I woke at my usual time, made myself a cup of coffee, shaved, and headed for the hot tubs. The temperature was in the low sixties and the ground wet from early fog.
When I got to the tub area, the maintenance crew had finished their work, and the tubs were empty. I stripped, showered, grabbed a towel, and headed for the most remote tub. There, I drifted across the hot water and came to the stone-and-concrete edge that overlooked the ocean. Alone in the universe except for the sound of crashing waves and an occasional gull cry.
My mind cleared and I felt buoyed by positive emotion, happy with the workshop and excited about my burgeoning relationship with Kate. Malcolm Eastwick’s death was intriguing but did not seem to have anything to do with me.
As I floated, I remembered a dream I’d had the previous night. I was swimming in a lagoon in a tropical setting with Fiona and Kate. When we reached the shore and stood up on the sandy bottom, Fiona lifted her hand and handed something to Kate. A beating heart.
My meditation was interrupted when I heard someone enter the tub. The intruder moved close to me; I felt their movement in the water and smelled perfume.
“I hoped I would find you here,” Tammy said.
I opened my eyes. “I was meditating.”
Tammy ignored my response and drew close. She was nude and made sure that I had a good look at her attributes. “I think we would be good together,” she said.
Wow, I thought, Tammy is really desperate. “I’m starting a relationship with Kate.”
“You barely know her. You should give me a try.”
“Thanks, but I’m monogamous.”
“No one would know,” Tammy said with a quiver in her voice.
“I would.” I was scrambling for the right words to get her to back off without hurting her. “There’s something you should understand; something nobody else knows. Kate and I didn’t meet here by chance; we arrived at this workshop after having participated in an elite dating service. We were matched psychologically and biologically.”
“Really? I never heard of such a thing.”
“It’s a new San Francisco startup, ‘Super Tryst.’ Kate and I were matched on the Myers-Briggs test and the Stanford Pheromone profile.” I piled it on. “It cost me $10,000.”
“Really? Where did Kate get that kind of money?”
“They don’t charge single women as much; I think Kate paid $4000.”
Tammy took a step back.
“Maybe I could use their services.” She sat down with her back against the tub wall. “I need to find someone other than Ernie.”
“Remind me at the workshop and I’ll give you their URL. And if Kate and I don’t work out, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Tammy reached out with her right hand, and I squeezed it. “That would be nice, Tom. I think we would be good together,” she said in a defeated tone of voice.
When I got to the dining room, Kate was sitting by herself. I sat down next to her and had the momentary sensation of an energy surge throughout my chest.
“Did you enjoy working with the other women?” I asked.
“I did. Cheryl is very talented. She worked with us for another hour, then she left, and we all stayed and talked until after midnight. What about you?”
“I had two interesting conversations in the tubs.” I told her about my late-night conversation with Laura Sanchez. “I think she’s worried that someone on the Institute campus killed Malcolm Eastwick.”
“Laura told me she thinks Eastwick was murdered but she left out the part about the killer still being around.”
“She didn’t say that. I inferred it from her questions.”
“You’re probably right. Who else did you talk to?”
I told Kate about my encounter with Tammy.
Kate growled. “Talk about brazen. What did you do?”
“I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I made up a story about how we’d been matched by a new high-tech dating service.”
Kate tilted her head to one side and chortled. “That’s priceless. And she bought it?”
“Totally. She even asked me to give her info on the dating service.”
“Poor Tammy, she’s not very bright.” Kate took my hand. “You know Tom, the average guy here would have accepted Tammy’s offer and fucked her in one of the massage rooms.”
“I guess I’m not the average guy.”
She leaned close. “That’s why I like you.”