by Sheryl Lynn
“Put a hand on her again, buddy, and I’ll use it for a hood ornament.” His smile failed to match the angry glitter in his eyes.
Aware of a hush settling in the lounge, Janine didn’t need to look to know everyone watched the drama unfold. She shoved her hands in her blazer pockets. “I didn’t ask you to come here. We have nothing to discuss.”
“You are very wrong. I’ve invested three years in you. For you to so casually toss me aside in order to have flings with arsonists and karate freaks is ridiculous.” His voice rose. Even employees working in the restaurant could probably hear him. “I will not abide such shabby treatment.”
When Janine believed this couldn’t get any more humiliating, her brother, brother-in-law, cousin-in-law and father approached the desk like the cavalry riding to the rescue.
“Problem here?” Ross asked.
“Who’s the goof, Daniel?” J.T. asked.
The colonel snapped to parade rest, and Elliot seemed to shrink in the face of the old man’s glare. “What is the meaning of this?”
Tristan Cayle appeared to be sizing up Elliot, as if wondering how small a bundle he could make of the man.
“More of your lovers?” Elliot exclaimed. “Good God, woman! How many men can you fit in your bed?”
Janine caught Daniel’s swinging arm and clung to him for dear life. He practically lifted her off her feet. Tempting as it was to allow Daniel to deck Elliot, the patent attorney believed deeply in using lawsuits to avenge insults. Daniel would lose his lottery winnings as quickly as he’d acquired them.
“I realize your feelings are hurt,” she said, “but that doesn’t excuse your behavior.”
“I’m supposed to excuse yours? I have a right—”
“Season tickets to the symphony don’t give you any rights!” she yelled. She turned her fury on her family. “Leave me alone. I’ll handle this.” She shoved at Daniel. “You, too. Go get a drink. Eat something. Go away.” She whirled on Elliot. He startled and backed a step. She jabbed at his chest with a stiff finger. “I don’t know what you’re thinking. I don’t care what you’re thinking. You had no right to come here uninvited. No right to make stupid accusations!”
Elliot kept backing away, she followed, stabbing at his chest. “No right to embarrass me. No right to invade my home. No right to say who I may or may not see.”
“Darling, I—I—I’ve never seen you like this.”
“This is the real me. You don’t like it, too bad.”
“I—I—”
“Put a cork in it, Elliot.”
She peeked at her relatives and employees. Some were smiling, but most looked shocked. Her cheeks burned. She’d gone and lost her mind, and now every person who meant anything to her had witnessed it. Had she actually thought Pinky was her major problem? Her own big mouth was ten times worse.
She raked fingers through her hair and straightened her blazer with a tug. To the registration desk clerk, she said coolly, “I’m certain you can arrange new rooms for the guests who were in the Honeymoon Hideaway.” With all the dignity she could muster, she walked into the east wing.
Daniel caught up to her while she unlocked her bedroom door. He assured her everyone was asking about her, and wanted to know when she was coming back downstairs.
“I can’t go down there. I humiliated myself.”
Arms crossed, he leaned a shoulder against the wall. He smiled. “You did great.”
“Stop it.”
“I’m not kidding. All those people down there love you. They think Elliot is an idiot and you’re damned terrific.”
“I’ve botched everything. Pinky, Elliot, the party.” You, she added silently.
“Pinky isn’t your fault. Elliot should realize no means no. And in spite of the weather, everyone seems to be having a good time. You’ve got an incredible family. I haven’t met anyone I don’t like.”
“You’re a regular cheerleader, aren’t you?”
“Rah, rah. Can I come in? I need to make a phone call.”
She pushed open the door. “To whom?”
“Mike. Or Helmsley if I can find him.”
Short hairs lifted on her nape. “Why?”
“Find out Brian’s status.”
“Why?”
“Double-checking, that’s all.”
“Brian is Pinky,” she insisted. “All the evidence says he’s Pinky.”
His too-cheerful assurances left her with a sick sensation in the pit of her stomach. The uneasiness lingered, though she assured herself her family wasn’t trapped in the lodge with a potentially homicidal madman.
Daniel couldn’t reach either Mike Downes or the state investigator. He left messages for both men. Janine made herself return downstairs. Elliot had the decency to be elsewhere, so within a short time she stopped forcing her smile and began to enjoy the family reunion. To her bemusement, her relatives acted as if having men fighting for her favors made her some sort of heroine. Everyone assumed Daniel was her choice, and they liked him. By the time she retired for bed, she felt better than she had in weeks.
When she awakened on Valentine’s Day, the uneasiness returned full force. She stared into the darkness. Anxiety fluttered in her belly. Her heart pounded. Finally she realized it was the darkness itself scaring her. No digital clock with bright red numbers glowed at bedside. No band of light shone under the door. Not a glimmer of outdoor lighting reached the edges of the draperies.
Moving in the darkness, she lit a candle. She telephoned Daniel’s room. He answered on the second ring. “Power’s down. I have to investigate.” He assured her he’d be at her door in three minutes.
Together, following the pale light of a gardenia-scented candle, they knocked on Juan’s door. A loud crash and equally loud cursing answered. She didn’t need to inform him the power had failed.
Janine didn’t worry. Juan would have the generators operating before her guests awakened and realized the power had gone out. She didn’t worry when she found chaos in the kitchen where Chef struggled valiantly to prepare breakfast by candle and oil lamplight. His normally foul temper now turned vile, the man didn’t bother with English, but screamed at his employees in German. Janine had employees fetch battery-operated lanterns from the basement. Mollified, Chef merely snarled when Janine and Daniel helped themselves to coffee brewed the old-fashioned way on the gas range.
Bolstered by coffee, she directed employees in lighting the big fireplace in the lounge and setting lanterns in the hallways for the safety and convenience of guests.
After forty-five minutes, Juan still hadn’t returned, and Janine began to worry. The sun rose, offering enough light to see the massive drifts blanketing the lodge. Guests stumbled in the darkness, and she put employees to work providing proper lighting and feeding everybody. The snow piled so high against the restaurant windows it completely obliterated the view. She feared snow blocked the generator house door.
When Juan returned two hours later and informed her that someone had broken into the generator house and destroyed all three generator engines, then Janine worried for real.
Chapter Fifteen
“It must be Lanny Lewis.” Janine addressed the men gathered in her office. Her father, brother, brother-in-law, J.T. and Daniel filled the room, radiating heat and anger. Worry, too—all of them worried. “Where haven’t we looked?”
Sometime, between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., Lanny Lewis and another maintenance worker had disappeared. The two had been on shift, specifically to watch for power outages and to fire up the generators. During their shift, someone had vandalized the power generators, and the two men had vanished without a trace. They weren’t in the lodge, the stables or the dormitory.
Janine’s deepest fear was that Lanny—Pinky—had murdered his co-worker, and now played hide-and-seek in the lodge. She curled her fists on the desk, trying and failing to prevent them from shaking.
“What does this guy want?” Ross asked.
Janine swallowed
the lump in her throat. They were sitting ducks, all of them. The police couldn’t reach the resort. None of them could leave. “Me,” she said. “He wants to prove how much he loves me. Daniel, what is he going to do?”
Chewing his lower lip, Daniel gazed distantly. “He’s promised to make his love public. I have a feeling it’ll involve a grand gesture.” He looked up at the colonel. “Sir, you and J.T. are best buddies now. Joined at the hip. Ross, Tristan, can you handle a pistol without shooting off a foot?” When they nodded in affirmation, he continued. “I want all of us armed. You, too, Janine. Lanny isn’t playing games. He’s dangerous. After seeing what he did to the generators, I’d say he’s setting the stage.”
The colonel asked, “With what shall we arm ourselves, Daniel?”
He fingered the Luger. “I saw pistols in your office, sir.”
“Antique weaponry, young man, for which I do not at this moment have ammunition. Proper ordnance includes rifles and shotguns. Surely you cannot advocate we prowl the lodge toting rifles?”
“That might tend to panic some people,” Ross mused. “Not to mention shouting out loud to Lanny that we’re after him. What about you, J.T.?”
J.T. opened his jacket, displaying a pistol snug beneath his arm.
“Do you think Lanny is armed?” Ross asked.
“Other than the ax he used on my truck and the generators,” Daniel said, “there’s no indication of a deadly weapon. He never mentioned firearms in his letters. We didn’t find weapons in his stash.”
Janine snapped a pencil in half. “So it’s no?” Say it’s no, she urged with her eyes.
“I don’t know. Your dad is right. We can’t run around with rifles. The calmer we keep people, the better chance we have of getting this situation under control.”
“What about our guests?” Janine asked. Horrible visions of the lodge going up in flames nagged her imagination. Horrible guilt about endangering those she loved most haunted her soul. “The staff? The children? What if Lanny sets the lodge on fire?”
“He’ll do something more personal. Something that leaves no doubt that Pinky is in charge.”
“It is a possibility,” the colonel said.
“Yes, sir.”
“All right,” Janine said. “We have to clear out the west wing, make sure nobody is alone and vulnerable, or trapped on an upper floor.”
“Start the party early,” Ross suggested. “That’ll keep people busy. No one will have an excuse to panic. Everybody will be where we can keep an eye on them. Plus, we should bring the girls in on this. Frankie, too, J.T. Even pregnant, she’ll be good in an emergency.”
“Bring them in on what?” Tristan asked. He clenched and relaxed his huge hands. “I’m not putting Meg at risk. No way.”
Ross beamed at his brother-in-law. “Not in tackling Lanny. Let them coordinate with the staff. Come up with an emergency evacuation plan. If the nut does torch the joint, we get everyone out, safe and sound.”
“Good idea.” A chill raised goose bumps on her arms. Small emergency generators in the basement kept the furnaces operating, but to conserve energy, they’d had to turn down the heat. With the west wing so cold, everyone should willingly gather in the main lodge.
They sketched out a hasty battle plan. The colonel and J.T. were to clear guests out of the west wing. They’d also alert the staff about Lanny and give them instructions about raising the alarm. The other four set out to search the basement again.
DOWN IN THE BASEMENT was exactly where Janine did not want to be. Without lights or the heat, the place felt like catacombs. Holding a battery-powered lantern high, Janine clutched the back of Daniel’s sweater. Gun drawn, placing each foot carefully, he crept slowly through the corridor leading from the east wing stairwell. Knowing Ross and Tristan searched from the other end, Janine strained to hear them. All she heard was her thundering heart. Lantern light bobbed, reflecting off rough stone walls and highlighting spiderwebs.
Gesturing her to stand aside, Daniel opened a door. The hinges creaked. He lowered into a crouch, weapon ready. She eased the lantern into the doorway.
“Lanny?” he whispered. “You in there, boy?”
Janine wished she had a rifle.
Room by room they made their way through the basement. In the wine cellar, Daniel went straight to the dumbwaiter. He worked at the pulley, trying to release the rope. When he couldn’t dismantle it, he jammed a champagne bottle into the mechanism.
“That should keep him from using it.”
“Until he figures out the bottle is there.”
“I doubt he’s in any shape for logical thinking.” He canted his head. “How are you holding up?”
“You know those stupid girls in horror movies? The ones who go down in the basement? That’s how I feel right now.”
“Do you like horror movies?”
She looked around, feeling the walls closing in. “Not anymore.”
“How about a comedy? Some good movies are playing in the Springs.”
Were it anyone else having this stupid, whispered conversation, Janine wouldn’t believe her ears. Since it was Daniel... “Are you asking for a date?”
“Yeah, next Friday. Movie, dinner.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Then whatever else strikes our fancy.”
“Your truck is still in the shop.”
“I have a ’57 Corvette convertible. Classic, cherry condition. You’ll look gorgeous in it. I am willing to put it on the road just for you.”
Hearing a stealthy noise, she crowded him, nearly stepping on his toes. “Can I give you my answer later?”
He slipped between her and the door, the Luger at ready. “Sure.”
“Janine?” Ross called softly. “Daniel?”
“Here.” He blew a long breath and lowered the pistol. Ross and Tristan entered the wine cellar. “I take it you guys didn’t find anything.”
Janine felt in her pocket, making sure she had her key ring. “Let’s check the west wing. Guest rooms, storage rooms. He has to be somewhere.”
But Lanny was not in the west wing. They searched every room on both guest floors. The only person they found was Elliot. He sat on a chair in a twilight gloom, facing a window that offered a view of the leaden sky. He wore his own clothing, now dry and pressed. His shoes gleamed with a hard shine that matched the hard unhappiness on his face. He hadn’t shaved. The whiskers added to his ferocious air.
“Go downstairs,” Janine told him. “No use sitting up here in the dark.”
“No, thank you. I’d like to be alone.”
She debated telling him about Lanny. She had no idea what he’d do with the information. Strange thing. She’d dated him for years and didn’t know him at all. Yet, Daniel, whom she’d known less than two weeks felt like her best and dearest friend. “It’s cold up here.”
“I have a coat.”
Daniel nudged her arm and shook his head. “No time,” he whispered. “Pinky won’t bother him.”
“Suit yourself,” she said.
As they headed downstairs, Daniel asked, “What did you see in that guy?”
“I can’t remember.” She shot him a warning glare. “I don’t wish to discuss it. Okay?”
“Fine by me. Let’s discuss Saturday, then. I think next week the gem and mineral show will be in town. I’d like to go. I have a thing for rocks. Never know when I’ll find a lucky stone.”
“Pardon?”
“Stay in town for the weekend. If anyone deserves a few days off, it’s you. We’ll have a blast.”
“I haven’t said yes to the movie yet.”
“How else will you get to know me as well as I know you?”
Compared to the silent basement and west wing, the noise in the main lodge nearly deafened Janine. Employees toting trays of drinks and carts laden with food hurried from the restaurant to the ballroom and back again. People in full finery milled about the lounge. Guitar music twanged from the ballroom. Tristan and Ross joined Janine and Daniel. Tristan shut off th
e lantern he carried and set it on a nearby table. So many lanterns, oil lamps and candles burned, the place was lit up like a ballfield.
Ross gazed at the crowd. “Looks fine to me. Maybe kidnapping your maintenance man was Lanny’s grand gesture.”
“We can hope,” Daniel muttered.
“There’s Kara.” Janine hurried across the lounge. People hoisted champagne flutes in greeting and complimented her on throwing the best party ever. She chuckled to herself. Only her relatives could think she’d arranged for a blizzard and a power outage just to provide an adventure.
At the registration desk, Janine leaned on the counter. Kara stood behind the desk, talking on the phone. She wore a clingy, sparkly red sheath. Huge red-sequined earrings glittered through her hair. She hung up and grinned. “The phone is ringing off the hook!”
So Daniel thought Kara was Miss Universe. Much to her dismay, Janine had to agree. Kara was younger, thinner, taller, and her smile could melt stone. She squashed the feeling of being the wicked queen to Kara’s Snow White. “Guests calling to tell us they can’t get through?”
“Exactly. I mean, I’m glad they’re calling, but Mom is too busy to talk, and I want to party.” She leaned on the counter and lowered her voice. “Did you find Lanny?”
“I wish.”
“Everybody is keeping an eye out for him. The guys say if he shows his face, they’ll take him out.” She looked over Janine’s jeans and grubby sweater. “Are you going to change clothes?”
“Later. Where is Mom?”
Kara pointed. “With the babies, where else? Over there by the fireplace.”
Janine saw her mother talking to a gathering of women. Elise held the handles of Jamie’s wheelchair. Ross’s son squeezed onto the chair with Jamie; the boys played an odd version of patty-cake. Megan held Rosie in her arms. Soon, Janine thought, Megan would add another grandbaby for Elise to love.
Juan Hernandez burst into the lobby. Snow crusted his coveralls chest high. His lower legs looked like ice blocks. He waved excitedly at her. Daniel and Janine rushed to join him.
“Found ‘em,” Juan said breathlessly. He panted as if he’d been running. He pounded his chest with a fist. “Snow’s six feet in some places. But we found ’em.”
