Page 3 of The Familiar Stranger

Maddie’s eyes remained closed as she let the waterfall do its work on her neck and upper back.

“Maddie … did you hear me?” I asked.

Her eyes shot open. “Can you not do this right now? You were the one who wanted to get away. I want you here with me, in the present moment. Is it too much to ask?”

I froze for a second, then sighed and plopped next to her under the mini waterfall. She smiled, and I forced myself to concentrate on the glorious setting, the calming sensations all around me, and the precious time away with my closest friend. Minutes passed, then more, and I felt like I was starting to get the hang of this “relaxing” stuff.

I draped an arm around Maddie and gave her a squeeze. “Thanks for reminding me about why we came here.”

With her eyes closed once again, she murmured, “Always and forever, my friend.”

CHAPTER3

We lounged for far too long and had to rush back to our room to change into nicer clothes for dinner at the Alta Vista, which overlooked the grounds of the inn and the mountains beyond. The reservation was for six o’clock, mere minutes away, but we laughed it off—the fact that the two of us always seemed to be running on the edge of time.

It wasn’t until I grabbed my clutch that I was reminded of the call I’d missed from Cade. I picked up my phone, and Maddie plucked it from my fingers, plopping it into her bag.

“Afterdinner,” she said.

I moved my hands to my hips. “Now you’re pushing it.”

I wasn’t kidding, and she knew it.

Maddie crinkled her nose, studied me for a long second, and then gave the phone back to me.

“Okay, fine,” she said. “But if you need to make a call, will you at least do it on the way to the restaurant?”

I agreed and waited for the phone to reboot as we rode the elevator down to the main floor. When we stepped out, I found a signal.

Cade answered, getting straight to the point. “Where’ve you been?”

His tone wasn’t a teasing one, and I flushed, feeling a little defensive.

“I was relaxing at the spa, like I’m supposed to be doing,” I said.

When he didn’t respond, a sinking feeling came over me. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m still driving, and everything’s fine. Sorta. With me, at least. But I got a call from Henry—one I knew you’d want to know about.”

“I gather Henry didn’t have good news. What happened?”

“His girlfriend, Kim … she died.”

“I can’t believe it. We just went to lunch a few weeks ago. What happened?”

He paused a moment then said, “She was murdered, Sloane.”

“Are you serious?”

“Died right on his doorstep.”

Given we lived on the same floor of a condominium in New Orleans, his doorstep just so happened to be across from ours.

“What did Henry say?” I asked. “Does he want me to investigate?”

“No, Sloane. He doesn’t. Not yet. The police are doing their thing, and he’s satisfied with how it’s going so far. I’ll bet they’ll be calling one or both of us for our input, since we live right across the hall. Maybe not, though, since neither of us were there when it happened.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

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