” Desi scrunched up her face.
I laughed. She was right. After Mikey’s accident, Sela had been incredibly unsympathetic, and considering how cold she’d been, I wouldn’t put it past her to kill someone.
“What motive would she have though? It didn’t sound like she really knew Jed very well.”
“Yeah, but remember how she feels about Del? Those googly eyes she made when she talked about him?” Desi wiggled her eyebrows. “I don’t think she’d mind if Del was no longer operating a business with his soon-to-be ex-wife.”
“So you think she would’ve killed Jed just so the resort would fail?”
Desi shrugged. “I don’t know, it was just an idea. We were trying to figure out who could’ve done it, and she’s the nastiest person I’ve encountered here.”
“There is something else,” I said slowly. How would Desi react if I told her I thought Jed may have robbed the jewelry store in town? If we wanted to help Leah though, I needed to be completely honest about any possibility.
“Jed may have stolen the diamonds from the jewelry store here in town.”
“What?” Desi stared at me. “That seems a little far-fetched.”
I shrugged. “I know. But when I was looking for information about the celebration, I found an empty velvet jewelry bag on the floor of his closet. Why else would it be there?”