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THERE WAS A DIFFERENT vibe on the ranch once we all returned from the holiday break. Lindy, Wes, and Alex had spent the time on an island with friends. I’d heard both Alex and Wes speak, so I knew they were the mystery men meeting in secret with Lindy and urging her to go public. I wondered how the love triangle was working out. For Lindy, I thought it could be a dangerous game.
The filming schedule included white water rafting, swimming, hiking, and fishing scenes. I’d wandered down yesterday to the river to watch the anglers. After the umpteenth squeal from Lindy, I couldn’t take it any longer. Guess the assistant director couldn’t either, because he called in Nakita to be her body double. I still couldn’t believe the resemblance between the two as they stood, backs to me, side by side facing the water.
I had another long day ahead without any horse activities on the filming schedule. I was restless, not to mention a little anxious. Nancy had sent me a book emoji with a question mark and a clock face—tick-tock— and I decided a horseback ride in the mountain air might get my creative juices flowing. I was returning to my room to change into riding gear when I saw Tiffany paused halfway down the stairs typing on her phone. She looked up as I reached her. Her looks startled me—dark circles under her eyes, a huge cold sore on her top lip.
“Oh, Courtney. Hi.”
I smiled. “I don’t mean to sound like I’m preaching, but your health trumps a job. I’ll help you if you need to call the locals. Death threats need to be taken—”
She cut me off with a slashing motion across her throat as Lindy sashayed past us without a hello. Tiffany waited until she was out of earshot. “Mr. Stone says ignore the threats. It’s just some crazy wanting publicity. He did, though, revise the filming schedule to wrap early. Just film the campout scene. Mr. Stone saw the pictures you took and has declared ‘no other location will work.’ We will set camp up tomorrow, film overnight, return the next day to the ranch to pack, and fly out the morning of the ninth. It’ll be okay.”
I think she was trying to convince herself more than reassure me.
***
BONNIE LET ME KNOW she was happy to see me with a tickling nuzzle to the back of my neck. Though I wanted to take off and explore, I decided staying on the designated riding paths would be a smarter choice. If Morgan Weatherby was in fact hiding out on the mountain, I didn’t want to tempt fate and end up kidnapped. I’d leave that scenario for my fictional character, Serena. Maybe I would work in Mr. No Face from the town of Eagle Landing as a character. The long-billed cap could be hiding a jagged knife scar or prison tats. Or a twist—the blue eyes and sexy five o’clock shadow of Serena’s new love interest.
The trails map showed a ride beside the river stopping at Lazy Falls before looping back to the corrals through a stand of quaking aspen. My mind wandered as the sure-footed mule picked her way over fallen branches and exposed tree roots. Smooth rocks dotted the riverbank. The July sun was intense. Sweat trickled down my cleavage, and I rubbed my T-shirt between my breasts to soak up the moisture. The tang of Bonnie’s sweat reached my nose as the trail weaved closer to the water. Time for a break. I stepped out of the saddle and let her drink. A raven circled overhead before landing in the top of a ponderosa across the river. I led Bonnie across the jumble of river rocks and tied her in the shade of the trees.
The trail divided; one fork led toward the stand of aspen and back to the ranch, the other to the bottom of the falls. The trail to the river was dotted with rocks that were slippery from the spray, and my slick-soled cowboy boots went out from under me. My molars gnashed my tongue, and the taste of blood exploded in my mouth. “Son of a bitch,” I said, spitting. I walked to the river, planning on rinsing my mouth with cool, clear water. Instead I found a murky green pond littered with leaves and small twigs; this was the lazy part of the falls. Large boulders and jagged rocks formed a natural dam that reduced the water’s rapid flow. I couldn’t see the falls because my view was obscured by a boulder the size of a two-story house, but I could tell from the flow of the water that the river had found a new pathway around the rock, cutting into the bank on the other side. Dragonflies dipped, hovered, and sped away. A near-vertical rock slab dotted with lichen reminded me of a slice of bread slathered with orange marmalade. Snagged just at the water’s edge was a glob the color of butter. Curious, I picked my way over the jumble of rocks to get a better look. The raven startled me when he let loose a piercing caw before swooping down from the tree to skim the water of the murky pond.
“Oh, God! No!”
Sunlight shimmered off long strands of blonde hair. I bent to the water’s edge and began sweeping the water toward me, hoping that would pull the hair my way. My fingers began to stiffen in the frigid water, and I sat back, rubbing my hands to warm them up.
A stick. I needed to find a long stick. I crab-crawled back to the bank and stumbled around until I found one long enough. I dragged it back across the rocks and slapped the water. The sound reminded me of a beaver’s warning of danger. I dug the limb in like an oar and hit something solid, thinking I’d banged the rock hidden underneath the cloudy water. The blonde locks twirled easily around the stick, and I pulled it to me. “This is just crazy.” What was a blonde wig doing here?
As I reached into the water to retrieve the wig, my fingers grazed something slimy just under the surface. I jerked my hand back, goosebumps raising on my arms. As I reached back toward the water to retrieve the wig, the body of Nakita floated to the surface. I screamed and struggled to push myself away from her body—pink T-shirt bright and colorful, slender arm floating as if she was waving to the crowd from a parade float.
My first thought was to get her out of the water before her body was carried over the falls, but I knew she would be too heavy for me to lift. And if I fell into the water, someone would end up discovering two floaters instead of one.
Nakita. Dead. I couldn’t believe it.
While I sat hypnotized, staring at her body, a thunderhead swallowed the sun. A distant rumble drew my gaze to the darkening sky, and I saw a storm moving in fast from the west. I scrambled back across the rocks and up the trail to where I had tied Bonnie. She was the picture of serenity—hind hock cocked, head lowered, eyes half-closed. It was a stark contrast to my mood after what I had just discovered.
I fumbled in the saddlebag for my cell phone. No service. Now there was no choice but to ride back to the ranch for help. I headed Bonnie down the trail and turned into the aspens just as the first drops began to fall. The canopy of leaves sheltered us from the rain until we emerged into the meadow and by the time the corrals came into view, I was drenched and shivering. As I neared the barn, I could see Skeeter standing in the open doorway. “Skeeter!” I hollered, but the wind ripped the sound away. I waved my arm, trying to get his attention. I swear the bastard saw me and turned, swaggering away. I rode Bonnie down the alleyway of the barn, stopping a few feet from his retreating back. “Skeeter, I need you,” I said, dismounting. My legs threatened to go out from under me, and I leaned against the mule.
“Thought you’d come around for a piece of good ol’ Skeeter sooner or later. The girls always do,” he said, turning around. “Whoa. Courtney. What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
“Nakita’s dead,” I blurted out.
“What?”
“Nakita’s in the pond at Lazy Falls.”
“Oh, shit. We’ll need some help. Call your boyfriend?”
I pulled my cell phone from the saddlebag. My hand shook, and the phone dropped with a clatter to the cement floor. I fell to my knees and grabbed it up, dialing. David answered on the second ring. “What’s up, buttercup?”
“It’s Nakita. She’s ... she’s ... We need to get to her.”
“Where are you?” His tone was serious now.
“At the barn.”
I was bent at the waist, fighting dizziness, when David ran up the alleyway. “What’s going on?”
Skeeter answered as he walked past, leading three horses: David’s buckskin and two big sorrels. “Nakita’s dead in the pond at Lazy Falls. We can’t get there by vehicle, so we’ll use Copper to pack her out. He was a body recovery horse in the Canadian Rockies.”
The imagery vivid, I swallowed the bile that had risen into my mouth. Pack her out like she’s a field-dressed elk.
David finished saddling Buck and walked to where I stood. His strong fingers gripped my shoulders. “Courtney, you need to go back to the lodge. Get out of these wet clothes and drink something hot and strong. Get Sissally to stay with you.”
“Nakita. I ... need ... to ... go ... to her.” A sob escaped, and I fell into his chest.
David wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. “Skeeter and I will take care of her.”
“She’s coming around.” I focused and saw Sissally sitting in a chair beside my bed. I struggled to sit up, but the effort was too much and I fell back, pulling the duvet up around my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut tight.
Nakita dead.
I’d been at the barn with David and Skeeter and then ... I didn’t remember coming to the lodge or getting into bed.
“I’ll get some tea,” Sissally said. David took her vacated chair.
“Nakita?” My tongue was sore from where I had bitten it, and I rubbed it with my index finger. David started to answer but was interrupted when a man stepped into my room. A shield sewn to his uniform sleeve identified him as the law.
“You, out,” he said, pointing to David.
“Deputy, may I have a word with you?” David asked. He motioned to the door, and the uniformed officer puffed his chest out and opened his mouth to object. David moved nose to nose with the man, and Sissally interrupted the faceoff announcing she had brought tea. David’s muffled words to the deputy resulted in the two men leaving the room. But before Sissally and I could say anything to each other, the deputy returned and shooed Sissally out. I was relieved to see David standing in the doorway.
“I’m Deputy Sheriff Davis.” He pulled a small tape recorder from his shirt pocket. “Start at the beginning when you left the barn this afternoon.” I spoke as if I was reading a fictional section from one of my books, and the deputy only asked a few clarification questions. “Stick around the lodge here,” he said. “I’ll return with your typed statement to have you sign it.” David smiled at me and disappeared with the deputy, clicking the door shut behind them.
My mind swirled with questions? Had whoever sent the death threat followed through? And had Nakita wearing the blonde wig been mistaken for Lindy? The death of the lead star would certainly have gotten Mr. Stone’s attention.
I had nearly succumbed to sleep when there was a tap on the door. My muscles protested when I climbed out of bed to answer it. Tiffany looked up and down the hall before physically pushing her way into my room. She turned and locked the deadbolt.
“Tiffany, are you okay?”
“I should be asking you that,” she gave me a weak smile. “The sheriff has ruled Nakita’s death an accident.”
“What? So soon? The deputy sheriff was just here questioning me. He wouldn’t have had time to even file my report.”
“All I know is that’s what Mr. Stone texted me.” Tiffany slipped out of her sandals and climbed onto my bed as if she’d found a life-saving raft in an angry sea. “Do you think Nakita’s death was an accident? What if someone killed her and I could have prevented it?” Tiffany hiccupped a sob.
I joined her on the bed. “I’m sure it was an accident.” Courtney Jane, there you go fibbing again. I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed a couple of tissues, handing them to Tiffany. “She probably slipped, fell into the river, and hit her head. The current carried her downriver to Lazy Falls.” I tapped my finger on my upper lip. “What I can’t figure out is why the blonde wig was there.”
“I think I can answer that. We were filming earlier—some rough and tumble scenes. Nakita had a blonde wig glued on.”
“So, if she’d fallen in the river close to the ranch, and her wig was glued on, it might not have come off until . . .” I didn’t want to think about slapping the water with the tree limb, unwittingly smacking Nakita’s submerged body.
Tiffany wrapped her thin arms around herself in a hug and then let her hands fall into her lap. “Courtney, I’ve tried everything I can to get Mr. Stone to agree to let us leave the ranch right now. Derik suggested we film the campout scene back at the studio. But Mr. Stone insists we do it here. Something about using the scenes in the movie trailer—the mountain where people die. I don’t think I can do this biz any longer. You’re right—my health is more important than a job. I’d quit today, but I signed a contract for this film, and I don’t have the money to pay back the advance.”
Spent it on footwear, my evil side thought.
Tiffany gestured for more tissues and continued. “What I really came to see is if you’ll still be able to go on the campout tomorrow. I know under the circumstances it’s a lot to ask.” She picked at the scab covering the cold sore on her lip. “And there’s something else.”
“What’s that?”
“Would you consider being a body double for Lindy? It’s only one scene—when she’s kidnapped out of her sleeping bag. Lindy refuses to do it. I don’t know why. It’s not dangerous.”
“Tiffany, I could never pass as Lindy. I’m taller and well ... heavier.”
“With the darkness, it would work. Please, Courtney?”
Feeling anything but the desire to go back up onto the mountain, I said, “Okay, if it means getting this done and all of us away from here before something else happens.”
