Camera Never Lies (7 page)

All too familiar with the jealous side of Spencer, heat rose in my chest. “You what?”

“I’m apologizing now. I had no right.”

“None.”

“I couldn’t possibly repeat his words to you, but he revealed himself to be a cad in the most distasteful way. He isn’t good enough for you.”

Protection, Spencer? The thought kindled a warm fire inside, but I reminded myself that it came a decade too late. I sat in stunned silence.

“There was a nasty confrontation in which I warned him to stay away from you. How was I to know he’d end up dead hours later?”

“You couldn’t have known that any more than… “ I pressed my lips together, unwilling to share Mom’s predicament. As far as the terrace crowd was concerned—at least those who were interested in others’ affairs—Alec had one person who’d wanted him dead and another who’d given him a stern warning. Both of these people were close to me.

“What else did you say?”

“I told him to stay away from you…or else.”

CHAPTER
SIX

I
told him to stay away from you…or else
.

Spencer’s words from the night before stirred me awake. Bright sunlight beamed through a slit in the heavy drapery. A lighted 7:00 stared back at me from the digital clock. So much for sleeping late. I should ask for a room on the west side. I stretched. Actually, I probably should have shared a room with Mom so I wouldn’t have to worry about her. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been tempted to smoke. Either that or I would have suffered with the stench and struggled to breathe.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about what Spencer had said to Alec. As Spencer had so kindly reminded me, I had a way of overanalyzing things. Was he just being a protective big brother or friend? Or had he been impulsive and revealed his feelings for me, not wanting anyone else to have me?

“Yeah, right!” I sat up in the bed and scratched my head. I needed to check on Mom.

The phone rang as I reached for it. She was probably calling me first. “Mom?”

“What? No, this is Rene.” Her words were shaky. She blew her nose to make sure I knew she’d been crying. It was her way.

What now?
After last night’s prayer with her, I hoped we weren’t back on her roller coaster of emotions.

“What’s happened?” I extended the cord as far as it would go, but it didn’t reach the bathroom. I settled for examining my haggard appearance in the dresser mirror.

“The rangers are interviewing Spencer.”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, well, they’re interviewing everyone.”
Right?
There wasn’t any reason to worry.

“It’s more than that. Conrad’s here in my room. He said that someone reported that Spencer had a confrontation with Alec.”

“How…how do you know that?”

“Conrad was with him this morning for an early breakfast. They took Spencer to someplace private for questioning. Conrad said they had a serious interest in him. He was a special person of something. “

“Interest. A person of interest.” I’d heard the term often enough over the years on the news stations I watched.

“I thought you should know. So what are your plans for this morning?” She’d moved on from her sniffle-nosed concern for Spencer. Yep, we were back on the roller coaster. But who was I to judge? Getting married might put me on an emotional edge as well. Perhaps she was more like Mom than I thought, though, and figured she’d hand the burden over to me, then all would be well.

Polly will take care of it
. How many times had I heard that in my life?

I was glad God had given Conrad the grace to be with Rene. She needed his stability right now, not mine. I sat back on the bed, searching for an excuse to give Rene so I could start my investigation. It surprised me that they’d questioned Spencer before Mom, but I didn’t doubt that her time would come.

Today I had to start sleuthing, though I knew nothing about it. I’d never even read a mystery. But I did know about photography.

“Actually, I thought I’d take snapshots of the lodge, take advantage of this opportunity. I’ll pray for Spencer, though. You should, too.”

“What? You think it’s so serious that he needs prayer?”

It was serious enough for you to cry
. I stifled my exasperation. “One can never pray enough.”

“Well, at least you’ll be occupied. Conrad and I need some time alone. There’s plenty to do here. Hiking and more hiking.” She snorted then sounded like she turned her face from the phone. “What else did you say we could do?”

Conrad’s muffled answer wasn’t clear to me.

“Conrad’s not going to wait for Spencer?” I asked.

“He isn’t worried. He thinks it’s much ado about nothing. But I’m concerned.”

“I’m sure he’s right.” I wished I could be as sure as I sounded. But I knew that Conrad was merely hoping to focus Rene’s attention on other important matters—like their upcoming nuptials. We said our good-byes.

I breathed in deeply, grateful for the time alone with my thoughts. Except something niggled at the edge of them. What was I forgetting?

Mom
. Of course. How could I have forgotten? I started to phone her then noticed the blinking light that indicated a message. They’d installed voice mail at the historical lodge. Impressive. Mom had left a message while I was on the phone, stating she planned to have breakfast downstairs then do some exploring. Still fighting a headache, she expected to take a nap later.

I didn’t have the chance to see Mom too often. Rene’s wedding at Caldera Lake had a dual purpose for me. Hence, I was torn between sleuthing and spending time with Mom. I showered and dressed, all the while praying for Spencer. But the more I prayed, the more troubled I became.

Memories of my whirlwind relationship with Spencer played before my eyes like a movie reel. I’d witnessed him lose his temper before. He’d been protective of his younger sister, coming unglued when a boyfriend had dropped her off in tears and with a bruise. I’d peered out the window, watching the confrontation in horror, afraid Spencer would kill Elisa’s boyfriend with the punches he threw. It was a side to him I would never have guessed. Still, it was hard to stand in judgment, because the jerk had physically hurt his sister. Spencer took his role as protector seriously.

Fortunately an onlooker had intervened and saved the boyfriend from Spencer’s wrath. I’d never seen him lose his temper like that and hoped it was a rare thing. I had to consider that under the right circumstances, he could indeed kill someone.

I finished making up the bed, a chore I never left for the maids. After plumping up a pillow, I slumped against it. Was there more to Spencer’s confrontation with Alec? Had he followed him to the hotel room? Had they’d shared more words—heated words that exploded into something physical? People were often slain under such circumstances. Though I felt it completely out of character for Spencer, the day his rage appeared on behalf of his sister had also been a surprise to me. I hadn’t seen him in years until yesterday. Had he mellowed over time like an eighties rock star, or had his inner rage grown?

A chill crawled over me. I grabbed my jean jacket.

In the bathroom, I took a last look in the mirror to fix my hair before leaving. I’d been praying all morning, and as I stared at the mirror, my own guilt stared back. All this time I’d spent as judge and jury for Spencer, bringing his past into it. What about my own?

I rushed to grab my camera, not wanting to face the truth right now. This wasn’t about me. It was about Spencer and Mom. Fear gripped me. How deep would the rangers dig? Would they discover my grudge against Alec? Resentment was never something to carry around, but I now saw that mine had festered into bitterness. If I wished Alec dead at one time, did I really mean it? Did God count the thoughts from my heart as actions?

A last glance at my tidied room and I left. But exiting the room didn’t help me escape my guilt. God said He would never leave me, and true to His word, He tagged along with me right out the door. I prayed for forgiveness, needing help with my bitterness. I’d never really wanted Alec dead, had I? In fact, I had prayed that he would come to know the Truth. Still, heat rushed over my face. I feared I would look guilty to the ranger who questioned me. Could he detain me for a guilty heart? And if I confessed my grudge toward Alec, would they believe my innocence?

The elevator delivered me to the lobby. I rushed through the lobby and out into the open, fresh air. Even though it was seventy degrees and July, there was a chill in the breeze. I tugged my jacket closed and zipped it. Time to get serious. I had work to do. If everything went as planned—
Lord, please direct my path
—then I would have photos of the historic lodge, and I would run into someone who knew Alec Gordon. Someone other than Mom, Spencer, and myself.

The stone sidewalk led me away from the lodge. I turned to face the building, capturing the images on my camera. So much had happened inside those walls. I allowed my imagination to carry me away as I took more snapshots—always sure to frame things with the rule of thirds in mind. A tree that looked to be decades old, if not centuries, stood firmly planted at the far right corner of the lodge. Yellow and purple pansies encircled its trunk—the entire scene a beautiful accent. I stepped back a smidgen, but something solid blocked my backward momentum.

“What the—,” a gravelly voice cried out.

I lost my footing and toppled over the object onto my bottom, my only concern my camera, which I protected from the impact. If there was an advantage to extra pounds in the seat, I’d just discovered it. Sprawled on the lawn, I made sure that my camera was unharmed.

A man took his time crawling out from under my legs and stood. After he’d finished groaning, he extended his hand to me. “You all right?”

Holding my camera, I attempted to stand without his help. I didn’t feel confident taking his hand after watching him struggle to his feet. But he grabbed me and set me right. I probably looked like I’d been playing in my mother’s makeup—huge red cheeks.

I dusted my pants off. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. Was my fault.” He stooped to recover a trowel.

In addition to the gardening tools, I noticed the brown and green stains on his knees. “You’re the gardener then?” He must have been digging in the dirt when I backed right over him.

“Groundskeeper, actually. Name’s George Hamilton.” He extended his dirty hand to shake mine. I could hardly reject it.

“Like the actor George Hamilton?”

He chuckled. “The name anyway.”

If George the groundskeeper had access to multiple plastic surgeries to remove what thirty years spent outdoors had done, then I could see some resemblance. “Pleased to meet you, George.”

He picked up his gloves. “I like to feel the dirt with my bare hands.” When he turned his palms over, I noticed a cut.

“You’re bleeding.” I hoped I hadn’t caused it.

“No problem. My wife works wonders with her natural remedies. She’ll have me fixed up in no time.”

He tilted his head toward my camera. “So you’re a photographer?”

I nodded. Not too many tourists carried around a Nikon of professional quality, though some serious hobbyist might. George noticed the difference. His observation got me to thinking. “Say, since you know the grounds, how about a behind-the-scenes tour? I’m hoping to do an article to go with my photos.”

A distant, thoughtful look in his eyes, George wiped his brow with a rag then scratched his head with his still-dirty hand. “Can’t say I’ve ever done that before.”

Now it was my turn to scratch my head. I ran a mental list of excuses I could use to convince him, if needed.

“When did you want to do this?” He glanced down at his work clothes.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you or get you in trouble. But now is as good a time as any.” I held my breath. A tour of the grounds, including places that others might never see, was exactly the thing I needed to jump-start my amateur investigation of Alec Gordon’s death.

“As long as you don’t mind my appearance.” He jammed his rag in his back pocket so that half of it hung out like a small tail. “Let me put my tools away.” He pointed out a building across the parking lot in a wooded area.

“I’ll follow you.”

His long legs made bigger strides than my short ones, and I had to work to keep up as we crossed the parking lot. A ranger driving a park services vehicle stopped to let us pass then continued on and parked in a reserved spot in front of the lodge. I tried not to worry about Spencer, because I needed to focus on gathering information from George—information that could possibly help Spencer or Mom, if needed.

We arrived at the building that blended into the wooded area. George unlocked the door and went inside to store his implements. I didn’t go with him but focused my camera on the lodge. I zoomed in for a closer look at several park services cars and a few state police cruisers. Another chilly breeze gusted, whipping my hair across the lens. I wondered if George would offer his thoughts or if I would have to coax information from him. My palms began to sweat.

Once the door was secured, he turned his attention to me. “What would you like to see first?”