Rocky Mountain Mayhem (19 page)

“Are we done?” Lucy asked. “I’ve had about
all the cops and robbers I can handle.”

“Yes, for now. I need to follow up with Agent
Cervantes on some things and we need to get your luggage packed so
it can be moved. I’ll go through your belongings carefully in the
new accommodations.”

“I need a beer,” Vivian said. “Or five.”

“Let’s go to the Timberline,” Wendy
suggested.

Kate linked arms with Vivian. “Let’s go
getcha five. We’re not going anywhere today.”

They left the boardroom and followed Nelson
to their room, where they threw their clothes into suitcases and
repacked the bar. Two bellmen arrived and loaded up two carts.
“We’ll ensure these arrive at your new room.”

Wendy handed them a tip. “Thanks.”

“It’s our pleasure.”

Nelson went with the bellmen to the new room.
The girls headed to the Timberline and took a table by the
window.

A waiter delivered menus and asked if they
knew what they’d like to drink.

“Dos Equis, extra lime for me,” Vivian said
without hesitation.

Lucy said she wanted to celebrate being alive
and ordered a split of champagne. Kate and Wendy both ordered a
glass of cabernet.

Vivian glanced over the menu and stopped at
the list of fancy margaritas. The waiter delivered their drinks and
she pointed out, “Did you know y’all forgot the decimal here?”

He didn’t even look down. “No, ma’am, there’s
no mistake. That’s a $500 margarita.”

“Holy guacamole!” Lucy yelled.

Vivian fanned herself with the menu and
asked, “Does that come with a little sumthin’ sumthin’ extra? Like
an orgasm?”

“What the hell do they put in that thing?”
Wendy asked.

“Only the best ingredients, including
Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio tequila.”

“Bet y’all don’t sell too many of those, do
you?” Kate asked.

“You’d be surprised.” The waiter smiled and
tucked the serving tray under his arm. “We also have a $1,000
margarita.”

“Heyzoos Kristo, does that come with two?”
Vivian snickered.

“Let’s order a round and see if Trey will
cover it!” Wendy said and clapped.

“That’s typically not a complimentary
cocktail,” the waiter informed them.

Vivian squeezed lime into her beer. “After
the day I’ve had, I think I deserve it and all its pleasures.”

THE girls finished their delicious, free
(yay!), and for Vivian, mostly liquid lunch in the Timberline, then
headed upstairs to check out the accommodations in the Presidential
Suite.

Vivian stepped into the foyer, mouth agape,
and started giggling. “My gosh, I’m downright giddy!”

“Like a picture out of a magazine,” Kate
said. “It’s perfect.”

“It’s a helluva lot better than our
regular-ass room,” Lucy laughed. “Not that it was bad, but come
on!”

The girls entered the living room, marveling
at their surroundings. Lucy called them into the kitchen, where she
was opening the drawers and cabinets.

“They have all the top-of-the-line gadgets,”
she said and pushed buttons on a Vitamix blender. “Wolfgang Puck
would approve.”

Nelson got up from the dining table and
pointed to their purses. “May I?”

The girls said yes.

He began rifling through their purses. “Those
are your rooms,” he said, pointing to the bedrooms to the right of
the kitchen, “and that door,” indicating a door on the far side of
the living room, “goes to my hotel room and needs to stay unlocked
at all times. I can’t help you if I can’t get in here.”

“Got it,” Vivian said.

The balcony ran the length of the suite, and
the views from the top floor were even more majestic than on the
eighth. “I will so be having breakfast out here,” Kate said,
draping herself against the railing. “Crepes. Not Vivian’s powdered
donut death of a baked good.”

“You know you like them,” Vivian said.

Lucy yelled from the master bath, “Come check
this out!”

Vivian hustled in to see what the fuss was
about and found Lucy spread eagle in the ginormous jetted tub. Her
hands and feet didn’t even touch the side.

Vivian jumped in as Lucy scooted over. “I bet
we could fit 10 people in here, maybe more.” She looked up to see
Agent Nelson’s face in the doorway, turning red. “Maybe we’ll try
that later.”

“This makes me wanna go get in one of the
real hot tubs,” Kate said.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be cooped up in the
room,” Vivian said.

“Let’s swimsuit up,” Lucy said, hopping out
of the tub. “Wait a second, we’re supposed to be at the bike rental
place in two hours.”

Nelson shook his head. “You’d better
cancel.”

“Why?” Wendy asked.

Nelson cut his eyes to her. “You’re safer
here on the property.”

“Could some of your guys pose as other bikers
or skateboarders or something?” Kate asked.

Nelson shook his head. “We couldn’t cover
Vivian completely, or the rest of you. It’s best to cancel the bike
ride.”

“You’re probably right.” Lucy looked
disappointed. “No sunset soirée for us, I’m afraid.”

Aw, she went all out making plans for
today
. Vivian flashed with anger.
Stupid-ass Craig
.

They unpacked again, set up their new,
improved and larger bar, got changed, including their Ridge
slippers and giant, plush robes.

Lucy looked at Vivian as they stepped into
the living room. “You going to wear that necklace? I thought you
were worried it would turn green on ya? The hot tub’ll do it.”

Vivian unclasped it and set it down on the
kitchen counter. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Kate set her watch on the counter, too and
told Nelson they were ready to roll.

“I’ve got to make a few calls,” he said.
“I’ll keep an eye out from up here. The Avon police are on the
grounds.”

“Okey doke,” Vivian said, grabbing her room
key, then said to the girls, “Grab your trashy, truck-stop
hats.”

Lucy put on her hat. “Check.”

Wendy pulled two bottles of wine off the bar,
an opener and four cups. “I’ve got all we need right here!”

They chose one of the hot tubs tucked in an
aspen grove, in clear view of the four Avon police officers
standing guard on the patio. The girls threw their robes on a
lounger but kept on their hats. Kate turned on the timer and bubble
spewed out of the jets.

“What happened to your leg?” Lucy asked
Wendy.

Wendy looked down at the baseball-sized
bruise on her thigh. “Kate kicked the crap out of me in her sleep
last night. I screamed, but you lushes didn’t even stir.”

“I’m really, really sorry,” Kate said as she
stepped into the hot tub. “I was karate chopping a bear.”

“Is Shaun battered and bruised?” Lucy
asked.

She shook her head. “No. Usually my dreams
don’t involve martial arts, but a bear was attacking me. I had to
defend myself.”

“Well, you’ve got one hell of a karate chop!”
Wendy rubbed her leg gingerly.

“I had a lesson from my cousin, Thai, before
the bear charged me.”

“At least it was your cousin and not one of
your dead relatives,” Vivian said.

Kate looked down at the water. “Oh no, he’s
dead.”

“What?” Wendy asked.

“He was killed by a drunk driver seven years
ago.”

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Vivian said. “I
assumed because he was your cousin he’d be young…and alive.
Sorry.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. He visits me in
my dreams.” Kate reached for a cup of wine that Lucy had poured. “I
always feel empowered after he visits, like I’m ready to take on
the world.”

“To Thai and feeling empowered,” Lucy said,
holding up her cup.

The girls cheersed, and the two closest Avon
officers stepped a little closer, evidently curious about the
noise.

Vivian put down her wine and floated in the
bubbles. She poked her toes out of the water, checking on her
pedicure and thinking about what Kate had said. “You know, this
conversation has done a little something to empower me.” She put
her feet down and stood up. “I’m thinkin’ we need to get our asses
on those bikes and do what we came here to do. We will not be
prisoners in our hotel, fabulous though it is. We are on vacation!
To hell with Craig, and if we can catch him, all the better.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Lucy
slammed her cup down, spilling wine onto the ledge of the hot tub.
“I forgot to cancel that reservation anyway, so they’re still
expecting us.”

“Let’s go tell Wade,” Wendy said. “He’s not
gonna be happy.”

“After the lesson I had last night, I can
take Craig down in one chop!” Kate chopped the water. “Let’s
go!”

“I can vouch for that!” Wendy splashed Kate
with her own karate chop.

They sang “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting”
and had a slow-motion kung fu fight among the aspens.

Vivian’s cup soon filled with more water than
wine and she tossed it out. “I’m boiling. I’m gotta go cool down.”
She dried off, wrapped her robe around her and went just outside
the fence surrounding the two hot tubs. She took off her slippers
and stood barefoot in the snow. “
Aye yai yai
, that’s
cold!”

One of the police officers spoke into his
walkie-talkie, and two of the other guys moved up the mountain a
bit on either side.

Lucy joined her, not even bothering to put on
slippers. She scooped up a handful of grassy snow, packed it and
beaned Vivian. “Of course it’s cold, it’s snow!”

Vivian dug up a handful of the slushy, muddy
stuff and chunked it at Lucy, smacking her right in the boob.

“Dammit, the ta-tas are off limits!”

“Sorry!” Vivian said, throwing another
snowball at her. “My aim sucks.” She got Lucy in the other one.

“Oh, it’s on now!”

Kate and Wendy couldn’t resist, not bothering
with robes or their slippers, and the four lobbed grassy, globby
snowballs at each other, everyone getting properly covered in cold
muck. They then took pictures lying in the snow and a shot of their
Ridge-slippered feet in a snow circle.

Agent Nelson cleared his throat. He held
Vivian’s phone.

“Oh, hey,” Vivian said. “Didn’t see you come
outside.”

“I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Okay.”

Vivian and Nelson walked to the fire pit and
sat down.

“Were you aware that your phone has an
application installed that details your location?”

“Is that something from the manufacturer to
help find it if I lose it? Like GPS?”

Nelson shook his head. “No, this was
purposefully installed on your phone.”

“I don’t remember putting anything like that
on it.”

“Where did you buy it?”

“From the service provider. I’ve been with
them for years.”

“Is there anyone else, other than Craig, who
could have access to your phone and installed this?” He showed her
the app.

“I don’t think so. It’s rarely far from
me.”

Nelson went to push a button on the screen.
“I’m going to uninstall the app.”

“Wait.” Vivian put her hand on his. “We’ve
decided we
are
going on that bike ride. Screw Craig.”

NELSON did his best to talk the girls out of
the bike ride, to no avail.

Vivian was emphatic. “I’m not going to let
him make me feel like a victim. We’re going, and I hope to hell he
shows up.”

“I think it’s a bad idea.” Nelson turned and
went inside.

The girls grabbed their stuff and went
upstairs to get ready.

Nelson met them in the room and sat them
down. “Since I can’t stop you from going, I’ll be tracking your
whereabouts.” He handed Vivian a black pager-sized device. “Keep
this on you at all times.”

“Sure,” Vivian said and slipped it in her
pocket.

“I planned for us to toodle around Vail
Village, have a picnic in the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and then
ride along Gore Creek on the Vail Pass Trail,” Lucy said. “You okay
with that plan?”

Nelson sighed. “This bike ride needs to wrap
up before the sun goes down. I don’t want you out after dark on the
bikes. You need to go straight to the Gardens for the picnic. And
before you ask, no alcohol.”

“Dammit,” Wendy said.

“After the picnic, head down to Vail Pass
Trail and continue west along Gore Creek until you get to Lionshead
Place. You’ll take that directly back to the bike shop.” Nelson
paused and looked each girl in the eye. “Understand?”

Vivian, Kate and Wendy said “yes” and
nodded.

Lucy added, “We might do dinner at Hail-Yeah
in Vail.”

“Call me after the ride and let me know if
you do. But for now, pack up and get going. It will be dark in a
few hours and I’d like you to be back here.”

Lucy and Kate packed crackers and sliced
cheese into a small cooler and Vivian grabbed her can of Easy
Cheese. They said goodbye to Nelson and scooted out the door.

Lucy drove down the mountain and into Vail
Village. The girls walked into the bike shop and were greeted by a
guy with jet-black, long hair, his arms covered in tattoos. Vivian
smelled a hint of patchouli. He handed each of them a pen and
paper. “You’ll need to fill this out and sign the waiver.”

Vivian read through the disclosures. Ruff
Riders Bike Shop was held harmless for injury, death,
dismemberment, accidents resulting from stupid people doing stupid
things, pedal impalements, rabid dogs, bear attacks, you name
it.

“I feel like I’m reading the mumbo-jumbo of
mortgage papers,” Wendy said, holding the pen above the signature
line. “I get enough of this at work.” Wendy was a loan officer at a
mortgage company, and while she liked her job, the underwriting
blah blah got old.

The clerk gathered the signed papers and
passed out helmets as Lucy put on her backpack. He led the girls
outside and got the bikes adjusted to each individual height. “Be
careful and have fun,” he said as they pedaled away.