The Reservoir by Rosemarie Naramore Page B

matter-of-factly.
    “What’s obvious?” Niqui said.
    “It obvious that she wants her body found,” Kendall said.  “If I was killed and somebody dumped my body in a reservoir, I’d sure want someone to know.  I’d want out!”  Kendall shuddered.  “Can you imagine how dark and scary it is in that water?  I mean, in some places it’s sooo deep.”  She made a face and shuddered again.  “And who knows what else is down there, tangled up in all the trees.”
    “Kendall could be right,” Holly mused aloud.  “But maybe her unfinished business is twofold.  Maybe…”
    “What, Holly?” Zack prompted.
    “Maybe she wants us to find her killer.”
    The declaration was met with stony silence.  Finally, Daniel spoke.  “How the heck would we do that?”
    “I don’t…”  Holly’s words trailed off as she was interrupted by an ear-splitting sound from outside. 
    “What the heck was that?” Daniel said, jumping to his feet a tenth of a second faster than Zack and rushing to the backdoor.
    The girls rose simultaneously, and followed the boys to the porch.  “What was that?” Kendall murmured.  “It sounded like splintering wood.”
    “We’ll check it out,” Zack said with authority in his voice.  “You girls stay here.”
    Kendall harrumphed in disgust.  “We’re not staying back here like weak-kneed little princesses while our knights in shining armor rush off to see to the danger…”
    “Why not?” Zack asked.
    “Because we don’t see any knights,” Niqui supplied.  “And I can hit harder, run faster, throw better, and fight dirtier than anybody here.”
    “Niqui goes first,” Daniel quipped.
    “We all go,” Holly said, ever the voice of reason.  “Although…”  She turned to Kendall.  “Somebody should stay by the phone, so if one of us screams, ‘Dial 911!’—that someone can make the call.”
    “You mean me?” Kendall said in her usual droll tone.  “Because I’m the smallest, right?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “Okay, whatever.  Besides, if these brave boys stand here long enough, whatever made that noise will probably be long gone anyway.  That’s probably their plan…”
    Zack made a growling sound and stormed off the back porch, followed by Daniel, Niqui, and Holly.  He stopped in the dusty patch of earth that qualified as the cabin’s backyard.  “I don’t see anything.”
    Holly did a slow circle, trying to spot what might have been the source of the ear-splitting sound in the woods.  Suddenly, she pointed.  “I think it came from David’s shed.  It’s just over … there.”
    Zack nodded, taking the lead.  This time, Holly hurried to his side.  He took her hand.  Niqui and Daniel followed, walking side by side.
    “We should have grabbed a weapon,” Niqui muttered.
    “We don’t have any weapons,” Daniel pointed out.  “Well, except you, Niqui.  You’re as lethal as they come.”
    “Thanks,” Niqui said sweetly, but then frowned.  “That was a compliment, right?”
“Absolutely,” he assured her.  “If I ever find myself in a dark alley, surrounded by thugs, I want you by my side.”
    “Thanks,” she said sweetly, but frowned again.  “Is that a compliment?”
“Absolutely.  You’re model beautiful, but tough as nails.  You don’t take any guff, but you don’t dish it out, either.  I respect that.”
    “Ah, thanks, Daniel.”
    “Just keeping it real…  Pound it,” he said, raising his fist for Niqui to return the gesture. 
    When the group reached the shed, Zack motioned for the girls to stay back, while he and Daniel approached quietly.  Even from their vantage point several yards away, they could see someone or something had broken down the door.  It hung from rusty hinges, and unfortunately, blocked their view of the inside.
    Zack inched closer to the shed, Daniel at his side.  When they were a mere few feet away, Zack gestured for Daniel to move to the right, while he took a step or two to the