by Jenny Kales
“Oh my,” Melody said, a frown creasing her forehead. “The Daytons want a perfect event, that’s for sure. Where can Natalie be?”
Perfect. There was that word again. Despite enjoying the fee that came with supplying food for an event, Callie was glad she wasn’t running this show. Everyone seemed a bit too uptight and combined with what Natalie had shared about the Daytons, the event had all the potential of a reality TV episode, complete with overturned tables and hair-pulling.
Melody ran a hand over her smooth dark hair, pulled back in a low bun. She looked conservative, but sophisticated, quite a different look than when she dressed up as a princess or a fairy for the children’s tea parties she hosted. Melody pulled her ivory blouse more securely over her hips and smoothed her black trousers as she started down the hallway.
“If you’re finished, you can feel free to go,” she called over her shoulder to Callie. “I’ll find Natalie. Thanks for your help!” Melody disappeared around the corner.
Callie let her breath out in a whoosh and headed back to the dining room to collect her coat and any stray cookie boxes. She heard a hubbub of voices in the lobby and realized that the guests would be entering the dining room any minute. No need to stick around for the bride – leave that pleasure to The English Country Inn.
As she re-entered the dining room, the windows framed a winter wonderland of white, fluffy snowflakes that descended gently from the sky. The scenery was certainly holding up its end of the bargain. Hopefully the calm winter scene would pacify any edgy guests – or hosts.
Callie located her belongings and looked out the window once more. The snow was really coming down now, a harbinger of slippery roads. Instead of taking a chance on running into Mrs. Dayton again, Callie decided to go out the dining room door that led to the patio, a popular spot in warm months. It was closer to the parking lot, anyway, she rationalized. She put on her coat and braced herself for the cold.
As she stepped outside, Callie felt some of the stress lift from her. Snow was a pain to drive in, but a white Christmas was so romantic and this year she would have someone to share it with. Gazing out at the water and inhaling the cold, head-clearing air, Callie relished the chilly beauty of the scene, but a flash of color in the water near the large boathouse attached to the hotel caught her eye. Squinting, she took a closer look.
Just visible through the fluffy white wall of snowflakes was a burnished orange blob. That was odd. Did somebody drop something in the water? Callie was ready to shrug it off and head for the warmth of her car, but something made her take another look. A prickle of apprehension made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Slowly, Callie started walking toward the object. It was slow going. The snow was starting to become slippery and ice patches were already on the ground. The falling snow was starting to obscure the ice patches, making them even more dangerous.
Callie stumbled a bit and with a struggle, righted herself before she fell. She glanced longingly back towards the parking lot, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She felt silly and vowed to head back to the car if she slipped one more time. For all she knew, it was a stray buoy, left behind when the piers were taken up and stacked like Tinker Toys for winter storage.
Cautiously now, Callie stepped closer. From this vantage point, it was clear the item wasn’t a buoy. What was it? The colors sharpened as she got closer. Callie started to quicken her pace, slipping a bit, but focused now. The outlines of a human body were now coming into view. Callie caught her breath in a gasp. An icy sensation began at her scalp and continued to her toes.
Forgetting the dangers of the ice and new-fallen snow, Callie made a beeline to the water’s edge and the unidentified object floating in it. What she saw made the back of her scalp tingle and her stomach lurch. She screamed.
Natalie lay face down in the water. The thin ice must have broken when she fell, revealing the icy depths underneath. Callie shuddered and shrieked, tears springing to her eyes and momentarily blinding her. No. Not again. Please. She wiped her streaming eyes with a mittened hand and forced herself to look again.
Natalie’s beautiful hair fanned out like seaweed. The back of her head was a bloody mass and the ends of her long, coppery locks were already starting to become covered with a fine coating of powdery snow.
Cautiously, Callie leaned down and nudged Natalie, loudly calling her name to no response. With one huge push, Callie turned the event planner over and then fell back onto the patio. Freezing water splashed onto her jeans and her hands felt like they’d been dipped inside a flash-freezing machine.
Natalie floated with her arms outstretched in the frigid water, her long designer scarf speckled with blood. Her normally rosy, freckled face was now grayish white and her wide-open eyes were glassy and devoid of the spark of life.
Two
Callie struggled to stand up, nearly falling as she scrambled to brace herself on the icy ground. “Help! Help!” she shrieked. Her brain couldn’t reconcile the image of Natalie’s lifeless body floating in the icy water with the pretty, young, vibrant woman who had been eating cookies and chatting with her such a short time ago.
Trembling with cold and fear, Callie felt panic closing her throat. Repeatedly, she told herself to remain calm and seek help. But before she could do so, loud footsteps pounded furiously behind her, growing closer and closer. Terror crept down her spine in an icy trickle as she whirled to face her assailant, her arms and legs tense.
But it was only Bix Buckman, the groundskeeper at The English Country Inn and a sometime date of her best friend Samantha. “Are you okay?” he asked. She could only point at the form floating in the water.
“No! I’m not! Please, Bix!” Callie finally found her voice. Her eyes were still streaming with hot tears that seemed to freeze on her face in the chill. “It’s Natalie Underwood,” Callie managed to croak. Bix stared at her before running to Natalie’s body.
Callie cleared her throat. “I just found her. It looks like somebody hit her on the head.” Her voice sounded hoarse and low.
Bix was already dragging Natalie out of the water, yelling her name and shaking her. Callie watched, numb with shock and shivering as he began performing CPR on Natalie’s limp form. Images started to blur around the edges and for a minute she thought she might black out. Bix’s voice brought her back to reality. He turned around long enough to shout: “Go get help. Hurry!”
Stumbling across the patio near the water’s edge, Callie felt her feet skidding for about the millionth time and steadied herself, unable to face a dip into the freezing water. She ran to the door she had just exited but it was locked.
“Help!” she cried. “Let me in!” She pounded on the door as loudly as she could. “Let me in! There’s an emergency. Call 911!”
Callie was just about to raise her fist to the door once more when Lexy Dayton threw it open, a disgusted look on her face.
“What’s the matter with you?” she hissed.
“I need help. There’s somebody out there, in the water,” Callie heard herself wail, her voice taking on a note of hysteria. Images of Natalie were flashing in front of her eyes. Horrifyingly, those images were alternating with images of Drew Staven, a colleague and new boyfriend whom she’d found murdered in his home earlier that year. Again, she felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her and she grasped the doorjamb.
“Oh my God,” Lexy said, her face blanching. “What? Are you serious?” Her voice grew shrill.
“Natalie Underwood is in the water,” Callie repeated, her voice rasping hoarsely. She was still shivering uncontrollably. The warm smell of cooked food, which had made her hungry less than an hour ago, now threatened to turn her stomach. She started to push past Lexy into the inn, but finally Lexy seemed to gather her wits.
“Callie, you’re white as a ghost,” Lexy was saying. “Get in here before you freeze to death, pass out or both.” She took Callie’s arm and practically pulled her up the steps. “Sit down,” Lexy said, leadin
g Callie over to one of the soft-cushioned chairs that lined the room and guided her into it. Callie shook her head. They had to get moving. But as soon as she was seated, her legs seemed to turn to rubber. Lexy leaned forward, her hair swishing. She smelled like floral perfume.
Eyes still blinking back tears, Callie stammered out an explanation, her voice sounding odd to her own ears. “Bix is out there with her – but please. We need to get help. Now.”
“What’s going on?” asked a grating voice. Callie looked up to see Mrs. Dayton looming over the two of them, her eyes narrowed. She tapped her foot impatiently.
“Mom…” began Lexy, glancing at Callie who was taking deep breaths and struggling to stand up. Someone had to call 911 and these two didn’t look they were going to do that anytime soon.
Callie tried again. “Natalie Underwood is out there in the water. Floating out there, in fact. I think she’s dead. We have to call 911,” she said loudly.
“Somebody’s dead in the water?” Mrs. Dayton’s modulated newscaster voice had risen to a shriek.
That did it. The guests seemed to go silent for one brief second, but then the hubbub of voices became overwhelming. Callie used the moment to escape from the clutches of Lexy and Mrs. Dayton. All she could think of was getting help for Natalie, though it looked too late for that.
Callie pushed her way past Lexy and into the dining room where bedlam was quickly ensuing. Dressed in their Christmas and bridal shower best, guests clamored to the windows, some of them emitting high-pitched screams to match Mrs. Dayton’s wails. Callie rushed to get another glimpse of the scene. Bix had Natalie lying flat on the patio now. It looked like he was pumping her chest in attempts at CPR, but Callie had seen her. Natalie was surely gone.
“Where’s Melody Cartwright?” Callie asked each person as she ran past them looking for the concierge. Most of the women simply stared at her with stricken expressions, so Callie finally stopped rushing back and forth and started fumbling for her cell phone.
Suddenly, out of the mass of people emerged Nick Hawkins, groom-to-be. He walked purposefully towards Callie and took her arm.
“I saw her go that way. Come on, let’s go find her. I’m coming with you,” he added. Callie nodded and they ran to the hotel lobby, Nick already dialing 911 on his cell phone.
“The police and an ambulance are on the way,” Nick said, once he’d ended the call. “They wanted me to stay on the line, but what could I tell them? We need to find Melody anyway.”
“I’ve got a friend on the force. I’m calling him now.” Callie realized she should have called Sands immediately, as soon as she found Natalie. She realized that she wasn’t thinking clearly at all – she must be in shock. Who could blame me? Callie thought. Finding two bodies in such a short time was discombobulating at best, completely sinister at worst. Callie wondered if she was just unlucky or if the two separate deaths had something to do with her. But why? She started to shiver in the warm, noisy room.
Callie pulled herself together enough to tap Sands’ number into her cell phone while Nick went in search of hotel staff. There was no answer to her desperate phone call: the pleasant sound of Detective Sands’ voice on his voicemail message prompt was her only reply. She left a terse message and rushed to join Nick who was behind the desk with a confused-looking Melody. Callie didn’t see Kayla Hall but maybe she was buried in coats.
“Melody, I’m sorry but I have some bad news. It looks like Natalie’s dead.” Melody stood there, her mouth half-open and started shaking her head from side to side.
“Where were you? Did you see anything?” Callie persisted.
“I was behind the desk. I didn’t see ….” Melody faltered and her face turned pure white, her eyelids fluttering.
“Nick, I think she’s going to faint. Help me out here.” Callie knew how Melody felt. Fortunately, Nick caught the concierge before she fell. Together, Callie and Nick gently dragged Melody to a soft chair covered in cabbage-rose patterned fabric where she slumped limply.
“Some bridal shower, huh?” Nick said, his mouth twisting into a grimace. He was about thirty years old, with the broad shoulders and tall stature of a former high school football player. His hair was short, brown and parted on the side. His dark brown eyes blinked as he looked at Callie.
“Are you sure she’s dead? It can’t be true.” He shook his head slowly. “I knew Natalie. I’ve known her since we were kids. I can’t believe this.”
“I’m so sorry,” Callie whispered. She didn’t know what else to say.
Luckily, they had a task at hand – trying to bring Melody back around. Callie dashed to the ladies’ room for paper towels soaked in cold water. When she returned, Nick was kneeling next to Melody and fanning her face as she started to awaken.
Callie blotted Melody’s face and neck with the wet towel. “Feeling better?” she asked. Melody’s face had lost its ghastly whiteness and she was sitting up straighter in her chair. Her face was like a tragedy mask.
“Yes,” Melody managed to say. “Is Natalie really dead?”
Nick stared at her, his eyes beginning to well up with tears. He bent his head and swatted angrily at his face.
Callie tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his back. She felt his sobs before she heard them. She glanced at Melody who was sitting with her face in her hands. At least her fainting spell seemed to have passed. Callie didn’t know which one of the two she should attend to first. And I’m not doing so great myself.
But there was no one else to look after these folks – just Callie. She steadied herself and assessed the situation. Melody was definitely the larger problem, since she’d just fainted, so she started towards her. Before she could reach the concierge, a blur of red and green rushed past Callie and nearly knocked her over.
“There you are, Nick!” Lexy Dayton folded Nick’s stocky body into her arms, smiling with relief. “I’m so glad you’re all right!” But suddenly, Lexy’s eyes narrowed as she registered that her husky fiancé was crying.
Callie appraised the bride-to-be’s floral dress, something she hadn’t noticed before in her daze after discovering Natalie’s body. The A-line dress was printed with what looked like poinsettias. Given the gruesome scene she had just witnessed, the red splotches reminded Callie of blood. Ugh.
“Honey, I’m fine. See? Don’t cry!” Lexy held Nick’s head to her ample bosom and embraced him even more firmly. After a few seconds of being smothered to Lexy’s chest, Nick disentangled himself from her grip and wiped again at his eyes, his face taking on a bright red hue.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Lexy. It’s just…I’ve known Natalie since forever. This is all a really big shock.” Nick took some deep breaths and smiled half-heartedly at his fiancé.
Callie had never actually seen someone’s mouth fall open in disbelief, but there was no other way to describe it: Lexy was gaping at Nick like a big-mouthed bass. “You’re crying over Natalie Underwood? I’m sorry she’s dead, but – I thought you were worried about me!”
Now Lexy resembled a turtle. Her generous mouth closed with a snap and she pressed her lips together, her face turning bright red. She closed her eyes and suddenly the big-mouthed bass returned.
“Mom!” she yelled to Mrs. Dayton, sprinting past Callie, who was shoved rudely into Nick.
Lexy whirled around. “Excuse me, Callie. I didn’t mean to bump into you.” She glared at her fiancé and, turning on her heel, headed into the direction of the dining room.
“Sorry about that.” Nick took a tissue out of his pocket and dabbed his eyes. “Lexy gets very excitable at times.”
“It’s understandable in this case,” Callie said, trying for diplomacy. Lexy was a client of Callie’s Kitchen, after all.
“You found Natalie, didn’t you?” Nick asked quietly.
“I did find her. Yes.”
“Did she…” Nick’s face was red and he looked like he was suppressing an overwhelming emotion, either anger or embarrassment. He spoke through his
teeth. “Did she appear to have suffered?” His voice wavered on the last word, his teeth still clenched.
Callie shook her head. She didn’t know, of course, but she assumed she had, at least somewhat, considering the manner of death. And why did Nick need to ask about that, anyway?
Before Callie could find a proper response to this delicate question, she heard purposeful footsteps walking behind her, followed by a familiar and entirely welcome voice.
“You rang?” Detective Sands smiled down at Callie, his hazel eyes crinkled with affection and unfortunately, a tinge of annoyance.
* * *
“Another murder, Ms. Costas,” Sands said, his English accent more pronounced, something that occurred when his temper was piqued. The two of them were sitting in a small conference room off the lobby of the inn, the sunny space now the site of police interviews. Sands sat back easily, his long leg crossed over his knee. He wore one of his rumpled suits but his errant lock of light brown hair for once was lying flat. Sands’ handsomely weathered face was gazing kindly at Callie, so whatever was angering him, she assumed it was not her.
“It does look that way. Unfortunately.” Callie wiped her eyes again and sniffled. She needed a tissue. Looking up, she was heartened by Sands, who wordlessly handed her a handkerchief from his pocket. She almost smiled; who carried handkerchiefs anymore?
Callie gulped and continued her tragic tale. “I was speaking to Natalie not half an hour before I found her. This is just unbelievable to me. Where are Lexy Dayton and Nick Hawkins, by the way? They must be devastated. In fact they got into an argument right before you arrived.” Fresh tears filled her eyes and she wiped them with Sands’ kindly donated handkerchief.
“Now, now, Callie.” Sands patted her hand. “You’ll be all right. You’re safe now. Right? But allow me to ask the questions,” Sands said, with another small smile at Callie. “I’m sure the happy couple is fine. We’ve got everyone in the dining room, waiting to be questioned.”
