Page 7

CHAPTER 7

Our first stop the next morning was the spa for a swim and a trip to the sauna. I couldn’t imagine this kind of luxury ever getting old. Truth be told, I could spend all day here and not feel the slightest bit guilty about it. It was why we’d chosen to come in January, after all—the chill of the mountain air paired with steamy pools was nothing short of divine. I envisioned days upon days of Sloane pampering, reading books, enjoying healthy food and mocktails from the café …

I was jolted out of my happy moment when I heard the words “Harmony,” “attack,” and “mysterious note.”

I grabbed Maddie’s arm. “Did you hear that?”

I looked around and spotted a small group of staffers whispering off to the side.

Maddie nodded. “Someone said something about a mysterious note?”

“And something about Harmony being attacked, I think,” I said. “Wonder what that’s all about?”

“Why don’t we just ask?”

“Who are you going to ask?”

“ I’m not going to ask,” she said. “ You are. You’re better at approaching people out of the blue and forcing them to reveal things. You’re scary good at it sometimes.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

It was true, but sometimes I wished it wasn’t.

The whispering group of women began to disperse, and I wasted no time approaching one of the nail technician’s, a girl I’d seen the day before. She’d seemed chattier than the others, and I hoped approaching her was the right choice.

Pulling her to the side, I asked, “Hey, are you and Harmony friends?”

The petite redhead shrugged. “Kinda. I mean, we work together is all.”

I got right to the point.

“Has something happened to Harmony?” I asked.

Her green eyes, ringed with massive false lashes, went wide. “Uhh, yeah.”

I pressed her for information, making sure to mention that I’d become friends with Harmony during my stay. She was more than happy to spill the tea. And the tea was this: Harmony hadn’t made it in to work that morning. At present, she was lying in a hospital bed getting treated for a head injury.

Maddie, who’d been standing several feet back, sprung to my side and said, “What’s this about an injury?”

She’d spoken loud enough for many in the spa to turn in our direction.

Maddie faced them, clenching her teeth and offering a weak smile, saying, “Uh, sorry. Sorry, everything’s fine. Don’t mind us.”

As everyone went back to their business, I urged the tech to keep talking, and talk she did. Harmony had found a “threatening” note near the back porch of their small home, and then she was attacked.

“Attacked how?” I asked.

She raised a finger. “I’m getting there. So, yeah … it was raining, and she was huddled under the roof of her porch. She saw the piece of paper, I guess, somewhere out there in the yard, snapped it up, and read it.”

“What did it say?”

“No idea. Sounds to me like it wasn’t good, though. Maybe a threat of some sort. I’m still trying to find out. Whatever it was, Harmony thought the message was meant for both her and Almond at first. But it could have been meant just for Harmony, because she was the one got attacked.”

“Attacked how?” I repeated my earlier question.

“She was hit on the head.”

“Hit on the head with what?”

“I heard it was, like, a heavy object, whatever that means. Guess she blacked out, and Almond took her to the ER.”

The nail technician seemed to have a lot of details about the incident for someone who claimed she wasn’t close friends with Harmony.

“How in the world do you know all this already?” I asked. “It just happened last night.”

She shot me a sarcastic grin. “I know people.”

“What does that mean?” Maddie asked. “What people?”

She frowned. “I’m sayin’ I know people at the hospital , okay? Last I heard, Almond was at Harmony’s side. She’s sleeping there and everything.”

“I’m glad she’s all right.”

“I mean, it’s kinda spooky,” the girl said. “I’m glad she’s all right too, but still … the entire situation is weird.”

Maddie turned toward me, saying, “We need to talk to Almond.”

She may have been right, but I had to remind myself—and my friend—that we were not on a girls’ getaway to solve mysteries. Law enforcement would be involved. For now, we were better off staying in our lane.

I shared my feelings with Maddie.

“As much as I hate not investigating something like this, I’m going to talk you off the ledge this time,” I said. “Let’s swim and go to the sauna like we planned, okay? That’s what we’re here to do, and the local cops will have it covered.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t scheming to find a way to get us into Harmony’s room.”

“Oh, I am, and I’m just as curious as everyone else is, but … no. Not this time.”

It felt weird lying to myself, knowing my mind was weighing all the angles about what little I knew.

Maddie slung an arm around me. “You’re right. We need to continue our vacation and not let other people’s problems get in the way. Besides, after this week, we’ll never see any of these people again.”