Retreat at The Camel Cove Lodge - Part 4

Author's Note: This is the fourth installment in a fun little collaboration - ten authors, ten perspectives, ten different chapters in this murder mystery. You can find the first three chapters here, here, and here.

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Brandon Harrison rose before the sun, as normal. He preferred sitting on his porch, looking over the Fall River, sipping black coffee from his favorite gray mug in the serenity of the early morning, before his family was awake and the chaos of the day began.

Brandon was in his early thirties and had been employed with Fall River Search and Rescue since college. He loved his work, but it was physically and mentally grueling. Snow had blanketed the valley surrounding the river for weeks. The company overworked Brandon since the bad weather hit and so he was glad for a bit of a respite before his next shift. As the sun rose over the valley, he heard the creak of the front door hinge and felt his wife, Tracy, standing next to him.

“Morning, babe,” he said before taking one last sip of coffee.

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In the grand sitting room of the lodge, the guests congregated in numerous groups, discussing the newcomer’s arrival. The stranger, Reggie Lloyd, and Leland sat huddled in the corner adjacent to the fire. Reggie continued to sip from his drink as they talked.

“It’s bad out there, Mister James. I’ve lived in the area for years and what I ran into was merely a small taste of what this valley could bring down on us, as I’m sure you’re aware,” said Reggie.

“I know, but you also know them fancy city folks. If I just mention the word avalanche, we’ll have a panic on our hands. They’re only here for a few days. I don’t want to trouble them if I don’t have to.”

“Agreed. But I think it’s necessary!”

“Okay. Let me speak to Mister Finch and figure out what we can do to get everyone to safety without ruining everyone’s fun. Come Mister Lloyd, I think the chef has some food for you in the dining room.”

As Leland escorted Reggie towards the dining room, they heard a low rumble in the distance.

“What was that?” asked Harpreet, walking up to the frost-covered window.

“Avalanche,” said Reggie. “They start out small, but once they start there’s no stopping them.”

“I don’t know about all of you, but I think we should all leave, while we can.”

“We don’t know the conditions outside the valley, Harpreet. They built this lodge to withstand anything Mother Nature can throw at it. I think our best bet is to remain here until we understand our situation better,” said Martin, sipping from a mug.

“I don’t know about that, Martin,” said Harpreet as she turned from the window and proceeded out of the room.

“Well, I best check on our newest guest,” said Martin. He placed the mug on a small side table and ambled toward the dining room. He entered the lavish room appointed in rich, exotic woods. In the middle sat an antique dining table that could accommodate twenty guests without issue. At one end of the dinner table sat Reggie. He was picking at a plate of sunny side up eggs and cold potatoes.

“I hope you’ve warmed up a bit, Mister Lloyd,” said Martin.

“Yes. Thank you. I’m sorry to impose on you folks. This is the only shelter for miles and I just assumed the lodge would be empty this time of year.”

“Well, this day is just full of surprises, I guess. I had the house staff make up a room for you.”

“That’s really unnecessary, Mister Finch.”

“I won’t allow you to go back out into those conditions. You’ll stay here until it’s safe to go back out. Your accommodations will be ready by the time you finish eating.”

“That’s very kind of you, sir. Thank you.”

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A few minutes later, Reggie found himself in a small, yet cozy, bedroom. Being a military man, the accommodations were much better than he was used to. The room was warm; the bed was soft, and that was all he needed. He locked the door and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled a compact satellite phone from a zippered pants pocket. Pressing his ear against the wall to make sure no one could overhear, he then dialed a number. After a moment, there was a click.

“Sir? We have a slight complication. Avalanches in the area have made leaving impossible. Permission to abort? Yes, sir. Understood.” Reggie disconnected the phone and slipped it into the back of the nightstand.

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Lucy, Brandon’s nine-year-old daughter, sat in the passenger seat of his ancient pickup. From the tailpipe, blue smoke bellowed out into the frigid air. He realized he should get a new truck, but he couldn’t bear to part with this one. Lucy sulked as Brandon pulled the truck up to the front of Island Park Elementary School.

“Do I have to?” asked Lucy.

“It’s either school or you go to work, kiddo. Those are your options. And, unfortunately, I don’t think too many places will hire someone who still has trouble with multiplication.”

“Math is dumb.”

Brandon laughed as he hugged Lucy. “Go, before you’re late.”

As the girl trudged up the school steps, Brandon’s cell phone pinged a text alert.

Call me ASAP - Sky.

“Well, that can’t be good,” sighed Brandon as he dialed Sky’s number. Sky had only been with Search and Rescue for two years, but somehow she rose through the ranks to be his boss. Brandon’s wife said he wasn’t ambitious enough, but he didn’t want to believe that was the reason.

After the third ring, Sky picked up. “Hey Brando,”—he hated it when she called him that—“We’ve been getting reports of avalanche activity in the Zone of Death near Camel Cove. You know the deal. The National Park Service can’t go in, so they asked us to check it out.”

“It’s my day off. Send Jeff.”

“No can do. His mother has stage three cancer, and he’s taking her for treatment in Idaho Falls.”

“Lucky bastard,” Brandon mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing. Fine. Let me call my wife. I’m hoping she can pick up Lucy this afternoon, and then I’ll head out.” Before Sky could answer, Brandon jabbed at the Disconnect button, threw the truck into gear, and peeled away from the sidewalk. On the way to the heliport, He called his wife.

“Well, I’m not happy, but don’t worry. I’ll call Miss Wilkes and ask her to pick up Lucy,” said Tracy.

“Love you, Trace.”

“You’d better,” said Tracy, trying to suppress a chuckle. “Go get’em and be safe.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll see you later.”

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In the dining room, the staff had removed Reggie’s plate from the table and Guy was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch. Mister Lloyd’s arrival had thrown off the retreat’s schedule, and Martin needed to get things back on track. He sat at the head of the large table with Rosaria to his right. Denise sat to his left. Armand at the end of the table opposite Martin.

“Armand, we were hoping this weekend might bring our two corporations closer. Please accept my apologies that things have not gone as planned so far.”

“No worries, my friend. My hope is that we can now get back to business.”

“Absolutely.”

Denise took notes of the meeting in a steno pad. With a pause in the conversation, she looked around the table. She observed that a few Kalt employees were missing—notably Harpreet and Kevin—but she was being paid to type, make appointments and take notes, not to speak up, so she remained silent.

“Denise? Do you have those statistics I wanted Armand to look over?”

Denise reached into a large handbag. Her hand emerged with a large file folder stuffed with paperwork. She walked to the opposite end of the table. She placed the folder in front of Armand and opened it to a particular document.

“Here you are, sir,” she said.

If you enjoyed this the next chapter can be found here.