Tags:
Mystery,
a river ranger. When a whitewater rafting accident occurs,
it was poison. Tom King was a rich land developer with bitter business rivals,
The Arkansas River is the heart and soul of Salida,
including her beloved Uncle Bill—the respected owner of an outfitting business,
and infuriated environmentalists.Mandy cooperates with the local sheriff's department to solve the murder. But little does she know how greatly the case will affect those she loves,
who cheated on his wife,
refused to support his kayak-obsessed son,
but a man dies anyway. But it wasn't the river rapids that killed him,
Colorado. It fuels the small town's economy and thrums in the blood of twenty-seven-year-old Mandy Tanner,
she deftly executes a rescue,
out of whose raft Tom King fell. She goes on an emotionally turbulent quest for the truth—and ends up in dangerous waters.
prevent that from occurring.”
“I’m sure he’ll figure something out,” Claire said.
But she didn’t really feel that hopeful. Horses and tourists
didn’t follow precise schedules, and there were bound to be de-
lays on trail rides. How could Charley keep Tom Lindall from
complaining to the city, and maybe getting Charley’s agreement
voided?
62
five:
a bad feeling
The next morning, Claire fingered the green ‘Gardner’s Hip-
potherapy’ T-shirt that lay in her lap after trying it on. “It’s not only a great fit,” she said to Jessica, “I love the color, too.”
She was sitting on the reception sofa in the trailer at Gardner’s Stables and Jessica was perched on the arm of the matching leather loveseat. Behind the reception desk across from Claire, a short
hallway led to a back office with two desks. The hall also led to a storage room, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette where Jessica
had made the cinnamon-laced Mexican coffee they were sipping.
“I’m glad. I thought green was good for a horse-based charity.”
Jessica put down her coffee cup and arranged her face in a bright smile. “So, what’s our shopping itinerary?”
Jessica hadn’t scheduled any hippotherapy clients that day, so
Claire could finally show Jessica her favorite Colorado Springs
clothing stores and boutiques for a ‘Ladies Day Out.’ Neither one of them felt particularly cheerful. But Claire thought some shop-63
ping therapy might give Jessica some much-needed relief from her
troubles.
“After I deliver a couple of my ‘Welcome to Colorado Springs’
baskets to a realtor downtown,” Claire said, “we’ll start at Silent Woman. It’s Ellen’s favorite home decor boutique and a really cute shop. Then we’ll look at the ritzy clothes at Drama. We probably
won’t be able to afford much, but we’ll have fun window-shop-
ping.”
Jessica clapped her hands together, trying oh so hard to look
excited. “I’ll be exhausted after all that!”
Claire forced a smile, too. “We’ll rest and eat lunch at Rico’s
Café in the Poor Richard’s complex, with its fun bookstore and
children’s store. That’ll fortify us for an afternoon at The Prom-enade Shops at the Briargate.”
“What fun. We’ve got to remember to pick up the invitations
to my fundraiser event from the engravers, too.” Jessica stood and took their coffee cups to the sink. “Planning the fundraiser and
getting the stable up and running was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Double-checking everything Charley did took a lot of time. I’ve needed this break for ages, even before Kyle’s death.”
“Why do you have to double-check everything Charley does?”
Jessica waved a hand. “You know men. They don’t have the eye
for detail we women do. Especially Charley.”
“Charley was pretty thorough about homework and stuff when
we were kids.”
When Jessica just shrugged, Claire worried her lip. Even if
Charley realized where Jessica’s constant little digs came from,
wouldn’t they eventually chip away at his self confidence? Claire 64
decided to monitor his reactions to Jessica’s comments more
closely.
Claire stood. “I hope Charley will be able to schedule a breather soon. Working long hours seven days a week with no rest is taking a toll on him, too. Well, I guess we’d better get a move on.”
They shouldered their purses and stepped outside. Two police
cars sat in the parking lot, a marked cruiser and Detective Frank Wilson’s gray unmarked Charger. Wilson, another man in a suit,
and two officers in uniform were getting out of the vehicles.
“Uh oh,” Jessica said. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“So do I.” Claire put a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “But let’s see what Detective Wilson has to say first.”
He approached them. “Hello, ladies. I’m afraid I have some
bad news for you. The coroner ruled that Kyle Mendoza was mur-
dered.”
Jessica sucked in a