by B. J Daniels
Earlier, he’d been convinced that Kirk wouldn’t make a run for it—not after he’d already tried it once and failed. But if he thought he’d been seen—
The curtain moved.
“Kirk, it’s Will. Open up.” He waited, still standing to the side of the door in case the man did have a weapon.
The door slowly opened. Kirk looked from Will to Lamar and Huck. “What’s going on?”
Will could see that the man wasn’t armed. He pushed into the cabin, driving Kirk back. The others rushed in, as well.
Kirk stepped back as they all entered and went on the defensive. “Hey, what’s this about? You can’t just come busting in here like—”
“I saw you running from the side of the barn,” Will said.
Kirk’s expression changed in an instant from belligerent to conciliatory. “I didn’t do it. I swear to you.” He held up his hands in surrender.
“What were you doing by the barn?” Will demanded.
“I was headed down to the lodge. I heard noises and I was getting spooked. I just had this feeling...” He shook his head. “As I neared the lodge, I saw someone with a crowbar breaking into the barn.”
“Someone?” Lamar said. It was the first time he’d spoken.
“Someone. I couldn’t tell. Whoever it was they were wearing an On the Fly coat and hat. They slipped inside and I went to see what was going on.”
“You didn’t think to come up to the lodge and tell me?” Will asked.
Kirk shook his head, looking embarrassed. “I wanted to be the one to catch the killer.” He instantly turned belligerent again. “Hey, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be the hero for a change, all right?”
“So you went after the person,” Will prodded.
“By the time I reached the barn and looked inside, I couldn’t see anyone. It was creepy. I knew Big Jack was still in there.” He shuddered. “I could hear someone moving around so I decided to wait them out, but then I got cold.”
Lamar groaned. Will didn’t blame him. “Then what?”
“I decided to come tell you what I’d seen. But as I started to walk away there was an explosion. The next thing I knew the barn was on fire, so I ran.”
“You didn’t see the person who you saw go in come out?” Will asked.
Kirk shook his head. “They must have gone out another way.” He shrugged. “So I hightailed it back to my cabin thinking that if anyone saw me they would think...” He looked at Will and then the others. “I swear it’s the truth.”
Lamar grabbed the sleeve of Kirk’s coat by the door and took a whiff. “Your coat smells like a gas fire.”
“I told you I was right next to the barn when it went up,” Kirk cried.
Will looked to Lamar and then Huck. He wasn’t sure he believed the man’s story. He could see that his companions weren’t buying it, either.
He turned back to Kirk. “We’re going to have to lock you in your cabin and keep you here until the sheriff arrives.” Kirk started to argue. “I’ll make sure you’re fed, but other than that, you’ll have no contact with the others.”
“Are you kidding me?” the man demanded. “You leave me down here in this cabin and I’ll be a sitting duck. The killer will get me.”
“The killer would have to break in to get you,” Will pointed out.
“Like the way the killer broke into the barn and set it on fire,” Kirk argued.
Will turned to Huck. “Make sure both doors are barred and he can’t get out the windows.”
Kirk slumped down on the end of the bed. “You’re making a terrible mistake.”
“I hope not. But you made a terrible mistake when you decided to play hero rather than come to me when you saw someone break into the barn,” Will said. “Now we’re both paying for it.”
With that he and Lamar left and headed back toward the lodge.
* * *
POPPY FELT AS if she was going stir-crazy. She had a case of cabin fever but the idea of going outside had no appeal—even if Will hadn’t told her and Dorothea to stay put. He’d strapped on his gun before he and Huck had left the second time. He’d told them nothing, but it was clear they had a suspect in mind.
Dorothea sat staring outside as if waiting for the evil they all feared to come roaring in looking like something from a horror movie. Poppy suspected that the killer would have a face like anyone else. That’s what made it so hard to tell the good guys from the bad.
Unable to sit still any longer, she thought of the basket of alibis Will had put in his office. At the time, she’d wondered why Will had bothered to collect them. The killer wasn’t going to admit anything. Everyone else might lie, as well. But she guessed that at least the sheriff would have somewhere to start when—and if—he finally got there. He could check what they’d originally said against what they were telling him later to see if there were any discrepancies.
She began sorting through the basket. There’d been two murders so there were two sets of alibis for each guest. It didn’t take long to form the two stacks, reading them as she went. Lexi, she saw, hadn’t done one after Big Jack’s murder. Almost all of them said that the person was in his or her cabin alone. She was almost finished when she noticed an extra piece of paper at the bottom of the basket.
One side of it was torn unevenly as if someone had ripped off a piece from their notepaper. The letters were almost illegible as if scrawled in a hurry—or scrawled so their handwriting wouldn’t be recognized.
As she reached for it, she caught only a glimpse of what was written on the scrap before she was startled to hear Will ringing the bell out front.
She hurriedly put the other alibis back into the basket on top of the extra one as the front door opened and Will and Lamar came in on a gust of snow and wind.
The only words she’d seen on the scrap of paper were the words two killers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“YOU ALL KNOW the drill,” Will said once everyone was gathered in the lodge and he’d told them that Kirk had been seen near the barn and he was now in protective custody, locked in his cabin.
Outside, the wind whipped snow past the windows. Beyond the snow piling up, the sky had darkened as the sun set. “Write down where you were and if you saw anything suspicious,” Will continued.
“What’s the point?” Allison demanded. “You caught Kirk. You already know who did it.”
“We’re holding him until the sheriff can get here because he was in the area when the barn was set on fire,” Will said. “But we have no proof that he did it.”
“No proof?” she cried. “The rest of us were in our cabins.”
“Not according to Kirk. He swears that he saw one of you with a crowbar breaking into the side door of the barn.”
“So it’s his word against ours?” Channing said with a sigh. “And his word is so trustworthy.”
“He’s been lying since we got here,” Mick said.
“Lying about what?” Lamar demanded of his brother, but Mick only shook his head. “If you know something—”
“Please,” Will interrupted. “Just fill out the paperwork.” A few of them started to comply, the others dragging their feet. He wanted to lock them all up.
With no way to put out either of the fires, all he’d been able to do was watch the structures burn—with the bodies inside. He felt helpless and that made him angry. Someone had killed two of his guests and was now systematically destroying the ranch his grandfather had built. He wasn’t just angry. He was also scared for the people trapped here.
He’d rung the dinner bell to get everyone together, hoping there wouldn’t be anyone missing—and that someone hadn’t gotten caught inside one of the burning buildings. But apparently everyone had survived since the only person missing was Kirk.
They had another twenty-four hours to live through before there wa
s much chance of getting word out to the sheriff. He hated to think what could happen in all that time.
“Once you’re finished, Poppy made beef stew and rolls for dinner. There is leftover coconut custard pie for anyone who wants it. You can take it back to your cabins and heat it in your microwaves or eat it here. Your choice. But then everyone is on lockdown. You aren’t to leave your cabins until morning when you hear the breakfast bell.”
“Do you really think you can enforce that?” Dean asked with a nervous laugh. “What’s to keep us from being murdered in our sleep?”
“If your door is locked—”
“Like Lexi’s cabin was?” Channing asked with a snicker. “Let’s face it. If one of these people wants to kill you, Dean, nothing is going to stop him.” She shifted her gaze to Allison, then Ruby. “Or her.”
“That’s enough, Channing. You, too, Dean,” Lamar said. “Will is trying to keep us all safe under horrendous circumstances. A little cooperation would be appreciated.”
“This wasn’t our idea to come up here,” Allison cried. “We were forced to make this trip and look how it’s turning out.”
“Yes,” Lamar agreed. “It was my father’s idea and I believe he’s paid the price for it, wouldn’t you agree?”
The room went silent.
Will broke the silence. “We’re all upset. All we can do is wait out the storm. I know it’s hard. It’s hard on all of us.”
“No one is trying to kill you,” Allison snapped.
“No, they’re just burning down parts of my ranch to cover up any evidence they might have left behind,” Will said. The room fell silent again for a long moment. “If you’ve all written down where you were before the barn exploded and Lexi’s cabin after it, and signed and dated it and put your information in the basket, then Poppy has the food boxed up for each of you. Like I said, stay in your cabins tonight until you hear me ring the breakfast bell in the morning.”
They all left except for Lamar. He waited until everyone was gone before he said, “I’m so sorry about your ranch. I can’t tell you how much I regret my father bringing us all here. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
Will could see how all this had taken a toll on the man. He’d lost his father and one of his employees and he blamed himself for not seeing it coming. “You can’t blame yourself. I’m sure your father had no idea it could get this dangerous.”
Lamar shook his head. “My father was a gambler, but I know you’re right. He thought he was dealing with a thief, a drug runner. He couldn’t have known the person would kill. Not that I blame him. I know these people. I don’t want to believe it is any of them. You really think it’s Kirk?”
Will no longer knew what to think. “I have my doubts. But I feel better with him under lock and key because if he isn’t responsible, then the killer might be afraid Kirk can identify him or her.”
“So Kirk really could be in danger himself.”
“We’re all in danger at this point,” Will said. “Hopefully we can keep everyone alive for the next twenty-four hours. Usually after the storm moves on, the phones are back up working within hours. Crews will be plowing the roads to get them open...”
“I can’t help wondering why I didn’t see any of this,” Lamar said with a shake of the head. “These are my employees. You’d think I would know which one is capable of murder. This trip has certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things.”
“Just be careful,” Will said. “If the killer thinks you might be getting close, that you’ve figured it out...”
Lamar nodded. “That thought did cross my mind, thanks. I’m watching my back.” He looked toward the windows and the storm. Was he worried that the killer might be waiting for him between the lodge and his cabin? “I should get to my cabin.” The man turned to where there were three boxed-up meals waiting, one for him and two for Slim and Huck.
“I’ll take these to the wranglers on my way,” he said as he picked them up. “Unless you’d rather do it.” He looked back at Will.
“Thanks,” he said as Lamar left.
* * *
IN THE SILENCE that followed, Dorothea huffed as she got to her feet. “He’s awfully smooth-talking and accommodating, don’t you think? What makes you think Lamar isn’t our killer?”
Poppy wasn’t hungry but she knew they had to eat. They filed into the dining room, sitting at one end of a long table. She served the stew as Dorothea continued her train of thought, ticking off the suspects one by one and offering her take on each.
She shot a look at Will. Was he wishing they could go upstairs and finish what they’d started? She tried to concentrate on what Dorothea was saying, realizing that Will seemed almost happy for the distraction. Was he having second thoughts about what had happened between them before the explosion? That thought made her heart ache.
Dorothea had her own unique view of the world, one that went against all common sense, she realized as she tried to focus on what was being said.
“First there’s Big Jack,” Dorothea was saying. “You think he’s not a suspect because he’s dead, right?” She laughed. “He set this whole thing up. I would put him at the top of my list.
“Then there’s his girlfriend, Ruby.” She sniffed in distaste. “I wouldn’t trust her as far as I can throw her. Says she’s a graphic designer.” Dorothea shook her head. “But have you seen her handwriting?” She glanced at Will. “Don’t give me that look. I glanced over her shoulder when she was writing her supposed alibi. The woman is a fraud. Mark my words.”
Will shook his head. “Your take on people is always...illuminating.”
“Dean,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “He’s scared of his shadow. An average guy working in the stockroom of a fly-fishing shop. Looks harmless. Made me feel sorry for him. But there is something odd about him. He said he doesn’t fish.”
Poppy helped herself to a roll. Will joined her and Dorothea moved her recitation to in front of the fire.
“And that is relevant how?” Will asked after they were settled again. His gaze went to Poppy and lingered just long enough to warm her cheeks.
“Strange he got a job working at a company that makes fly-fishing vests,” Dorothea said and moved on. “Now take Lexi. There was an odd one. And another one afraid of her shadow. She was scared from the moment she got here, so clearly she knew before Big Jack was killed that something was going to happen. She’s at the top of my suspect list since she was the one who said she found Big Jack murdered. A meek woman like her wandering around in the dark of the night following her boss? I don’t think so.”
Dorothea took a breath before continuing. “Then there is—”
“Wait a minute,” Will said. “You think Lexi killed Big Jack?”
“Why not?” Dorothea shrugged. “She was capable. Dean told me that he’d seen her lift the huge industrial sewing machines that they use with one arm. She was strong enough to bludgeon someone to death. Also Big Jack was the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to turn his back on a woman.”
Poppy thought she made a good point and said as much. It only seemed to encourage Dorothea, which hadn’t been her intent.
“So who does that leave? Channing. Now there’s a snide, cunning one. She likes to stir the pot, keep everyone at odds. Is she just unhappy? Or is there more to her brand of meanness?
“Then there is Allison. Uses her sweet, baby-doll looks to get what she wants, plays Mick against Kirk and vice versa. Don’t believe for a minute that she’s innocent in any way. Which brings me to Kirk.”
Will cut the coconut custard pie, handing a piece to each of them. Dorothea took hers as if he hadn’t interrupted her strange train of thought.
“Kirk. He’s another one who has gotten by on his looks. He’s not so easy to figure out.” The woman frowned. “He wants to please, wants to be liked, wants everyone to think he’s cool. He�
�s needy and, at least on this retreat, he hasn’t succeeded in getting any of the recognition he yearns for. A man like that...he must be very frustrated and desperate. I would definitely keep him at the top of my suspect list. Needy men like that often don’t get along with their bosses—or anyone else for that matter. I think there is deep-seated anger in him. Especially since Dean told me that it wasn’t an injury that keeps Kirk off the slopes. He chickened out. That’s how he crashed and hurt himself. Dean thinks he’s afraid and it torments him.”
“Interesting,” Poppy said, since she’d heard Kirk actually admit to some of that. “Sounds like Dean was a wealth of information, but what if he was just telling you these things to draw your attention away from him as the killer?”
Dorothea gave her a look that said she was far too smart for that and continued. “Then there is Mick, the youngest son living in both his father’s and his older brother’s shadows. Another unhappy man who isn’t living up to his abilities and doesn’t really care. But don’t think that he’s not ambitious, he is. But he just wants the money. He’d sell the business in a heartbeat and become a beach bum if he got the chance. Big Jack was standing in his way.”
“Mick?” Will said. “You think Mick killed his father to get rid of him so he could have the business? That still leaves Lamar in his way.”
With the arch of an eyebrow, Dorothea said, “This retreat is far from over.”
Poppy felt a shudder at her words. Was it possible Lamar was in danger from his cabinmate? If his brother really had killed their father...
“Which leaves Lamar, the smooth talker,” Dorothea continued. “The one everyone trusts. But should they? Wouldn’t the man running the business know what was going on better than anyone else? And clearly he wasn’t getting along with his father. Now there is no one standing in his way.”
