And relaxed people tended to be nice.
“Wow! The water is so cool, clear and refreshing!” one young woman claimed, taking her first step up the rocks, laughing as the water startled her as a spray burst out at them from above.
“Glad you’re having fun—at last!” an older man behind her approved.
The young woman, perhaps about nineteen or twenty, glanced at Chloe, rolling her eyes. “Hey! I’m just not a big fan of the casino—I was out of the money I had in ten minutes!”
“That can happen!” Wes said, nodding.
“Now, the computer classes are cool, really cool! Thank you, guys!” the young woman said, tapping Daniel McClintock on the shoulder. “And you guys, Celia, Jeff! We can’t thank you enough!”
“Are you kidding?” Jeff said. “We love what we’re doing. Hey, careful, the rocks are getting a little more slippery here!”
He reached out to offer a hand to his wife.
Too late.
Celia hadn’t gotten good footing, but...
“Jeff!”
She started to slide back, her body skimming the rocks to the side, enough to slow her down, but...
Chloe knew that Wes could move fast; she’d just never seen him movethatfast. He was behind Celia in two seconds.
He caught her before she could slip and crash down into the foot of water covering the rocks where they were stepping.
“Oh!” she cried. “Oh, my!”
“Celia, Celia, oh, my love, are you all right?” Jeff demanded, hopping down by her side.
“I’m... my arm. My arm is a little cut up. I...”
“Come on, we’re going to take the dry path!” Jeff said.
“No, no, I—”
“Celia, dry path or we can chill with Broderick down in the lagoon area,” Jeff told her.
The young woman who had just been speaking with them was staring at them in dismay. “Sweetie,” her father said, “come on, now, let them make their own decisions!”
The young local guide they had for the climb came down to them, trying to ascertain if Celia had really been injured.
She’d scratched her arm.
That was it.
And she and Jeff made the decision just to head down and enjoy the pool with Broderick.
“Hey, do you need me?” Daniel asked them.
“Hell, no! I mean, sorry, thanks. No, we’re fine!” Celia told him. “Please, Daniel, you go ahead and enjoy!”
Chloe glanced at Wes.
Now, three of their suspects were down in the lagoon pool.
But they might be too obvious following them at this point and, in truth, she wanted to talk to Wes about what had happened.
