CHAPTER THREE
Michaela zipped up her jacket and walked down the path to the lake. The sun was caressing the tips of the trees now and she raised her face to catch its warmth. She breathed a deep lungful of the warming air. It was going to be a stunning day out in the country. She would walk for a while, the trail around the lake for half an hour before going back to the cabin. She thought she’d probably do some work for a while then. She needed to map out her thesis, make sure all her notes were in order.
She came back invigorated, high on the smell of pine.
The door to the cabin was open.
Michaela frowned. She was sure she’d closed it when she left. She felt in her pocket. Yes, there was the key. She’d locked the door behind her. Swallowing, her mouth suddenly dry, Michaela walked up the steps to the cabin and looked through the door.
She couldn’t see anyone about. Was she sure she’d locked the door? She’d been so taken with the view, maybe she’d forgotten. She shook her head. No. Someone else was here.
Realization hit. Someone else was here – someone with a key. Allison!
She stepped into the room. ‘Allison?’ she called. ‘You changed your mind?’ She pushed open the door to the main bedroom and stopped still.
‘You’re not Allison,’ she said.
‘No shit, Sherlock,’ the stranger said, rummaging around in an old backpack. ‘Ah-ha!’ she said, pulling a pack of cigarettes from the bag. ‘Knew I’d brought another packet with me.’ She looked up and saw Michaela there still staring at her. She grinned, a sly feline smile.
‘You’re Allison’s latest then are you, Sherlock?’
Michaela backed up a few paces. ‘What are you talking about? And what are you doing here? In fact,’ she said, gathering steam now, ‘Who the hell are you anyway and how did you get in? I know I locked that door.’
The stranger shook her dark curls and rolled her eyes. ‘Steady on there Sherlock, you don’t want to go blowing a gasket.’ She stuck out her hand. ‘Trisha. Our esteemed professor’s conquest circa ‘07. How are you doing? You’re her latest, yeah? Cool accent by the way. Where you from?’
Michaela was choking. She ignored the outstretched hand. ‘What are you talking about?’ she demanded.
Trisha smacked her forehead with the heal of a hand. ‘Having a slow day, are you?’ She shoved past. ‘Place smells good, like coffee, how ‘bout you make us some? I’d kill for a coffee.’ She rolled her shoulders. ‘Been hitching rides since five, trying to get here.’
Michaela was shaking her head. ‘I’m not making anyone coffee until I know what’s going on here.’ She parked herself in the doorway and folded her arms.
Trisha, if that was her name, hoisted herself onto the dining table and fished a cigarette out of the packet. ‘Suit yourself then,’ she shrugged. She blew out a plume of smoke and eyed Michaela. ‘You’ve been having a good time with Allison, right? Doing a bit of running around behind that poor sap Gerald’s back? A bit of dancing between the sheets?’ She smiled and again Michaela was reminded of a cat. Trisha took another drag at the cigarette when Michaela didn’t reply.
‘So,’ she continued. ‘You’re not the first, and you sure as hell won’t be the last. Our darling Allison has quite a thing for the girls. She chats them up, beds them until they get boring and whiney, then dumps them and offers them a few days away here as a consolation prize.’ She gestured around at the cabin they stood in. ‘Most don’t take her up on it though. Or at least, this is the first time we’ve double-booked like this.’ She opened her eyes wide and appealed to Michaela. ‘Can I have some coffee now?’
Michaela could feel the color leaching from her cheeks. She walked over to the kitchen bench and measured out coffee, not because she wanted to be nice but because she needed to do something. She kept her back turned, feeling a tension headache crawling its way up her neck. She heard Trisha take another breath but didn’t turn around.
‘Bit gobsmacked, huh?’ Trisha said, and a kinder note crept into her voice. ‘Hey, don’t give yourself a hard time about it. Allison’s a pro. She sucked me in.’ Michaela turned back around. She opened her mouth. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said, but she didn’t carry on. Because she did believe it. She closed her eyes. ‘How could I have been so stupid?’ she asked.
Trisha hopped off the table. ‘Don’t beat yourself up over it, Sherlock. She’s not worth it. Neat cabin though, huh?’
Which reminded Michaela. ‘How’d you get in?’ she asked.
Trisha opened a cupboard and took out a coffee mug. ‘Had the key copied.’ She grinned and poured herself a mug full. ‘I’ve had a few holidays here thanks to the professor. You should see it in the summer. Now that’s something.’
Michaela was intrigued despite herself. ‘Haven’t you ever been caught?’ she asked.
‘Nah. You wouldn’t believe it, but Allison hardly ever uses the place. That’s why she’s so happy to send us all up here. Every time one of us suckers comes to stay, the place gets an airing.’ She shrugged and sipped at the coffee. ‘There’s no one around to ask questions, and like I said, hardly any of us take her up on her offer anyway.’ She wandered back to the table, gestured at the laptop. ‘You one of her students? What’s your major?’ she asked.
‘English modernist literature,’ Michaela replied. ‘Yours?’
‘Yeah, I was never a student. Just someone she picked up one night.’ Trisha stubbed out her cigarette in a saucer and picked up a carved wooden owl. ‘Cute fella,’ she said and turned to Michaela. ‘So Sherlock, what’s for lunch?’