Rocky Mountain Mayhem (21 page)

The woman had stylish, cropped black hair.
She looked over at Wendy, who carried the pizza. “Gosh, that smells
good.”

“We’ll share if you do.” Wendy gestured
toward the bag. “We have more than we can eat.”

The man wore a sweatshirt depicting a stick
figure falling out of raft that read, “I survived the Royal Gorge.”
He pulled out one of the bottles of wine and sat it on the ledge of
the fire pit. “I’ll run inside and get a few more glasses.”

“Woo-hoo!” Lucy said and then introduced
herself and the other girls.

“Nice to meet you,” the lady responded. “I’m
Anne. My husband’s name is Loren.”

“Veggie or pepperoni?” Wendy asked.

“Veggie, thanks!” Anne said. “So where are
you guys from?”

“We’re all from Texas, but Lucy lives in
Boulder now. What about y’all?”

“We’re visiting from Minnesota. We’re on our
honeymoon!”

Loren arrived with four glasses, pulled the
cork and poured.

“Would you like a slice?” Wendy asked
him.

“Sure, thanks,” he said and picked out a
meaty wedge.

Vivian held up her glass. “Happy
honeymoon!”

They clinked and sipped.

“So has it been magical?” Kate asked.

“Yes, absolutely,” Anne answered, squeezing
Loren’s hand. “We went rafting this morning. It was gorgeous and so
much fun. Loren went for a swim, though!” She giggled behind her
wine glass.

“Yeah, yeah,” he laughed. “We hit a rough
patch and I got pitched.”

Vivian shivered. “Bet that was cold.”

“We were all wearing wetsuits, but yes, it
was still cold.”

Anne finished her slice, then asked, “What
about you girls? How’s your trip been?”

All four looked at each other, none answering
right away, then Vivian spoke up.

“It’s not exactly been what we were hoping
for. We’ve hit our own rough patches.”

“What do you mean?” Loren asked.

“Vivian’s ex-boyfriend is stalking her,” Lucy
blurted. “He’s wanted by the FBI and everything!”

“Oh my gosh, you are
those
ladies,”
Anne said. “We heard about a guy attacking a woman in the spa this
morning.”

Vivian waved. “Yep, that’s us.”

“What happened? Are you okay?” Loren sounded
concerned.

Vivian gave a recap and noticed Agent Nelson
listening in. She figured she better not give all the details, but
then Lucy said, “He escaped through the emergency exit and hasn’t
been seen since. The cops can’t find him. We thought he was spying
on us during our bike ride today, but it turned out to be some
other poor shmuck in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Nelson walked over and sat down across the
fire pit and gave Lucy a stern look.

Loren asked, “What does the guy look like?
Should we be concerned?”

Vivian figured the more people who knew what
Craig looked like, the better. “I’ve got his picture right here.”
She saw Nelson give a slight nod and then handed Anne her
phone.

Anne leaned in close and looked at the image.
“I think I’ve seen him,” she said and paused a moment before
snapping her fingers. “Yes, I’m sure we saw him last night on our
way back to our room from dinner. He was dressed in a white
jumpsuit, the kind a painter would wear. He got off on the fourth
floor, and I remember thinking it was odd that anyone would be
working so late.” She looked at Loren. “Remember, honey?”

He took the phone from her. “You’re right. I
thought it was odd, too, but my mind was somewhere else.” He gave
Anne a grin. “So I didn’t ponder it for long.”

Nelson jumped up, hitting buttons on his
phone, and walked a few feet away. Loren and Anne both watched,
questions evident on their faces.

“That’s our FBI agent,” Lucy said and took a
big gulp of wine. “He’s protecting us and has a big crush on
Wendy.”

Wendy shook her head. “No, he doesn’t.”

“He absolutely does,” Kate said. “He’s just
pretending not to since he’s on the job.”

Wendy looked at Anne and Loren. “So he was
wearing those paint coveralls? Makes me wonder if he’s been staying
here.”

Vivian put down her wine glass. “I hope not.
That freaks me out a little.” She paused. “Actually, a lot.”

“Agent Studmuffin looks like he’s on it
anyway.” Lucy took another big sip of wine.

The Ridge’s security officer met Nelson on
the patio. Their conversation involved the officer nodding his head
while Nelson pointed at the hotel, veins in his neck and forehead
popping out. The security guy bowed his head and walked briskly
back into the hotel.

Nelson walked over to the group. “Security is
headed up to the fourth floor, Avon police are on their way back
out, and we’ll search the entire hotel again.”

“Didn’t y’all do that earlier today?” Kate
asked.

“This time we’ll go over the fourth floor
more thoroughly. Somebody evidently missed something. A forensics
tech with Avon is on his way as well.”

“Geez,” Vivian said and slumped back in her
rocking chair.

Loren stood and poured the rest of the wine
into the girls’ glasses and picked up the empties. “Nice to meet
you. I think we’ll turn in for the night. We’ll keep an eye out and
alert security if we see…what’s his name?”

“Craig,” the girls all groaned in unison.

“Yes, if we see Craig again.”

“Thanks for the pizza,” Anne called over her
shoulder as she hurried after Loren.

Everyone said their goodnights and
goodbyes.

“Are you sure we’re going to be safe here?”
Kate asked Nelson.

He was about to answer when his phone rang.
He looked at the display, then said, “We’re going to interview all
of the construction workers and issue special badges that will be
required for entry to the property.” He walked away and answered
his phone.

“I can’t believe Craig has been on the
property and no one from the security team recognized him.” Vivian
finished her wine and put the glass on the ledge, but it was
unbalanced and fell. The glass shattered. “Dammit!”

Wendy knelt down and picked up the pieces.
“Calm down, Viv. Craig wouldn’t have wanted to be seen. He probably
snuck around and used side entrances and stuff.” She tossed the
broken bits into the trash.

Nelson walked back over, hands on hips.
“There’s been a development on the fourth floor. I’m going to take
you to your room, where you need to stay.”

Shit
.

VIVIAN locked the deadbolt to their
Presidential Suite.

“That’ll stop him!” Lucy yelled.

“It’s another layer anyway,” Vivian said.

“Since we’re not allowed to leave,” Lucy said
as she leaned against the kitchen cabinet, “I vote we hop our asses
into the monstrous bathtub — not naked, though — and pretend like
we’re in one of the hot tubs outside.”

“I’m in,” Kate said. “I’ll get my suit
on.”

Wendy grabbed one of their wine bottles and a
camera. “I’ll get everything ready for us.”

Vivian looked out the sliding glass doors to
the balcony and the hot tub down below. “I wish we didn’t have to
pretend. I’d rather be down there.” She went to get her suit and
yelled, “Damn that Craig!”

Suited up, Vivian joined Wendy, who was
squeezing an entire mini-bottle of shampoo under the stream of
water. A small mound of bubbles grew to a mountain.

Vivian stepped in and settled among the suds.
“I need me a tub this big at home. This is fun!”

Kate got in, corralled some bubbles and blew
them at Vivian. “That bottle made a whole lotta bubbles.”

“We need more!” Wendy cracked open another
shampoo and dumped it under the water.

Lucy came in and sat on the edge of the tub.
She placed both feet in the water and started to stand up but
slipped and landed on her butt. She disappeared under the veil of
bubbles, which flew everywhere, and water sloshed over the edge of
the tub.

Wendy reached down and fished Lucy out. “Good
thing we’re staying in tonight, but how about you not drown on us?
That would really jack up our vacation.”

Vivian did her usual point and laugh at Lucy.
“You’ve got bubbles on your head and a bubble beard. You look like
Santa with boobs.”

Kate, always the sympathetic one, said, “Aw,
Luce, you okay? That looked like it hurt.”

Lucy wiped bubbles and water off her face and
out of her eyes. “I’m fine, I’ll survive.”

This got Vivian to singing “I Will Survive,”
and the other girls joined in as Wendy handed everyone a plastic
cup of wine.

“I’ve got to go get my suit on, I’ll be back
in a sec.”

Vivian thought about her kids. “I’m going to
have to steal some of this shampoo off the cart. The kids would
love this. These bubbles are practically unpoppable!”

“Is bath time difficult with your crew?” Kate
asked.

“Nahhhh. I line ’em all up in the tub.
There’s not enough room for anyone to go under and drown, unlike in
here with Lucy. It’s efficient for me and they have fun.”

Wendy came in wearing her cowboy hat and
holding everyone else’s. “I think this is a photo op!” She passed
out the hats, sat the camera on the counter and set the timer, then
yee-hawed as she jumped in the middle of the tub.

That was the first of many silly pictures of
the evening, some of which included bubble beards, sudsy legs all
in the air and a hats-off salute.*

They continued on with good ol’ tub time
until they heard banging at the door.

“Oh my god, who is that?” Lucy said before
ducking under the water.

“It’s probably Agent Nelson,” Kate said.
“It’s been a while since he left.”

Vivian looked at Wendy. “You’re closest. Go
let him in!”

Wendy got out and ran to the door, not
bothering with a towel and leaving a trail of bubbly water in her
wake. She peeked through the peephole and saw Wade, phone to his
ear. She unlocked the deadbolt and swung the door open.

He lowered the phone and stared at her. “What
the hell? I was about to kick down the door. This was dead-bolted
and you locked the door to my adjoining room.”

“Sorry, didn’t realize your door was locked.
We are soaking in the bathtub, come on in.”

He glanced down at her and then at the trail
of bubbles leading out of the bedroom. His left eye twitched and he
followed her to the master bath.

Vivian noticed his bulging jaw muscles and
clenched fist and knew he was pissed.
Oopsie
.

“I’ve been calling you,” he said.

“You have? I haven’t heard it ring.” She
looked at her phone, and showed it to Nelson. “See, no missed
calls.”

He huffed, but there was nothing to be said.
He looked down, noticing he was standing in water.

Wendy grabbed a towel and threw it onto the
water-covered floor. “Lucy had an accident.”

The girls all laughed.

After a moment Nelson brought them back to
reality. “Listen, we need to talk about what we found on the fourth
floor.”

“Did y’all catch him?” Lucy asked.

“No, but we did find the painter’s clothing
he left behind. I doubt he’ll be trying that stunt again.”

“Is that where he spent the night?” Vivian
asked.

“We found an empty bag of chips and a beef
jerky package. The forensics tech will obtain DNA from the items
and try to confirm identification, but it was likely him.”

“It was. He loves that crap,” Vivian
said.

Wendy, a recent vegetarian convert, said,
“Ick.”

“Was he in a room?” Kate asked.

“He was hiding out in one of the rooms that
had already been renovated. How he had access, we’re not quite sure
but are working on it.”

Vivian shook her head. “I’m surprised with
all you’ve done with hotel security and the local guys that he’s
just waltzing around the property. Who’s in control here?”

Nelson stayed silent.

“So what’s next?” Vivian asked. “What do we
do from here?”

Nelson shook his head. “I recommend you
either go home, or stay right here, in the hotel.”

Vivian slapped at a bubble. “We have to do
something. I’m not going home until Craig has been caught and I
don’t see how sitting around here all day is going to accomplish
that.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute.

“What about whitewater rafting?” Kate said as
if Nelson hadn’t protested. “I know we didn’t have plans to do
that, but if we plan it tonight we can have your team set up and in
place along the route.”

Nelson’s face twitched. “I’m not going to get
authorization for a team and I won’t be able to raft with you.”

Kate kept going. “We could do the Royal Gorge
like Anne and Loren did today, though hopefully none of us will be
swimmers.”

Vivian was apprehensive. “I don’t know. I’ve
never rafted before, much less in whitewater with a stalker after
me.”

“There is no way you should even consider
this,” Nelson said adamantly.

Lucy’s previous drunkenness seemed to
disappear. “I’ve done that trip before. The water moves pretty
fast, so it technically makes you a moving target, not easy to
catch. Plus, we’ll all be with you, Viv. What could happen?”

Vivian nodded, thinking it over.

“Craig could be waiting for us at the end,”
Wendy said.

Nelson walked off down the hall, then came
back to the doorway. “This is not safe. It is absolutely not a good
idea. Even if I was able to assemble a team, there’s no way we
could completely control the situation.”

Vivian popped a bubble. “Fact is, you can’t
completely control any situation. Craig is totally unpredictable
and he could choose to come after me tomorrow regardless of what I
do and where I am, or he could be on his way to Rio de Janeiro. But
either way, I’m not going to sit here and do nothing. I have to
take calculated risks before I take this home with me. I am willing
to risk rafting tomorrow in order to draw him out. The question is,
will you be there to apprehend him if he shows up?”