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“It’s when you walk through nature for an extended period of time.”
“I know what a hike is, asshole. I’m just surprised that that’s what you have planned.”
He sighs and folds his arms over his chest. “Dr. Calloway told me that your ankle has healed well enough to be able to incorporate some light exercise into your routine. There’s a number of hiking paths just behind the hotel. We explore and provide for your medical needs at the same time. Two birds, one stone.”
I glance down at my jeans and thin sweater. “I may not be dressed right.”
His eyes sweep over my body, but his gaze doesn’t linger. “You’re dressed fine. Let’s go.”
A motorized golf cart with a surly driver in a hotel uniform is waiting for us outside. Kolya helps me onto the back seat and then drops in next to me. As soon as I’m in place, the cart whirrs and whisks us off.
We wind up through the hills. The air grows thinner and sweeter as we get away from the hotel. I close my eyes and breathe it, wondering when I’m going to wake up from this never-ending dream.
I only open my eyes when we slow to a stop. I notice money exchanging hands as I step off. Then Kolya hoists the black backpack he’d brought with him onto his shoulders and gestures for me to start walking up towards where the treeline begins higher up the slope. A trail disappears into the mouth of the woods.
“Was that hush money?” I ask once we’re on the trail. It’s eerily silent, eerily still.
“To hush who about what?”
“The fact that the driver dropped us off here,” I say. “So that when my body goes missing, he won’t talk.” I turn my attention to his bag. “And what’s in the backpack? The weapon you’re going to use to bludgeon me to death? I’m telling you right now, I won’t go down without a fight.”
Kolya chuckles. “I have no doubt about that.” He keeps walking, offering me no further explanations.
I pick up the pace and catch up to him. “My sister will notice if I go missing. You realize that, right?”
He stops walking and turns to me impatiently. “Fifty dollars doesn’t exactly do the trick when you expect someone to keep their mouth shut about anything. Never mind a murder.”
“Oh.” My cheeks color with embarrassment as the way more obvious, way less hysterical truth slaps me in the face. “You were tipping him.”
“Bingo, Sherlock. But if you’d like to be murdered when we finish our hike, I can organize a larger sum deposited in his pocket later today.”
I throw him a glare to hide the fact that I’m still blushing. “You can’t blame me for assuming…”
“Yes,” he retorts, “I can. I told you I’d protect you. Murdering you would defeat the purpose.”
I hesitate, then sigh. “So what’s in the backpack?”
“Just walk, will you?”
With no other choice, that’s exactly what I do. The trail is steep and unforgiving, as is the dry red soil underfoot. It’s an hour of one foot in front of the other. By the time we reach the top of the trail, I’m winded, sweaty, and on the verge of asking whether he would be willing to carry me back down.
Kolya notices before I can even speak. “Pick a spot and sit down,” he orders. It’s a testament to how weary I am that I don’t even bother arguing.
My legs cry with relief when I park my butt down in the grass under a shady tree with feathery leaves that hang low. I lean my back against the cool bark and sigh. “I should have thought to bring water.”
That’s when Kolya takes off his backpack and pulls out a couple of bottles of water. In rapid succession, he also reveals half a dozen glass containers filled with food.
“You packed a picnic?” I ask, my mouth hanging open in dumbfounded shock.
He opens a container containing the chunkiest sandwiches I’ve ever seen. “Roast beef,” he explains, handing one to me. “With garlic mayo and extra salty pickles.”
I give him a searching glance. I’ve been asking for extra salty pickles in my meals for the last few days. There’s no way the maids would be reporting details as insignificant as that to him… right? And even if they were, surely he wouldn’t care enough to remember?
“Not interested?”
“No, I am, I am,” I say hurriedly, taking the container from his outstretched hand.
I chew idly, but my mind is racing. He brought me up here for a picnic? A picnic for the two of us? That can’t be right. There’s bound to be a catch that I haven’t picked up on yet. Or maybe he’s trying to cushion some bad news he’s yet to give me.
