And then the fireworks started. A loud bang and a little bug whizzed by her ear, so close she could hear the whine of it going by. Another explosion and a dart of fire. Elgin could feel the room spinning like a top. Disoriented, she heard firecrackers popping behind her and a crack like shattering glass. The acrid smell and faint haze of smoke filled her lungs. Crowd noises as the fireworks built to a climax. Screams and shouts. People pushing past her. Camp going down on his knees to give her a better view.

“Elgin?”

“Marty?”

“Are you all right, Dear?” he asked anxiously, taking her shoulders and looking her up and down. “You aren’t hurt are you?”

“No…I think I’m all right…” She cocked her head quizzically to one side, the reality of his sudden presence just sinking in. “What are you…?”

Behind him, Chad knelt on the kitchen floor beside two long, denim-clad legs.

A soft moan at her feet attracted her attention. Looking down, she saw Tom although it looked like him but different somehow. Instead of his slow movements and slightly disconnected speech, he squatted beside Camp, ripping his red shirt, speaking quickly, decisively and…

Camp’s shirt was white. And why was he lying on the floor?

Screaming, she dropped to her knees, tears flowing like the blood from the hole in his chest, streaming down his side and spreading on the highly polished wooden floor and being absorbed by her dress.

“Shhh,” Harm soothed, reaching for her hand and bringing it softly to his lips. “It’s okay.”

“Camp!”

“Shhh,” he repeated. With a grin, he moved his head in Tom’s direction. “Elgin Collier, I’d like you to meet Charlie Simons. Charlie, this is the beautiful lady I’ve been telling you about.”

“Miss Collier,” Charlie responded politely. “Camp’s told me a lot about you.”

“Charlie? But I thought your name was Tom.” Confusion mingled with panic about Harm, the lingering terror of Fisher and relief at the unexpected, dramatic arrival of the trio. “I…I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

Chad came up behind Charlie and handed him several folded dishcloths. As he took them, he glanced into the other man’s solemn face. Almost imperceptibly, he moved his head from side to side. Charlie nodded ever so slightly and returned to Harm.

“I work with Camp,” he explained, rolling three of the cloths together and pressing them to Harm’s chest. “He sent me up here before you arrived to scout things out and get settled in. Become part of the scenery so I could keep an eye on all our players without attracting attention.

“Here, press down as hard as you can.” Taking her hands, Charlie crossed them and put them on the towel. “Lean on it. You’re not going to break anything and we need to stop or at least slow down the bleeding.”

Rising, he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and went into the kitchen.

“Apparently,” Marty continued, “Chad, Fisher and I became the prime suspects. Mr. Simons tells me that my summer houseboy, Ernesto, is actually one of Mr. Harm’s agents. Pity. Wonderful young man and very efficient. I’d planned to keep him on after Labor Day.”

“And,” Chad added, “it turns out my housekeeper, Mary, works for Mr. Harm as well.”

“Mr. Simons only attended my party to watch Fisher and to keep a pre-arranged meeting with Harm. When he discovered you both gone and being unfamiliar with most of the people there, he had no choice but to reveal himself to me and ask for my help in determining if anyone else had gone missing.

“Having already discovered that your ‘secretary’ was in fact a private detective and that both of you might be in grave danger, I made a quick circuit of my guests. I discovered Fisher gone and that he’d given one of my waiters a note to give you. Well, it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out.”

“I saw Tom and Marty huddling and looking worried,” Chad picked up the story, “so I decided to see what they were up to. Followed them to Marty’s den where I eavesdropped and found out everything including the fact that Fisher might be a homicidal stalker.”

“Broke in,” Marty smiled. “Demanded to be part of the posse.”

“But why didn’t you just call the sheriff?” Elgin asked, glancing up from the towels now starting to turn red.

“Because as Mr. Simons pointed out,” Marty answered, “we had no way of knowing if Fisher actually had you and if he did, where he might be holding you. Not to mention that if he had abducted you, the sight of police cars might have caused him to do something drastic. So we decided to reconnoiter as it were. Since this place is only about ten minutes from my house, it seemed the logical place to start.”

“And Jim?” she asked timidly.

Marty sighed, glancing from Chad to Elgin and back again. “We could see through the window Fisher was armed,” he replied quietly. “Fortunately, so was Mr. Simons. He broke the window, shouted at Fisher to drop his gun and put up his hands. Fisher fired and Mr. Simons returned.” He stopped, looking again at Elgin, the pain of his story evident in his face. “Before we could do anything, he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.”

“Oh!” Her eyes went immediately to his body sprawled on the floor. Unaccountably, after everything that had happened, she could only remember her lifelong friend, Jim and the tears started anew, Harm running his fingers lightly up and down her arm, powerless to comfort her.

Charlie reappeared, pale and drawn. Quickly crossing the living room, he knelt by Harm, wadding up more towels.

“How you doing?” he asked, smiling thinly and replacing the soaked towels.

“Other than it hurts like hell?” Harm managed.

“We have to get him to a hospital,” Elgin sobbed.

“Yeah, well you’re gonna have to hold a little longer, Pard. We’ve got a problem.”

“What do you mean, ‘a problem?’” Marty leaned down slightly.

“9-1-1 says there’s a major smash up on the north end of the lake. Chain reaction. At least ten, twelve cars. Most of the sheriff’s deputies are either on scene or stuck in the traffic trying to get there. Only ambulance and paramedics on this side of the lake are up there too. They’re trying to get another team up there from West Shore right now. And the Life Flight ‘copter from West Lake is making an emergency flight to the coast with a kidney for a transplant.”

“What about a local doctor?” Chad ventured. “Surely there must be someone on this side of the lake?”

“I’m afraid not,” Marty shook his head. “We’ve been trying to get a doctor up here for years. I’ve offered to build and furnish a clinic and pay a doctor myself but there’s such a shortage and we just can’t afford to compete with big cities and rich suburbs.”

“Then let’s put him in my car and take him to West Shore.”

“According to the dispatcher, the fireworks traffic is a solid jam all around the lake. Who knows how long it might take to get there.” Charlie glanced down at Harm. “Don’t worry, Camp. We’ll think of something.”

“I know.”

They lapsed into silence, watching as the stains on the towels grew larger.

Suddenly, Marty snapped his fingers and dug into his slacks for his phone. “I think I might have an idea.” He punched a speed dial button and waited a few seconds.

“What…?”

Marty held up a finger and spoke quickly into the phone. “Paul? It’s Marty. Listen, I don’t have any time to explain. Is ‘The Monkey’ ready to go?”

“Yes, sir,” the boatman answered. “In fact, everyone’s boarded. We’re just waiting for you so we can cast off.”

“Get everyone off the boat…now…and get her up to the dock in front of Jim Fisher’s place as quickly as you can.”

“I don’t understand…”

“There’s nothing for you to understand,” Marty snapped, an authority in his voice that Elgin had never heard before. “I’m your boss and I’m giving you an order. Tell everyone that we won’t be going out on the lake for the fireworks this year but that the deck and grounds afford an excellent view of the show. I want ‘The Monkey’ up here and I want her up here now!”