by Nicole Ellis
“No, it’s just that I think I want to stay at the resort for the whole week.” I clinked my fork against my cup while I waited for their response.
“Ok,” Adam said slowly. “What made you change your mind?”
I sighed. “Leah needs me. The resort is losing money and she has this big celebration planned for next weekend. She asked if I’d help with it.”
“Can’t she get someone else to do it?” Desi asked.
“No. Unfortunately, Jed was scheduled to manage most of it. Now that he’s gone …”
“Ugh.” Desi swirled cold coffee around in her mug. “I can see why you’d want to stay and help your friend, but is it safe?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “When Tomàs gets here, let’s talk. Maybe you and the kids can leave and I’ll come home later.”
“I don’t know if I’m ok with that.” Adam leaned against the railing and eyed me.
I picked up my plate and stacked it with the other dirty plates on the table. I grabbed the whole pile and walked toward the kitchen with them.
“Jill! Did you hear me?” Adam called.
I poked my head around the door. “Yes. Just give me a chance to think about it, ok?”
“Ok.”
I stood at the sink and washed the dishes, gazing out the window as the familiar sensations of hot sudsy water lulled me into a contemplative state. I wanted to help my friend, but I didn’t want to put myself or my family in danger. What was the right answer here?
I returned to the porch. “I promised Leah I’d help her. Let’s see what Tomàs says when he gets here, ok?”
They nodded.
“But for now, I need to find out what Jed had planned for the Labor Day at the Lake celebration. Adam, can you take care of the kids for an hour? Maybe we can go for a hike afterwards?”
“Sure.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he clamped his mouth shut.
I kissed Mikey and Ella on their heads and left for the resort store, hoping to find Leah there. On the way, I passed a grouping of Adirondack chairs on the lawn, overlooking the lake, and couldn’t help but wonder if this was where the man had crashed through a broken chair. I paused for a moment. If there was someone vandalizing the resort, could they have been responsible for Jed’s death? I shuddered. That wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on.
At the store, Leah was helping a customer. I waited my turn and then she grabbed something from underneath the counter and carried it out to me. It was a normal-sized spiral-bound notebook with several sheets of printer paper sticking out of the edges.
“Here’s the information about the food Jed ordered.” She handed me the notebook.
I flipped through it. In neat handwriting, someone had noted every detail of the food order, down to the number of ketchup bottles they were requesting.
“He was thorough.”
“Yes,” Leah said, “he may not have been my favorite person in the world, but he was good at planning.”
I nodded. I assumed she was referring to what I’d overheard her saying to Del about his lack of work ethic for chores around the resort.
“I can see that.” I looked up from the papers. “Do you have his ideas for the games and everything else? Are there ribbons or prizes for the winners of the games?”
She frowned. “Jed should have ordered ribbons and medals for the winners from the general store in Pemberton, but I don’t know if they’ve been picked up yet. He was taking care of all of that.”
I could tell my questions were stressing her out. “No problem, I’ll figure it out. Do you think he may have left some notes somewhere?”
She contemplated that. “Maybe at his house? You could try there. I think he has a desk there.”
“Where is that?” Leah’s house was the only one I’d seen on the property.
She walked out the door and pointed to a big red barn in the far corner of the resort.
“He lives there?” I must have looked aghast, because she laughed.
“No, Jed and Del share a mobile home on the other side of the barn. Del might not be home right now to show you around, but they always keep it unlocked. You can look around in there, he won’t mind.”
I nodded. “I’ll take a look.” I squeezed her arm. “This will all work out, stop worrying.” I smiled. “You don’t want to scare away any new guests, do you?”
She managed a weak smile. “No. Thank you, Jill.”
“I promised Adam I’d go on a hike with him later today, but I’ll try to come by your house tonight and we can talk about this more.”
“Sounds good.”
I left, and Leah retreated to the back room of the office. I eyed our cabin and then the giant storage barn. I’d told Adam I’d be back in an hour, so I still had about forty-five minutes left. That should be plenty of time to check Jed’s house to see if he’d left anything behind about the games for the weekend’s celebration.
In front of the mobile home was an older model Ford truck, but not the red pickup truck that Del had been driving yesterday. I knocked on the metal door to the mobile home but received no response. When I tried the doorknob, it turned easily under my hand. Leah had been right—Del hadn’t bothered to lock the door.
Inside the mobile home, the curtains were all shut. I blinked, allowing my eyes to adjust to the dark as I searched for the light switch. I felt blindly along the wall, finally locating it about a foot inside the door. I flipped it on, allowing a weak light to bathe the small living room. An orange and brown couch sat in front of an old box TV. The floor was littered with used Kleenexes and a half-empty bottle of whiskey sat on the glass-topped coffee table. If I had to guess, I’d say Del had been mourning his cousin last night.
Although Leah had told me that entering Del’s home was ok, I felt as though I was intruding and I wanted to get in and out of there quickly. I pushed on the first door in the short hallway. The room was packed with sports paraphernalia and other belongings, including a beer stein bearing Del’s name.
I continued on down the hallway to what I assumed had been Jed’s room. The door was closed, but like the front door, the handle turned easily in my hand. I had a weird sense opening the door. The only time I’d ever seen Jed was when I discovered his body next to the campfire pit. Now I was entering his private domain. I took a deep breath and entered the room. The drapes were open in this room and the sun shone in brightly. It was sparsely furnished, with a double bed, battered wood dresser, and a small desk in the corner. Three rows of baseball hats decorated the wall behind the bed—Jed had been a collector.
I crossed the room to the desk. If I was going to find anything out about Jed’s plans for the weekend celebration, they’d most likely be there. The top of the desk was bare. I opened the center drawer, but it held only pens and pencils. The top drawer on the side bore more fruit.
I pulled out a pad of lined paper. In the same neat script as the food order, Jed had written a list of games that he’d intended to offer that weekend. But where would he have put the ribbons—if any? I rummaged around in the other drawer and came up with nothing.
I put the notebook on the perfectly made bed and opened his closet but didn’t see any prizes. A few pairs of shoes were lined up in a row against the back, but otherwise, the carpeted floor was empty.
Except, what was that sticking out of the far corner? Everything else in his room had been so orderly, so why was there a bag lying haphazardly on the floor? It didn’t look like it was big enough to hold prize ribbons and medals, but I figured I’d check it out anyway.
I picked it up, admiring the blue velvet, and flipped it over to see the other side. It was as blank as the front. This looked like a bag you’d get for jewelry. Leah hadn’t mentioned Jed having a girlfriend, but she may not have been privy to everything in his life. I held it up in the air, but it flopped in my hands—empty. I tossed it back on the closet floor and turned back around to scan the rest of the room. Other than the baseball caps, this room was so devoid
of personality that I’d almost hoped that there would be more to his life than Leah had alluded to.
I grabbed the notebook off the bed, smoothing the coverlet afterwards. I stepped out of the room and softly closed the door behind me.
Before I could reach the front door, I heard it squeak open and someone enter. Del glanced up at the light and then noticed me in the hallway. He raised an eyebrow.
“Jill? What are you doing here?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. Leah asked me to manage the event portion of the Labor Day at the Lake celebration, but I didn’t have any idea of what Jed had been working on. She said I could come in here to look for the winner’s ribbons and get his notes from his room.” I held up the notebook.
“Ah. No problem.” He stepped forward. “Do you want anything to drink?” His face reddened as if he had just noticed the mess in his living room. He scooped up most of the wadded-up Kleenexes and the whiskey bottle and carried them in to the kitchen. “Sorry for the mess. I was up early this morning cleaning up debris from the storm.”
“Oh, no problem. Were there any trees down in the resort?”
He shook his head. “No. We routinely check for dead or diseased trees, so we don’t usually have a problem with them falling down in storms. The branches, on the other hand, we can’t really control. At least I didn’t have to worry about watering this morning.” He guffawed.
“No kidding. I think we got enough rain for weeks. You must have been frustrated when it rained so soon after you watered on Monday morning.”
Del’s face fell. “I’m sure I would have been, but I didn’t water that morning like usual. I’d had a late night, and Jed offered to do the watering and other morning chores for me so I could sleep. I wonder if he’d be alive today if I’d been out there instead of him. Maybe it was a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The medical examiner said he died around 4 a.m., so it must have happened right after he started watering.”
“Maybe. I’m so sorry for your loss, Del. Leah told me that he was your only remaining family.”
“Yes, he was.” His voice quivered. “His parents died when we were young and my parents raised him. When they died a few years ago we drifted apart, but because of our upbringing, we’ve always had a tight bond.”
“Do the police have any idea of who killed him?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. They interviewed me for a long time yesterday down at the police station. They asked me about some of his acquaintances here, but he didn’t associate with many people other than me. Maybe a few guys down at Rex’s Place that I don’t know.”
I nodded. Were the guys down at Rex’s the “shady characters” Leah had mentioned? If so, could they have been responsible for Jed’s death?
“Well, I’m really sorry for your loss. If there’s anything I can do while I’m here, please let me know.” I jutted my thumb at the door. “I told my husband I’d be back about fifteen minutes ago, so I’d better get going.”
“Oh.” He sounded sad that I was leaving. “I’ll see you around.”
9
When I returned to our cabin, a familiar car was parked in front of Desi’s cabin—Tomàs had arrived. His voice rang out from the deck and I walked toward it with trepidation. I’d promised Leah to help her with the celebration, but I wasn’t sure Tomàs would think that was a good idea. I respected his opinion as a seasoned police officer, but I’d made a commitment to my friend to stay and I’d miss Adam and the kids if they left early. Well, that is if Adam was ok with me staying. He seemed genuinely worried about me, and although I wanted to stay, I didn’t want to do so if he had reservations.
The adults were sitting in Adirondack chairs on the deck, right where I’d left them. From the racket coming from inside the cabin, I guessed that Mikey and Anthony were playing something involving cars with revving engines.
Desi heard my approach and greeted me. “Hey, we were just about to send out a search party.”
“Sorry, I ended up talking to Del and it took me longer than I’d expected. But I got Jed’s notes on the plans for the celebration. Hey, Tomàs.”
He smiled at me.
“Jill,” Adam said, patting the empty chair next to him. “I’m glad you’re back. We’ve been telling Tomàs about everything that’s been going on here.”
“And?” I made my way over to the empty chair and peered at Tomàs. He didn’t look happy.
“I wish Desi had been able to call me earlier.” He looked around. “I’d like to talk with local law enforcement about the case, before we make any decisions.” He ran his fingers through his short brown hair. “I swear, trouble seems to follow you and Desi everywhere.”
His wife lightly slugged his arm in response. “It does not.”
“You know it does. In the short amount of time you’ve been here, there’s been a robbery at the jewelry store and a murder at the resort.” He feigned a stern look at her. “But in all seriousness, I want to go into town to talk to someone at the police department about this.” He leaned forward. “Maybe they’ve already figured this out and we’re worrying for nothing.”
Adam cleared his throat. “Since the weather has cleared up and we may not be staying much longer, I thought I’d take Mikey out on the trail behind the resort. Would it be ok if I took Anthony too?”
Tomàs glanced at his son, weighing his decision. He looked at Desi, who nodded. “I think that would be fine.”
“I’d like to go with you to town if there’s room,” I said, idly running my fingers over the smooth wood on the chair arms. As with everything else I’d seen at the resort, they’d been exquisitely maintained. “I need to check on the ribbons for the Labor Day event.”
Tomàs raised his eyebrow. “Are you working on an event here? I thought you two were excited to get away from all that.”
Desi came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “We were, but Jill’s friend Leah, the owner of the resort, asked her to help. I think it’s great that she’s willing to help out.”
I looked at her gratefully. “Thanks, Desi.” I turned to Adam. “I promise helping out with this event won’t take up too much of my time.”
He smiled at me. “It’s ok, honey—I would actually be more surprised if you didn’t help out a friend in need—but I do want to make sure it’s safe for you to stay.” He walked over to the boys and knelt down beside them, talking to them in a low voice.
Their eyes lit up and they ran to the door before Adam could even straighten up to a full standing position. He laughed and joined the boys at the door. They left, with Adam running after them, shouting for them to wait for him. I could already tell that this was going to be a fun hike for him.
“Well, I guess they won’t miss us,” Desi said.
I laughed. “Let’s get going before Adam changes his mind about taking both of them. I’d like to get to the store before lunchtime.”
Tomàs jingled his keys. “I’m ready whenever you two are.”
Desi, Tomàs, the babies, and I piled into Desi’s minivan for the trip into town. I sat in the back seat with the two girls in their car seats, while Desi sat in the front seat next to Tomàs. They were talking about some maintenance issue at their house, so I tuned them out and stared out the window as we passed through dense forests. Soon, the trees cleared out a little and we began to see signs of civilization on the outskirts of Pemberton.
I leaned forward. “Tomàs, can you drop me off at the general store? Leah told me Jed ordered the winners’ ribbons from them.”
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Sure, I can do that. Do you want me to pick you up at a certain time?”
“No, I’ll give you a call. Pemberton gets fairly decent cell service. Does that work for you?”
Desi turned around. “We were planning on grabbing lunch. Did you want to join us?”
I figured they had a lot to talk about and could use some privacy. I’d made it clear that I didn’t want
to leave the resort and I didn’t want that to influence their decision about whether to stay or not. Also, this seemed like the perfect time to satisfy my curiosity about the velvet bag I’d found in Jed’s closet. After finding out from Leah that Jed had been involved with some shady characters, part of me wondered if he’d been the one who’d robbed the jewelry store. It was probably a crazy theory, but I hoped to find out if the jewelry store in town even used the same type of bag.
I shook my head. “No, I’ll find something. I forgot to bring a book to read, so I’m going to check out the bookstore too.” I deliberately didn’t tell them I planned to visit the jewelry store as that was bound to bring up some questions.
She shrugged. “Ok, but let me know if you change your mind.”
Tomàs pulled into a spot in the general store’s parking lot and popped the liftgate. I unbuckled myself and Ella and met him at the back of the minivan where he set up my folding stroller.
“Thanks.” I strapped Ella securely into her seat. “I’m glad I remembered to bring this thing with us on the trip. I felt like I was bringing everything but the kitchen sink, and then I almost forgot this—one of the most important things.”
He nodded. “Good thing you did. Babies get heavy after a while and it’s such a nice day for a stroll.”
Tomàs walked toward the driver’s side and glanced at me as I wheeled Ella a few feet away. He pushed on the liftgate and it closed. He stuck his hands in his pants pockets and shifted on his feet.
“You sure you don’t want to join us for lunch?”
I smiled at him. “I’m sure. Ella and I may do a picnic in the park.” Across the street, a tree-lined park with bright green grass beckoned for us to come and play in it.
He held up a finger. “In that case, wait.” He opened the rear door again and rummaged around in there, then handed me a heavy plaid blanket. “You can use this for your picnic.”
“Thanks.” I stuck it in the basket under the stroller. “This will come in handy.”
