by Jessica Beck
“Okay,” Grace said as she stood. “I’ll go with you.”
“Nonsense. You don’t have to babysit me. You two keep talking. I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t forget to pick up a flashlight on your way out,” Nicole said. “That treasure hunt was fun, Suzanne. I’m glad we were partners.”
“So am I,” I said.
“Suzanne, are you sure you don’t mind if I hang back for awhile?” Grace asked.
“Honestly, it’s fine. I don’t mind at all,” I said.
I was retrieving one of the flashlights when I heard Nicole call out from behind me, “Hang on a second, Suzanne. I’ll keep you company.”
“You’re not going to bed, too, are you?”
“No, but I need to get my laptop, and I already dropped it off at my cottage. There’s something I want to show Grace.”
“Okay then, let’s go.”
We walked out together into the night air, and I realized that it had gotten much cooler out while we’d been inside dining by the warm fireplace in the restaurant. I was glad that we’d all been issued hooded sweatshirts for the weekend, but heavy parkas might have been even better. I zipped my sweatshirt closed and jammed my hands in the pockets as we stepped out onto the porch and turned our flashlights on.
“It’s freezing, isn’t it?” Nicole asked as we hurried our pace.
“I’m glad you all provided these sweatshirts,” I said. “I’m still going to have to wear more layers than I’d planned on.”
Our feet crunched on the gravel, and I played my light over the maze for a moment. “Hank thought he was being sneaky using that, didn’t he?”
“I’m not entirely positive that he knew the solution was under the sign,” she answered with a giggle. “No wonder he was so upset when we cracked his puzzles so quickly.”
“How has he been treating you since you broke up with him?” I asked her gently.
Nicole hesitated a moment, and then she said, “Better than I expected him to, as a matter of fact. Before you and Grace got here, Hank pulled me aside, and I thought I was in for another argument with him, but he told me that he understood and that it was okay.”
“As though you needed his permission to break up with him in the first place,” I said.
“No, it wasn’t like that at all. I think we’re going to be fine, as a matter of fact. I don’t think you and Grace need to even consider him as one of our candidates for what’s been happening to me.”
“Maybe it’s just a clever cover,” I said as we neared the four cottages.
“From Hank? He’s really not all that shrewd,” she said. Hemlock was the cottage closest to the main lodge and where Grace and I were staying. We got there first, but instead of stopping, I asked, “Do you mind if I walk you to your door?”
“Suzanne, you said it yourself. It’s freezing out here. Go on. I’ll be fine.”
I considered doing exactly what she’d asked, but then I knew that if I did that, and something happened to her that I might have been able to prevent, I would never be able to forgive myself. “I don’t mind. After that meal, I could use the exercise.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” she said, the relief heavy in her voice.
We walked past the two cottages with their signs naming them, Fir and Spruce, and then we were at Pine, the one Nicole was sharing with Celia and also farthest from the main lodge.
The other cottages had porch lights blazing like beacons, but Pine’s was unlit.
“That’s odd,” I said. “I wonder why yours is off?”
“Maybe it’s burned out or something,” Nicole said.
“Hang on a second.” I looked around for something to use as a weapon, just in case, and found a piece of narrow firewood near Spruce’s front porch.
“What are you going to do with that?” Nicole asked me.
“I’m going to defend us from the bad guys, if there are any,” I said.
As we approached the unlit porch, I firmed my grip on the thin log.
Nicole was about to go inside when I noticed from her light that her door was unlocked and standing slightly ajar as well. I pulled her back before she could go through. “Did you leave that door open the last time you left?” I asked her softly.
“No, I’m fairly certain that I locked it when I headed for the lodge, but Celia has a hard time remembering to lock things. It’s probably nothing.”
“That’s what I thought when I found my door like that, but I still didn’t take any chances. Stay behind me.” Using the piece of firewood, I pushed the door open ahead of me, playing my light all around while still staying outside on the front porch.
There was a loud noise as something hit the floor hard at my feet! I’d seen something falling, and I’d instinctively jumped back, but if I’d walked through that door like nothing was wrong, whatever had fallen would have struck me squarely on top of the head. I played my flashlight beam on it and saw that it was another piece of firewood, one much more substantial than the one in my hands.
“What happened?” Nicole asked as she hurried in beside me.
“Someone rigged a little unwelcome surprise for you,” I said.
Nicole started to walk in to get a better look at it, but I held her back. “Hang on. That might not be the only thing waiting inside for you.” I slowly walked through the door, flipping on the light as I did. Barely glancing at the chunk of firewood, I did a quick inspection of the cottage, which didn’t take very long, given that it was only two rooms, the main sleeping quarters and the bathroom. Everything looked to be fine, but I wasn’t finished yet. I checked in the closet, under the beds, and even in the dresser drawers. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to find, but I knew that it was important to be thorough in my examination. It looked as though just the door’s booby trap had been laid for her, as if that weren’t enough. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until I put the piece of wood in my hands down on the desk. While I’d been exploring the cottage, Nicole had hefted the wood that had been set as a trap for her and was studying it. “It looks just like the rest of the wood out there.” Then she looked up at me, clearly appalled by what she’d just done. “I’ve just ruined the fingerprints, haven’t I?”
I took the firewood from her and said, “I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. These surfaces are too rough to take prints, anyway. I’m guessing that whoever did this knew it and probably didn’t even bother wearing gloves. It might not have hurt you badly, but you would have gotten a nasty headache if it had hit you on top of the head.”
“Who would want to do that to me?” she asked, her voice on the verge of tears. “I just don’t understand what’s happening!”
“Nicole, it’s clear that one of the folks we’re looking at feels as though they have reason enough to harm you, even if it might not make sense to the rest of us.”
“But Celia’s eliminated as a suspect, isn’t she?” she said, brightening a little. “Why would she set a trap that might just as easily have gotten her as me?”
“Sorry, but her name has to stay on our list,” I said. “She was yawning well before I started, and yet she’s still at the lodge. That makes me think that it’s possible that she set this trap for you herself and then waited for you to fall for it. As far as I’m concerned, she has to still be a suspect.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Nicole said.
“Watch your back at all times, and try not to take too many chances,” I said.
“I wish I could stay with you and Grace tonight,” she said.
“There’s barely room for the two of us, but if you’d like, I’m sure we can work something out.”
Nicole seemed to consider that, but then she shook her head. “Thanks, but I’ll do what I’d planned to all along. I’d look like an idiot if I changed things at the last second.”
“Don’t be t
oo hasty. The more I think about you staying with us, the more I believe that it might be the best thing that you could do,” I said. “We might not get any real sleep tonight, but at least no one will be able to come after you without going through Grace and me first.”
“Let me think about it,” Nicole said.
“Fine, but I have a feeling that once Grace hears what just happened, she’s not going to let it rest.”
Nicole put her hands in mine for a moment. “Suzanne, do we really have to tell anybody else about what just happened?”
“Why should we keep it a secret?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it will throw the killer off if we don’t even react to it.”
I supposed that it was possible, and honestly, what could it hurt? “Okay, on one condition. I get to tell Grace once I see her again.”
“Does she really have to know?” Nicole asked.
“It’s the only way I’ll agree to the plan,” I answered.
“Fine. But wait until she comes back to your room tonight. Would you at least do that for me?”
“I suppose I can concede that point.” I picked up my flashlight, took the small piece of wood I’d chosen for a weapon, and then I said, “Grab your computer, and let’s go back to the lodge.”
“Are you coming back, too?”
“Just as far as the front door,” I said. “I’m going to make sure you make it okay, and then I’m going back to Hemlock.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Nicole said as she hesitated at the chunk of wood someone had tried to use against her, and then she finally picked it up.
“What are you going to do with that?” I asked her.
“I’m putting it out on the porch. The sight of it gives me the creeps.” She did as she promised, and then we left the cottage together, being sure to lock the door behind us this time.
On a whim, when we approached Hemlock’s front door, I tested the handle and was relieved to see that it was still locked. Nicole didn’t comment on it, and we walked back to the lodge’s front door together.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go inside with you?” I asked her.
“I’m positive. You mustn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but like I said before, don’t take any chances. When Grace comes back to Hemlock, you go with her, no matter what else might happen. Will you promise me that much?”
“I promise. I have no desire to walk down that gravel path alone and in the dark,” she said. “Thanks for looking out for me, Suzanne.”
“My pleasure,” I said.
After Nicole disappeared inside, I stood there debating whether I should rejoin them all despite how tired I was, but finally, I decided that it might not be the best idea. If I did something that counterintuitive, the killer might realize that I was in on Nicole’s plan to keep the attempt to harm her quiet, and that might make me a target as well. It wasn’t that I was afraid of getting a murderer’s attention; goodness knows that I’d done that enough on my own in the past. It was that if I could keep my interest in the attempts to myself, then I might be able to catch the bad guy off guard unexpectedly.
I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, though, and as I walked back along the graveled path, I couldn’t help wondering if I was making the right decision after all.
Chapter 8
Where was Grace, and why hadn’t she made it back to the cottage? I kept pacing around the tiny footprint of floor space, wondering why I hadn’t just gone in when I’d walked Nicole back to the lodge. I’d hoped to get a little rest, but that was clearly not going to be happening. Finally, I put on the hooded sweatshirt I’d been issued, grabbed my flashlight, and headed back up the graveled path toward the main lodge alone.
And that was when I heard the first scream nearby, then the second, and finally, nothing at all.
Chapter 9
I nearly tripped as I raced toward the lodge in the dark. “Grace? Nicole? Who just screamed? Are you okay?” The beam of my light was flying all around the resort’s property, and it took nearly falling myself before I realized that I needed to focus on the path in front of me to keep from falling into the abyss.
“Suzanne? Is that you?”
I played my beam over the woman standing there on the edge of the hillside. It was Nicole.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s Hank. He fell,” she said, the sobs pouring out of her. Grace joined us before I could ask her anything else, and then the others approached us in the darkness.
“What happened, Nicole? Did he try to push you?” I asked her.
She shook her head, dispelling the notion that Hank was the person trying to kill her. “Someone shoved me from behind! I couldn’t see who it was. All I saw was a glimpse of one of the hoodies we got today. Hank was right there, trying to save me! He must have thought something was odd, and he was following me to make sure that I was okay. Anyway, I felt him grab me at the last second to keep me from going over the hillside, but he slipped instead. I tried to save him, but I couldn’t! Do you think he’s okay?”
Grace cautiously approached the edge and played her flashlight beam down below. When I looked at her face, she held her light up, and I could see a pretty grim expression as she shook her head from side to side.
Evidently Hank was far from okay.
“Nicole, this is important,” I said. “Is there anything you can tell us about who might have pushed you?”
Through her tears, she said, “I couldn’t see! My light went out the moment I got shoved, and all I saw was Hank’s light falling as it flew out of his hands. It took a long time for it to go out.”
“Where were you all just now?” I asked as I played my light over the other people in our party, who had all joined us by then.
Janelle said, “I was in the restroom in our cottage. When I heard the commotion, I came out to see what was going on.”
“Can you prove that?” Georgia asked her cuttingly.
“I was alone, if that’s what you mean. Where were you?”
“I was sneaking around out in back of the lodge having a smoke,” she said.
“Smoking’s not allowed on the resort property,” Janelle protested.
“Thus the sneaking.” She pointed her light at Celia. “Where were you?”
“I was out at the gazebo, looking for stars,” she said.
I looked up at the sky, still dense with clouds. “There aren’t any out tonight.”
“That’s why I started back when I heard the first scream.” She went to her sister as though she just realized that comforting her was what she should have been doing all along instead of hanging back in the shadows. “Are you okay, Sis?”
“No, not really,” Nicole said shakily. At least she’d stopped crying for the moment, but I had my doubts if the hiatus would last very long.
“That just leaves you, Dina,” I said.
“I was in the kitchen trying to find another piece of pie,” she confessed. “I’m not proud of it, but I was still a little hungry after the meal, and it was awfully good.”
“Did anyone see you there?” I asked her.
“No, I was by myself.” Dina pointed her light at Grace. “Where were you, by the way? And how about you, Suzanne? You’re asking us for alibis. It’s only fair that we hear yours.”
She was correct; it was only fair. I’d asked them about their whereabouts. Why shouldn’t they have the same right to know where we were? “I was just leaving the cottage, getting ready to come back to the lodge to see what was going on after I couldn’t sleep,” I said.
Grace replied, “I was at my car looking for something to make notes with,” she said. “Nicole’s been sharing some new ideas with me, and I wanted to get them down on paper before I forgot everything.”
“So, no one can alibi anyone else,” I said. �
��That’s just perfect.” I suddenly realized that we, as guests, were all alone. “Where’s the staff? Shouldn’t they have heard us by now and come running?”
Grace explained to me, “That’s right. You missed the announcement. The hostess here just had her baby, and everybody left to go into town to see her after we all finished eating. They’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning.”
“We can’t wait that long for them,” I said. “Somebody needs to drive into town and get the police out here, pronto.” Just as I said it, cold, icy rain began pouring down from the sky. The lodge’s porch was the closest refuge that would hold all of us, so we ran for cover together. “Where did that come from all of a sudden?” Celia asked.
“It’s been overcast all day,” Georgia replied. “I’m surprised that it took this long to finally start raining.”
“Is there some snow mixed in as well?” Janelle asked us as she stuck her hand out.
“It’s cold enough, so anything’s possible,” I said as the first crack of lightning struck, much too close to us. “Maybe we should all go inside until this storm passes.”
“What about Hank? We can’t just leave him there!” Nicole said. While her sentiments were admirable, I’d taken a peek over that edge myself after Grace had, and judging from the odd way the man’s neck was turned, I had a feeling that he was beyond any help we could give him ever again.
“It’s the best we can do at the moment,” I said as another lightning bolt struck, filling the air just before a strong smell of ozone materialized. I happened to be looking toward the entrance where we’d driven up a handful of hours earlier, and I saw a brilliant flash of light struck the mighty oak I’d noticed earlier. Bark exploded from the trunk as the bolt struck home, setting the tree on fire despite the downpour. It seemed to split it in half right before my eyes, leaving two sides of the massive oak plummeting to the ground, shaking the earth under our feet as each piece landed harshly.
I was about to go see if we could still get around it when Grace put a hand on my shoulder. “Nobody leaves until this storm is over; not even you, Suzanne.”
