Paige MacKenzie Mysteries Box Set

by Deborah Garner

  CHAPTER TWO

  Despite the storm raging outside, Paige had fallen into a deep sleep until a sharp bang roused her. Only half awake, she looked first to see if her notepad had fallen from her lap. Lulled by a combination of carbs and travel fatigue, she’d dozed off in the armchair beside the kiva fireplace, where she’d built a small fire after finishing off Marisol’s tamales. Finding nothing on the floor, she moved to the window and looked outside, cracking it open to listen. Across the courtyard, the sound repeated itself. Dark now, it was difficult to see anything but sagebrush blowing across the property. Paige cupped her hands against the window and tried to get a better look. Was a person part of the moving shadows around the building opposite her casita?

  Paige pulled on a jacket, thankful for a hood that could help keep rain and flying leaves from hitting her face. Succumbing to her tendency to let curiosity win out over common sense, she tucked the key to the casita in a pocket and stepped outside. Bracing herself against the storm, she headed across the courtyard, in the direction of the sound.

  Paige approached the building cautiously, one hand firmly gripping the key in her pocket in case she needed to use it for self-defense. The thought that the tumbling brush might have been a person made her uneasy. Still, this was a small New Mexico resort, not New York City. No vehicles parked nearby, and other tumbling shadows proved to be sagebrush. She was sure an unlatched window was causing the sounds. She would find the culprit and hope that pushing it closed firmly would engage an interior lock. If nothing else, it would be easier to sleep without the sharp, annoying sound that she’d heard from her casita.

  A sign near the entrance identified the spa building. Windows bordered each side of the front door. She checked each one to make sure it was secured and then walked around the side of the building. A fence flanked the corner, closing off the back area. It wasn’t hard to imagine that non-guests might help themselves to use of the pools after hours. The fence kept the area reserved for guests. Unfortunately, this also kept Paige from checking windows at the back of the building.

  Back to the front, Paige checked the entrance, finding the door locked. Another crack told her a window somewhere was still unlatched. Paige headed around the other side of the building. A sudden burst of wind blew the hood of Paige’s jacket off her head, a whistling batting against her ears. She closed her eyes to keep dust out and pulled the hood back up. She leaned forward into the wind and continued on. Several tumbleweeds flew by, which eased her worry that what she saw earlier was a human figure.

  Reaching the fence on the other side of the building, Paige heard the bang again and weighed her options. The slamming would continue if the window were not secured. She glanced around. The office was now closed for the evening. There was probably a contact number on the office door for after-hour problems, but a loose window hardly seemed an emergency, and she hated to bother Marisol after a long day's work.

  Paige estimated the fence to be about five feet high – tall enough to get the message across to stay out, but hardly enough to deter a grownup tomboy with many memories of tree climbing. She smiled as she thought back to a favorite tree from her childhood, a giant oak at the end of her grandfather’s driveway. One low-swooping limb had been just the right shape for curling up with a good book. And, oh, how she had filled the hours and days with reading! She made a mental note to pick up a book the next day from the bookcase she’d seen in the lobby. A nice fire in the casita’s fireplace and a peaceful evening of reading would make for a perfect night.

  The sound of the window slamming again made her refocus. When she was a teen, chain-link fences were easy to scale. She grasped a section with both hands and inserted her foot into an opening, pulling herself up higher. A couple more upward grasps and toe insertions, and she was over the fence and on the other side, the howling wind drowning out the sound of her landing. Only a slight shortness of breath told her climbing fences had been easier fifteen years earlier.

  Again she heard the slamming. Inside the fenced area now, Paige quickly found the window in question and reached up to press it closed, hoping a latch would catch. But, as she grasped the edge of the window, she suddenly heard rough, scraping sounds. A chair being moved? Drawers opening and closing? Though almost impossible to identify with the rush of wind around her ears, she was certain of one thing: someone was inside.

  Instead of closing the window, Paige held it open and attempted to look inside, but even standing on tiptoe, she was not eye-level with the windowsill. She tried a quiet jump, light enough for the wind to cover the sound of her landing. It was no use, even when she repeated the process. She paused, hearing the same noises from within, then gave it one more try, pushing higher off the ground. Clumsily, she touched down on a rock just uneven enough to cause her to lose her balance. As she fell, her head tapped a vertical rain gutter with a dull, metal thud. She held her breath as the sounds inside ceased.

  Frozen, Paige listened as footsteps filled the silence followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. She drew herself up off the ground and moved along the wall, crouching behind shrubbery as the footsteps resumed, this time outdoors, coming closer. They stopped near the fence she had scaled. A flashlight switched on and roamed the grounds, passing dangerously close to her hiding spot. A security guard? A burglar? She remained still, her heart pounding. You haven’t even been here twenty-four hours and you’re already in trouble.

  Several minutes passed before the flashlight turned off and the steps faded, long enough for Paige to wrack her brain for excuses, should she be discovered. I was just trying to close the window. I didn’t want to disturb the office. Any way she looked at it, she was still guilty of entering a fenced-off area.

  She waited long enough to be certain she was alone again and then quickly scaled the fence and returned to her casita. Once inside, she fell back against the door and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. In spite of feeling relieved, she couldn’t fend off a nagging thought, even as she finally undressed and slipped into bed. Who had been inside the spa building? And why?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Sunshine streamed in through the casita window as Paige opened her eyes. Had she overslept? A sudden disappointment at the thought of missing breakfast eased when she looked at the time. By East Coast standards, she’d slept until 10 o’clock. But in New Mexico’s time zone, she was right on schedule for the morning meal.

  Dressing quickly, she grabbed both her car and room keys, out of habit, before hesitating. There was no reason to drive to the café for breakfast. It was easily within walking distance and the exercise would do her good. She set her car keys back on the desk, picked up a journal, and walked to the café.

  The woman who greeted her looked remarkably like Marisol, except with two additional decades under her belt. Paige knew immediately it was the young woman’s mother.

  “You must be Luz. I met your daughter last night,” Paige said, reaching to shake the woman’s hand. Instead, she received an enthusiastic embrace.

  “Yes, I was so glad when Marisol told me you had arrived safely,” Luz said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you. I run the resort and also a shop in Tres Palomas.”

  “Marisol told me about your shop. I’d love to see it when I go into town.” Paige followed Luz into the café, a modest room off the main lobby.

  “I would love for you to come by. Lena opens the shop for me in the mornings so that I can feed guests here, but I’ll be there this afternoon. For now: some food. We have good weather today, and you will want to explore the area. You need energy. And I know you had only tamales for dinner last night.”

  “Which were delicious, I have to tell you,” Paige said, sitting at a small table with a place setting for one. A turquoise vase held a cluster of bright red and yellow wildflowers. “It was so kind of Marisol to share them with me.”

  “We don’t let guests go hungry.” Luz smiled, then went into the kitchen. She returned moments later and placed a plate of pancakes
in front of Paige, setting down a petite syrup pitcher alongside.

  “These are blue corn pancakes,” Luz said. “And prickly pear syrup. I’m guessing you don’t eat this combination in New York.”

  “You’re right,” Paige laughed. “But I never met a pancake I didn’t like. Or syrup, for that matter. And the side dish of fresh berries is perfect. It all looks delicious.” She picked up a fork and cut into the pancakes, taking a bite. “And it is delicious.” She wasted no time diving in for another bite.

  “Thank you,” Luz said. “I love to cook, so I’m always happy to have guests here to feed.”

  A phone call sent Luz scurrying to the front office, leaving Paige alone with both her pancakes and thoughts. She pushed the plate of food slightly aside and flipped open her journal to take notes. She’d already been shown such kindness since her arrival. If this was typical New Mexico hospitality, she was thanking her lucky stars that she had added personal time onto the trip. Between the people, the food and the sheer luxury of staying at a mineral springs resort, she had a perfect trip combination.

  “Looks like we have unexpected guests coming in on Monday,” Luz said as she returned to the café. “A tour group whose accommodations fell through in Santa Fe – some sort of flooding problem in their hotel. Remind me never to say out loud again how much I love cooking!” Luz’s laughter hinted that she welcomed the idea of an incoming group.

  “Is that unusual, having a group come in?” Paige stuck a fork through a blueberry and into a piece of pancake, dipping into syrup on the side of her plate.

  “I wouldn’t say unusual,” Luz answered. “But we see more couples and individuals looking to relax in the waters or just to find some peace and quiet. It’s why we have the ‘whisper zone’ signs in many locations. We also have private soaking areas and hiking trails. Miguel can show you around the property later this morning. We have twenty acres here at Agua Encantada, so there’s room for everyone to find a little solitude.”

  “Is Miguel your son?”

  “No,” Luz said with a slight frown. “I’d like to think I would have put more sense in that brain of his if I’d been his mother. He handles maintenance at the resort along with other odds and ends. He’s a good employee as long as he stays out of trouble.”

  “A tour of the property sounds great, if he doesn’t mind,” Paige said quickly. “I could make some notes for the article so that I can finish it up early. I do want to relax while I’m here, to take a few days completely off from work.”

  “You should have brought a friend with you.” Luz smiled. “It’s a good place to share with someone special. Speaking of which, Miguel is quite a ladies’ man, just to warn you.”

  “Thanks for the warning, Luz,” Paige laughed. “I have a phone call to make after breakfast, but I’ll track him down after that and ask for a tour. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “Like I said, I’m just warning you,” Luz said. “You’ll find him out by the workshop, about a hundred yards behind the spa in the center of the property.”

  When the phone rang again, Luz headed back to the front office. Paige scarfed up the rest of the pancakes as if she hadn’t eaten a plate full of tamales just the night before. New Mexico wasn’t looking to be a good place to watch calories. Not if everything she tried tasted as good as these first two meals.

  As Paige stepped into the lobby, she saw that Luz was still on the phone, so she waved a silent “thank you” in her direction and walked back to her casita. Once inside, she collapsed on the bed and looked at her cell phone, happy she had service again, as well as voice mail from the previous night. It only took a couple rings after dialing before Jake picked up.

  “Well, if it isn’t the independent reporter, checking in,” Jake laughed. “I take it you made it to New Mexico. I was getting worried – only a little, mind you. I know you can take care of yourself. But I did try calling you last night.”

  Paige smiled at the thought of Jake trying to reach her. She shouldn’t have been happy that he was worried, yet that thought was a little bit satisfying.

  “The cell service went out during a storm last night,” Paige said. “I did try to call. Or at least I tried to try, until I realized there was no reception.”

  “Same thing happens here in storms sometimes, too,” Jake said. “Anyway, how was your trip out there? You flew into Albuquerque, right?”

  “Yep, and the trip was fine. Though I barely beat the storm by the time I drove up to Agua Encantada. The girl who works the reception desk brought me a plate of tamales so I wouldn’t have to drive into town for dinner.”

  The sound of papers shuffling came through the phone. Typical, Paige thought. Jake was working on the plans, supply orders and invoices for improvements on his ranch in Jackson Hole.

  “So, what’s this place like?”

  “It’s great,” Paige started off, not sure how to describe what she’d seen so far. “I’ll have a better feel for it later – so far it’s just initial impressions. A resort staff member is going to give me a tour of the property today. I’ve met the woman who manages it, Luz, as well as her daughter, Marisol. They seem nice, plus the food is great. Different from anywhere else I’ve traveled. Those tamales last night were delicious. And the pancakes this morning were made from blue cornmeal and served with prickly pear syrup. The food itself tells me the area is unique. I’m eager to explore.”

  “You do fall into assignments with exceptional culinary benefits,” Jake teased, “though it would be hard to find anything like the dishes Mist cooked up in Timberton when you were hunting down sapphires for your last article. You do know that you don’t write a food column, right? Maybe you should. You could take me along as an official taste tester.”

  So far, Paige and Jake had only seen each other when her assignments happened to be within driving distance of Jake’s Jackson Hole ranch. An image of traveling with Jake ran through Paige’s mind, and the idea that he might come out on an assignment with her was appealing, though this would certainly bring up questions about where they were headed romantically. She tried not to think about the nature of their relationship because of the limits imposed by distance. She saw no point in being frustrated or in getting her hopes up about the future.

  “Paige, are you listening? I asked what your plan is for your first day, today.”

  “Of course I’m listening to you,” Paige lied. How ironic that I’m not listening to you because I’m thinking about you…. “I’m going to tour the property and then drive into town. I want to see Luz’s shop, plus get an overview of the area.”

  “Try not to get in trouble this time, OK?”

  “Who, me? In trouble?” Paige laughed. Her reputation was well established. Curiosity was often her biggest downfall. She decided it was best not to mention her escapade outside the spa building the night before. “OK, I’ll try.”

  “Promise me, Paige. You’re there to relax, as well as to work, this time. I worry about you.” It was obvious Jake was fighting to keep his tone light.

  “Yes, I promise.” Paige sighed. She couldn’t blame him for worrying. He’d helped her out of risky situations before. Being fiercely independent, she’d prefer not to have anyone forced to come to her rescue, anyway, whether he was a handsome cowboy or not.

  “I’ll check in with you later,” Jake said.

  “That would be nice,” Paige said. “More than nice, even.” She was certain she could hear Jake smiling on the other end of the line. After reassuring him she’d stay out of trouble, she ended the call and headed out to tour the resort.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The tall figure leaned against a tree, both thumbs shoved in the front pockets of his jeans, one foot kicked across the other. He hunched forward slightly, a result of pressing the small of his back against the tree. A thick braid of hair fell forward over his left shoulder, its color alternating black to brown as wind cast swaying shadows of leaves from above. Torn denim revealed coffee-colored thighs, a close match to th
e slightly darker forearms extending from rolled up shirtsleeves. He lifted the fingers of one hand in greeting as Paige approached, his thumb never leaving the pocket, his back never leaving the tree. A smile crept across his face as his eyes took in Paige.

  Not subtle, Paige thought, watching the man’s eyes travel down the length of her body and back up to meet her eyes. A brief flutter ran up her spine. Nothing on the man’s face gave any clue to the thoughts hidden behind the dark brown eyes that stared back at her. She stopped a good eight feet away and, without meaning to, frowned.

  “Sonrisa.” The low, smooth voiced startled Paige, who tried, unsuccessfully, to come up with a response to the unfamiliar greeting.

  “I will call you Sonrisa,” he repeated. “It means ‘smile.’ Something you should think about doing. It would suit your pretty face, amiga.”

  “My name is Paige.”

  “Yes, I know that already. Luz has told me about you.” The man pushed forward, away from the tree. He took several steps directly toward Paige before veering away to circle her. “You are here to write about our waters.”

  “That’s right,” Paige said, spinning slowly to keep him in sight. “And you are Miguel. Luz said you could show me around the property. If you don’t mind, that is.”

  “Yes, I am Miguel,” he said, looking out across the grounds, as if surveying the area he was about to show her. Without looking back at Paige, he added, “She did not tell me you were so beautiful.”

  Paige shifted her weight and crossed her arms, annoyed.

  “The property?” Paige repeated.

  “I would be delighted to show it to you, Sonrisa,” Miguel said. “Right this way.” He turned abruptly, leaving Paige to follow.