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great time getting the spa treatment.

Chapter 5

    I nearly dropped the glass into the drinking fountain. “Oh, Shirley. I . . .” I ran out of words.
    “It’s okay. I can have Danielle pour the other flavor for you. That one’s pretty sweet.”
    “No, really, it’s okay. I just haven’t had enough water today. You know how important that is.” I smiled stupidly.
    “Oh, absolutely. And you’ll be happy to know that our water throughout the building is filtered for purity.”
    I took another sip from the fountain. “Very good.” A thought flashed through my mind, back to this morning’s hastily chugged bowl of Coco Puffs and the fact that I had skipped lunch altogether. Maybe Linda had another motive in bringing me here, to convert me to a healthier lifestyle. I probably should take the program more seriously.
    “Nice facilities,” I commented, putting my nice-face back on. “I peeked into a couple of the treatment rooms.”
    Shirley flashed me a warm smile. “Linda told me you were a private investigator. It makes perfect sense that you would check out your surroundings.”
    “I hope you don’t mind.”
    “Oh, it’s fine. While you’re here, our home is your home. Do look around.”
    “And that part about being a private investigator. That’s not exactly true.”
    She tilted her head to one side.
    “I’m a partner in an investigation agency. But I just handle the financial end of it.” Except that I often find myself going further than that, as evidenced by several close calls in recent years. “It’s become more of a sideline anyway. My husband owns a helicopter service and I help out there pretty often.”
    A flash of interest. “You have quite an amazing life, don’t you?” she said.
    “Well, it’s been fun, I have to admit.” I found myself sharing the details of how Drake and I met in Hawaii. She listened with interest and I felt a rapport building.
    The tone of the voices in the front room changed in intensity and she pulled herself back to the present moment. “Guess I better get back to the group. Nice to chat with you,” she said. I followed her back to the spa lobby to find that Dr. Light had left and the crowd was dispersing. Linda stood near a big potted plant, looking around for me.
    “I wasn’t sure if you were still here,” she said.
    “Oh, yeah, just checking things out.” I briefly described the rest of the facility. “Take a peek, if you want. I’m sure Shirley won’t mind. I think I’ll head back to the room.”
    She said she’d do the same. Once settled, I decided to give Ron a quick call since we hadn’t ended our last conversation on the best of terms. The phone rang four times and I glanced at my watch. After nine.
    “Y’ello,” his voice finally said.
    “Hey—just checking in. How’d the weekend go?” Keep it light, Charlie.
    “Huh. Jason was feeling better by the time we met up with Bernadette, but of course all three boys blabbed about how much junk they ate at the fair and how sick he’d been. I got the usual devil-glare from her.”
    I made sympathetic noises—I’ve seen Bernadette’s devil-glare—then filled him in on everything I’d done at the office this morning, letting him know that I wasn’t shirking my duties.
    “I talked to Drake awhile ago. His deposition is set for this week. He didn’t sound happy about it.”
    “He’s not looking forward to being grilled. Nobody would.”
    “It’s more than that.”
    “When he started the investigation he didn’t know Mike Walters was the pilot. And he’s putting together some new evidence. Take a look at the notes in the folder.”
    “Charlie, I know how he feels about this case. But he can’t back out on us now. He offered to help with the research and now we’re getting down to where we need his expertise.”
    “I know that. He knows that. He’ll be there.” Not exactly with bells on, but I know my husband. He’s nothing if not reliable.
    A half-minute of silence from