A Killer Retreat

by Raven Snow

  “Right. The nature spirits.”

  “The what?” asked Veronica, an eyebrow quirked.

  “The nature spirits,” Rowen repeated. “You remember when we got lost in the woods? Peony got the help of some nature spirits to… It’s a whole thing.”

  Peony swallowed. “This is just kinda between me and them,” she said slowly. “I didn’t know you guys were going to show up.”

  “Rowen is right, Peony. You’re not supposed to be out here,” said Ben. “You’re going to have to clear out.”

  “Can I do it after this?” She nodded to the pie. “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed out here. Seriously. That guy counselor was out here. I figured it was fine.”

  “Guy counselor?” Ben looked around, like maybe they had somehow overlooked his presence. “You mean Wynter.”

  “Right. Yeah, that’s his name. He was here when I got here.”

  “And where is he now?” asked Rowen.

  Peony shrugged. “I dunno. He left when I told him what I was doing. I think I saw him heading toward the woods.”

  Rowen swore under her breath. She had been hoping to go ahead and get this over with. Looking for Wynter was going to be a real pain. “Oh!” Something occurred to her. “Peony, do you think those nature spirits of yours could lead us to him?”

  “They’re not my nature spirits. Besides, I haven’t finished my ritual yet. I was just getting started when you guys came barging in.”

  “It’s the thought that counts, right?” Rowen reasoned. “You brought all the stuff. It’s not your fault you can’t finish.”

  “That’s not really how it works,” Peony said, slowly.

  “After we’re finished here, I’ll help you with your ritual. Heck, Eric will even help out.”

  “I will?” asked Eric.

  “You’ll have three people showing thanks instead of one. How does that sound?”

  “It’s not up to me.” Peony blew out the candle and put down the pie anyway. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “This is insane,” muttered Veronica as they all turned to follow Peony toward the woods.

  Crystal shushed her assistant—Or her former assistant. It was difficult to tell where they stood. “I’m sure Peony here knows what she’s doing.” Despite the vote of confidence, she still sounded impatient.

  “I don’t think he’s far,” said Peony, pressing onward. “He might have even heard you guys pull up. I’m not sure why he didn’t show himself if that’s the case.”

  The reason Wynter hadn’t shown himself became clear soon enough. They smelled him before they saw him. The weed he had been smoking was pungent. Rowen didn’t see so much as a joint when he came into view, but that wasn’t fooling anyone. He fidgeted where he sat on a log, one hand waving away a few final wisps of smoke. “Hey,” he coughed. “Crys! I didn’t expect to see you guys here. What’s up?”

  Ben turned to Rowen. This whole thing was her idea after all. He was going to let her do the talking. Rowen had hoped she would feel more prepared in the moment. Instead she just felt strange, standing there in her skirt, in the woods, in front of a guy who was almost certainly a little high. “I was watching the news earlier,” she said, resisting the urge to slap at the bugs buzzing around her exposed legs.

  “Okay,” Wynter said slowly, scanning the faces in front of him.

  “Lula was being interviewed,” Rowen continued.

  Crystal huffed and shook her head. “That woman… I swear. She loves drama and the limelight. I really should have seen this coming given everything that’s going on. I wouldn’t have called her down here if I thought for a second she would be trying to capitalize on the tragedy like this.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes behind Crystal’s back. Crystal really wasn’t one to talk, after all. She was already looking into book deals. Rowen would be shocked if the people she was messaging incessantly all the way to camp weren’t people interested in capitalizing on Phoenix’s murder. “I warned you she might be trouble,” Veronica said, softly.

  “Now is hardly time for an I told you so,” Crystal snapped back at Veronica.

  “Anyway,” Rowen continued, raising her voice to draw attention back to herself. “I hadn’t really given it a whole lot of thought with everything going on, but… The trip down here is a lot of trouble, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, goodness yes.” Crystal said immediately. “You have no idea. You’re ages from any commercial airport. You have to rent a car and—”

  “Right,” interrupted Rowen. She could see Wynter shifting where he sat. She didn’t want to give him the opportunity to think too much on how to respond. “And if I remember right, you got down here pretty quick after Crystal called you. No one said anything about it at the time, but thinking back… She didn’t expect you until the next day, when Lula got here. I mean, you were both leaving out from California. It should have taken you about the same amount of time, right?”

  Wynter’s brows drew together. “What are you getting at? It’s not my fault I made good time.”

  “What time did your flight land?” asked Rowen. “I’m just trying to do all the math in my head. I’m trying to get a clear timeline of everything surrounding the case, you know?”

  “Why are they here?” asked Wynter, nodding to Crystal and Veronica. “If you had a question, why didn’t you just ask me yourself?”

  “We’re a team,” said Crystal. “It’s good that they’re keeping us all involved. Cooperating with the police is important.” She was just parroting what Veronica had said to her earlier. “Just tell them what they want to know, so we can settle all this timeline nonsense.”

  “I don’t remember,” said Wynter reflexively. “Like you said. It’s a long trip. I was tired.”

  “Do you have any record of your ticket?” asked Rowen. “Like a receipt? Do you have a confirmation e-mail you can pull up for us? I’m sure Ben won’t mind driving us down the mountain if you don’t have signal.”

  Ben nodded. “I don’t mind at all.”

  That was all it took to put Wynter on the defensive. “You know what? I don’t like the way you’re all ganging up on me here. I think I’m gonna walk away from this. I’ve got rights. I’m not just gonna sit here and listen to you accuse me of stuff.”

  “I haven’t accused you of anything,” said Rowen. She was about to, though. “Crystal, you and Wynter here were married, right?”

  “Yes?” said Crystal, sounding uncertain. “I’ve told you that already.”

  Rowen nodded. “You also told me you divorced. I realize it might be a personal question, but was the split mutual?”

  Crystal didn’t answer at first. She looked at her ex, regarding him for a moment before she continued, hesitantly. “I’m not sure I would call it mutual. I believe Wynter would have rather we remained married.”

  “And have you had problems with him trying to get back together with you over the years? When he first got here, I noticed that he was a little forward.”

  “Hey,” snapped Wynter, standing. “Those are some wild accusations. I’ll have you know that I’ve remarried since Crystal.”

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t still have feelings for Crystal,” Rowen said, undeterred. “Crystal, does he still have feelings for you?”

  “Well,” Crystal began, sputtering. “I… Well, no offense Wynter, but… Yes, I believe so. I still treasure his company as a friend but, frankly Wynter, that’s why I didn’t ask you to work on the retreat with me. The last event we worked together, he was… very inappropriate.”

  “Crys!”

  “I’m sorry; it’s true.” Crystal didn’t look sorry in the least. Rowen doubted she cared for Wynter as much as she claimed. It felt like she sensed what Rowen was getting at. If it was true, it would make an interesting twist in the story she was currently in the market to sell. “I didn’t think about it at the time, but they’re right. You did show up rather quickly, Wynter.” She gasped as if something had just dawned on her. “Don’t tell me
you were here already?” She looked to Ben. “God, it wouldn’t be the first time. You can check police records. I’ve reported him for stalking me before.”

  “That was ages ago!” Wynter looked absolutely horrified, tense like he didn’t know whether to run or stand his ground and fight. “We’ve made up since then. We’re friends.”

  “I try to be civil.” Crystal was still speaking primarily to Ben. “He still makes me uncomfortable, if I’m being honest. I never thought he was a danger to myself or… You don’t think he…”

  Rowen came right out with it. “Crystal, you were sleeping with Phoenix. I think Wynter saw you two. I think he was mad, especially since he was the one who landed Phoenix this job.”

  “Are you kidding?!” Wynter exclaimed before Rowen could continue. “I— I would never! I… you know what? I knew about them. You can ask Crystal yourself. I knew about them since the last time we worked together. I was mad about it then, but I accepted it. I moved past it.”

  “He did know,” Crystal confirmed with a sigh. “That’s part of why I didn’t want him to come work for me this time. He blew up about it.”

  “But I got over it,” Wynter reiterated.

  “I… I think I need to sit down.” Veronica sank down to the ground she was standing on. She hadn’t known about Crystal. Not until now… That was it.

  “You were staying in the woods,” Rowen mused aloud. “You hike cross country, so you’re good at camping. You were in the woods stalking Crystal, waiting for an opportunity to approach her with… an apology? Ask for your job back? I don’t know. Before you could do that, though… Before you could do that, you came across Veronica and Phoenix in the woods. You saw them messing around, and you knew Phoenix and Crystal were still involved, that Crystal didn’t know what he was doing with Veronica behind her back. You got jealous, and—”

  “You have no proof for any of these baseless accusations,” spat Wynter.

  “I don’t know about that,” said Ben. “That flight information will be easy enough to obtain.”

  “Fine! So I was in town before Crystal called me! I wanted my job back. That doesn’t mean I killed anyone. There’s no evidence that—”

  “What about the pot?” It was Peony. Rowen had almost forgotten she was even there. Everyone looked toward her.

  “What?” asked Rowen.

  “The pot,” Peony repeated. “I’m not the only one who smells it, right? I mean, I guess it could be his, but Phoenix was missing pot right? He had some in that electronic thing he used to smoke it, but there wasn’t any pot in his bag. What if—”

  “That’s—” began Wynter. He didn’t get out a sentence before spinning sluggishly in response to the sudden movement behind him. Ben was leaned down behind the log. He’d produced an evidence bag from his pocket. In one fluid motion he was bagging the drugs Wynter had very obviously stashed. “That’s not mine,” blurted Wynter.

  “Is it Phoenix’s?” Ben asked coolly. “Wynter, I’m going to have to ask you to come down to the station with me.”

  Wynter took off running—or tried to. The fact that he was high wasn’t doing his judgment any favors. It wasn’t helping his reflexes either. He didn’t make it three steps before he tripped over the log he had just been seated on. He crashed to the ground, banging his head on a rock with a sickening thud.

  Crystal shrieked, her hands flying over her mouth. Ben dropped to his knees to check on the man. “I think he’s fine,” he said after a minute or two of careful inspection. “He’s knocked himself out cold, but he’s still breathing… I have to call this in… and get a paramedic down here, I guess.” Ben sighed and took a few steps away, pulling out his satellite phone.

  “I can’t believe this,” breathed Crystal, the hand over her mouth lowering to her heart.

  There was a long stretch of silence. “I can’t either,” said Veronica, still sitting on the ground. “I feel… God, I feel so stupid.”

  “Why?” asked Peony, going down to crouch next to Veronica. She offered her an embroidered handkerchief from her pocket. “You didn’t do anything stupid.”

  “I could have… This whole thing didn’t need to be dragged out.” Veronica accepted the handkerchief from Peony. “That spot where he was found… I… I knew it was a spot Phoenix liked to hang out at. I realized it when I tripped… I tripped right… right where his body must have been.”

  “That’s not your fault,” said Peony. “I heard it was really cool down there where he was. The body hadn’t decomposed much, so you wouldn’t have smelled—”

  “Peony,” hissed Rowen, cutting her off. “She’s right. It’s not your fault.”

  Veronica shook her head. “If I’d been willing to believe he was dead, maybe I would have searched. I would have looked for his body there, and I would have found it.”

  “Everything unfolded like it was supposed to,” said Crystal, her composure seemingly regained. “I think Phoenix needed to be found when he was ready to be found, you know? When he was ready to move on. That’s why he called out to me when he did.”

  “You think it was his spirit?” Rowen asked, turning to Crystal.

  Crystal nodded. “I’m certain it was. What else?”

  “Nature spirits?” Peony ventured.

  Rowen nodded. “I would have noticed if Phoenix himself was reaching out to us. I—” She paused. Something else occurred to Rowen. “You knew he was there.”

  “What?” Crystal turned on the defensive much like Wynter had. Her eyes went wide and her posture grew stiff. “What are you talking about?”

  “You were seeing Phoenix. You knew where his go-to spots in the woods were too, didn’t you?”

  “Sure, but what—”

  “You never mentioned that to anyone. You…” Rowen trailed off as she tried to process what must have happened. “You went looking for him on your own and you found him. That’s why you were so upset. You knew he was dead, but… Well, you said it yourself. You said it a lot. The opportunity was too good to waste.”

  “That’s— That’s just— That’s absurd!” Crystal forced a laugh. It was ill-timed and unconvincing. All eyes were on her and she was panicking. “Honestly, how dare you—”

  “Just cut the crap, Crystal.” Veronica handed Peony her handkerchief back and stood. “We both know that’s exactly what you did. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before. God, how can you sleep at night?”

  “Just fine, thank you. You know, even if I did— And I didn’t— But if I did, it’s what Phoenix would have wanted. He wouldn’t want his death to be for nothing. And you can’t prove… It’s not like any of these baseless accusations are—”

  “Stop it,” Veronica held up a hand to silence Crystal. “You know what? I have an idea. Maybe you shouldn’t be the only one to write a book about this. Maybe I should write a book about what happened. I could provide a unique perspective, I think. At the very least, I’d be including some juicy details you would be leaving out.”

  “Don’t threaten me. That’s libel.”

  “Can you prove it?”

  Eric rushed in to separate the women as they launched into a more heated argument. “Well,” began Peony, clearing her throat. “Do you think Ben will let us stick around for a while after these guys clear out?”

  “Why?” asked Rowen, watching while Ben put down his phone and rushed over to give Eric a hand.

  “The ritual for the nature spirits, remember?”

  “Oh, right.” Rowen nodded. “I’ll ask… Let’s call your mom and Aunt Lydia first, though.”

  “You think they’d want to help?”

  “I think they’d like a little time out in nature with just us Greensmiths,” said Rowen with a sigh. “I’d give them a rain check for a few nights out under the stars, but I think they might have had their fill of camping for a while.”

 

 

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