Paradise

Prologue

Roberta Miller skidded to a stop. “We made it, Leah!” she exclaimed, holding the stitch in her side. The temporary stage at the mall’s center court was set for TV Ten’s “Great Getaway Giveaway” contest. “So much for the ‘must be present to win’ rule. Now, all they have to do is draw my name and I’m off to the
Bahamas
!”

Leah laughed. “You haven’t won yet, girlfriend, and there are hundreds other folks here with the same idea, me included.”

Robbie scanned the shoulder to shoulder crowd, searching for her boyfriend, Rick Fields. He promised he’d meet her here. She had to win that cruise. Together on a gigantic ship, she and Rick would find that spark again, that magic which made them inseparable when they first started dating.

Looking around, she wondered if he had spied her yet. She was easy to spot, tall at five-eight with dark red, wavy hair hanging well below her shoulders. Rick would recognize the blouse she wore as one of his favorites. He said it reminded him of her emerald green eyes.

A technician did a countdown, signaling that Channel Ten would go to a live feed in three…two…one. A dapper, blow-dried gent stepped up to the microphone. “Welcome to a special edition of ‘TV Ten Tonight.’ I’m Matt Crawford and I’m at the new party-hearty North Florida Festival Mall. We’re here tonight to select the lucky winners in the TV Ten Great Getaway Giveaway. How’s everybody doing? Are we here to win some travel packages?”

Robbie held her hands over her ears and cheered along with the roaring crowd.

“Before we select our winners for the ten different vacation packages from the Channel Ten Mega-drum,” he indicated a large rolling drum filled with entry forms, “I want to review a few ground rules.”

Matt recited the rules, counting them on his fingers. Searching the crowd for Rick, Robbie listened with half an ear. “Winner must participate in the Getaway package. It cannot be given to anyone else. Pictures and videos taken of the winners tonight will be used throughout the promotion.”

Right.

“Winners must agree to provide an on-air review with TV Ten about their travel packages during sweeps week.”

Got it.
When she failed to locate Rick, a sinking feeling spread through her stomach.

Matt Crawford continued brightly. “…travel packages must be used within the next two weeks.”

She nudged Leah. “Two weeks?”

Leah shrugged as the friendly crowd jostled her forward. “I think it’s a new one. Hey, does that interfere with your big trip to
New York
? If you win, I could pretend to be you and take the cruise off your hands!”

The next two weeks, hmm. Robbie mentally jogged through her calendar. It really didn’t matter. Come hell or high water, if she won she’d make it all work somehow. “What a friend. How do you know you won’t win it?” Robbie asked, smiling at Leah’s feigned sincerity.

“With the way you’ve been praying and carrying on? I couldn’t bear to take it away from you. You’ve just got to get away with Rick for a while. Besides, I only filled out a few entry forms, not two hundred!”

Robbie laughed. “Thanks for the support. And it wasn’t two hundred. They ran out at a hundred and ninety.”

Matt Crawford ambled over to the Mega-drum. The world faded away as Robbie prayed to hear her name called. Once again, she quickly scanned the crowd for Rick and bit back her disappointment. He had to be here but probably couldn’t get to her through the crowd.

A cheer rose on the other side of the courtyard as Matt began announcing winners. Then, another cheer went up immediately to her left. The crowd noise was deafening. Robbie strained to hear Matt as she continued to chant her mantra.
Please, please, let me win the cruise. Let me win the cruise.
Several more cheers sounded close by. Leah, jumping up and down, brought her back to reality. “You won! Robbie, you won! You won!”

Stunned, she made her way to the stage to join the other winners. A tall, muscular man with wire rimmed glasses and neatly trimmed, blond hair stepped forward to shake her hand and give her an envelope. His rugged good looks and toned physique kept him from any bookish image. Beside him, a bubbly blonde with a wide smile and sparkling laugh shook her hand and indicated that Robbie should stand between her and her handsome companion.

Elated, she pumped the woman’s hand. “Thank you, thank you! You can’t imagine how much I wanted to win this getaway package. This is so exciting!” She turned and grabbed the tall man’s hand again and gave his arm a workout. “My boyfriend’s going to love this! I never win anything! This is
so
wonderful!”

“And now,” Matt announced, “the grand prize winner for a weeklong cruise to the
Bahamas
…”

Huh?
What did he mean “and now the grand prize winner?” She’d already won the cruise. Confused, she turned sharply to see a heavyset, gray haired woman wobble toward the stage screaming, “I won! I won!”

A tiny tickle of panic crept up her spine.
Oh my goodness.

She shifted her eyes from right to left, studying the couple who had given her the envelope. Now she noticed they weren’t wearing business casual like the other presenters. Their couture was right off the cover of “Field and Stream”: khaki shirts and shorts with lots of pockets and infinitely attractive brown high top work boots. The only thing missing were pith helmets.

There had to be a mistake. She and Rick were going to spend a week cruising to the
Bahamas
, feasting, dancing and sipping exotic drinks with little umbrellas. Still on camera, she pasted on a plastic smile and glanced down at the envelope.

“McGraw Tours Outdoorsman’s Paradise Package.”

Uh oh.

Chapter One

“I tell you, Leah,” Robbie chuckled into her cell phone, “if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get hauled off to the county jail.”

Robbie knew her restored 1967 red Camaro ragtop was a cop-magnet but continued to barrel her way north on Route One over the Florida/
Georgia
border. “Hey, do you still get the chair for speeding in
Georgia
?”

Glancing at her watch, she grimaced. “Don’t be a smart-ass. I’m an hour early. I thought you said it would take two hours to get here with Monday morning traffic.”

Frowning, she exited onto a county road and followed Leah’s convoluted directions. One of these days she just had to invest in a GPS. “Well, I made it. The megalopolis of
Folkston
,
Georgia
. Gateway to the
Okefenokee Swamp
. Please, somebody shoot me.”

“No, you don’t need to load your Glock. Jeez, I know Fran McGraw said this place was paradise, but it looks more like the land of the double-wide to me. I can’t believe she and that hunk of a husband, Nick, actually make a living guiding canoe tours through a swamp.”

The two lane road curved through a grove of trees and a creepy feeling of deja vu overtook her. Had she been here before? Could this be one of the towns from her childhood? She shook off the unwelcome impression with a shiver.

“What did you say? Right. Can you believe people pay good money to do this? How could anyone think camping on raised platforms in the middle of alligator infested waters is a fun-filled vacation?”

From her conversation with the perky, blonde Mrs. McGraw, Robbie had a vague idea what to expect from her week in the swamp and sheer terror headed the list. She turned off the county road and wound her way along a picturesque lane. Well, it would have been picturesque if it didn’t lead to a swamp.

The closer she came to her destination, the faster her heart pounded. Just the thought of giant reptiles made her palms sweat. What if one bit her hand off like Captain Hook?

“I don’t care if you have to go to work, Leah. Keep talking. I’m getting creeped out just thinking where I’m going. This whole ordeal wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t alone. Having company would have made all the difference,
Former BFF
. You know, all of you are a bunch of gutless jellyfish. Stop laughing. Of the twenty people I begged, pleaded and cajoled not one of you volunteered to come.”

The temptation to turn her car around, run for home and hide under her bed -- TV Ten contest rules be damned -- grew, but she continued, mindful of her obligation to Channel Ten and not willing to insult the genial McGraws.

“Huh? Of course I’m still furious with Rick. Wouldn’t you be?”

Her thoughts drifted to Rick. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be in this mess. But she’d show him. She’d go on this safari into the
Okefenokee Swamp
. And then she’d give Channel Ten the best review they’d ever had on a getaway package. And Rick would see what a fool he was. Taking a cleansing breath, she banished him from her thoughts.

“What? Leah, I told you, I’m not interested in a Rebound Man. The whole idea is totally ridiculous. Huh? All right. I’ll keep an open mind. Maybe the whole concept isn’t crazy. Okay, if you must. Take your damned shower and go to work. I’ll call when I can. Bye, doll.”

She clicked off and glanced at her directions. Rats. She wasn’t lost. Her cell chimed and she smiled at her new ring-tone. Beethoven’s Fifth was so sophisticated. The smile disappeared when she saw the caller ID. Why would anyone from Excelsior be calling her now?