under her fingernails for splinters. She was desperate, all right, and that had to mean the door wouldn't open--at least for a while."
"And it means much more," Spike said as he examined the wooden door handle. "If someone tried to kill Lisa--twice--it means that same person killed Ginger."
"Spike, that's a pretty big leap."
"I don't care what you or anyone says. I know it! She must have struggled, too. Remember how the coroner's report said she had lake mud and stuff under her nails from fighting to get free? Ginger might have died because she knew too much about what happened to Lisa. If it wasn't for Lisa, Ginger might still be alive."
Christine faced him squarely in the sauna. Unfortunately, they'd found no evidence to show something had been jammed through the handle or in the door. "You sound like you're blaming Lisa when she's a victim. Next, you'll be blaming Mitch or me."
"You're siding with Mitch. No, I'm not blaming him. He's been great. If the Bonners wouldn't have helped me out with the funeral costs, he wanted to, but just don't jump on me for bringing this back to Ginger. And Lisa is to blame in a way, breaking her engagement to Mitch in the first place, not wanting to set foot here. Then here she comes to screw up his mind again. He wants her here, but I'll bet she wants him there--Florida. She's been nothing but trouble, and she's pulled Ginger and all of us in."
"I know you're upset and have every right to be but--"
"Hey," a woman's voice said from outside. "What's going on out here?"
Vanessa peered at them through the door of the sauna. Something really stunk about Vanessa, Christine thought, and it wasn't the pricey perfume she always wore.
"I was just taking a little walk on the patio and heard your voices," Vanessa said. "So, have you heard how Lisa's doing?"
"They're running tests. Not sure yet," Christine told her.
"Are you going to close the sauna until it gets fixed?" Vanessa asked. "Wow, how did that handle get broken?"
"It's been loose for a long time," Spike lied before Christine could think what to say next. "When Mitch shoved the door aside to rescue Lisa, he probably knocked it off."
"Well, let me know if you hear anything about her. All of us are starting to think this place is cursed--you know what I mean. Besides, all of us, Lisa included, have clients scheduled and have to get back to reality--our reality--on the other side of the country. And with this new accident, I'll bet Graham postpones naming the new senior partner again. At least, with all Lisa's been through and her sad past, I think we're down to two candidates, but Graham Bonner has always been full of surprises. See you in the morning, but let me know if there's any news before."
Spike and Christine stood silently as Vanessa's footsteps faded, then the patio door opened and closed. Finally, Spike said, "She didn't believe me about how the handle broke. But was that because I'm a bad liar when I'm so upset, or because she knew damn well Lisa was trapped in here? And she was the last one we are sure saw Ginger alive."
It had been one hell of a long night. Not only was Mitch mourning all that had gone wrong this past week, but he was afraid Graham had betrayed him. Again, over breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, he didn't respond to Mitch's probing of whether anything else had come of the casino case. As a matter of fact, he changed the subject, except to reveal something pretty interesting about Vanessa.
"After I pulled you and Lisa off the case to be certain you weren't endangered, Vanessa insisted I let her get in on it," he finally admitted. "I knew she wanted the publicity if it started to hit the papers, but I told her the managing partner controls assignments, and I didn't want any of my lawyers to be harassed or hurt--still don't."
"You've always been protective of your attorneys, as if we were family."
"But you were always special, and I--we--hated to lose you. Of course, that's why I'm so distraught about Lisa, as we've brought her along, too. I need to get her back in her own environment, where horrible things won't happen to her--no offense, Mitch."
"None taken. It's been a crazy week. I know you all have key clients scheduled, and it was tough to block out this much time."