Stroke of Luck

by B. J Daniels

  “Mick. Said it was an accident.” Dean scoffed at that. “He wanted to scare me.”

  “Why would he want to scare you?”

  He shook his head. “He’s weird. Spoiled. Had everything handed to him. He doesn’t do squat at the plant but flirt with the girls and take money out of petty cash. He’s supposed to be in charge of inventory.” Dean laughed. “I could walk out with a forklift of vests and no one would even know it. Not that I would.”

  “What did Lexi do there?” she asked as Dean took a big bite out of one of the brownies. She knew, but she wanted his take on it.

  “She was in charge of the sewing department,” he said around the brownie. “Most of the sewing is done off-site. She has a few women who come in and sew with her. Or she did have.” He quit chewing for a moment as if only then remembering that she was dead, then continued and swallowed as if he’d lost his appetite.

  “Why would someone kill her?”

  Dean shook his head. “How would I know?”

  “You’re smart and you notice things,” she said. “That’s the great thing about people not paying any attention to you. You become invisible. You can walk through a room and no one even sees you.”

  He nodded and smiled. “I do notice things.” He met her eyes. “My guess is that Lexi saw the killer since she was the one who found Big Jack.”

  “Why wouldn’t she tell?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe she had something to hide, like what she was doing up at that hour. I didn’t buy her story about seeing Big Jack go by and following him, worried he was sleepwalking.” Neither did Dorothea. “I think she was already in the barn.”

  “Doing what?”

  Dean raised a brow. “What do you think?” He made an obscene gesture.

  She groaned inwardly. “With whom?”

  “That is the question, isn’t it? Wasn’t me. Not even Lexi would go out with me.”

  Dorothea looked up then to see Mick stop in front of the lodge. He turned to look back through the blowing and drifting snow. A moment later Channing walked past him as if he was invisible. He hurried to open the door for her, saying something. Was Mick now hitting on Channing? If so, she didn’t seem to be interested considering the expression on her face.

  But as Channing walked through the door Mick held open for her, she seemed to brush against him. Their hands touched and Dorothea saw her pass something to him. A cabin key? A love note? She’d thought the same thing had happened between Channing and Kirk. Maybe she’d imagined it just as she had during what had looked like this last exchange.

  She shook her head. Every group came with its own unique intrigue, but this was the worst of the worst. They had two murders and now these two were hooking up? “Maybe they will all kill each other,” she said under her breath.

  But it wasn’t long before she realized she must have been mistaken. As everyone wandered into the lodge before lunch, Mick was flirting with Allison again and Channing was ignoring them both as if she had no interest at all.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CABIN SIX’S CURTAINS MOVED. Kirk peered out the window after Will’s second knock. He glanced from Will to Poppy, then back again. The curtain fell back into place and a moment later the door opened wide.

  “To what do I owe this visit? Or is it to whom?” Kirk asked and grinned. He had a glass in his hand and it was clear that he’d been drinking.

  Will kept the liquor locked up during the day in the lodge so he assumed Kirk had brought his own. “I need to ask you a few questions.”

  “You going to ask me questions, too?” Kirk said to Poppy, his grin widening. He gave her a wink. “You sure can cook for a woman who looks like you do.”

  “Maybe this isn’t the best time,” Will said.

  “Why not?” the former snowboarder snapped. “I haven’t had that much to drink.”

  They stepped in. Kirk offered them some from his flask. They declined.

  “I’m going to get right to it,” Will said. “I know you didn’t get far in the storm and that you came back and hid in cabin nine.”

  Kirk looked for a moment as if he was going to deny it, but then he laughed and said, “I should have known someone would figure it out. So what if I did?”

  “Where is Slim’s truck?”

  “Not far from here. You were right about that, too. I didn’t go far before I got stuck. I hiked back, stayed in the cabin before heading down the road to make it look like I’d returned from there. That’s when Huck picked me up.”

  “Why didn’t you just admit what you’d done?” Will asked. “Why lie?”

  “To save face,” Poppy said.

  Kirk shot her a grin. “All that big talk about me skiing out of here? I couldn’t even drive a damned truck out. If you must know, I was embarrassed. You want more truth, huh? I didn’t quit the snowboard circuit. I got hurt and then I got scared. I just couldn’t face it anymore. So there. You know everything. All my dirty secrets.” He took another drink from the flask. “So go tell them. Give them all a good laugh.”

  “This sounds as if it is more about you losing Allison,” Poppy said. Both men looked at her in surprise.

  Then Kirk pointed his finger at her and said, “You should try to hang on to this one, Will. A girl with brains, too.”

  “Hardly a girl,” Poppy corrected.

  Kirk flushed and then gave her an awkward bow. “My apologies.”

  “That means you don’t have an alibi for when Lexi was murdered,” Will said.

  Kirk’s eyes widened. “Wait, I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t even know she was dead until I came into the lodge with Huck. Seriously, you can’t pin that on me. Why would I want to kill her?”

  “That’s a good question,” Will said. “Why would you?”

  Kirk shrugged. “Hell, I’m still blown away by Big Jack being dead. What is it about this place?”

  “I don’t think it’s the place,” Poppy said. “You all seemed...tense when you got here, like something was going on.”

  “Hell, yes. This trip was sprung on us at the last minute,” Kirk said. “I had other plans but Big Jack said screw my other plans, all of us had to come on this damned retreat, something about bonding or some such shit.” He shook his head. “It made no sense. I could tell that his sons were just as surprised as the rest of us. Mick was pissed.”

  “Who were the others who didn’t want to come along?” she asked.

  “Dean, for one. He’s terrified of planes and horses and, hell, just about everything. And Allison lives for her job. But Big Jack told them to buck up. He even bought us all special coats and hats for the trip. Free advertising for him. And he told us we had to wear them, something about unity or some such bull.”

  Will looked to Poppy as if waiting for the next question.

  “Anything...strange going on at the company?” she asked.

  Kirk shrugged. “Big Jack wasn’t around a lot. We could all see that Lamar was trying to push him out. Mick wasn’t happy working there, not that he did much work. He was too busy flirting and fighting with Allison. I could tell that’s why he came in early and stayed late. He liked getting her alone and, like I said, she lived for her job so she was always there even after-hours.”

  “They have a stormy relationship?” Will asked.

  “You could say that,” Kirk said with a laugh. “She flirts, but she doesn’t back it up. Not with Mick, anyway.” He shook his head. Then he stopped to look at each of them. “I swear to you, I had nothing to do with Lexi’s death or Big Jack’s.” He sat down heavily on the end of his bed. “I’m not even sure I have a job when this is over.” He was shaking his head, lost in his flask and his thoughts as they left his cabin.

  They didn’t speak until they reached the lodge. As they came in the front door, Poppy saw Dean and Dorothea sitting around the fire talking. Now there was a
n odd mix if there ever was one, she thought.

  Mick and Channing were sitting at opposite ends of the couch. Allison had taken a chair across from him. Ruby seemed to be watching Dean and Dorothea. There was an empty brownie plate on the coffee table. Apparently some of them had come down to the lodge hoping for an early lunch.

  Dorothea started to rise, but Will motioned her to stay put as he followed Poppy into the kitchen.

  “I have to get lunch started,” she said, looking at the time.

  Will leaned against the counter. “What do you think?”

  “About Kirk?” She shrugged. “It just feels like there is so much we don’t know.”

  “That’s why I need to talk to Lamar. Maybe I’ll go do that. Do you need help with lunch?”

  She shook her head. “I’m going to keep it simple.”

  He chuckled. “I doubt that.” Then he stepped to her and gave her a quick kiss. “Be safe, okay? I won’t be long.” And he left.

  Poppy, true to her word, kept lunch simple. But since cooking was the way she thought through things, she took the leftover roast beef and made burritos with black beans, rice, avocado and a fresh mango salsa. She had just put two coconut custard pies in the oven when Will returned.

  “I couldn’t find Lamar,” he said. “I shoveled the path to the cabins, but it was filling in right behind me.” Will looked worried.

  “Did you try the other cabins?”

  He shook his head. “I figure they’ll all surface at lunch. At least, I hope so.”

  “Your timing is perfect. You can ring the bell. Everything is ready except for dessert and it will be ready by the time we eat,” she said.

  “I know I keep saying this, but you’re amazing.” As if embarrassed, he turned on his boot heel and headed for the front of the lodge and the dinner bell. A few moments later, Poppy heard it ringing. By then Dean was already seated in the dining room complaining he was starving.

  “I see you and Dean are now friends?” she whispered to Dorothea and grinned.

  “Actually, I feel sorry for him. Apparently no one at On the Fly was very nice to him.”

  Poppy lifted a brow. “Sounds like a motive for murder to me.”

  The older woman looked uncertain. “He did mention that not even Lexi would go out with him.”

  They both glanced toward the dining room where Dean was playing with the salt and pepper shakers as if they were toy soldiers and they were in hand-to-hand combat.

  “Uh-huh, he looks like a real killer,” Dorothea said and went to work.

  Poppy was glad when everyone still alive showed up for lunch, including Lamar. Will insisted Mick put his alibi in the basket before letting him take a seat at the table.

  “I think it would be a good idea for all of you to stay in your cabins with the doors locked except for meals,” Will said as the food was passed around. He’d suggested that before but it didn’t seem to be happening, Poppy thought.

  “When is the storm going to stop?” Allison asked, sounding close to tears.

  “From what I heard on the radio? Tomorrow afternoon,” Will said. “It will take a while for the roads to open, though. Once our landline is up and working again, we’ll call the sheriff.”

  “So maybe we’ll get out of here tomorrow,” Dean said, sounding pleased. “We’ll miss our flight—”

  “If the airport is even open,” Channing said impatiently.

  “Personally, since Big Jack isn’t here to tell us what we have to do, I’m going to rent a car and drive home,” Kirk said. “I figure On the Fly should pick up the bill.” The room fell silent. He seemed to realize he’d said something wrong. “No offense to Big Jack.” He raised his water glass. “May he rest in peace.”

  “I hate to break it to you,” Will said, “but I don’t think anyone will be leaving tomorrow. Once the sheriff gets here—”

  “How could you have all forgotten that there have been two murders?” Ruby asked as she glanced around the table. “And it isn’t like you didn’t know the deceased,” she said, sounding disgusted with all of them.

  “She’s right,” Channing agreed. “You all suck. But look at it this way. You think you’re just going to walk away from here?” She shook her head. “At least one of you will be handcuffed and riding in the back of a patrol SUV by tomorrow.”

  Kirk dropped his fork, the sound like a gunshot. Everyone jumped and looked embarrassed. The room fell silent again as heads dropped and people became interested in only eating. It was clear that none of them wanted to spend any more time than they had to together, Poppy thought.

  She saw Kirk push back his plate as the timer went off in the kitchen. “There’s dessert,” she said.

  But Kirk shook his head. “I’ve had enough. Enough of all of this,” he said, getting to his feet. With that he left.

  In the kitchen, Poppy pulled her two custard pies out of the oven. She carried one back into the dining room. Then went back for plates and a knife to cut it. The smell of warm custard covered with the toasted coconut filled the dining room. She sliced through the coconut to the rich creamy custard to the crust. This was one of her favorite, easy recipes. She put a piece on a plate and started to hand them around the table.

  Ruby took a piece and so did Mick, but the rest of the guests passed. Poppy cut a piece for Will, Dorothea and herself. The tension around the table felt so fragile that if anyone knocked over a glass, let alone dropped another utensil, she feared what would happen.

  One by one, the guests excused themselves to go back to their cabins. Will acted as if he didn’t notice the strain as he finished his pie, telling her it was delicious. Dorothea ate hers without comment. When finished, Will took plates out to the bunkhouse for Huck and Slim. She knew he had them keeping an eye on things as best they could with the storm.

  It wasn’t until Poppy got up to clear the table that she noticed the knife she’d used to cut the pie was missing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  POPPY WAS IN the kitchen finishing up when Will returned. Seeing her did more than brighten a bad day. He no longer felt only a stirring in him. Just the sight of her had turned into an aching need, a hunger that her luscious dishes only made worse. One bite and he was enchanted not just by the sexy, irresistible woman who’d concocted it, but fascinated by her mind. All this even knowing that every bite could still be a ploy to punish him for being such a fool at fifteen.

  He didn’t care. Maybe it was having a murderer on the mountain with him. Or maybe he just didn’t have the energy to resist her anymore. He knew how dangerous it was. But compared to sharing a table with a killer...

  “Everything all right at the bunkhouse?” she asked as he walked in.

  He nodded, relishing the heat of the kitchen and the tantalizing smells coming from it since Poppy had arrived. Outside the storm still raged. He felt as if the snow would never stop. But he was born and raised here and knew how quickly everything could change. It would stop snowing, the sun would come out and the snow would begin to melt rapidly this time of year, causing flooding.

  That all seemed so minor compared to the situation he found himself in with the people he was responsible for protecting. He thought about his father. Would he have handled things differently? He felt as if he’d let himself down, not to mention his family and the people he cared about.

  He watched Poppy fill a large pot of braised beef with vegetables and stir in spiced flour before adding broth. The woman could make the act of making gravy erotic.

  “Beef stew,” she said as if sensing him watching her. “I thought that and fresh rolls with butter would suffice for dinner since eating is the last thing on anyone’s mind.”

  “I’m so sorry,” he said as he leaned against the counter. Sorry for so many things going back twenty years.

  “This is not your fault. None of it.”

  He shook his
head. Suddenly he wanted more than anything to be the man this woman needed. The man he’d been too young and foolish to be at fifteen.

  She met his gaze. He could stay for days in her green eyes.

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” she said. “The knife I used to cut the custard pie? Someone took it. I asked Dorothea, but she already snatched one that she carries around in her apron pocket.”

  “So one of the guests is now armed with a large knife,” Will said and swore under his breath. “I know they’re scared. If this storm doesn’t move on soon...”

  She stepped to him and cupped his jaw in her warm hand. “We’re going to get through this. The storm will move on. The sheriff will come and sort this all out.”

  He smiled at her as he took her hand and kissed the warm palm. He wished he had her faith. Right now, with Poppy this close, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her senseless—and then carry her upstairs to his bed. He caught a whiff of her unique scent, something citrusy that he knew was as delicious as her cooking. With her hand still in his, he drew her to him, needing to feel her in his arms.

  Earlier, he’d told her that he was falling for her. True as it was, he knew it was a mistake to admit it. He’d resolved to keep her at arm’s length because she wasn’t like the other women he’d known. Add to that their history. If he let this go any further, he knew where they were headed. Once in his big bed, the two of them naked... He swore. He’d rather cut off his right arm than hurt her again.

  He had enough trouble without getting in any deeper with this woman. Tell that to the overpowering desire that arced between them. Just the thought that they might not get out of this alive... He drew her closer, brushed his lips over hers and heard her release a contented sigh. He knew he was playing right into her hands—just as Dorothea had warned him.

  The shoe was on the other foot. If she wanted, she could break his heart. He was a man cursed with a passion for this woman. He knew he should be scared. Hell, terrified. What this woman could do to him, if she wanted to...