Murder at the Luau

by Sandi Scott

  “Aleta, are you sure we should keep going?”

  “Don’t you want to see the waterfall?” Aleta asked.

  “I’m more interested in seeing tomorrow,” Georgie replied, looking around. The view from the path made her feel like she’d been swept up in one of those dinosaur films where huge lizards or man-eating plants could be lurking among the beautiful and fragrant orchids or near an enticing waterfall. The wide ledge they were taking cut through the side of the mountain. The vegetation was so thick that only slivers of sunlight came through the leaves. Exotic birds could be heard calling their mates, alerting them to the presence of people. The air smelled sweet and almost intoxicating.

  But despite all of these amazing sights, sounds, smells and textures, Georgie was a little nervous. “This is a real nature hike. This isn’t following a path to a specific destination. I’m investing sweat equity in this journey and I don’t think I am going to like the return.”

  “Come on. Daniel said it would take an hour. Let’s go a little higher and see what happens.”

  Georgie nodded reluctantly. She did admire the amazing leaves and flowers. Had she been more confident and maybe a couple of years younger, she would have loved to stop and sketch the fine details of the strange and beautiful forest and its inhabitants. But as it was, Georgie wasn’t feeling all that creative at the moment.

  The entire group reached a natural landing where a much skinnier path picked up and hugged the side of the mountain.

  “Have we got everyone still?” Daniel asked. “This is the halfway point.”

  “Halfway? That felt like it took three hours already.” Georgie whispered to Aleta.

  “From here on it gets a little steeper, but there is the chain railing to keep your balance and the path is clear and well worn. So just follow me.”

  Dottie looked determined and brave as she silently slipped in line right after Daniel. Hector was next, followed by Pam who hadn’t said a word that Georgie could hear for the entire hike.

  Aleta went ahead of Georgie, and Norman and Luke were still bringing up the rear.

  Daniel was right. The trail was a little steeper. However, it wasn’t the steepness that made Georgie wish she’d stayed at the hotel with food poisoning like Forrester and June. It was the spontaneous rain that would fall making the well- worn path slicker than her shoes could handle.

  “It is the rainforest, after all,” Georgie tried to comfort herself. The chain that was supposed to provide support was wet and slippery, too. “It rains in the rainforest. It’ll probably rain from here on up. So we can all reach the top to see a waterfall. Wet. Like we took a dip. I don’t like this.”

  Aleta had pulled ahead of her sister. She had always been the more athletic of the two. If it caused her make-up to run, Georgie would usually take a pass when they were younger. This adventure was definitely making her make-up run. Her hands were pruning. Her slip-on shoes, made of nothing more than canvas over foam soles, were drenched.

  Suddenly, the thought of a piping hot cup of Hawaiian coffee entered Georgie’s mind. She wanted that. Her body had gotten cold and wet from the perpetual drip-drip-drip of rain from the leaves. Everything was slick. The path had become even narrower, causing Georgie to get mud on the shoulder of her blouse.

  Nothing was going to make her feel better except a cup of that coffee. That coffee was at the hotel. It was in the warm, dry restaurant where the ground was flat and even, the sun was shining and there were other people, not creepy crawlies and things that moved the leaves but remained hidden.

  “Aleta!” Georgie called.

  “Yeah?” Aleta’s voice floated back to her.

  “How far up are you?”

  “Not too much further up than you!”

  “Can you wait up?”

  “Sure!”

  “Why am I saying wait up?” Georgie mumbled aloud. “I should have had her come to me. I’m the one who doesn’t want to go any higher.” Peering over the edge of the chain rail Georgie’s heart jumped into her throat. It was almost a straight drop down. The only thing to even slow your fall would be the hundreds of branches that would probably break every bone in your body as you plummeted to your impending doom.

  While pressing her body against the side of the mountain, dirt on her blouse be damned, Georgie inched her way up toward Aleta.

  “What are you doing?” Aleta asked.

  “I don’t think I’m going to make this,” Georgie panted.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. This isn’t quite what I had in mind.” Georgie stayed pressed against the mountainside. Normally, she’d be concerned about bugs and spiders but the vertigo she was experiencing distracted her thoughts nicely.

  “Okay. I’ll go down with you,” Aleta said.

  “No. No. If you are okay, go ahead the rest of the way. Take a picture of this magical waterfall for me.”

  “I don’t want to leave you alone waiting down there by yourself, Georgie.”

  “I insist. Really. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to inch my way back down and I’ll probably be moving so slowly that you guys will catch up to me heading back before I even get to the bottom.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive,” Georgie said with a nod.

  “Okay. I’ll let Daniel know so he doesn’t think he lost another tourist.”

  “Gosh, Aleta. Whatever you do, don’t say that in front of Dottie.”

  “Yikes, you’re right. I had a Georgie moment just then.” Aleta winked.

  “I’m leaving you,” Georgie smirked, before turning her back and beginning her descent.

  She thought going down would be easier, but it wasn’t. In fact, it was a good bit worse. The slickness of the wet mountainside made it impossible to cling to the side without getting coated in grime. The chain rail was even wetter, which Georgie found hard to believe. And worse, gravity was trying its best to pull her down faster than she wanted to go.

  “What was I thinking? This is a mess.” Georgie muttered. There was no sign of Norman or Luke, and Georgie could feel her vertigo increasing every time her foot slipped in her silly flip-flops. I wonder if I should go barefoot, Georgie thought to herself, but the thought of lifting her foot even half an inch off the ground made her queasy.

  “Having trouble?” Georgie let out a little yip at the voice that came from almost directly behind her. When she swung around, she saw Pam standing there.

  “You scared me to death,” Georgie said, her hand over her chest. “Did you change your mind about going to the top, too?”

  “No. I’ve had my mind made up for a while,” Pam said cryptically.

  “Okay.” Georgie looked her in the face. Pam’s eyes were red from drinking. She stared at Georgie as if she were waiting for her to maybe throw a punch or take a jab. “Well, I’m heading back down.”

  “I’ll see to that,” Pam hissed.

  “What is the matter, Pam?” Georgie said, having a hard time watching Pam and watching her step.

  “You know what, Georgie? I don’t like you.”

  “Is that all? Heck, my own sister doesn’t like me half the time. That’s no big deal.”

  “I don’t like you pretending you don’t know the truth.” Pam steadied herself with one hand on the mountainside and the other holding the chain. The rain and grit didn’t seem to bother her.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about, Pam.” Georgie took another inch backwards. Pam let go of the mountain and the chain and slicked her hair back. The band-aids that had been on her wrists had gotten so soaked they had lost their stickiness. When they fell to the ground Georgie saw what Pam had been trying to hide. There were deep scratches on her wrist.

  These weren’t just your ordinary gardening type scratches, either. To Georgie they looked more like deep gouges on Pam’s wrists. Marks that looked like maybe someone had dug their nails in, holding on for dear life. Holding on so as not to fall—like off a cliff. Georgie swallowed nervously and glanced
quickly toward the trail heading down the mountain in front of her. What had happened to Norman and Luke? Surely they should be coming around that little bend any second, shouldn’t they?

  Looking down, Georgie saw the band-aid on Pam’s ankle had fallen away as well. There were more scratches there, deep ones like the ones on Pam’s wrist.

  “You can play stupid all you like. It’ll just make your little accident all the more believable,” Pam hissed.

  “Accident? You mean like Herb’s accident?” Georgie asked. “You were there, weren’t you? When Herb fell, you were there.”

  It had to be the first time his name had been spoken since Germaine’s Cliff of Death. Never again to be called Germaine’s Luau, it would forever be known as Germaine’s Cliff of Death. And now the same fate was about to occur here, and this would be known as the Trail to the Waterfall of Death. Georgie shook her head, hoping to loosen an idea or plan to get away, but nothing came to mind.

  “Yeah,” Pam smiled sadistically. “He was getting back together with Dottie. Can you believe that? That simp. He quit drinking and acted like we’d never been together.”

  “It was an accident, though. Right? You didn’t mean for him to fall. You didn’t mean for him to die. Right?” Georgie heard her own words. But it was like she was hearing a recording. A radio thriller from the 1940’s or something. Georgie was sure that any second Pam would break down crying, saying she was sorry. And that she didn’t mean for any of this to happen. She just wanted to talk to Herb and he slipped. She tried to save him. To help him. But his grip on her wrist and her ankle wasn’t enough and he fell. It was just a horrible accident and she’s so sorry.

  “Herb talked to me like we were old friends. He liked having me beg and plead and rearrange my life just to catch a glimpse of him. To see his car in his driveway or find him at the grocery store. He even started going to church. Can you believe that? He’d sit in that place for an hour as if he had any right to be there when he’d cheated on his wife. It made me sick.”

  “Sounds like you were keeping pretty tight tabs on him,” Georgie blurted out. Once again her filter was off. “But it was an accident. He slipped. The police will understand that.” Georgie continued her baby steps backwards. But it was painfully obvious she wasn’t putting enough distance between herself and Pam.

  “It was the only way I’d be free of him. Now, I know exactly where Herb is and what he’s doing,” she cackled. “He begged, you know.” Pam said these words as if Herb had read her some kind of flowery, overblown love poem. “For the first time in our relationship, he begged me not to go.”

  “Relationship? He was married, Pam. To Dottie. You have Hector.”

  “Hector?” She started to laugh. “I’m only with Hector because he had business with Herb. How do you think Herb and I met?”

  Georgie recalled Hector’s conversation with the salesgirl the day before. He’d mentioned Herb falling off the cliff. He mentioned a bad business deal. Could he be in on the whole sordid affair?

  “Pam, do you even understand what has happened?” Georgie wanted to keep Pam talking until she got on steadier ground. But it looked like Pam was reading her mind and was not going to let that happen. “Did Hector ask you to help him get rid of Herb in order for him to get out of a business deal?”

  “Hector doesn’t have the smarts to come up with that kind of plan.” Pam was bragging. “His brains are between his legs.”

  “Pam, I don’t think you mean any of this. I don’t think you meant for Herb to die and I certainly don’t think you want to off a lady my age who really, in the grand scheme of things, means very little to you and your situation.” Georgie looked to her right and saw the glistening chain rail. It offered her no comfort as she reached for it.

  Pam stared at her with wild wide eyes. She hadn’t heard what Georgie said.

  “That explains why you’ve been drinking. I saw you on the bus this morning. It explains why you’ve been asking me to go with you all the time. Pam, I can help you, but we’ve got to get on firm ground. In more ways than one.” Georgie chuckled nervously.

  It didn’t matter. Pam had shut off. Disconnected. There was no getting through to her. But Georgie had to keep trying. She had to.

  “Okay, Pam. This has gone far enough. I’m not taking another step backwards.” Georgie said this as she still carefully inched backwards, her hand feeling the stones and roots of the mountainside beneath her left hand. Her right hand clung tightly to the chain. Every millimeter she was able to put between her and Pam felt like a tiny victory. “I’ve dealt with bigger and scarier hombres than you. If you think you are just going to push me over this edge, you should know that I’ll be screaming ‘Pam did it’ all the way down.”

  “You won’t say a word,” Pam hissed, as she dove for Georgie. Her hands were stretched out in front of her and she lunged for Georgie’s throat. Georgie used the only thing she could get her hands on to defend herself. A huge clump of mud, sand and pebbles splattered across Pam’s face, getting in her eyes and mouth. Pam began to gasp, blinking wildly to get the dirt out of her eyes. She spit and gagged as she tried to get the muck out of her mouth. For a brief second, Georgie was sure she was going to lose her balance and topple over the side.

  Chapter 14

  Without waiting to see what was happening with Pam, Georgie swiftly turned and started down downward as quickly as possible. Both hands were clamped on the chain bordering the trail, and Georgie did her level best to ignore the flare of pain in her hands as she squeezed the slippery chain tightly.

  Her breath was coming in painful gasps now, and her mouth was as dry as the sand on the beach they were on the day Herb almost drowned. Sweat was trickling down her back, yet Georgie was keenly aware that she felt cold and clammy.

  You’re doing it. You’re getting away from her. Just a little further. If you can steady yourself she won’t be able to get you. Georgie repeated that thought as each awkward step was putting more and more distance between her and Pam. But she heard the heavy breathing behind her and knew she wasn’t really getting ahead of the enraged woman. Her steps weren’t getting her closer to safety. Pam was almost on her, scratching and grabbing to get a handful of Georgie’s blouse or hair.

  “Stop! Get away!” Georgie screamed, as she looked over her shoulder while reaching for something, anything on the mountain, to hold on to. She didn’t see Pam. She saw the thick green leaves and vines surrounding her. Birds were scattering everywhere. The bright colors of the flowers were no longer beautiful examples of life, but brought to mind the wreaths at a cemetery. This was it. Georgie felt herself falling. Her mouth was dry and her eyes welled with tears at the thought of Aleta, her children, and even Stan.

  “Georgie! Duck!” Came a male voice. Snapping her out of her vertigo, Georgie recognized the voice as Norman’s. Without much effort she hit the ground, unsure if it were a conscious move or if her legs just gave out from beneath her. She didn’t topple head over feet, she wasn’t hitting branches that would break her bones as she plummeted to her doom. Unsure what was happening, she hugged the ground tight, thankful to smell the mossy, earthy scent.

  Norman neatly leapt over Georgie’s body. With the grace only a man with military training could possess, he not only caught Pam, but restrained and subdued her, placing her in a sleeper hold that completely knocked her out.

  “Are you all right, Georgie?” Luke was quickly at her side helping Georgie to her feet. From above, Georgie heard Aleta calling her name. But her mouth was so dry and her breathing was so labored that Georgie couldn’t speak.

  Norman hoisted Pam over his shoulder.

  “Excuse me, Georgie. I think we need to get Pam to the bottom and call the cops.” He looked at his son. “Help her down and dial Uncle John. He’ll get the ball rolling and the cops here quick.

  “Yes, sir.” Luke pulled out his cell phone with one hand, taking Georgie’s hand with the other. Slowly and carefully they walked back down the trail.

&n
bsp; As soon as it was wide enough, Aleta came slithering down to Georgie and Luke, worrying Georgie that her twin might break a leg in the process. Her face was drenched in sweat, and for once Aleta’s clothes were almost as dirty as Georgie’s. When she saw her sister standing on the landing where the trail became wide and easy again she ran to her.

  “My God, Georgie. What happened?”

  “It was Pam,” Georgie hugged her sister. “Pam pushed Herb off the cliff.”

  Those words tumbled out just as Hector, Dottie and Daniel had reached the landing.

  “What did you say?” Dottie glared at Georgie.

  “I’m so sorry, Dottie.” Georgie pointed to Norman who was carefully descending the steps with an unconscious Pam over his shoulder like a side of beef. “She confessed to pushing Herb. She told me it was one of those ‘if I can’t have him, no one can’ situations. I’m so sorry.”

  Hector stared at Georgie as if he wasn’t sure he heard her right.

  “You better do more than kick her out of your apartment when you get back to Chicago, Hector.” Georgie harrumphed. “Like lawyer up. She’s got you involved whether you like it or not.”

  Hector, unsure what to do, took off after Norman.

  Luke finished talking to his Uncle John and had just shoved his phone in his pocket when he reached to help Georgie down the remainder of the trail. Georgie patted him on the shoulder.

  “I’m fine, honey. Go help your dad. He might need it.”

  Luke nodded and went after Hector to make sure there wasn’t any trouble with what his father was doing.

  “Do you want to tell me what you meant by what you just said?” Dottie was angry and Georgie couldn’t tell if it was directed at her, Pam or both.

  “Pam said she and Herb had been having an affair.” Georgie swallowed hard. Her throat was completely dry. The saliva felt like little needles prickling all the way down. “Herb broke it off. She said he quit drinking and started going to church. But, Dottie, from what she was saying, she stalked him and followed him all the way here. She pushed him off the cliff at Germaine’s.”