CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

On Saturday morning, Selene and Elisa decided to go to The Woods Spa and Salon for facials and to get their hair done, in spite of the fact that their husbands weren’t crazy about the idea. Quinn had told Selene that they shouldn’t be wandering the streets of Bluffs Bay as though they didn’t have a care in the world. Elisa complained that Marvin was so concerned about her safety he’d been following her around like a puppy.

But Selene refused to let fear of her ex and a serial killer prevent her from carrying on with her life with as much normalcy as possible and that included an occasional spa treatment.

Todd Foxworth’s face lit up with an effervescent smile as he greeted them. “Good morning, ladies! You’re just what this place needed to get out of the doldrums: two gorgeous women that we have the opportunity to make even more beautiful!”

Elisa fluttered her lashes. “Aren’t you the charming one, Todd! Although you are laying it on a bit thick.”

Selene smiled. “Speak for yourself. I think he recognizes real beauty when he sees it.”

“There you go, Selene,” he said with a sly grin. “And obviously Quinn and Marvin feel the same way.”

Selene could only speak for Quinn, who she knew found her attractive not only on the outside, but also intellectually, sexually, and spiritually. And she appreciated the same qualities in him.

“My staff is here to serve you,” Todd told them, playing the perfect host. “If you need anything at all, let me know.”

“We will,” Elisa promised. Todd proceeded to give them the grand tour of the place, as if it was their first visit.

After he left them alone, Elisa whispered to Selene, “Thought he said at the meeting that business was really bad with the murders and all. Did you see that parking lot? It was packed! Now I see where everyone’s spending their time and money these days.”

“Yeah, I know,” Selene said. “Guess Todd was just exaggerating to increase his bottom line.”

“So should we get the facial treatment or our hair done first?” Elisa asked.

“Whatever you want,” Selene said.

* * *

“I knew her,” Elisa said half an hour later as she was getting her hair done.

“Knew who...?” Selene asked.

“The last victim of the strangler,” Elisa said in an almost conspiratorial whisper.

“You did?”

“Yeah, sort of...” Elisa explained that the victim had worked at the local bookstore she frequented. “She really seemed to love her job and knew all the good stuff about today’s hottest authors—including Quinn. I just can’t believe she’s dead and that Quinn and Todd found her...” Elisa choked back the words.

“I know,” Selene said, hating that Quinn had happened upon the scene. She wondered if the tragedy of his first wife’s death had somehow numbed Quinn to the experience, but quickly rejected the notion. She was certain that no one could ever get used to death by violence.

“I just hope she went quickly,” Elisa said. “The thought of prolonged suffering at the hands of a killer really freaks me out.”

“You and me both.” A chill ran through Selene at the thought.

“Better that we not know, right?” Elisa’s grandmotherly hairdresser said with a thick Ethiopian accent. “That way, we don’t have to hurt with her.”

“Thank God for that,” uttered the younger woman doing Selene’s hair. “It could have been any one of us. But it wasn’t our time to go.”

Selene was thankful for that. At the same time, she wasn’t so sure it was Karlene’s time to go any more than the other victims of The Woods Strangler. They had too much life left to have it short-circuited in such a terrible way. She hoped that no more women would lose their lives before the killer was apprehended.

* * *

They left the spa and salon, feeling refreshed after their facials and happy with their new hairdos. They stopped at a nearby café for lunch.

When Selene told Elisa about her encounter with Michel Giovanni, she almost lost it. The memories of what he did to her came flooding back as if only yesterday. But what really disturbed her was the prospect of Michel and Quinn coming to blows. She didn’t want to see her husband on either end of violence, which Selene suspected would be playing right into Michel’s hands.

“Sounds like a real creep,” Elisa said.

“Yeah, and then some,” concurred Selene. “I never should have gotten involved with Michel. Guess I was just too young and stupid to follow my instincts at the time. I think I had a terminal case of denial.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Elisa said. “What’s important is that you saw the light before it was too late.”

Selene’s mind drifted to Ashley Leighton. Would she see the light? Or would she continue to feel the sting of her husband’s fists until it was too late?

Elisa brushed back the strands her newly styled hair. “Does your ex really think he can find out who The Woods Strangler is? That is, assuming he’s not looking at him in the mirror.”

“I really don’t know what he’s thinking,” Selene replied. “He’s always been a big talker.” And a bigger puncher, she thought. “I seriously doubt he’s capable of doing what the police haven’t been able to do, reward or not.”

“Well, have the police at least picked him up for questioning just to be sure?”

Selene shook her head. “Not to my knowledge.”

“This must be driving Quinn nuts,” Elisa said. “I know Marvin would flip out if I had an abusive ex and he just showed up out of the blue, talking a little crazy, and putting the fear of God in me like it made his day.”

“Let’s just say that Quinn has accepted my past for what it was and doesn’t have any desire to stir the pot,” Selene responded. Truthfully, she feared Quinn would be anxious as long as Michel was in town. “Like me, he’s just hoping Michel will go back where he came from and leave us alone.”

She wondered if that was possible. Had she managed to get through to Michel—with a little help from Julian McKenzie—so he’d leave her alone? For good. Or was it Michel’s intention to make her life miserable again?

Selene dreaded the thought.