Murder at Icicle Lodge by J.D. Griffo

Author:J.D. Griffo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2019-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Nessuno è solo.

Ten minutes later pacing the floor of her room with Lola in her arms, Alberta was still smiling. She couldn’t help it, she felt as if she had just scored a huge victory, not only for herself but all womankind.

Alberta couldn’t remember exactly when it started, but early on in her life she resented the fact that her gender automatically forced her to play a subservient role. In her family, in her relationship with her husband, in the world around her women were treated as second-class citizens. Sometimes the treatment was obvious and unapologetic, other times it was more subtle, but no less hurtful. That’s why when Vinny gave Alberta permission to lead her own investigation her brain understood that it was the act of one friend asking another friend for help, but in her heart it was validation of her worth.

Alberta closed her eyes and silently recited the Hail Mary, her go-to prayer for any occasion, and gave thanks for a friend like Vinny and for the blessings that came with it. Thanks to him she felt empowered and was reminded that not all men were created equal. She laughed out loud when she realized the same goes for women.

“Le donne sono come gli uomini,” she whispered. “We don’t come in one-size-fits-all either.”

Sitting in the plaid club chair next to the window, Alberta thought of the women right here at Icicle Lodge and had to admit that no two were alike. Just like in her own family, the women were different. Of course Alberta didn’t know the other women in the lodge as well, but she knew enough to understand they were all cut from different cloths.

Cathy was a smart businesswoman and seemed to have taken a tragedy like the untimely death of her husband and used the curveball life threw at her to her advantage. She didn’t wallow in the shadow of her dead husband, she honored his memory and proved to him and herself that she was a capable woman, who didn’t need a man to survive. But she also seemed to be incapable of telling the truth. Her words were carefully chosen, her expressions monitored, and her emotions kept under wraps.

Stephanie seemed to be timid and shy, but underneath the insecurity and lack of confidence, Alberta detected a strength and determination not unlike Jinx’s desire to climb the journalism ranks to glory. Alberta suspected that something from her past, whether a specific incident or a long-term pervasive treatment from her family or an authority figure, taught Stephanie that being submissive and silencing her own voice was the safe route. Alberta hoped that now with Pamela gone from the picture Stephanie might break free from her own self-imposed prison.

And Pamela. Alberta had found the woman to be rude, brusque, vain, narcissistic, and opinionated. Pamela was definitely not someone who Alberta had wanted in her company, she didn’t want to spend time with her, and yet after Pamela revealed a part of her soul to Alberta, she desperately wanted to get to know the troubled athlete better.

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