Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear (22 page)

“Don’t jump.” A hand cupped her shoulder. She wheezed in a breath of air.

She whirled around. Xabier. “I was afraid for you.”

“Dark corners work best for hiding.” He turned, indicating an area by the bureau. “I heard a noise and scampered out of the well-lit bathroom.”

“I found the paper.” She unfolded it. “It says Eternal Nirvana at the top.” She drew the paper closer. “Wow, your dad owed them a million bucks. I wonder if they have a Web site. We can figure out who they are.”

“That’s a good idea, but right now, we’ve got to go find my mom before the guys with guns do.”

“Are there Only three
on this tour?” Arleta buttoned her sequined sweater to stave off the desert night chill. Even if the rest of the Bargain Hunters were busy, she and Suzanne were going to do something touristy together if it killed them. This boat tour might be fun.

The captain who bore a resemblance to Gilligan, same big nose, same silly hat, smiled. “Yep, just you three.” He pushed a button on the control panel of the boat, causing it to make a noise similar to a large fan. A sign above the control panel announced that the boat provided night tours of the lake.

A third woman sat on the far corner of the bench with her back to them. She had not turned to look at Arleta and Suzanne when they boarded the boat.

Arleta scooted a little closer to Suzanne. “The night air and the sound of the water will make us feel better.”

“We can still salvage this vacation.” Suzanne rested her forehead against her palm. “Cant we?”

“I am determined to have a good time.” Arleta had to work to sound cheerful. Who was she kidding? The whole trip had been a downer. “If it kills us.”

The captain pushed another button on the panel, and the boat roared to life. He veered out of the harbor and into open water.

Clean air filled Arleta’s lungs. The boat bumped over the water, headlights cutting a swath of illumination. Memories of her dear husband rose to the surface of her consciousness. She and David had taken boat rides in all parts of the world to go on archaeological digs, in all kinds of boats and under all kinds of weather conditions. Since she’d met the other Bargain Hunters, thoughts of David, that longing to be with him, had subsided. Every once in a while though …

The third woman turned toward them. Even though it was a cool evening, the woman seemed overdressed in her fleece coat, with matching hat and mittens. In the dusky light, Arleta recognized her. “Gloria Clydell?”

The woman jerked her head up. “Yes.”

“I met you in the coffee shop, the night that Dustin … We’re friends with Kindra and Ginger.”

Gloria nodded and scooted a little closer. She studied Arleta for a moment before nodding. “Oh yes, I remember.”

“This is my friend Suzanne.”

“You’re the ones who helped Kindra put a marriage checklist together.”

“Ah, the famous list.” They’d brainstormed the list over peanut butter cookies and tea at Arleta’s condo.

Suzanne shifted on the wooden bench so she could stare out at the water. Nothing was going to cheer her up. The disappointment had been easier for Arleta to bear. Everyone she cared about in the world was with her on this trip.

“It’s warmer than usual tonight.” Gloria unbuttoned two buttons on her fleece jacket. “I’m sensitive to the cold, but I love the nighttime. Being out on the water helps me think.” She lifted her chin slightly. “Usually, it’s just me and Captain George.”

The Gilligan look-alike waved without turning to look at them.

Gloria rested her hands on her thighs. “But tonight, there are three of us.”

“The boat held but three.” The increase in the wind intensity energized Arleta as the boat picked up speed. Out here on the water, it just felt like you could get a deeper breath of air. “Isn’t that an Emily Dickinson poem?”

“The carriage held but three?” Gloria tapped her fingers on the metal railing of the boat. “‘Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me. The carriage held but just ourselves and Immortality.’”

“That’s it.” Arleta clasped her hands together. “I don’t think I have heard that poem since my college days.”

Water lapped against the boat, creating a hypnotizing rhythm. The Wind-Up, the Little Italy Hotel, the park, the golf course, and the businesses that surrounded the lake became a shrinking mosaic of flashing and fixed lights and shadows. People were cruising the boardwalks and terraces at this hour, but they had become only faint impressions.

The song of the water and the caress of the wind enveloped Arleta. She closed her eyes. Deep water had never frightened her. The vastness of it made her feel safe. When she had been out on the ocean with David, she had experienced an unnamed understanding that only now, this night, made sense to her. Years ago, her husband had held her while on the deck of a ship with the sun slipping below the horizon. David’s arms around her and the beauty of the evening had made her think for a moment that there might be a God.

Gloria reached across Arleta’s lap and touched Suzanne’s hand. “Is the boat ride helping?”

Suzanne turned to face to her traveling companions. “Did I look like I needed something fixed?” The wind rippled over her curly, brown hair as she tied the strings on her life jacket.

“You seem to be working through something,” Gloria said.

Arleta put her arms around her friend. “Our vacation hasn’t gone as we had hoped, and Suzanne is missing her kids.”

“Children. How many?”

“Four. My littlest is a year old.” Suzanne crossed her arms.

Gloria kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her on the bench. “How wonderful.”

“They are wonderful. I love my kids.” She tilted her face toward the night sky. “And I love this moment, here, right now.”

“That’s the secret, loving the gift of the moment you’ve been given.” Gloria brushed a gloved hand over the rim of the boat.

Suzanne rose to her feet and leaned on the boat railing. “If you ladies don’t mind, I’m going to enjoy my gift.”

An even deeper stillness settled around them as they got farther out on the water. Sounds from the hotel faded.

Arleta studied her own hands, blue-veined spider webs covered in translucent skin. “Death will stop for me too.”

“It stops for all of us.” Gloria adjusted the hat on her head. Her labored movement suggested pain in her arms. “Some sooner than others.”

“At least you know where you’re going.”

“It’s not an exclusive club.” Gloria turned so she was face to face with Arleta. “Heaven is yours for the asking.”

“It just seems like it should be harder than that,” Arleta said.

“That’s what throws most people. Gotta pay dearly for every other good thing in this world.”

“Mine for the asking?” Arleta planted her feet and slapped her hands on her thighs. “Okay, I’m asking.”

“You want me to pray with you?”

Arleta glanced at Suzanne, who seemed lost in some blissful moment leaning against the railing with the wind rippling around her. Captain George kept his eyes on the water. “Uh … okay, but not out loud. That would be just too strange.”

Gloria removed her gloves, cupped a hand on Arleta’s neck, and leaned toward her. They touched forehead to forehead. Arleta’s neck pulsed, pushing against Gloria’s cool hand. A moment later, Gloria pulled away. She held both of Arleta hands in a barely tangible grasp.

Arleta sat up a little straighter. “I don’t feel any different.”

“That only happens in the movies. You are different, believe me.”

Suzanne sat back down on the bench with a sigh. “That was like Christmas.”

Arleta tilted her head toward Suzanne, angling slightly so her face would be in the light. “Do I look different to you?”

Suzanne leaned toward her friend. “Uh … no.”

Even Suzanne couldn’t tell. “Maybe it’s like stew; it has to cook for a while.”

Gloria threw back her head and laughed.

Suzanne shook her head. “What are you guys talking about?”

“I’ll tell you later.” The boat swayed and rocked in the water. Arleta put her hand over her heart. No, she didn’t feel any different there either. “What is the point of this tour?”

Gilligan turned slightly sideways. “A boat ride is the point.”

“We’re not going to stop on an island or whiz past a historical building or something?”

Gilligan shook his head. “No ma’am, but we are about to come up to the best part of the tour.”

Suzanne rubbed her shoulders.

“Let’s huddle,” suggested Arleta.

The three women sat on one bench, watching the glow left by the setting sun. The captain turned off the engine. Gilligan turned to face them, leaning against the wheel. “This is why I do night tours, ladies. Enjoy.”

The water rippled against the boat, creating soothing rhythms. The afterglow of the sunset faded on the horizon. The calm that surrounded them seemed fuller, to contain the unnamed thing that now had a name.

“Come on, you must have seen her.” Xabier trotted behind Tiffany, who appeared to be in training for the one-hundred-yard dash that was run in four-inch heels. “She’s not in her room.”

Xabier and Kindra, minus their wigs, had caught Tiffany on her way to Dustin’s old office. Kindra had tried to wipe off the makeup in the lobby bathroom, but Xabier had been in a hurry to find his mom. The makeup made her face hot … or maybe it was the running around.

Tiffany turned her head but kept up race speed. “Look, sweetie, I’d love to help you, but I am doing more than just standing at the front desk taking notes on who has walked through the lobby. I have a lot on my plate.” She stopped suddenly and elbowed Xabier. “Especially since I’m going to be a partner now.”

She opened the office door, walked across the carpet, and placed her coffee mug on the desk.

Kindra followed Xabier into the office.

Using a high-legged kick she must have learned at dance school, Tiffany removed her pumps. She rolled the office chair out from behind the desk and slumped down into it.

Xabier’s hand slipped into Kindra’s as though it were the most natural thing in the world. They were partners too, working together to get to the bottom of this.

“Tiff, my mom could be in danger.”

Tiffany swiveled in the office chair. She grabbed the coffee cup and took a long sip watching Xabier over the rim of the mug. “Am I going to be, like, in debt to you forever if you give me half ownership of the hotel?”

Tiffany seemed to have taken to the idea of owning a hotel. She rose and yanked open a file drawer. She took out a stack of papers and proceeded to run them through the shredder.

“Tiff, come on. This is my mom.”

Judging from the piles of shredded paper, Tiffany was destroying a lot of documents. Why was she in such a hurry to get rid of so much paperwork?

Tiffany sat back down in the chair. She pounded on its arm and stared at the ceiling, making a clicking noise with her tongue. “Try the bellboy on shift. His name is Jason. He’s pretty tuned into the comings and goings of people.”