by Kathi Daley
“Is this the same Zoe Donovan who swims without a wetsuit in a snow-fed lake, now actually hoping for a heated pool?” Ellie teased.
I shrugged. “I guess I’m getting soft in my old age.”
“You are hardly old,” Ellie pointed out.
“Sometimes I feel old, but this week is about empowerment, so I’m going into the pool, heated or not. Would you care to join me?”
Ellie shook her head. “I think I’ll change into some shorts and a tank top and grab a book from the library in the lounge. I’ll sit by the pool and read while you swim.”
“Don’t forget your sunscreen. The air is even thinner up here than it is at home. I bet the sun is pretty intense.”
“I won’t forget. I’ll change and meet you by the pool.” Ellie looked out the window with a smile on her face. “Between the kids and Levi, it’s been forever since I’ve had enough free time to read an entire novel cover to cover. I keep thinking that I need to see to someone’s meal or change a diaper. Reading time in the sun seems like exactly the sort of thing I need to make the transition from mom into vacation mode.”
“Do you think we should check in with the girls before we head to the pool?”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Ellie answered. “Everyone other than Alex is seventeen. They are practically adults. I don’t think they need us looking over their shoulders all week.”
I dug through my suitcase for my flip-flops. “I guess you’re right. The girls don’t need a babysitter, which means that you and I might actually be able to have some fun while we’re here.”
Chapter 2
If there was one thing I could say about the welcome reception, it was that every single one of the camp’s staff members were amped up and ready to go. In fact, they were so amped up that I wondered if they hadn’t been pounding down energy drinks all day. I got the whole woman power, find-your-inner-goddess thing. I did. And I supported the concept of female empowerment, but all the jumping around, yelling, and cheering gave me a headache. For the tenth time since we’d arrived, I found myself asking when I had gotten so old.
“They are really excited about their message,” Ellie shouted from her position next to me in the back of the room. “And the goddess thing, while a little silly, is also sort of charming.”
“I guess, but the noise level in here is making me feel sick. Every time they clap their hands, stomp their feet, and shout, I feel like my inner goddess is going to burst forth and my entire body is going to explode. How about we slip out the back and find somewhere quieter to nurture our inner power? We can meet the girls for dinner.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ve been to rock concerts that weren’t as loud as this.”
Once we’d walked far enough away from the conference center, the sound of frogs replaced that of women yelling and cheering. In my opinion, being serenaded on a warm summer night by frogs, crickets, and other insects was by far superior to being shouted at by women on steroids. Or at least it seemed like they were on steroids, or perhaps even amphetamines. I really couldn’t come up with another explanation for the overall energy level of the place.
“Who knew that female empowerment was such a noisy process?” Ellie joked as she inhaled deeply.
I smiled as I let the silence calm my inner turmoil as we walked toward the seating that overlooked the cliff that dropped sharply to the next lake below. “I agree that all the yelling, clapping, and stomping was a bit much but I can’t stop thinking about the fact that there would have been a time when we would have been right there in the middle of the mob, jumping around and hollering. Again, I have to say, this experience is making me feel old.”
“We aren’t old, but we aren’t kids either.” Ellie headed toward a lounge chair and sat down when we reached the overlook. “We have homes to maintain, children to raise, and responsibilities in our community. We live full and busy lives. Let’s face it: we are running on adrenaline most of the time.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“I know it’s true. At least for me,” Ellie emphasized. “I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t feel completely exhausted.”
“I’m sure that having two babies so close together hasn’t been easy. At least Alya is starting to sleep through the night and Eli is out of diapers except for during night. I know it feels like a lot now, but it won’t be long before they are both in school and you will have your life back.”
Ellie wrinkled her nose. “I’m not quite ready for the kids to go to school, but I know what you are saying. Life really does fly by. I know that one day I will look back to my days of running on empty and existing on a few hours’ sleep and feel sad that my babies have grown up.”
I crossed my legs and tucked my feet up under my body. “I know what you mean. Catherine is only a year and a half old and I’m already missing her infant stage.”
“I suppose it isn’t too early to start trying for baby number two.”
“Maybe after Catherine actually turns two. Zak and I have talked about it, and while we do want at least one or two more children, we aren’t quite ready to expand our family yet. We think it might be easier to have Catherine out of diapers before baby number two arrives.”
“That’s probably smart,” Ellie agreed. “Having two so close together has been hard on both me and Levi.”
“Maybe, but you both seem to be handling it well.” I let out a slow breath and smiled. “Sometimes I can’t believe that Levi Denton is the father of two children. You always wanted kids, but Levi was so dead set against having any. There was a time I figured he’d be one of those men who never settled down. And then he realized that his best friend was really the love of his life and children suddenly became a possibility.”
Ellie laughed. “Eli wasn’t exactly planned and I didn’t precisely give Levi a choice. Who knows if he would ever have been ready for fatherhood if it hadn’t been forced on him?”
“That might be true, but look at him now: he is such a good father. A real natural, in my opinion.”
“He is pretty great,” Ellie agreed. She let out her own long breath. “And he is still my best friend.” She looked at me. “Next to you, of course.”
“Of course.”
“I wonder what the guys are doing right now.”
“When I spoke to Zak, he said that Levi was bringing the kids over to our place and they were going to grill. Nona is off on one of her biker trips and Scooter is at his dad’s this month, so it will be just the two of them and the babies.”
“I guess that will be fun. Eli loves the water. He can already paddle around with his floaties. And I know that Levi is determined to make sure that Alya is comfortable in the water by the end of the summer. When Levi took her in your pool the last time we were there, she seemed to love it. This is really nice, but I kind of wish we were there grilling with them.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Me too. But we aren’t there, we are here, so we should find a way to enjoy it.” I glanced out at the horizon. “It is nice, isn’t it, not to have to worry about taking care of anyone but ourselves for a few days, and the facilities are pretty amazing.”
“This place really is pretty upscale. I bet this week was a lot pricier than the camp I went to as a child.”
I nodded. “Zak took care of the registration for the ten of us, but from what I understand, this week did not come cheap, although I guess I understand why it might be an expensive place to run. It is pretty isolated. I would be willing to bet that everything including the food must have to be airlifted in. I didn’t see a road of any sort when we flew overhead. Not even a dirt one.”
Ellie stretched her legs out in front of her. “I thought I saw a dirt road leading up the mountain to the lake below us. I noticed a trailer parked near the water’s edge when we flew overhead, so there has to be a road of some sort leading at least that far up the mountain; the trailer must have gotten there somehow.”
“I supposed there could be a road accessing the lakes in th
e lower elevations. I know it looks like it might be close if you look straight down on the lake from the air, but I bet that lake is several miles away at least.” I sat up and looked out at the view. It really was stunning. Evergreens covered mountains populated with a multitude of lakes and the air was the clearest I’d ever experienced. I lived in the mountains on a lake, so you would think I wouldn’t be easily impressed, but everything seemed fresher and more intense up here at ten thousand feet.
Ellie sat up and looked around. She turned slightly and leaned forward just a bit. “It looks like we aren’t the only ones to have decided to take a few minutes for ourselves.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“I just saw one of the staff members sneak in that door.” Ellie pointed to the building I knew housed the saunas, hot tubs, and locker rooms. We’d walked through it during the tour and seen the pool area earlier also.
I shrugged. “I suppose that a rowdy welcome reception is as good a time as any to sneak away for some quiet time. I’m sure the staff hear the same message every week. If I worked here, I’d sneak away as well.”
“A sauna followed by a swim does sound relaxing,” Ellie agreed.
“Maybe we should sneak out here after everyone settles into their cabins for the night,” I suggested. “I know curfew is supposed to be at ten, but if we are quiet no one will know.”
Ellie giggled. “Do you remember when we were in high school and we used to sneak into that resort down by the lake with Levi and some of the other kids? The sauna and pool were meant for guests only, and those who were not guests were strictly forbidden from entering the area, but we would sneak in late at night after the place had closed and party. I think the first time I tried strawberry wine was at that pool.”
“I do remember and it was awesome.” I smiled, suddenly feeling just a bit less ancient than I had while I was sitting in the auditorium during the welcome reception. “I was only half serious before, but we should come down here later and take a late-night swim. If only I’d thought to bring some strawberry wine.”
Ellie smiled. “The wine would have been a nice touch, but even without it, a late-night swim would be fun. It’s been forever since I floated on my back and looked up at the stars.”
“I sometimes swim at night in our pool at home after I get the kids settled. It is relaxing to look up and consider how big the universe actually is. Last August I couldn’t sleep, so I headed out to the pool to do some laps. I was floating on my back after that and discovered there was an awesome meteor shower overhead. I just lay there and watched the show.”
“Reason number eighty-nine why having your own pool is a good idea,” Ellie said.
“I can talk to Zak about putting one in behind the boathouse. It would have to be in a separate building, though, which wouldn’t make it as convenient as ours.”
“I think we are fine with borrowing yours when we really want to swim. Adding another building to the property might make it seem cluttered. We’ve already tripled the land coverage with the remodel.”
“I suppose that is a good point. I know there are a lot of new ordinances about land use and coverage these days. Most only apply to commercial endeavors, but there are some that apply to personal use structures. I heard that the county is even going to monitor additions such as decks and storage sheds.”
Ellie shrugged. “I’m totally happy with what I have, so there is no need to worry about the new regulations, and your house is already larger than you’ll ever need. Let’s head over and check out the recreation facility again. I’d like to peek into the sauna, and I heard there were both indoor and outdoor hot tubs. When we were there earlier all we did was walk through the building to get to the pool. We didn’t really look around.”
“I’m game. I wonder if the gym can be accessed through the same door as the sauna and hot tubs. From what I’ve been told, the exercise facility is state of the art. I’m hoping they might offer spin classes and maybe even yoga at sunrise.”
Ellie groaned. “Yoga at sunrise? Are you kidding? I’m going to take advantage of the fact that I don’t have babies waking me up and sleep in.”
“They might have classes later in the day,” I said.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I for one don’t plan to spend my vacation doing yoga or taking spin classes. And you also won’t find me on a treadmill or lifting weights. But we can take a look at the gym if you want to.”
“I do want to.”
After entering the building, we poked our heads into each of the rooms. There were locker rooms and showers off to one side of the large entry. The locker rooms featured large benches for changing, as well as large mirrors and individual stools I supposed one might use to style their hair or apply makeup. On the other side of the building was a doorway leading to the indoor hot tubs. At the back of that room was a door that, as it turned out, led to the outdoor hot tubs. If you continued down the hallway past the locker rooms, there were double-wide doors leading to the gym. I figured I’d check that out next, but Ellie was more interested in the sauna, so I followed her to the back of the building. Ellie opened the door to take a peek inside and screamed.
“What is it?” I asked from my position directly behind where she was standing.
Ellie slammed the door and leaned against it. She was visibly trembling and her face was as white as a sheet.
“You’re scaring me,” I said. “What is going on?”
“The staff member we saw sneak in here earlier…”
“Yeah, what about her?”
“She’s dead.”
Chapter 3
I moved Ellie to one side. I opened the door and put my hand over my mouth and nose. The steam had been left on, so the place was both hot and moist, but there was no doubt about it: the woman sitting on the bench and leaning against the wall was dead. I checked for a pulse just to be sure, turned off the steam, and blocked open the door. Then I turned and looked at Ellie. “Go and get help. I’ll cover her and try to get the steam out of here.”
“Okay.” Ellie nodded, although I could see that she was still in shock.
“Be sure not to let any of the girls hear what is going on,” I cautioned. “Just grab whichever staff member you find first and hurry back here.”
“Okay.”
Ellie left and I grabbed a bunch of towels to cover the dead goddess. I was pretty sure the short redhead with the thick long hair had been at the welcome rally earlier, but I couldn’t remember her name. Not that I was paying all that much attention to the names of any of the women with all the hooting and hollering that was going on.
I wondered what the cause of death might have been, because the woman didn’t have any readily apparent wounds and I didn’t see blood anywhere near the body. It was hot in the room—very hot, in fact—and the air was damp and heavy. I supposed if the woman had suffered from a heart condition or high blood pressure, the heat and steam could have caused a heart attack, although that seemed unlikely in someone so young. Still, heart attacks could occur at any age if there were genetic predispositions, so maybe…I looked at the enclosed space more closely. Given my natural inclination to see a mystery in almost any situation, my mind automatically sought out clues that foul play was involved. There was only one door in and out of the building, other than the one leading out to the outdoor hot tubs, which were fenced in, and Ellie and I had seen only the one staff member come in. I didn’t find evidence of a second person having already been inside the building, such as discarded towels or water on the floor. There was a smear of red on the floor near the sinks that lined one wall in the locker room, and while the smudge could be blood, the victim didn’t appear to have any blood on her, so I doubted it was related.
I quickly surveyed the shower and toilet areas. I checked all of the lockers, but only one appeared to be in use. I assumed the occupied locker belonged to the victim. It was locked, so I couldn’t check it out without taking a lot of time I didn’t have to try to break in to it.
I could hear loud voices approaching. It sounded as if Ellie was back with the cavalry. I wished I had taken more time to look around before sending her for help, but it was too late for that now.
“Oh my God, it’s Ainsley.” The woman, whose name I seemed to remember was Electra, gasped as soon as she arrived on the scene. She looked at me. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “Ellie and I came inside to take a look around. When Ellie opened the door to the sauna, she found the victim already dead.”
“Was she alone?” Electra asked.
I nodded. “Ellie and I were sitting outside enjoying the view when we saw her go inside. She was alone. We didn’t see anyone else arrive, or leave for that matter. There doesn’t appear to be any evidence of foul play, but I think you should call law enforcement right away.”
“Of course. One of the other staff members went to fetch Adira.”
Goddess Adira was the name of the head honcho, and her second in command was a woman named Goddess Isis. Isis was the one who showed up a few minutes later. She poked her head into the sauna, let out a huff of breath, and then said, “Local law enforcement has been called. I’m supposed to secure the area. Adira doesn’t want the girls to know what has happened and would appreciate your discretion until we know more.”
“The girls will find out,” I said.
“Perhaps they will eventually find out, but Adira doesn’t want Ainsley’s death to cast a shadow on the euphoric mood that has been created here today. It is important that the weeklong event start off on a high note.”
I raised a brow. She’d hate for a woman’s death to cast a shadow? Was she kidding? A young woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five was dead and she didn’t want that unfortunate occurrence to ruin the mood? I was about to say something about Goddess Isis having ice water in her veins when Ellie gently shook her head. I bit my lip and decided to go along with this crazy situation until I knew more. Electra suggested that Ellie and I might want to return to our cabins to dress for dinner. She assured us that everything was being seen to and that we had no need to worry about it any longer.
