world of the fairy tales of her youth. Surely, this was the land of Hansel and Gretel.
The Keating clan sat in silence as Sabrina made phone calls along the way. Zeus restaurant would deliver some of the food to Villa Nirvana to keep Detective Hodge and his crew happy, but the remainder would be brought to Bella Vista, where she and Henry could at least feed the miserable Keatings. Henry would join her after dropping off ghastly Gavin, as Sabrina was beginning to think of him. He would also grab the lost-and-found pile and bring it along for the family.
Sabrina had been ready to chuck the pile of clothing and other items guests had left behind and didn’t want to pay to have shipped back to them, but Henry’s experience with the airlines paid off again. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how often we’ll have guests arrive who will have had the airlines lose their luggage? They’ll be thrilled with a few togs to see them through until their bags have been located or they can go shopping.”
Pulling into the shaded circular driveway, Sabrina was surprised to hear the sound of splashing. The villa was supposed to be vacant. She knew it had been cleaned the day before after a party of eight returned home to Toronto, so there shouldn’t be any Ten Villa staff present. Besides, she’d put everyone on duty at the wedding extravaganza.
While the Keatings disembarked from the taxi, Sabrina strode up the walkway, which was bordered on each side by shaded gardens, took her keys off her belt, and opened the door to the large great room with its cathedral ceiling. She continued to walk through toward the French doors at the rear of the room that led to the pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands. The majestic view was so incredible that she had often thought it unreal.
But the view she was treated to at that moment wasn’t quite as majestic, nor was it unreal—two plentiful, bare white asses bounding out of the pool, heading through the gate and onto a path, which eventually led back to the road.
“What the hell was that?” Sean asked, coming up behind Sabrina.
“Oh dear lord,” Kate said.
“I told you we should have kept our business on the mainland, Jack” Paul Blanchard sounded tired and grouchy.
“For once, I feel shapely,” Heather said, chuckling.
Sabrina didn’t bother trying to chase the duo, one female and the other clearly male from the sight of his bouncing parts, even from the rear. Why did this lunacy have to happen today? But maybe some comic relief was just what was needed.
“Meet the skinny-dippers, folks. They check out the villa rental schedules online to see which are occupied and hit the pools where no one is staying and skinny-dip, or as some have said, ‘chunky-dunk.’ No one knows who they are and it’s driving everyone crazy. I’ll bet theyleft their signature,” Sabrina said, coming closer to the pool and pointing to a floating red hibiscus.
Normally, this would be when Sabrina would show guests around the home and help them with their luggage. But there was no protocol for what to do when guests were displaced from a villa where a murder had occurred. She had no food to offer, but she was sure there was a stash of alcohol in the bar left over from the previous guests. There always was. You just never knew what it would consist of. Definitely time to offer drinks, although it could hardly be called “happy hour.”
“Can I offer everyone a drink while we wait for the food to arrive?”
No one declined, so Sabrina played bartender, fixing the drinks with what she had on hand. She was delighted to find decent scotch and vodka along with the usual vacationer’s choices: banana rum, guavaberry vodka, and anything Kenny Chesney had ever been reported to sip while on island.
“Please join us, Sabrina,” Kate said.
“Of course. You’ve had a difficult day too, dear,” Jack said.
Sabrina poured herself a stiff vodka on the rocks, not missing the lemon slice she normally
The Keating clan sat in silence as Sabrina made phone calls along the way. Zeus restaurant would deliver some of the food to Villa Nirvana to keep Detective Hodge and his crew happy, but the remainder would be brought to Bella Vista, where she and Henry could at least feed the miserable Keatings. Henry would join her after dropping off ghastly Gavin, as Sabrina was beginning to think of him. He would also grab the lost-and-found pile and bring it along for the family.
Sabrina had been ready to chuck the pile of clothing and other items guests had left behind and didn’t want to pay to have shipped back to them, but Henry’s experience with the airlines paid off again. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how often we’ll have guests arrive who will have had the airlines lose their luggage? They’ll be thrilled with a few togs to see them through until their bags have been located or they can go shopping.”
Pulling into the shaded circular driveway, Sabrina was surprised to hear the sound of splashing. The villa was supposed to be vacant. She knew it had been cleaned the day before after a party of eight returned home to Toronto, so there shouldn’t be any Ten Villa staff present. Besides, she’d put everyone on duty at the wedding extravaganza.
While the Keatings disembarked from the taxi, Sabrina strode up the walkway, which was bordered on each side by shaded gardens, took her keys off her belt, and opened the door to the large great room with its cathedral ceiling. She continued to walk through toward the French doors at the rear of the room that led to the pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands. The majestic view was so incredible that she had often thought it unreal.
But the view she was treated to at that moment wasn’t quite as majestic, nor was it unreal—two plentiful, bare white asses bounding out of the pool, heading through the gate and onto a path, which eventually led back to the road.
“What the hell was that?” Sean asked, coming up behind Sabrina.
“Oh dear lord,” Kate said.
“I told you we should have kept our business on the mainland, Jack” Paul Blanchard sounded tired and grouchy.
“For once, I feel shapely,” Heather said, chuckling.
Sabrina didn’t bother trying to chase the duo, one female and the other clearly male from the sight of his bouncing parts, even from the rear. Why did this lunacy have to happen today? But maybe some comic relief was just what was needed.
“Meet the skinny-dippers, folks. They check out the villa rental schedules online to see which are occupied and hit the pools where no one is staying and skinny-dip, or as some have said, ‘chunky-dunk.’ No one knows who they are and it’s driving everyone crazy. I’ll bet theyleft their signature,” Sabrina said, coming closer to the pool and pointing to a floating red hibiscus.
Normally, this would be when Sabrina would show guests around the home and help them with their luggage. But there was no protocol for what to do when guests were displaced from a villa where a murder had occurred. She had no food to offer, but she was sure there was a stash of alcohol in the bar left over from the previous guests. There always was. You just never knew what it would consist of. Definitely time to offer drinks, although it could hardly be called “happy hour.”
“Can I offer everyone a drink while we wait for the food to arrive?”
No one declined, so Sabrina played bartender, fixing the drinks with what she had on hand. She was delighted to find decent scotch and vodka along with the usual vacationer’s choices: banana rum, guavaberry vodka, and anything Kenny Chesney had ever been reported to sip while on island.
“Please join us, Sabrina,” Kate said.
“Of course. You’ve had a difficult day too, dear,” Jack said.
Sabrina poured herself a stiff vodka on the rocks, not missing the lemon slice she normally
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