EMPulse Read online

  The kitchen was sectioned from the other space by a work island done in the same soft green ceramic tile that graced the counters under the numerous cabinets. Against the work island and slightly elevated was an eating bar with four padded oak stools. The dome was one very large room. That solitary picture window had a magnificent view that took in the mountain and woods and the other domes.

  Adele opened one of the cases of wine and extracted a bottle of red.

  “Damn, I hope there’s a cork opener in this place,” she muttered, rummaging through the drawers. She sighed in relief finding what she needed.

  Taking her glass, Adele walked the perimeter of the dome taking in the panoramic view. There was also a sliding glass door that led to the private patio where a gas grill sat. She opened the door and stepped out, then quickly retreated when she felt the chilled late-October air coming down from the Rocky Mountains.

  “I think I’m going to need different clothes!” She shivered and jotted something down on a notepad by the humming computer. She dumped out the packet given to her and found the Wi-Fi access codes and typed them in. Only thing of interest in her email was the deadline schedule from her agent and the gallery she usually dealt with.

  Adele Michaels painted and was in high demand. She did large watercolors to get the detail she desired. It was then printed in smaller, frame-able versions that would be numbered and signed. The prints brought a good price, while the originals went for thousands. Well, those she sold. Most of them she kept. Once all the prints were sold, the artwork was then transferred to greeting cards and stationery, and that was where the real money was. Thousands and thousands of boxes of her cards were sold every year. Her royalties on the Christmas cards last year alone paid for the new Tahoe. She had a year to come up with a dozen new designs and this might be the perfect place to do it, she thought, staring at the impressive mountains.

  ***

  Adele stacked the four empty boxes by the door. Putting away the canned goods was exhausting, especially after driving all day. She decided to do the rest tomorrow. Right now, that garden tub called to her.

  She turned the water on hot and waited until the water was over the jets before testing them. The water swirled and bubbled, just like it should. She knew to not use bubble bath. That happened only once, and Kyle had beaten her for the mess it made. Adele added a few drops of scented oil, and dropped her clothes on the floor, sliding into the pulsating water. She sighed contentedly and took a sip of her wine.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Adele sat on the floor, the parts to her art table spread around her. She sighed and picked up the directions again. Things finally started to make sense and within a half hour the table was assembled. The other boxes that had been pre-shipped contained a rainbow of new watercolor inks, her preferred medium, plus over two hundred sheets of specialized watercolor paper. In the supplies she carried with her to the dome were her brushes, and there were over a hundred of those. Some were large, wide and flat for moistening the paper; some had only a dozen fine sable hairs to create minute detail. Every one of them had a purpose and every one of them she used.

  Adele lined up a series of cups on the art table and sorted the brushes, handle down. Not only could she then see which brush was which, but it also protected the bristles that way. The inks were sorted by color and placed in trays for easy access. Often she would use only four or five colors, and those would stay on the table until she was finished with that piece of work. On occasion, she used only one color and those were the most dramatic, and the most sought after.

  She stretched her back, poured another cup of coffee, and frowned. She had forgotten to pick up her favorite coffee creamer. She added that to her growing list. She had been there for only five days, and already needed to go for more supplies. After looking through the refrigerator one last time and adding butter to her list, she grabbed her keys and purse, heading for her car and that small town at the other end of the road.

  ***

  Adele liked to think of herself as adventuresome, though it was limited to knowing where she was or how to get to where she had been. With that in mind, she drove her new Tahoe around the small town of Avon, trying to familiarize herself with it.

  The map on her computer screen that was built into the dashboard said the town had only fifteen hundred year-round residents. A far cry from the cities of Dallas and Houston she had once lived in, and Abilene, the city she’d fled from, leaving Kyle.

  On one of the main streets, she spotted the Wilderness Outfitters store that had an ad on the back of the brochure from the resort. Adele was hoping it could outfit her in some new and warmer clothes.

  She browsed the aisles, selecting flannel shirts in her size, and dropped an armload on the front desk. She went back for packages of silk long-johns, heavy socks, and sweaters. Adding a couple pairs of flannel lined jeans and fleece loungers, Adele thought she might be close to being done until she spotted the shoe section.

  “I need to take these socks out of the package to try on with boots,” she said to the sales clerk, ripping open the package.

  “Sure thing,” the young woman said, shocked at the pile of clothing that was still growing. She spoke softly into the microphone on her lapel, “Henry, I need some assistance on the front counter please.”

  Adele sat in a chair with several pairs of boots on the floor around her, and slipped on the heavy socks.

  “Can I help you find something?” an older gentleman asked.

  She looked up and smiled. “Yes, I need these in a half size larger.” Adele handed him the boots she had rejected. “I didn’t realize the socks would make such a difference.” He returned with the proper size and she slipped her foot in comfortably and stood. “Yes, these are good. Thank you.”

  “From the pile on the counter, you could make our monthly sales quota in one hour,” Henry chuckled, taking the boxes from her.

  “I was unprepared, clothing-wise,” Adele admitted.

  “How long will you be staying in the area? Perhaps I can make a few suggestions,” he offered.

  “All winter.”

  “You’ll need better boots than what you’ve selected. What about outerwear?” he prodded. “Like a jacket, hats, gloves?”

  “Oh, I forgot about those! Lead me!”

  They moved to the other end of the store, where Adele selected one short jacket and a knee-length down coat in dove gray, hats and gloves to match. On the way to the checkout, she spotted a display of long skirts and took two.

  Passing the weapons counter, she stopped. “Henry, I need a brick of 9mm hollow points. Can you get them for me?” He looked a bit startled but covered it well. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and opened the case.

  The clerk finished ringing up the items and Adele handed over her platinum debit card. The clerk eyed it and was surprised when the sale went through without a hesitation.

  “Ms. Michaels, please allow me to help you take these packages to your car,” Henry said. He took as many bags as he could handle and followed her out the door to the Tahoe, going back once for another load. As Adele had spent nearly three thousand dollars on good, top of the line clothing, it was the least he could do.

  Adele had always loved to shop and now that she could afford it, she insisted on quality.

  The next and final stop was the Walstroms super store where she replenished what fresh foods she had eaten over the last week, and stocked up on coffee creamer, butter, softer tissue paper, and a better quality cork opener. She decided she might have to go back to Butte for the Egyptian cotton sheets she loved and thicker bath towels. That would have to wait though. She was tired. She realized she had forgotten to take something from the freezer for dinner, and grabbed several frozen pizzas. A pizza was comfort food when she forgot about eating for hours on end.

  ***

  As part of the security for the res
ort, observation cameras were mounted strategically, and discreetly, around the compound. Jeff Atkins hit a few keys on his computer and zoomed in on Adele’s location, watching her make several trips to empty her car. He thought for a few minutes while he watched, and then exited that program and ran a search on her name.

  “I knew that name was familiar!” he whispered to himself. Her website offered a view into the gallery of all her paintings. “Wow.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Adele finished hanging her new clothes in the large closet. She had a pile of items that would touch her skin, like the socks and long-johns, that would need to be washed first. Hiking boots, snow boots, and casual boots, now free from their boxes and tissue paper, sat on the floor of the closet, beside her warm, furry slippers.

  She closed her eyes, rubbing them slightly, then ran her fingers through her short blonde hair and sighed. Short hair was new to her. She had always worn it long until the day Kyle knocked her unconscious and hacked it all off. Her stylist actually wept when he saw the hatchet job. An hour later, Adele had a smart new cut.

  A quick glance at her watch told her it was after six in the evening. In the kitchen she set the oven to preheat and pulled out one of the pizzas.

  She dragged one of the tall stools over to her art table to stare out the window at the sun setting behind the mountain. It would make a good painting. She captured the scene and the array of colors with her camera.

  All the activity for the day, plus pizza and wine for dinner while watching the evening news, was enough to put Adele into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  ***

  With the coffee almost ready in her French press, Adele stretched and touched her toes, loosening up her back. She spread out the papers from the check-in packet and found a resort map. Hiking trails were clearly marked, as were the bike and horse trails; none of them were the same. She didn’t care about the cross country trails since she didn’t ski, however the snowshoe trail might give her something to do one afternoon once there was snow.

  She took her fresh cup of coffee over to the computer as her new cellphone rang. A surge of panic rose in her throat until she remembered she gave the number only to her mother and her lawyer.

  “Hi, Mom!” Adele said, mustering as much enthusiasm as she could. “You’re up early.”

  “I’m always up early,” Alden Michaels replied. “So where are you and how are you doing?” she said, getting right to the point.

  “I’m in Montana at a resort in the Rocky Mountains, and so far I’m doing fine,” she answered, knowing her mother always had her best interests at heart. “I’ve been here a week and I think I’m about settled in.”

  “Have you done any painting yet?”

  “Not yet, I’ve been busy stocking up on supplies,” Adele replied. “I’m going to take a walk this morning and pick up some local leaves and such to use in my first painting.”

  Paintings by Adele Michaels always had bits and pieces imbedded somewhere on the canvas; sometimes they were even prominent or the main focus.

  “Stocking up, eh? What do you have?”

  “The usual, Mom. Lots of soups, pasta, rice, all those things you taught me to keep on hand.”

  “How much do you have in the freezer?” Alden asked with a tsk in her voice.

  “The freezer is full, and so is the refrigerator. Don’t be such a worry wart!”

  “Sorry, dear, I still worry about you.”

  “I appreciate that, Mom, really.” Knowing her mother wouldn’t be happy until she could remind Adele about something she forgot, she asked, “Is there anything I should add?”

  Alden perked right up. “What kind of stove do you have? Gas or electric?”

  “The entire condo is electric, why?”

  “It’s winter, Adele, and you’re in the mountains. What if you lose power? How are you going to warm that soup? What about lights and heat?”

  Adele thought for a moment. Her mother was right. That was something she hadn’t thought about. “There’s a small town nearby with a super Walstroms. What should I pick up?”

  “Oh, Adele, I taught you better than that! Okay, in the camping section find a two burner camp stove, preferably kerosene but propane will do. Are you writing this down?” Without waiting for an answer, she kept going. “One good lantern that you can carry outside, at least two oil lamps, and don’t forget the fuel for all of it. You might want a battery lamp too. That will give you light without additional heat. In fact, get two or three of those, and don’t forget a good supply of batteries.”

  “My mom the prepper. What would I do without you?” Adele laughed. She wrote all that down, starting a new shopping list, and added some candles. Those would be nice around the bathtub some night. Maybe she would go to Butte sooner than expected.

  “Um, Adele, how is Kyle and where is he?” Alden asked carefully.

  “Mom, I don’t care how he is, I only care where he is, and that’s locked away in a mental hospital. He’s not my husband anymore and not my responsibility! Just drop it, okay?” Adele knew that came out harsh. “I’m sorry, Mom, I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Yes, dear, but promise me you will pick up the stove and lamps soon. Remember, you can’t prepare tomorrow for what happens today!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Good morning, Miss Michaels,” Jeff said pleasantly. “Are you enjoying your stay with us?”

  “So far everything is fine, Mr. Atkins,” Adele answered. “I have a couple of questions though.”

  “I will certainly do my best to answer them, if…” he smiled gently, “you call me Jeff.”

  “Since I will be around for a while, I can do that, provided you call me Adele.” She returned his smile.

  “Now that we have that settled, what can I do for you?”

  “First, what is the building behind here? The one that looks attached.”

  “That’s the restaurant, and beside it is the rec and game room. Would you like a tour?” he offered.

  “Maybe some other time. Right now I’m looking forward to a walk, which brings up my next question. Where do the trails start and are they well marked? I wouldn’t want to get lost!”

  “All the trails are well marked, although on occasion signs do come down from the weather. We try our best to keep them up. And you’re in luck! In about a half hour I’m expecting a school bus of sixth graders and their teachers for a nature walk. Would you care to join me? There is little for me to do except to keep them on the trails; the teachers will do the rest.”

  “I would love to. Thank you. I need to get my camera, so don’t leave without me!” She hurried up the hill to her condo. She put her digital camera and a collection box in a backpack along with two bottles of water, and was back in the parking lot as the bus pulled in.

  ***

  The day was a moderate seventy degrees, with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. Adele took a deep breath of the clean mountain air and smiled.

  “Smells good doesn’t it?” Jeff said into her ear, noting that she didn’t wear any perfume.

  “Oh, yes, reminds me of Michigan.” She turned toward him as they continued walking, crunching on the fallen autumn leaves. “The children are very well behaved.” The class of fourteen students and three teachers were ahead of them on the well marked trail. Occasionally the adults stopped the kids and pointed out an interesting fall growth or tracks in the dirt, and Jeff always lingered behind making sure everyone stayed with the group.

  “Yes, they are, and that’s why they are always welcomed back, although there have been an occasion or two when boys being boys, had to be disciplined.” Jeff took her arm when she stumbled on a tree root, then removed it quickly. As attractive as he found her, getting too familiar with the guests was a bad idea.

  Adele took several pictures of the wildlife they spotted, but mostly of the tr
ees and low growth, also taking samples that she could add to a painting. A short time later, they were back in the parking lot.

  “Are all the trails that short of a walk?” she asked Jeff.

  “No, there are some longer ones,” he replied. “I try not to keep the kids out more than an hour though. They get bored easy.”

  “An hour? It felt much shorter than that.” Adele watched the kids scramble into the bus and wave goodbye.

  “How about that tour now? It won’t take long, I promise, and you should get to know your way around here and what we have to offer,” Jeff said.

  ***

  The game room was the first area they passed. Apparently it needed, and got, more supervision when the resort was busy. “Youngsters like Tony are right at home here and would spend all their time playing the games instead of enjoying the outdoors like their parents think they should. I’ve considered closing it.” They continued down the wide hallway and he pushed open the double glass doors into the restaurant.

  “Impressive,” Adele said, taking in the concrete and copper waterfall in the center of the room.