Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 06 - Cozy Camping (30 page)

I saw our waiter make a short comment to another male waiter crossing his path with two full plates of food in his hands. I couldn’t read the young man’s lips, but I’d guess his remark was something like “Cougar Alert—Table Four.”

As we took our time savoring our meals, Emily and I exchanged slurred, nearly incoherent thoughts and theories about the death of Fanny Finch as the men discussed fishing for salmon in Alaska. They were talking about the four of us booking a trip to Homer, Alaska, next summer. One of the top things on Stone’s bucket list was to catch a big halibut, which was likely to happen in that area, since several halibut charter companies were located on the four-and-a-half mile peninsula of land called “The Spit.” He’d always wanted to experience what had been described to him as “like reeling in a garage door.”

The food was exceptional, our conversation lively, the camaraderie between friends was enjoyable, and overall, it was a wonderful evening. Stone won the battle over the bill, as he had been determined to do come hell or high water, and he left a healthy tip for our charismatic and finely built waiter.

On the ride back home, sitting in the back seat of Stanley’s truck with Emily, I fought to keep my eyes open. I eventually lost the fight, but I remember thinking that I hoped the youngsters’ evening had been as nice as ours. It crossed my mind, right before I dozed off, that a trip to Alaska with the Harringtons would be a fun vacation, and also that I should have bypassed the last two Tequila Sunrises I’d practically chugged.

Chapter 18

Early the next morning, I was sitting in the recliner, drinking a cup of strong coffee, of course, when I heard a light rapping on our door. It was a quarter to six, and Stone was still in bed. I opened the door quietly to hear Wendy whisper, “You up?”

“No, what you see standing here with a cup of coffee in her hand, is a very detailed figment of your imagination, my dear. Of course, I’m up, silly girl. Come on in, but keep your voice down because Stone is still asleep.”

“I don’t need to come in and take a chance of waking him,” she replied. “I only wanted to see if you were interested in an early morning swim. Kylie unlocks the pool gate at six, and we’d probably have it to ourselves.”

“Yeah, that does sound appealing this morning. But why don’t you come in and have a cup of coffee while I get my suit on.”

“I’ve already had two cups, Mom, but I guess I could handle one more.”

I quickly changed into my skirted one-piece suit, the most modest one I could find at Kohl’s, and left a note on the kitchen table to let Stone know where I was. After we both finished our cups of coffee, Wendy and I headed to the swimming pool. The campground was so quiet, it felt like we were the only two stirring at six in the morning.

Despite what Wendy had expected, we weren’t the only two people at the pool. I was delighted to see Rapella Ripple already executing a backstroke while doing laps the length of the pool, which I estimated to be about forty feet long. We exchanged pleasantries. She told me she always liked to get in a little water aerobics before cleaning the shower houses.

I wasn’t completely surprised to see the senior citizen wearing a purple and white polka-dotted two-piece that looked amazingly good on her. I hadn’t realized how toned and youthful her body was for a woman her age. In comparison, I felt dumpy, lumpy, and now grumpy, for being so totally out of shape. Rapella and Wendy had clicked immediately at their first encounter the previous day, and engaged in a lively conversation about Lady Antebellum, the popular singing group.

Apparently, the Ripples had also attended the concert the previous night, which I found a bit surprising. Rapella said, “We don’t normally throw away good money like that, and even though we’d never heard of the lady before, we try to attend at least one concert every year while we’re here during Frontier Days. It helps broaden our horizons and keeps us in the loop. We don’t want to get so completely out of touch that we can’t even converse with the younger set.”

“What a wonderful attitude, Rapella. I take it you all had a pleasant evening?” I asked. I didn’t bother to tell her that Lady Antebellum was the name of a group, and the female singer’s last name wasn’t “Antebellum”.

They agreed it was a great concert, and fun was had by all. All three of us were standing in the middle of the pool in water up to our chests when Brandi Bumberdinger walked in through the pool gate and said, “I saw you walking past our trailer in your swimming suits and carrying beach towels, so my little brother and I came down to speak to you.”

Brandi was alone, so I greeted her by saying, “Well, good morning young lady. I trust you had a good time with your dad yesterday and spotted all sorts of wildlife. Where’s Chace, by the way?”

“He’ll be in here shortly,” she answered, with no inflection in her voice. The foliage on both sides of the fence surrounding the pool was so dense it provided complete privacy from anyone outside the pool area. I couldn’t see her brother, but I heard a low humming noise. I listened with a feeling of uneasiness as Brandi continued to talk.

“Of course we had a good time with daddy yesterday. I told you before that Chace and I miss seeing him and hate seeing our mommy upset all the time. If not for Fanny Finch, we’d still all be together, and a happy, loving family—”

“Not necessarily, honey—” I began.

“Yes, we would!” The ten-year-old said with a great deal of vehemence in her voice. Wendy, Rapella and I stood there in stunned silence, chest-high in water, as the young girl continued, “So, when we saw that woman going into the pool area alone late Saturday night, my brother and I decided to eliminate Fanny Finch from the picture so we could have our family back together. Like I said before, I don’t like it when my mommy’s unhappy. Mommy had taken a sleeping pill, as she’s had to do every night since Daddy left, and was sound asleep. We knew she’d just put her hair dryer in the trash because it would only run on high and she liked to dry her hair on low so she could style it at the same time. The three of us went into town to purchase a new one at a beauty supply store she located on her computer. She bought the exact same model, since she’ll be reimbursed for it by the manufacturer. She is the model in all of their magazine advertisements.”

Wendy was staring at the child with her mouth open, apparently finding it hard to believe what she was hearing. Rapella looked shell-shocked, as well. Dreading the answer to my question, I asked Brandi, “Are you telling us it was you and Chace who killed your stepmother?”

“Yes, and I was afraid you might have accidentally figured it out for yourself, since you were snooping around asking questions. That’s why my brother and I decided we need to eliminate you, too. It was actually his idea to kill Fanny, and now you, after I told him about water being an ideal conductor of electricity. It was one of those rare, but genius, ideas he occasionally comes up with. Chace’s the one who actually threw the hair dryer in the pool next to Fanny. Unfortunately, Ms. Starr, the other ladies with you will be collateral damage.”

“Collateral damage” is not a term one would expect to hear from a ten-year-old, even one with an incredible I.Q. such as hers. Hearing it come out of the child’s mouth in reference to my daughter and new friend sent chills down my spine. Before we could make a move toward the ladder, Chace came through the gate with a running hair dryer in his hand, which was covered with a latex glove like one his mother might have had under the sink with her cleaning supplies.

That explained why no fingerprints were found on the first hair dryer. I’m sure the gloves had been Brandi’s idea. The murder had been pre-meditated and she hadn’t overlooked many details. This one was also attached to a long industrial-sized extension cord, just as the hair dryer that killed the author had been. I was certain Stanley had replaced the ruined electrical cord with a new functional one after Fanny’s death. I froze in place, thinking we might be more successful in trying to talk the kids out of executing their plan than trying to get out of the pool before the young boy threw the dryer into it.

“Brandi, do you know how unhappy your mother will be if you ruin her new hair dryer?” I asked the girl, who, like a sense of humor, seemed to be lacking the compassion and emotional genes in her DNA makeup, as well. “You’ll have to explain to your mother what happened to the brand new one she just purchased a few days ago, you know.”

“This is my hair dryer, a cheap one she bought for me at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago. I rarely ever use it anyway, so Mommy will probably never even realize it’s missing.”

“If your mother finds out you’re behind Fanny’s death, and now the deaths of the three of us, as I can almost guarantee she will, she’ll be even more upset about her two children being thrown in prison for the rest of their young lives than she’s ever been about your father leaving her for another woman. And you know how much you hate seeing her unhappy,” I said, trying desperately to make her decide to scrap the notion of letting Chace heave the running hair dryer into the pool and taking another three lives. I knew I sounded desperate when I asked, “Did you know they don’t let people read books in prison?”

“Oh poo! I’m not an idiot, you know. Besides, they wouldn’t lock us up for the rest of our lives,” Brandi replied. “Did you forget that I’m gifted? We’d probably end up in a correctional center for kids for a couple of years and then be released, and that’s in the unlikely event they discover who’s responsible for the murders. After all, who would suspect two kids our ages? And even if we are caught, it’s extremely doubtful they’ll try to charge Chace as an adult for murdering his stepmother. After all, she’s the woman who tore apart our family.”

Before I could think of another tactic to save Rapella, Wendy, and me from suffering the same fate as Fanny Finch, Brandi turned to her brother and said, “Go ahead, Chace. We need to get this done and get out of here before anyone else comes near the pool area.”

I saw the boy’s arm go back in order to get better momentum on his throw, and then saw the hair dryer being released from his hand. All three of us in the pool gasped in horror. But to our immense relief, just as the dryer started its descent into the water, directly above our heads, the lights went off, and the entire park became eerily—but blissfully—quiet.

As if frozen in place, Brandi and Chace stood still, as the three of us in the pool made a mad dash for the ladder. It appeared as if Brandi’s usually lightning-quick mind had screeched to a halt. She stood there expressionless and speechless for several long seconds as we exited the pool. I doubted she’d thought ahead to a Plan B if Plan A failed to pan out. Personally, I never wanted to come near this pool again, and getting into any other swimming pool in the future didn’t look too likely either.

Just as the three of us made it out and away from the pool, Kylie rushed through the gate, an expression of deep concern on her face, and asked, “Are you ladies all right? What’s going on in here?”

Wendy and I stood in front of the gate, blocking it to keep the young perpetrators from exiting the pool area, and explained to Kylie what had just taken place.

Kylie shook her head and said, “Oh, my God. I’m so glad I happened to be coming this way a few moments ago. When I unlocked the gate earlier, I was going to test the alkalinity, PH, and chlorine levels of the water, but discovered the little canister of test strips was empty. I was irritated by that at first, but now I think it might have been a matter of divine intervention.”

“Amen to that!” I said.

“So anyway,” Kylie continued, “I walked over to the maintenance shed to get a new canister and as I was walking this way, I saw the young boy standing outside the gate with the hair dryer. Considering what happened Saturday night in this pool, I was alarmed. I ran back to the maintenance shed and opened the electrical box as fast as I could. I saw a large toggle switch marked “Main” and just yanked it down, rather than try to figure out which circuit breaker controlled the power to the pool area. I could tell when the lights in the entire park went off that I’d pulled the right one. When the kids electrocuted Fanny, they must have unplugged the cord from the electrical outlet before retrieving the hair dryer from the bottom of the pool by reeling in the cord attached to it.”

“Thank God you turned off the power when you did, and not a second later, or we’d be toast right now!” Wendy said as she wrapped her beach towel around her waist. Cheyenne mornings were usually cool, even in late July, and we were all shivering from the combination of nearly being electrocuted and the weather. After a violent shudder, Wendy said, “I can’t recall peeing in a pool since I graduated from elementary school. Excuse my language, but I can honestly say that this was the first time I’ve literally had the piss scared out of me.”