Chapter 1

As Ryan Crawford drove slowly down the tree-lined street, he turned his head from side to side looking for the first address on his list. Although the sun was shinning brightly, the street was dark due to the rich late spring foliage of the huge old oak trees. The addresses were embossed on brass plates attached to the imposing stone pillars holding the iron gates. The brick walls around the massive estates protected the houses like fortresses and made it evident that the people living there wanted to choose who got in and who didn't. Ryan wasn't familiar with this area of town and from the size of the houses he figured he never would be. This was definitely where "the other half lived"; the so-called idle rich. He knew that the estates must have cost millions of dollars, not including the expense of servants, limousine drivers, and people like him, who took care of their swimming pools.

Just a few weeks ago Ryan wouldn't have dared to even drive down this street. But now he had a summer job cleaning pools and most of his customers lived in this section of town. He had been surprised that he was offered a job with AquaSpa Pools, a large pool servicing company that catered to the rich and famous. The job was part of a program to keep underprivileged kids off the streets during the summer months. The company hired ten or so young men to maintain pools and in some cases to do "odd" jobs around the massive estates. He wasn't sure how they had gotten his name since he hadn't applied for the job. It probably had something to do with his friend Benny who had worked there during the summers for the past several years.

Ryan wasn't complaining. He needed the money desperately because he was trying to save money for books and such in case he got a scholarship for college. But it embarrassed him to have to take "charity". Still he swallowed his pride and took the job. The best thing about the job was that it required that he only work four hours a day, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That gave him a four-day weekend, which would allow plenty of time to practice for the high school gymnastics team.

While Ryan wasn't exactly a natural athlete, he had worked hard to build up his body. He practiced several hours every day and thought he had a good chance to make the team. He had put on 15 pounds of muscles in the past six months, adding to his six-foot tall and already lean physique. Still, the competition was fierce and he knew that he would have to stay in shape during the summer.

Most people would have thought that Ryan was very popular teen. Unfortunately that was not the case. While his blond hair, blue-eyed good looks made both young and older women turn their heads, he was a very shy boy and rarely returned their attention. And, although Ryan had just turned eighteen, he looked and acted younger. Ryan had been born six weeks premature and that created some developmental problems for him. Nothing that was serious but his mother believed it was the reason for his extreme shyness and his tendency to lack self-confidence.

The old car sputtered and a loud bang exploded from the tailpipe.

Ryan could feel his face flush with embarrassment and could almost feel the neighbors turning up their noses, wondering who the vagrant driving the dilapidated car was.

The 1984 Olds looked pretty good twenty years ago, but it had definitely seen better days. One front fender was dented in, the automatic windows didn't work anymore and both rear quarter panels were rusted through. White smoke billowed from the tail pipe as a result of an engine with two burnt valves. The driver's side window was permanently stuck in a position halfway open. Now, the wreck of a car sat low in the back, due to weak suspension and the fact that the back seat and trunk were loaded down with chlorine, algaecide, ph riser and everything else he needed to take care of swimming pools.

Two weeks ago Ryan wouldn't have known what the chemicals were for. He certainly never had a swimming pool at his house and he wasn't very good in chemistry. However, that didn't seem to matter to AquaSpa. They gave him a two-day crash course on pool maintenance and sent him on his way.

"Ah, here it is, 3316 Oak Tree Lane, Lloyd and Mary Wellsworth," Ryan said to himself when he saw the numbers on the large gate and matched them to his list. He had heard of the Wellsworths. They owned a chain of department stores and were part of "high society".

As Ryan stretched his arm through the opening in the driver's door window and pressed the buzzer on the wall he wondered why they didn't have a live in pool person. Then his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a curt reply through the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Uh... I'm Ryan from AquaSpa Pools."

Without another word, a buzzer sounded and the large iron gates slowly opened.

The car sputtered and belched more smoke as Ryan drove up the winding driveway.

"Wow," he gasped out loud as he saw the large house. It sat on top of a hill with large oak trees and several smaller buildings surrounding it. There were marble steps and stone pillars leading to two massive wooden doors. As he started to get out Ryan saw an old man dressed in what looked like a tuxedo come out and hurry down the steps toward him.

"Please drive around to the servant's entrance," the old guy said, pointing a driveway at the end of the house, as he bent over and peered through the passenger side window. There was obvious disdain on his face and in his heavily accented British voice.

Ryan could see him look at his car and then almost turn his nose into the air. Excuse me! Ryan thought as he hit the gas and made the car backfire loudly. He drove around the side of the mansion where there were several parked maintenance trucks. "It must be hired help day," Ryan said to himself. He parked, got out and opened the back door to pull out a large container of chlorine and a bucket of algaecide. He saw the butler waiting for him a safe distance from the car, almost as if it had some contagious disease.

"Where's the pool?"

"This way," the butler said and turned and walked down a hedge-lined sidewalk.

"This is some swanky place," Ryan said to the man strutting stiffly down the walk in front of him.

The butler didn't answer. When he reached the corner of the house he stopped and turned to Ryan. Then he silently raised his arm like a statue and pointed toward a set of steps that led up to the back of the house.

"Is the pool equipment up there?" Ryan asked.

"You will find everything you need behind the main cabaña. Help is not allowed in the main house without an escort. Please ring the buzzer on the wall if you need anything." With that the old guy turned and headed for the servants entrance.

"Everything you need is behind the main cabana," Ryan whispered in a vain attempt to mock the butler's British accent. Ryan climbed the stairs, carrying the two heavy buckets of chemicals. At the top he stopped, put the buckets down and looked around. In front of him was the largest swimming pool he had ever seen. It had a two-tiered diving board, a large hot tub and roped off lanes for swimming laps. Surrounding it were several small covered cabanas and one large one. There were various cushioned lounge chairs, tables with umbrellas, and even palm trees. It occurred to Ryan that since palm trees were not indigenous to this area, they had to import them. He wondered how they kept them alive during the winter but then figured they probably just replaced them every year.

This is going to take me forever just to vacuum Ryan thought as he stood with his hands on his hips and scanned the massive pool. He looked at the surrounding gardens and could see several workers cutting the hedges that stretched out behind the massive house. As he turned back to the house he glanced up at an upstairs balcony and was startled to see a woman standing there. He couldn't get a good look at her but she appeared to be rather young. Probably the stuck-up daughter of 'Lord Wellsworth', he thought. A second later she was gone. "Oh well, times wasting," he said and went to find the vacuum hose.

An hour later Ryan was drenched in sweat and he was only half finished vacuuming the pool. He wiped his brow with his forearm and looked around to see if there was anywhere to get a drink of water. His tank top was sticking to his chest and back. He thought about just jumping into the pool to cool off but knew that it would probably cost him his job. Still it seemed very tempting.