“No, freshwater sailing is a lot different. Fun, though. I’ve done a little of that.”

The girl’s face closed down as if she suddenly realized she was having a conversation that she hadn’t intended to have. “What am I going to do about my things?”

“If you need a hand, I don’t mind helping. I’m not doing anything else right now.”

“Oh good. There should be someone with the car. Just tell them Ford sent you.”

“Oh, not what I meant,” Lily said. “I’ll walk down with you. I can help you carry some things back up.”

“I see,” the girl said with a sniff of annoyance. “Never mind. My security will just have to take care of it.”

“Right,” Lily said slowly. “It was nice meeting you, Ms.…?”

“Ford,” she repeated, and stepped into the cabin.

Lily looked after her but saw no point in following. She ought to find Sarah. If she wasn’t mistaken, this was their high-profile camper, and if Ford was supposed to have security, shouldn’t someone be around somewhere? Were state senators’ families automatically assigned security? She had no idea. And if that was the case, where were they?

The parking lot came into view at the bottom of the winding trail leading down from the cabins, and Lily picked out the large black SUV pulled up beside her BMW. The license plate indicated it was a government vehicle, as if the appearance itself wasn’t enough to suggest it. A woman with short dark hair in black tailored pants, white shirt, and dark blazer, despite the heat, stood by the driver’s side. Lily headed that way. Looked like she’d found security.

“Are you with Ford, by any chance?” Lily said.

“Yes. Are you Sarah Fielder? Ms. Langford is waiting with her mother for you at the main building.”

“No, I’m Lily Davenport, the camp medic.” Lily judged the brunette to be late twenties or early thirties, a bit above average height, and athletic looking even in the suit. Probably a job requirement if she was the security Ford had mentioned. “And Ford isn’t at the lodge. She’s up at the cabins. I just spoke with her.”

A look of irritation quickly flashed across the woman’s face. A muscle jumped at the angle of her jaw. “I see. Thank you.”

“Well, good to meet you, Agent…?”

“Sergeant Latoya. New York State Police.”

“Oh. I see.”

“If you’ll excuse me, Doctor,” Latoya said and strode off toward the trail Lily had just descended.

Lily watched her go, yet another person not enjoying her summer assignment.

* * *

A few hours later, Lily followed the hum of conversation and the scent of something tantalizingly savory to the communal dining room, which, as it turned out, occupied an entire L-shaped extension off the great room. Banks of windows on two sides provided sweeping vistas to the lake below and upward to the mountains for which the lodge was named. The snowcapped crests of Thunder Ridge formed a gap-toothed line against the sky, with dense evergreens marching down the mountainside to the lodge and the cabins. She wondered what was on the other side of the ridge, feeling overshadowed by the sheer magnitude of the untouched forest in every direction. She mentally transposed the skyscrapers of NYC on the skyline. There, not so very different after all.