by Lynn Cahoon
Angie picked up the half-empty bowl and plate and brought them to the sink, where Hope took them out of her hands. “First meal done, one more today.”
Estebe pointed to the window and the still-falling snow. “I think it might be a while before they can get us out.”
“Way to look at the bad side,” Felicia said.
He turned to her. “There’s a good side here?”
* * * *
If lunch had been strained, dinner was worse. Cliff came to the kitchen and took food back to his bedroom for him and Bailey. Carolyn picked up food for her and Steve. And Suzie and Robbie came and ate in the kitchen with Angie and the crew. As they were cleaning up the dishes, she turned to Estebe. “I’d hoped the sheriff would come back before dark. How long can this storm last?”
“Days, weeks?” Estebe shook his head. “I tried to watch the news tonight in the living room, but the local channel was off the air. I did, however, have the opportunity to buy a set of ultra-sharp kitchen knives, just like the pros use.”
That made Hope snort. “Maybe I should buy those. My folks say they’re buying me my chef set for graduation, but maybe I shouldn’t let them spend so much on knives.”
“Let your folks help you celebrate. A good set of knives will last you years.” He cut into his lasagna. “It’s a good thing they’re doing.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to be done with school in six months. By July, I’ll be part of the County Seat kitchen team.”
“Excuse me? You’ve been part of the team since we hired you. You’re just going to be in a new job. Which I hope you’ll love. I don’t want to lose anyone, not right now.” Angie surveyed the kitchen. “Since we’re done eating and cleaning up, who wants to take Dom outside with me for a little walk?”
“I will go with you.” Estebe moved toward the door where their coats were hung.
Felicia pulled out some popcorn. “I’m making popcorn; then we can all go into the home theater and watch a movie. Cliff’s got a lot of recent releases cued up for viewing.”
“Are you sure it’s not being used?” Angie snapped Dom’s leash on his collar.
Felicia nodded. “I asked everyone. Well, I invited them to come and watch with us, but they all said they had other plans.”
“Like getting drunk and passing out,” Hope added. When everyone looked at her, she shrugged. “It’s better to call a pig a pig than put lipstick on it. I’ve kind of lost respect for people in the music industry this week.”
“They’ve had a shock.” Estebe stood waiting at the door. “People do strange things when grief hits. You should be more understanding.”
Hope’s face turned beet red as she nodded. “Sorry, you’re right. I was being uncharitable.”
“Accurate, though.” Angie smiled at her. “We’ll be right back. Don’t chose a movie without us.”
“You snooze, you lose.” Matt grabbed a metal bucket and started layering sodas inside.
As they stepped out into the night, the cold made Angie take a sharp breath. She moved off the deck and onto the path that Matt had shoveled earlier that day. The cement already had another inch or so of snow.
The snow was gently falling. Not as heavy as before. She glanced up into the sky and saw a few twinkles of stars between the clouds. “The snow might be stopping soon.”
“Which means the sheriff should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be fine until he comes back.” Estebe took Dom’s leash from her and let the dog run ahead of them.
“Are you concerned?” Angie studied his face. Estebe had good senses when it came to trouble. She trusted his guidance here.
“These people, they are not like us. Not even Felicia’s friend. They are spoiled and used to getting their own way. Even when we feed them high-end food, they grumble because it should be better. Because they expect more.” He glanced back at the house with the glowing lights. “We would be crazy to not watch out for each other. Staying in the same rooms gives us power in numbers. We don’t want to isolate ourselves and become easy prey.”
“But if Dane was killed for a reason, why would someone kill again?”
Estebe took out a bag and cleaned up after Dom, handing Angie the leash. Then they started walking back to the house. Angie thought he’d forgotten the question, but then he paused as he threw the bag and its contents into a trash can outside by the deck stairs. “Some people find they enjoy the act. If this is so, I am worried for all of us tonight. We are like fish in a barrel being stuck here with the killer.”
When they got back inside, they took their boots and coats off and followed the group into the movie theater. Felicia had been right. There were a lot of movies Angie hadn’t seen yet. They settled on a modern Christmas classic with Matt being outvoted for a more action-packed, violent choice. Angie figured they all felt a little too vulnerable to go with Matt’s pick.
He grabbed a bag of popcorn and sank down into one of the chairs. “You all don’t know what you’re missing.”
At the end of the movie, Angie glanced over to where Matt was sitting. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. Yep, even her hardened chef had been sucked into the feel-good ending. She turned back to watch the ending when the door flew open and lights were turned on.
Cliff stood wild-eyed at the top of the room. “Bailey? Are you in here? Has anyone seen Bailey?”
Angie turned and stood up, meeting with Felicia as she hurried to Cliff’s side. “She’s not here with us. You both said you were going to turn in early.”
“We did. But then I woke and couldn’t find her. I’ve been all through the house. This doesn’t make sense. Where is she?” He glanced around the room again, just in case.
“We’ll find her. Let’s go into the kitchen and start some coffee. Then we can make a plan to start a search.” The movie credits were running on the large screen as they left the room. Estebe stopped and turned off the player as they made their way to the door.
She paused next to him. “What do you think?”
“There’s no other entrance or exits from the room, so if she was here, we would have seen her.” He shut the door. “We need to get the others up and in the kitchen.”
“Why?”
He glanced down at her. “Because if she’s been taken, the killer won’t be where he’s supposed to be. And if she’s the killer, we need to be together. Not isolated. I’d rather it be just us, but we can’t ignore his panic. He loves her and is worried.”
“Which means he’s probably not the killer.” Angie watched as Felicia and Cliff reached the kitchen door.
Estebe put his hand on mine, and we waited in the hallway until everyone else had gone into the kitchen. “Or it means that not only is Cliff a gifted musician, he’s an amazing actor.”
Realization hit her fast as he watched for her reaction. “He did have motive. We’ve all heard him say that he and Dane fought about the project. Maybe Dane didn’t want to sign the contract.”
“Maybe.” He took her arm, and they started walking again. “Either way, we need to watch him carefully until we’re sure he’s not the killer. It’s a process of elimination, and this time, you have all of us to help you with your investigation.”
Angie smiled at the tall, well-built and well-mannered man standing next to her. He wasn’t a bad partner to have in a situation like this. “Sheriff Brown and Ian would say you’re feeding my addiction.”
“I’m just glad to have someone with your skill set here with me when I’m stuck in a snowed-in cabin with a killer. Otherwise, we’d all be just the next victim until help arrives tomorrow morning.” Estebe held open the door to the kitchen, and they walked inside, ready to make their battle plans.
Chapter 6
“Okay, so our first plan is to get everyone down here and make sure Bailey’s not with someone.” Estebe took a notebook from the kitchen desk by the
pantry. He moved it and a pen over to Cliff. “Draw us a floorplan of the house, level by level. And start with the bedrooms. We need to get the rest of the group down here sooner rather than later.”
“She wouldn’t do that to me. Not again.” Cliff shoved back the notebook, glaring at Estebe.
“Dude, I think he meant talking to someone, not, well, you know.” Matt took the pen and notebook and drew a box. “Let me help. I did some construction work during summers between college terms. I know how to work with plans.”
Cliff took a deep breath. “Sorry, guys, I’m a little messed up right now. First Dane, now Bailey? What if something bad happened to her?”
“Let’s just focus on finding her.” Felicia set a cup of coffee in front of Cliff. Then she studied Matt’s drawing. “So where are we in that box?”
“I think right here.” He wrote back and front on the page. And then made a couple of lines in the middle of the line next to back. He pointed to one side of the kitchen. “So how many rooms are that way?”
“The breakfast nook, the solarium, then it drops down into another building where the pool and dressing rooms are located. You get there by going through the solarium.” He watched as Matt added the rooms and adjusted the drawing a little to make room for the pool building. Then he pointed toward the front. “Dining room, formal living room, theater room in front of the solarium, then the housekeeper’s quarters in the building in front of the pool area. It helps keep that private by blocking the pool from the road. On this other side are a couple of bathrooms, a recreation room, my den, and a music room.”
“What’s upstairs?” Angie couldn’t believe how big the house was. Especially just the first floor.
“Bedrooms. And a laundry room. Same with the third floor. That’s where my master is, and I put the others from the band up there so they wouldn’t bother you.” He didn’t meet Angie’s gaze when he said it, so she wondered if it had more to do with the fact that it would keep the help away from the band.
“How many bedrooms on each floor?” Matt asked.
“Four. No five. And a library on the third floor and a television room on the second.”
Matt stared at him.
“No, that’s all.” He shifted in his chair when Matt didn’t continue drawing.
Finally, Matt shook his head and muttered something about being different. Then he focused on the drawing and turned it over to Cliff.
Cliff studied it, then took up the pen. “It’s great, but the library is here, overlooking the pool. It has a balcony. And the television room on level two is in the same place.”
Angie picked up the notebook. “Okay then, this will be easy. We all go to the third floor and bring everyone down to the kitchen. We’ll clear all the rooms on the third floor as we go. Maybe she’s just reading in the library.”
Cliff’s eyes brightened. “I didn’t think about that. I mean, I know Bailey can read, but she’s never talked about reading a book or even a magazine. I have a couple of laptops up there too. She might be shopping.”
If Bailey was shopping, Angie was going to be so ticked off. But she didn’t think the girl was just sitting somewhere quiet. For some reason, she felt an urgency to find her. Glancing outside to the snow-covered deck, she watched the snow gently cover the path they’d made less than three hours ago. It had to be freezing out there. And if Bailey was outside in this weather, she didn’t have much time. She stood. “Let’s go find her.”
They divided into two small groups of three. Estebe was with her and Hope. Felicia was with Matt and Cliff. When they got to the top of the stairs, Angie pointed to the left. “We’ll go this way; you guys go that way. Let’s meet here with the others before we go back downstairs. I like the safety of numbers.”
“My suite is the one farthest to the end. You don’t have to check that, I already did.” Cliff pointed to the end of the hall.
“Good idea, let’s start with the farthest room and work our way back.” She glanced at Cliff. “Don’t you want us to check just in case she went back to bed while you were gone?”
“Oh, good point.” He looked almost hopeful.
Angie didn’t think that would happen, but she thought anything was possible. And hope never killed anyone. Neither the emotion nor the girl standing next to her. She held out the flashlight she’d found in the kitchen drawer. Felicia had one for the other team. “Let’s do this.”
They made their way to the farthest door and opened it wide. The lights were on in the room and the bed mussed. Bailey hadn’t returned. Angie made her way to the bathroom, where she found a walk-in shower she’d die for but no missing woman. Estebe stood in the doorway, watching the hall and the room at the same time. Hope emerged from the walk-in closet, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” Angie hurried over to her side, glancing in the closet.
Hope shook her head. “I can’t believe how many clothes they brought for a week. They have suitcases full of stuff they haven’t even opened yet. I guess that’s their L.A. wardrobe? She has more clothes hanging up than I even own.”
“But no Bailey, are you sure?”
Hope nodded. “No Bailey, but Angie, she has a real fur. I know it’s real because I touched it. My grandma has a short mink, but this one, it’s fluffy and new. And it doesn’t smell like a dead animal like Granny’s.”
They walked through the rest of the suite, even checking out the large balcony. Angie leaned over and saw a hot tub set up outside near the pool house. A man and woman sat together with wineglasses in their hands. She tried to lean over, but all she could see was the woman’s long dark hair. She pointed down, and Hope peered over too. “Someone’s outside enjoying the heated tub.”
“I can’t tell if that’s Bailey or not.” She glanced over to the closet. “She has five suits unpacked in the chest of drawers.”
“Let’s hope that’s her then.” They went back inside, and Angie locked the sliding door to the balcony. “Did we check everywhere else?”
Hope scanned the room. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything else here where someone could hide.”
They went out to the hall, and before going into the next room, which should be the library, she saw Estebe walking toward her. She met him halfway. “What’s wrong?”
“Susie and Robbie are getting ready to come downstairs, but Steve and Carolyn aren’t in their room.”
Angie paused. “They share a room? That’s a close working relationship.”
“I didn’t get that vibe either, but according to Cliff, they always share.” He glanced down the hall. “Although I’m beginning to wonder if we can trust our host to be completely honest with us.”
“That’s a discussion to have with Felicia.” Angie added, “There’s a couple in the hot tub outside. It’s probably them.”
He nodded. “I’ll go down and check. You all finish clearing the floor.”
“You shouldn’t go alone.” She saw Matt come out of one of the rooms into the hallway. She waved him over. “Go downstairs with Estebe.”
“But Felicia...” Estebe paused, then nodded. “I will trust you on this.”
“What are we doing?” Matt asked as he followed Estebe down the stairs.
Hope was standing in the library doorway, watching her. “You don’t think Bailey is in the hot tub with Steve, do you?”
Angie shook her head. “It doesn’t seem likely. If Steve and Carolyn roomed together, then it’s probably them. I think she might be more than just his assistant.”
“She worships him. You can see it in her eyes when she looks at him.” Hope stepped into the library, and Angie followed her. “I hope I’m never that gaga over a guy. I mean, I know love is amazing and all, but you have to focus on your life and what you need.”
“You were raised in a different time than Carolyn.” Angie thought maybe even she had been raised in a different
time. Carolyn looked to be at least ten years older than Angie was, and that was being generous. Instead of saying this to Hope, Angie focused on what they were supposed to be doing. One wall of the room was covered with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed with books. Maybe she could like this Cliff guy after all. As long as he wasn’t just a hoarder. But Angie didn’t think that was true. The library looked well-loved and used. A pair of recliners sat by the window under a reading lamp. A copy of a recent mystery sat at one table and on the other side, a copy of a regency romance. Who had been the reading couple? Cliff had already said Bailey didn’t read. At least not around him. Somehow Angie found the mysterious couple so romantic. “Are there any doors in this room at all?”
“Besides the one we walked in through? Not a one.” Hope spun around. “There’s nowhere to hide or even take a nap where we wouldn’t have already seen them.”
“Nice room though,” Angie commented as they made their way out to go through the next room. By the time they’d checked all their rooms, Cliff and Felicia were standing at the top of the stairs.
“We’ve already sent Robbie and Suzie down to the kitchen. Matt’s meeting them. We’re waiting on Steve and Carolyn to change before they join the group.” Felicia glanced at Cliff. “I guess we repeat this on the second floor, then the basement, then main floor.”
“And then we’ll hit the pool and the machine shed.” Cliff’s tone seemed defeated. He was tired and worried, and those emotions showed in his entire body. “We should have started outside. She’s probably freezing somewhere and we’ve just started searching.”
“Cliff, calm down. We don’t know where she is.”
“She’s probably gone.” A woman’s voice came from the doorway. Carolyn walked out in what Angie could only imagine was a lounging outfit. She’d call it sweats, but it was made of satin. “She probably killed Dane, then took off when she thought the coast was clear.”
