“Gorgeous, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.”
Todd Fischer stood near the edge of a snowy precipice and slapped his chest like a primate surveying his kingdom. He pulled in a lungful of air, his new Filson hiking vest tight against his broad chest. He was winded, more than he cared to admit, and cold. Even at the end of April, the temperatures on this trail lingered in the low thirties. A late-season snowfall added to the discomfort, not to mention the threatening gusts of frigid air.
“You know,” he continued, turning to his companion, “people would pay plenty to live here.”
“I don’t think you can just put up housing in a national park,” she replied.
He smiled at his new spouse’s naivete. Every problem had a solution, every obstacle a workaround. If you were successful, you could marry a beautiful, much younger woman and not some bimbo, but someone educated, exotic, well-connected, well-dressed, and endlessly patient. If you had money, you could buy and build wherever you chose.
“Anything can be bought and tamed, Elena,” he declared. “Even the Rockies.”
“I believe you, Todd. Now, could you come down off that ledge? Remember the warnings we received about the missing railings and the danger of microbursts? I do not want my husband to be blown away like a character in The Wizard of Oz.”
Fischer laughed. “I’m not about to be knocked over by a blast of air. I think you should worry more about the kids. Can you see what’s happened to them?”
As soon as she’d moved out of sight, he bent over, suddenly dizzy. Crap, getting old was not for sissies. He needed more exercise, more hydration, more time, more of everything.
Elena turned back to the trail, shaking her head. The “kids” were young adults and, as far as she was concerned, freeloaders. Pampered and privileged, lacking in focus and discipline, their upbringing was as far from hers as possible. She was the “wicked” stepmother, just ten years older than Rowan, who seemed to be perpetually seeking various academic degrees. At least she was studying. Her younger brother Paulie treated school as one long excuse to party.
Elena heard the siblings even before she saw them. They were bickering, as usual.
“Could you maybe stop complaining?” Rowan was saying.
“Not a chance,” Paulie griped. “We are tramping in the mountains, just past dawn, in the cold and the wind. In late April. I left a warm bed and a warm body so I could freeze my backside off with distant dad and wife number three.”
“Maybe the warm body should have helped you dress for a hike in the Rockies, little brother.”
“You’re just jealous.”
Elena sighed. She felt as if she were girding for battle.
Rowan appeared first, dressed perfectly for a mountain trek. She pulled her hat off and let her natural blond hair tumble around her makeup-free face. The girl was either unaware of her beauty or indifferent to it. Paulie, on the other hand, looked like he’d come from a night of clubbing, right down to his overpriced sneakers and his curated day-old beard.
“There you are,” Elena said, forcing a smile she didn’t feel. “We stepped off the trail and went up to the ledge for a better view.”
“The one with the ‘danger’ sign?” Paulie asked. “Oh, right. Dad likes to go where he’s not supposed to. I guess you could call it his specialty.”
Elena reminded herself that she could handle two brats for one morning. Before long, she would get herself pregnant and make them both irrelevant. She put her thoughts aside.
“Let’s step up and take a look,” she said. “It’s quite lovely.”
“It is,” Paulie deadpanned, eyeballing his stepmother.
“Paulie, ew, tasteless.” Rowan punched her brother in the arm. He grabbed her wrist.
“Do not touch me!” he yelled. And they were at it, ripping into each other like territorial animals. Until an unexpected gust of wind interrupted their high-volume discourse, strong enough to send a few rocks scuttling down into the valley.
“What was that?” Paulie asked.
“Nature, dummy,” Rowan retorted.
“Something happened up on the ledge,” Elena said with a shiver. “Let’s get your father down from there.”
“Sure.” Rowan climbed up to the overlook, then called back, “I don’t see him.”
“What do you mean?” Elena joined her step-daughter at the now-empty spot where her husband had been standing.
“Todd?” she called out. “Honey?” She looked down and noticed the edge of the precipice had broken away. Just a small piece, yet somehow enough.
Paulie huffed his way up to stand with them. “Maybe Dad decided he was done with the great outdoors and headed back down,” he said.
“Stop it, Paulie,” Elena commanded. “This is not amusing.”
Paulie cupped his hands and yelled, “Attention, Todd Fischer. We’re officially concerned. Show yourself.”
Rowan looked over the edge and swallowed hard. “I’m just going to check the little path over here. It’s another way down, I think.” She took off, only to reappear a minute or so later, shaking her head. And looking grim.
“We’re not going to panic,” Elena said. “I have the number for the ranger’s station. I will call them now.”
Paulie’s smirk disappeared. “You don’t think he went over, do you?” he asked.
Rowan glared at her brother.
“I think you need to shut up.”
copyright 2026
“NATURAL CAUSES: A Sam Tate Mystery” is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be available on multiple platforms beginning June 26th.