Bead onTrouble Read online

  It was something I could never master, and it looked like the women on either side of Beth were having their problems with the technique, as well. I didn't recognize them, so I assumed they'd arrived while I was gone. They also seemed to be new to beading.

  "I've been looking all over for you," Beth said to me.

  "Give me just a minute."

  Even though this wasn't an official demonstration, Beth was helping the two women just as Angie was helping Sande. I've noticed that's how crafters are—supportive-and they love teaching each other new things.

  I ran my fingers over the beads in Beth's design tray. All I needed was ten minutes of bead therapy—

  "You need to hold the loop firmer," Beth was saying to one woman, as if it was something anyone could do. "You had it just right on that last one."

  And that's the problem with the wrapped loop—unless you know what you're doing, you end up with one well-shaped loop and one that looks like a trapezoid. Beth can crank out a chain of wrapped loops like a machine, and so can most good wire workers. Not me. Maybe someday when we have an ice storm and I'm stuck in my house with no electricity and I'm working by candlelight, I'll spend hours perfecting the art of the wrapped loop.

  Or maybe I'll take a nap. Depends on my mood at the time.

  Beth made encouraging comments about grip and such, but it all seemed futile to me. In the corner Leesa with two es was watching a woman create a delicate beaded cover for a needle holder. Leesa seemed entranced. At a table near me several women were making beads and medallions of polymer clay. If Beth hadn't requested my presence, I could have gone to play with clay.

  Through the door to the vendor's room I could see Tony Campanelli and Cordy Wright. Cordy was fingering some beautiful pink quartz beads while Tony spoke earnestly to her.

  "Ready?" Beth said, moving me toward the door. "Where did you go?"

  "Long story. I feel like I'm missing the whole retreat, and I have the need . .." She didn't join in as I said, "The need to bead." A bad sign.

  We were outside by then. "I know the feeling. Did you see the newsletter?"

  Cordy's daily camp newsletter. "No. Should I?"

  "Not unless you were planning to submit to Tivolini."

  "Not me!"

  Leesa came out the door, "Hi?'

  "Hi," I said. "How did you like those needle covers?"

  "Magnificent?' she said. "People do such amazing things.

  Well, I'll see you at dinner?' And she hurried off toward the Lazy L.

  I turned back to Beth, "So, what did the newsletter say?"

  Beth took a long breath, making her large bosom quiver.

  "We had to sign up for appointments. I'm meeting with the buyer at nine o'clock tomorrow morning_ I have the first slot."

  "Beth, that's great:'

  "How can you say that? It was distant before, but now there's urgency. It's tomorrow. It's winner take all, life or death—no, I didn't mean that. I don't know what I mean.

  I'm stressed."

  "I see that, and for no reason at all. You are a wonderful designer, you've already done all the work, and now you'll get to bask in the glory when you are selected as the new Tivolini designer?'

  "Sometimes?' Beth said, "I think you live on another planet." She shook her hands to shake out the nerves. "If you were me, you'd be just as nervous as I am. Admit it?"

  "As I said, there'd be no reason for it."

  A bell sounded at the dining hall. It was the fifteen-minute warning, tel ing everyone to pack up their materials and head for dinner.

  "I've got a bunch of things I need to put away?" Beth said, turning back inside.

  "I'll help." I followed her. Cases were being brought out from under tables, and projects were being carefully packed up in towels before they went into boxes. "Where's Shannan?" I asked. "I haven't seen her since lunch."

  "I don't know. I thought maybe you two were together?'

  She looked at me. "But she wasn't with you, was she?" I shook my head, no. "Oh, dear, you don't think—"

  "I think she'l be in the dining hall in just a few minutes."

  "But I haven't seen her in, it must be a couple of hours?'

  "She's probably sleeping off her hangover." I sounded sure of myself, but that was for Beth's benefit. I didn't like Shannan's absence, either. "I'll go poke my head in the cabin, just to make sure she heard the dinner bell."

  "That's a good idea." Beth was nodding, but I could almost see her stress level rising.

  "I'll see you in a few minutes," I said. "And I'll have a beer for you, because you need it."

  "I'm on a diet."

  "Won't matter what your weight is if you keel over with a stroke."

  I took off to hunt for Shannan.

  Seventeen

  his wasn't the time for Shannan to be off by herself.

  Especially with the sun starting to dip and

  T

  some clouds sliding out to darken the sky. It made me nervous. Concerned, as anyone in their right mind would be.

  First thing, I went up the path toward the Lazy L. "Shannan?" I called out as I neared the cabin.

  There was no answer, but I did hear a sound like something moving across the concrete floor, then bed springs creaking.

  "Shannan?" I said again, as I stepped inside the dim cabin.

  "Not here," Leesa said. She was lounging on her bunk, her head propped on her hand as she peered down at me.

  I'd have sworn the girl just climbed up there, but I couldn't say why I believed that.

  "Have you seen her?"

  "Not since lunch. She's probably on her way to dinner.

  The gong's already gone off."

  "I thought you were going down to the dining hall."

  "Oh, I am. I just .. ." She looked around the cabin. "I was playing with Sinatra. He's the cutest thing."

  The little guy was curled up in the corner of his cage with the baby blanket half over his tiny body. He was the cutest thing, but if she came up to the Lazy L to play with him, then why was she on her bunk ten feet away from his cage? And why was Sinatra sleeping?

  "Do me a favor," I said, reaching down to pet Sinatra,

  "If you see Shannan, tell her I need to talk with her."

  "Where should I tell her you'll be?"

  "Looking for her." I pulled my hand out of the cage, as he reached a paw to nudge me.

  Leesa remained on her bunk, which made me even more curious as to why she wasn't moving.

  "Are you all right?" I asked.

  "I'm fine."

  "That's good:' She was up to something, but I was more anxious to find Shannan than I was curious about what it was. "See you at dinner."

  I grabbed a zip-up sweatshirt and headed down the hill toward the campfire. On the path I got behind a slow moving group of women who were putting on jackets and juggling flashlights as they went. I couldn't quite get around them, so I turned back to get my own flashlight from the Lazy L, since I'd need it after dinner or after the memorial service. Funny thing was, in just the few minutes it took to get back to the cabin, Leesa was gone.

  I grabbed my flashlight and started out again. At the rate I was going, I'd put in enough miles for a marathon before bedtime.

  I caught up with the group of women just as they entered the dining hall. Under their cover, I poked my head in, in case Shannan had beat me there. The dozen or so campers who were already lining up for food didn't include my goddaughter. Beth wasn't there yet, either, but I wasn't surprised since she had supplies to put away.

  I left my flashlight and sweatshirt at an empty place then slipped out again. As I'd told Beth, this is a big camp, and Shannan could be in a dozen different places, and maybe even having a good time in one of them.

  I was passing the camp office, still trying to convince myself that I wasn't really concerned when I heard someone moving around inside the small building. It wasn't likely that the someone was Shannan . still—

  "Hello?" I opened the door and s
tuck my head in. I blinked a couple of times in the bright light before I realized that it was Nate Wright standing there. "Oh. Hello," I said.

  He didn't seem as surprised to see me as I was to see him. "Kitzi, hi. Come in:'

  I stayed on the step. "Thanks, but there's no need. I was looking for Shannan. My goddaughter, Shannan Fairfield.

  A little taller than me, auburn hair, seventeen? Very pretty?'

  He thought for a second. "Sure, she was at your table at lunch?' And then his eyes widened. "Is she missing?

  Do we—"

  "No, we don't," I said. "She could be on her way to dinner, but I haven't seen her in several hours and neither has her mother. I'm just making sure she gets to dinner on time."

  His dark eyes were intent on my face. I got the feeling he was trying to believe there was no reason for concern; kind of like I was convincing myself. "If you don't find her," he said, "Let me know. Or I could go with you now."

  "I appreciate that, but there's nothing both of us could do that I can't do on my own."

  "We can get a group—"

  "If we started a search, we'd scare everyone half to death?'

  "I don't see that it matters. I'm not an alarmist, but I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

  Damn, I liked the way this man thought.

  "I've got two more places to check, and then I'll be in the dining hall," I said. "I'll let you know." Without waiting for an answer, I made my way down the steps and along the trail. Too bad I hadn't met Nate instead of kb. I'd have to have a chat with Cordy about that.

  The path forked, and as I cut right I thought I heard voices. I stopped, but there was nothing but a lot of silence.

  I started again, moving as softly as I could. The talking came again, from farther down the hill. I was practically tiptoeing, hoping to tell if it was Shannan's voice, but even my breathing was clouding my hearing. Finally, there was the unmistakable sound of something punching a ball. I recognized the whomp of the tetherball being hit.

  "Shannan? Shannan? Is that you?" I took off moving at a lope, which wasn't smart since at twilight the shadows can be tricky.

  I raised my voice, "Shannan?"

  The sounds of tetherball stopped. "Tante Kitzi?"

  I roared into the clearing. She was there, holding the tetherball in her hand, and on the other side of the pole from her was Jennifer.

  "Shannan," I said. "Why don't you let someone know if you're going to go off by yourself?"

  Except she wasn't by herself; she was with Jennifer, who said, "We've been right here."

  "Yeah," Shannan said. "What's wrong?"

  "I'll tell you what's wrong—someone was murdered last night. Someone female and beautiful, just like you."

  I was close enough now to see Shannan's face, and her expression went from mild annoyance to swift comprehen-sion. "I just, I guess I just didn't think about that."

  "Well, you should. We're all at risk, and when I couldn't find you, I had some very bad moments. The dinner bell has already rung, Why aren't you two on your way to the dining hall?"

  "We didn't hear the bell?"

  She looked genuinely contrite, and Jennifer looked curious. I hadn't said a thing about her, so I rectified that oversight. "And what about you, Jennifer? You didn't tell anyone where you were going, either?' I said.

  "I'm not afraid?' she said. "I've taken karate."

  I swung closer to her. "Well, that's just fine, but you'd better be very good at it to defend yourself against a murderer."

  She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed confused, 'Well, I'm pretty good, but I don't see the big deal—"

  "I left you napping," I said. "I didn't expect you to sleep all day, but you weren't in the Saloon, and you didn't show up in the dining hall, either."

  Was that a wary look on her face? It was hard to tell with the shadows so deep. "I didn't think anyone would care."

  "If something happened to you?" I asked. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. From this moment forward, you and Shaman are under protective custody. Mine." She nodded, maybe pleased that someone cared. "Now," I said, moving forward, putting an arm around each of the girls.

  "We need to get up to the dining hall. And we need to work out some kind of plan to look after each other. All of us!"

  "But how?" Shannan asked as we started walking. "This is a big place."

  "That's my point," I said. "You don't have to let us know every time you go to the john, but if you're going to be gone long enough for me to start worrying, then you better see that I don't."

  "Yes, ma'am," Shannan said.

  "And you, Miss Jennifer? That goes for you, too," I said.

  Jennifer nodded. "If you're sure."

  "I am very sure."

  "Okay."

  "Good." I gave them a little shove as we started up the hill to the shortcut that would take us to the dining hall. "Then I won't have to track you down, because it's wearing." "Is my mom looking for us, too?" Shannan asked.

  "No, I sent her on to dinner." I made the last turn toward the dining hall, where the final bell was being rung.

  "But what about you?" Shannan said. "I couldn't find you this afternoon . . ."

  It was a good point. I'd been off with Nate, and at the time I hadn't been sure if he was one of the good guys or the bad. For that matter, I stil wasn't sure.

  "I'll make the same deal," I said. "Does that work?" The girls nodded. "Then it's settled." I sniffed the air. "And unless I'm mistaken, we're having barbeque for dinner.

  Lucky for you two I didn't miss that." Just ahead of us I could see the lights of the dining hall.

  "Smells good," Jennifer said as we moved forward. "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought."

  Shannan shrugged. "I'm not."

  Something weighty was being manhandled in her very clever mind.

  "You two need your flashlights for after the memorial service tonight. Shannan, why don't you—"

  "I'll get them," Jennifer said.

  "No, I don't want you alone now that it's almost dark.

  It's what we just talked about, remember? You go on and get us some places at a table, and Shannan and I can run up to the cabin?'

  Jennifer and Shaman exchanged glances, but they agreed and Jennifer veered up toward the dining hall.

  As Shannan and I turned to our left, I said, "What's up, Miss Priss? You're worried about something."

  "It's nothing."

  I touched her arm. "It's something. Maybe I can help."

  She slowed her pace and fumbled with her words. "It's, well, you know. I feel stupid about the way I acted, and the things I said last night."

  "Oh?"

  "When we saw May in my dad's Lexus." We were walking side by side, and the only sounds in the camp besides those we were making seemed to be below us where everyone had gathered for dinner. "I said some terrible things about May. I think I even made it sound like I was going to, well, do something to her. But I wasn't, really."

  "I know that:"

  "I was just mad. Really furious that she was, you know.

  We shouldn't have hit them," she concluded.

  Can't worry about hindsight, although I imagine we all do. "Maybe not," I said "We couldn't predict what would happen to May. I think that's one you'll have to let go of, since you can't change the past."

  "That's only a little piece of what I'm worrying about.

  I'm mostly worried about my dad." I remained silent, as wind ruffled the tree leaves overhead. "It's not that I think my dad could ever hurt anyone," Shaman finally said. "Especially since he really seemed to like her. He did like her, didn't he? Maybe even loved her."

  "Seemed to."

  "Well, there couldn't be any other reason he spent so much time with her. Could there?" I heard hope in her voice.

  "Could have been plain old sex."

  Shannan made a small gagging sound. Why is it that humans always think their generation invented sex and anyone older than them shouldn't be having
any?

  We reached the Lazy L and I turned on the light. The sleeping porch was empty, and Sinatra blinked in the brightness, Then he meowed. Repeatedly.

  "You get the flashlights and some jackets; NI take care of Sinatra."

  "Okay."

  Under cover of our busyness, I said, "So what's the other part of your worry?"

  "Peterson." She had the flashlights from the window ledge and was taking a sweatshirt off the foot of her bed.

  "Do you think he'll find out we didn't tell the whole truth?"

  "So what? What's the worst he can do?"

  "I don't know but look at what happened to Martha Stewart."

  I personally didn't think that was a good idea, so I plopped Sinatra in his litter box and turned around to say,

  "No one is going to put us on trial for misleading Officer Peterson. He doesn't have that kind of clout. Why are you worried about your dad?"

  Shannan sighed and sat on my bunk. "Tante Kitzi, I know he didn't do anything to hurt May, but there have to be people who know about what they were doing. If someone tells Peterson, then my dad could be arrested. He doesn't have an alibi for that night, since Mom and I were here. Maybe he'd go to jail—"

  "Do you hear yourself? If someone ... then he could .

  and maybe.. Shannan, ninety-seven percent of what we worry about never happens. That's fact."

  "This could be the other three percent."

  "Could be. Could not be." I turned in time to see her lower lip quiver. I sat down and put an arm around her.

  "Honey, there is nothing we can do to protect your father.

  We've already lied. Now all we can do is pray."

  She sucked in a big breath of air and straightened. "I know you're right."

  "You're a good person and a wonderful daughter. That's partly your dad's doing, so let's give him credit for being able to take care of himself. And he's a lawyer, too. You're forgetting that." Sinatra was poking in his empty food bowl. "You need some food, and so does Sinatra. Let me feed him, and we'll go down to dinner."

  There were six of us at one of the small round tables, Beth, Shannan, Jennifer, Sandra, Angie, and me. We had done our best to get down our portion of the barbeque and now we sat with greasy plates in front of us, waiting for our turn to scrape and stack them before we could get our dessert. Not that I was all that interested in banana cream pudding with vanilla wafers.