Beneath the Palisade (39 page)

“Is Alex here?” the first woman asked.

“I’m Alex. Welcome to the Palisade Beach Cabins.”

A
FEW
minor computer glitches during the busy late-morning, early-afternoon check-in rush was the only thing so far that hadn’t gone as planned. Harper looked on with confidence as Alex, undaunted by the intimidating owner’s manual, identified the problem, and the two guest parties affected were only momentarily inconvenienced.

By midafternoon, the celebration was in full swing. Curious locals, the majority of those attending, swarmed the property. Everyone seemed surprised by the transformation. In many cases, it had been years since some of them had been down to the cabins. A few had never set foot on the property.

When Colin showed up unexpectedly, Harper manned the office for an hour so Alex could spend some time with his friend. After Alex returned, Harper walked the grounds, schmoozing and introducing himself. One of the first people he ran into was their realtor, Tiffany.

“Hey, Harper. Wow, is all I can say. You and Ian have really turned this place into a paradise. Nice work.”

“Oh thanks, Tiffany. It’s nice to see you.”

“It almost looks like a theme park. Hey, I’d like to introduce you to a few of my friends. They’re in the travel biz, so I thought it might be good for them to see what you’ve got going on here.”

Tiffany introduced her gal pals. Harper made sure they had found the tap beer before moving on. The next surprise was running into the previous owner of the cabins, Floyd Hutchins. Decked out in jeans and his signature rainbow suspenders, he came down for a peek with his daughter, Judy.

“Rosie’s up there proud as can be. I can tell you that. She had the gardening touch too. Used to keep a vegetable plot right outside the office. I don’t know how many tomatoes she sent home with people over the years. Looks like you guys have her green thumb too!” Floyd was having a good day.

Harper wanted to show Floyd the new house but decided against it. The last thing he wanted to do was take away anything from Floyd’s beloved Rosie. When the Dixieland combo from the college started up, Harper made sure Floyd and his daughter, with plates of Audrey’s delicious cherry pie in hand, had a front row seat.

“If Rosie were here now, she’d be out there dancing. I can tell you that much.”

“Enjoy the day, Floyd. Nice meeting you, Judy.”

Grabbing a pulled pork sandwich from the food tent, he turned to see Audrey and her husband, Bud, coming down the incline.

“There she is! Bud, right? I’m Harper Callahan. You’re one lucky man, I’ve got to tell you that. Ian and I love this woman.” After shaking Bud’s hand, Harper took Audrey into his arms and gave her a huge hug.

“Well, the feeling’s mutual. I was telling Bud on the way over how lucky we are that you and Ian moved into the area. Darn it if we didn’t need some new blood around here.”

“Audrey, you outdid yourself. The pies are wonderful, and as you can see, disappearing at a good clip. Can I grab you a beer or anything?” Harper pointed toward the beer tent.

“You run along. We can take care of ourselves. I’m going to want to see that house you had moved in before we go, though. Alex tells me it’s really something.”

“If I don’t get to you first, make sure to grab me. I’ll give you the full tour. But Ian and I are hoping you’ll come by one night soon for dinner. We really owe you our thanks.”

“Did you hear that, Bud? Somebody’s actually going to cook
me
a dinner for a change. Let us know, Harper. We’ll be there… a day early!”

He walked down the path toward the cabins. Ian’s garden tour was parked outside Cabin 4, where he’d put in a kidney-shaped shade garden. Brent was amongst the group of mainly women, admiring Ian’s garden skills.

“Actually, you don’t want to get rid of worms in your garden,” he heard Ian explain when he’d gotten close enough. “They have a special job. They crawl throughout the soil and loosen it so the plant’s roots can grow and spread out easier. Hi, Harper.”

“Hey, everyone! Brentster! Come here and give me a hug, buddy.”

“Hey, Harper. Wow, this is really amazing. I’m so impressed.”

“Oh, thanks. You look great. So glad you could come up this weekend. Everything going okay?” Harper and Brent held back while the tour moved over to a patch of perennial hibiscus.

“Yeah. It’s different not working with you, but all in all, it could be worse, I guess.”

“I have to be honest. You’re the only thing I miss about not being there. Have you been up to see the house yet?”

“No, I’m dying to see it.”

“Great! You hungry? There’s some tasty barbecue on the way over. Come on.”

Spencer intercepted them on the way to the house. “Hey, looks like the Coast Guard heard about the free BBQ. Have you guys noticed them? They’ve got their boats below the palisade.”

“Let’s give Brent a chance to grab a sandwich, and then we can walk down and take a look.”

“Cool. I’m going for another piece of pie. Don’t tell Allison.”

“Where is she, by the way? I haven’t seen her all afternoon.” He looked into the crowd assembled down by the band.

“She’s been hanging around the office. Alex is getting a pretty good workout up there. He’s doing a terrific job.” Spencer trotted off in search of more pie.

“Who’s Alex?” Brent asked, returning with a heaping plate of brisket and some potato salad.

“He’s a local guy we hired. Technically he’s our office manager. But like Ian and I, he’s on toilet scrubbing and bed changing detail until we can afford to take on another employee. Great kid. I’ll introduce you later.”

Harper led them down the cabin pathway toward the palisade. They stopped for a minute to plug back into Ian’s tour.

“I’ve never heard that the number of blue jays in your yard is a sign that rain is on the way. Interesting.” Ian fake smiled as they walked past.

“Poor dude. This has got to be hell for him.” Harper chuckled.

“Trust me, he deserves it.” Spencer gave Ian the thumbs-up as they passed the group.

Nearing the end of the cabins, they could clearly see the Coast Guard. Two boats were hovering in the area, and an inflatable was pulled up onto the rocks.

“You think this is an exercise?” Brent carefully stepped over the large rocks for a better look.

“Not sure. I suppose it could be. I’ve never seen them near our shore before.” Harper followed Brent, eager to solve the mystery.

“Hey, guys, I don’t think this is a drill. Check it out.” Spencer pointed into the distance to a police boat with its light flashing, speeding toward the flotilla.

The police arrived in an inflatable similar to the Coast Guard’s. Two officers jumped off and pulled the boat up onto the rocks. When they left the boat, they were immediately hidden by large rocks at the bottom of the palisade.

“Maybe they found something. God, I hope it’s not a person. Someone could have drowned and washed up on shore there. That’s kind of freaky.” Spencer looked over their shoulders. “What were you telling us last night, Harp? A person can only survive for about forty-five minutes in the water before they die from hypothermia? Crazy!”

“Yeah, the lake is still pretty damn cold this time of year. And I guess in the big part, it doesn’t warm up that much all summer.”

“Hey, look.” Brent pointed toward the action. “They’ve come back. I think something’s up for sure.”

“I bet somebody fell off a boat.” Harper took a tentative step forward. “Look, they’re going back with cameras. That can’t be good.”

“Nope. I’d say we have a problem. A dead body problem. Sorry.” Spencer took a step back, realizing on his own he was breathing heavily on Brent’s neck.

“There’re some
really
big waves out there. A few weeks ago, Ian and I took beers down here, and you wouldn’t believe the monsters that were crashing up against the rocks. You couldn’t stand where we are now. You’d be drenched.”

“Supposedly, Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world.” Brent looked down to make sure the rock he was standing on was secure.

“Oh God….”

Two of the Coast Guard guys came up from behind the rock carrying a body bag. One of the policemen hopped back in the boat to help lift it on board.

“That’s creepy. Really creepy.” Brent turned but couldn’t go anywhere because Spencer was in his way.

“Yeah, I’m with you, Brent.” Harper motioned for Spencer to turn around. “I’ve seen enough. I’m sure there’ll be talking at the Smacker tomorrow morning. Somebody will know the whole story.”

Back on the grass, they watched the boats speed off.

“I’m thinking beer. How about you guys?” Spencer was off.

“Oh yeah. Let’s go.” Harper gave Brent a playful punch on the shoulder. “You guys go on, I’ll meet you there in a minute. I need to check in with Alex. Wait! Brent, come on along and meet Alex.”

“Fine, be that way.” Spencer trudged toward the beer tent.

“Hey, guys.” Alex smiled from behind the desk. Colin stood close by. “How’s the party? A bunch of people have stopped in to say thanks. Sounds like it’s going great.”

“Yeah, everyone seems to be having a good time. Alex, I’d like you to meet Brent. We worked together at the firm.”

“Oh hey, nice to meet you.” Alex reached over and offered his hand.

“Hey, Alex. Good to meet you too.” Brent shook hands.

“Alex, when’s the last time you had a breather from all of this? Why don’t you take a break. I’ll hold down the fort.” Harper walked around to the other side of the counter.

“It’s not that bad. Are you sure?” Alex was being professional, but Harper could tell his young employee was eager to get out and inspect the festivities.

“Yeah, go enjoy yourself for a while. You’ve earned it. Just don’t leave me here all night.”

“Thanks, Harper. I’ll be back in a few. Brent, have you eaten? There’s a ton of food down by the lake.” Alex held the door open for Brent and Colin.

“Thanks, I had some brisket.” Alex and Brent’s conversation trailed off.
I have to pee.
Harper walked back to the bathroom.
Damn, the kid even makes his bed.
I need Ian to hang around him more.
When Harper returned to the counter, Allison was sitting at the table. “Hey, stranger. Everyone having a good time?”

“Oh Harper, it’s lovely. I’ve met some of the nicest people in the world. Here.” Allison held up a glass of beer. “Spencer thought you might be ready for this.”

“Oh yeah, perfect.”

“You know, it was kind of cute. I had several people make it a point to tell me that they were happy you and Ian were running the place. You know, the subtext was they were okay with a couple horny gay guys movin’ into town.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. Did they really say the horny thing?”

“Yeah. And then they’d giggle afterward and touch their ‘special’ place. God, you’re such a dork.”

“Did you meet Floyd? The guy who used to own the place? What a character.”

“The dude with the rainbow suspenders dating the younger plain girl?”

“That’s his daughter.” Harper laughed.

“Yep.”

“He really misses his wife….” Harper was interrupted by a police officer who walked past the window. “Did a cop just walk by?”

Before Allison had a chance to answer, the screen door opened and a cop entered the office.

“Hello, can I help you?” Harper and Allison stood at the same time.

“I’m Officer Doogan from Two Harbors. Does Alex Stevens work here? Is he around?”

“He was just here a minute ago. Is there a problem? I’m Harper Callahan, one of the owners.”

“If he’s still around, would you mind bringing him back here? He’s not in any trouble. I have some information for him.” The radio on Doogan’s belt kicked in, but he ignored it.

Allison headed for the door. “I’ll get him.”

Harper spent a few uncomfortable minutes bringing the officer up to date on the grand opening before Alex, with Colin and Allison in tow, strolled into the office.

“Which one of you is Alex Stevens?” The officer assumed a softer tone.

“I’m Alex. Is there something wrong?”

“Do you all mind if I have a word with Alex in private?”

“Oh, not at all.” Harper led the group out.

“What’s that all about? You know anything, Colin?” Harper hoped that if there was some kind of problem and Colin knew about it, he’d have the good sense to tell Harper.

“I don’t have a clue. I’ve seen the officer around town. He’s fairly new.” Colin shuffled his feet and jabbed his hands into his pockets. Harper knew he was worried.

After a few minutes, the officer stepped out of the office. “Very nice place you have here. Good luck.”

“You guys wait out here for a minute.” Stepping into the empty office, Harper called out, “Alex, is everything okay?”

A second later Alex emerged from the apartment holding a Dew. Harper tried to read the young man, but if what Alex had just been told was anything serious, he had chosen to act as if it were nothing. No matter what, his attitude was too nonchalant, a strange display of overcompensation, Harper thought.

“My dad decided to take a leap off of the palisade. Crazy fucker.” Alex sipped his soda and stared at the computer screen.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Harper couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “When did it happen?”

“This morning, they think. A fishing boat spotted his body and reported it to the Coast Guard. What a stupid fuck.”

Allison tapped the screen. “Is everything okay?”

Harper motioned for her to come in. “His father fell from the palisade.”

“Oh God!” She and Colin stood with their mouths open.

“He didn’t fall, he fucking jumped.” Alex glared at them from behind the desk. “He didn’t fall.”

“I was just telling them….”

“He fucking knew today was important to me,” Alex snapped back, his face scrunched up with emotion. “It was the only thing, the last thing he could do to screw me over. What a prick! I’m so glad he’s dead. I hate him.”

“We’re all so sorry, Alex.” Allison turned to go behind the desk but was stopped in her tracks.

“Don’t look at me like that! Do not look at me like that,” Alex screamed and then checked himself. “I’m fine. I’m happy. Relieved, okay? I’m… I’m sure that’s hard for you guys to understand…. I don’t want him to ruin another minute of my life. It’s not fair. It’s not….”