Once inside the voice on the intercom came on again. “Please take the last elevator at the end of the hall. The one with the green door. It goes directly to unit number 501. I’ll take care of everything once you’re inside.” The voice was cheery. Val and Gwen made their way down the hallway.

There were no buttons for the elevator, nothing other than a keyhole. Val traced her fingers over it, wondering what kind of key would fit in here. Suddenly, the doors opened, and Gwen and Val stepped inside. Though the thought of getting into an elevator with someone else at the controls, going to God knows where made Val feel a little uneasy.

Once the doors shut, Val glanced around. There was another slot for a key, obviously for the owner to control it themselves. For all others, someone from inside the condo had to let them in. And out, she presumed.

The doors opened on to a marble entrance hallway to the residence which took up the entire fifth floor. A woman, obviously the housekeeper, was waiting for them. “I’m Louise. Please come in. I’ll take your things.” Louise was dressed in typical maid garb. Light gray dress down to her knees with white collar and white trim, buttons from waist up. Her dark hair was pulled back in a chignon. Val guessed her age to be a little older than Bethany’s. Mid-thirties, maybe?

Val and Gwen took off their coats and boots and followed Louise in. The expansive unit was all open-concept. High ceilings with skylights and windows everywhere made it seem as if they were standing outside. Furnishing and accents were sparse but bold. A portrait of Marilyn Monroe in stark contrasting colors, very reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s work, hung on the wall over the marble fireplace. Everything else in the room was white or gray, with careful strikes of red, purple and yellow. Though it should have been cold and uninviting, Val had to admit this wasn’t the case. Oddly, it almost pulled you in. A surreal modernistic interior, pitted against a primal exterior.

Bethany Arias and Melinda Holbright sat on a plush white couch. Behind them, and to their left and right, walls of windows allowed for a panoramic view of the water. The picture of Lake Erie through the floor-to-ceiling windows was breathtaking, with all variations of grays, whites and blues. The dark slate colored sky signaled the next round of snow ready to hit the area. A storm coming in off the water was an amazing sight. Nature’s fury unleashed, unstoppable. This condo also gave an impression of “unstoppable;” a well-matched rival. Maybe this was what Bethany was going for.

The two women giggled and appeared engaged in a discussion as Louise brought Val and Gwen over to them.