Free ZenithRising by Marilyn Campbell

daily high.
    Even at midmorning it felt as if they walked out of the
hotel and into a steam room. But as Maggie took in the clear blue sky, gentle
salt-air breeze and white-capped ocean waves breaking on the sand, the heat was
easy to ignore. They meandered along the beach and paused at the outdoor
swimming pool with the island bar in its center. Noah got virgin piña coladas
from one of several freestanding tiki huts and they sipped them while strolling
along the golf-cart path that led to the individual bungalows. The exteriors
were made to look like beach huts with thatched roofs. She knew from the
brochure these units were fully equipped apartments leased out on a seasonal
basis and always had a considerable waiting list.
    Noah stopped in front of one with lime-green shutters and a
yellow rocking chair on its narrow wooden porch. “Something about this reminds
me of those fairy-tale tents that seem small on the outside but are huge and
elaborate inside. Might be something I can do with that.”
    It was the first story-related comment he’d made and Maggie
glanced at his pocket as he spoke to make sure the recorder had lit up.
    A little beyond the last bungalow was a sign indicating the
beginnings of three nature trails. The entrances were barely visible between
the thick foliage and she wondered if anyone ever took advantage of them. Her next
thought was on the creepy-crawly things that made themselves at home in this
sort of environment.
    Noah picked the one on the left and she followed closely
behind. He was being totally polite but didn’t seem to be having any problem
keeping his mind focused on work. She was glad for that…and maybe just a little
disappointed. It might have been a lot less scary to walk along the narrow path
holding hands.
    He stopped so abruptly she bumped into him. He held up a
finger to signal her to wait. She stepped back and watched him cautiously slide
the device out of his pocket and hold it up to his eye. Realizing he was taking
a picture, she followed his line of sight and had a silent moment of panic.
Directly in their path was a huge, incredibly intricate spider web and its
builder was about to snack on a fly it had caught. The spider’s hourglass body
was black with blue stripes and at least three inches long. Its eight stick
legs increased its size by several inches more.
    Noah nudged her around and whispered, “The big guy had no
problem with my taking pictures but he isn’t going to let us pass without a
fight. It’ll make one hell of a cover.”
    “What does a giant spider have to do with Hotel Hellgate?”
she asked as they returned to the path entrance.
    “Nothing. But you’ve heard the expression a picture is worth
a thousand words. That one is worth at least fifty thousand. I’ll write a story
to fit it.”
    “Wow. I could never do something like that.”
    Noah lifted her chin with his bent index finger and frowned
as she met his gaze. “Why do you do that?”
    She tried to circumvent his question with a tease. “Do I
need to remind you about the no-hands-on-Maggie rule?”
    “I hereby order a temporary hold on the rule.” He brought
her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Most people don’t see a monster
spider and think about writing a book around it. But I’m sure most people can
do a lot of the things I can’t. You may not think you have any special talent
but I know you’re wrong. We just haven’t identified it yet. So I don’t want to
hear anything like that come out of your mouth again.” He gave her a quick
kiss. “Mind you that doesn’t mean you can’t compliment my brilliance anytime
you recognize it.”
    She couldn’t help but smile and rose on her toes for a
longer kiss, but he held his hand up between them.
    “Oh sorry, time’s up. Back to work.”
    She rolled her eyes but followed him obediently onto the
middle path. They walked for quite a while in silence without any primitive
beasties blocking their way. Then, quite