The further I walked, the more exposed to the elements I became. Icy fingers of wind pulled at my jacket and hair. I turned and again, couldn’t believe my eyes. The entire first level of the lodge was buried, completely obscured by the snow. It was as if the ground had risen up and swallowed it whole. A huge mountain of snow climbed up along the right side, the drift stretching in a gentle slope all the way up to the roof.
I went as far as the last snowcat, not daring to head any further into the frigid darkness. It wasn’t like the last time. There was no raging into the storm, no screaming until my throat bled. The lodge had become so stifling… I just needed the air. The cold ripped through my clothes. I bundled myself against the wind and trudged up to the entrance.
I heard a moan. At first, I dismissed it as the wind, but the sound tickled the back of my mind. It replayed, like a needle skipping over a record.
I almost didn’t turn around. I almost didn’t see him. But a movement, his foot or maybe the flap of his jacket, caught my eye enough that I turned. I noticed the trail of bright, fresh blood congealing in the snow. My gaze quickly followed it to a body, slumped but moving slightly. With a cry, I rushed forward. I threw the plastic lantern down on the ground and only realized it was Walt when he tried to fight me off.
“It’s okay! It’s Dani. What the hell happened to you?”
He blinked up at me with pale blue eyes, snowflakes landing on his eyelashes. A huge gash in his scalp leaked down to his brow and along his temple. It looked alarmingly similar to Miah’s…
“Walt, we need to get you inside. You’ll freeze to death out here,” I said as I tried to loop an arm under his armpit.
“Jack,” he whispered. The wind attempted to steal his raspy voice, and I remembered. He had the baby last.
I froze, the image of the baby in the deep snow sending a cold shiver through my body that would never thaw. “Where’s Jack? You had him, where’s the baby?”
Walt didn’t respond right away, blinking again, obviously not fully roused from the knock to his head. I didn’t care. I shook him hard enough that his head flopped around to his shoulder.
“Where is he? Walt, you need to…”
He squeezed his eyes shut, a hand going to the cut on his head. “Someone took him. I didn’t see ‘em. I came out to look at the roof and they hit me over the head from behind and before I blacked out…” He looked at me with the first glimmer of clarity. “They took him.”
“All right, let’s get you up. We need to find Bryan and Liz, now. They’re just inside!”
Once I got him to his feet, he waved me away. “You go. I’ll just slow you down. Go get them.”
I hesitated a half-second, sure the moment I let go of the old guy he’d go toppling to the ground. He wavered for a second, found his balance, and shouted at me to run.
I turned on my heel and sprinted towards the front door. Panic and adrenaline pulsed through my body. I slipped and slid along the snowy ground, as if I were running on ice. I slammed into the front door and tried to wrench it open, but it didn’t budge. Confused, I tried it again and only then did I notice the locked chain. My mind was slow to process the rattle against the metal frame.
“What the fuck?” I muttered as I yanked at the chain. The links were far too thick to pry apart, threaded through the handles and secured with a simple padlock. In a moment of insanity, I imagined picking it with a hairpin or something. I jogged backwards, looking up and down the paths in sheer panic. Who would do that? Who would lock the doors from the…
Walt was suddenly at my side, his old eyes able to zero in on the problem at hand much faster than I had. He was disturbingly calm compared to my frantic panic.
He grabbed my forearm with surprising strength. “Do you smell that?”
“What? What the hell are you talking about? We need to…”
“The smoke. Do you smell smoke?”
“Well, yeah. They’re burning wood in there. Listen, we need to…”
“No. It’s more than that. It’s the building itself. I’ve just gone through two house fires in one week and I know that smell.”
And almost like an answer to his suspicion, a curl of black smoke roiled from the corner of the locked door in front of us and the people inside began to scream.
With the weight of the world coming down on my shoulders, having Dani stand up for me in such an epic gesture almost moved me to tears. The way she verbally tore Dorothy down… it was a thing of beauty. Even in my bitchiest days, my tongue would never have been so sharp.
Miah glanced back to me with a shrug as he wisely let Dani go off. I felt the eyes of the crowd on me, that sideways glance people gave you after a confrontation. I ignored the sensation and focused on Chris and the other men hanging the curtains. They worked efficiently and it might’ve been my own hopeful imagination, but the fabric immediately made a difference. I noticed fewer drafts, and while people were miserable stacked on top of each other, the closeness did make the air warmer.
Bryan worked the opposite side of the room getting everyone settled in. I poked my head out into the hall to make sure everyone had come into the Great Hall before shutting the two heavy doors. We still had a few hours to go before dawn and the end of the storm. We were battered but not broken.
Even though we aren’t completely out of the woods yet, morale will go through the roof when we see the sun come up, I thought as I scanned the room.
I pulled out the baby monitor and pressed the call button. Bryan’s hand went straight to his pocket as he searched for me in the crowd. Tucking down low so he couldn’t find me, I whispered, “You have a cute ass.”
I watched as he excused himself, his face turning a pretty shade of pink. “Mrs. Phillips agreed with you,” he said. “Thanks for that.”
“It’s not like she didn’t already know it.”
My crouched stance was earning a few strange looks, so I straightened and double-checked the doors to save face. “Hey, boss, everyone make it in?” Chris asked as he approached from my left.
“It appears so.”
“Good, good.” Chris nodded to himself as if he were in deep thought. I was getting used to his nervous behavior, treating it as I would any other personality quirk or tic. He held my gaze and leaned closer. “You know the guy… downstairs? He was asking for you last time I was down there.”
I groaned. “The basement is warmer than up here. Is he still bitching about the heat?”
“He didn’t say. Just wanted to talk to you,” Chris replied. His tongue darted out to lick his thin lips.
I found Bryan across the room again and shook my head. In the two seconds since we’d spoken, he’d already gotten hooked into helping a family with their sleeping bags. “All right, I’ll deal with it. Can you come with me for safety?”
“Sure, boss. Whatever you want.”
Shutting the door behind us, we made our way downstairs. Nearly at the very spot where we’d caught the guy, Chris stopped and shined the flashlight up.
“I almost forgot. I’ve been meaning to swap out our radios. The batteries are nearly dead and we got fresh ones…”
Already impatient, I handed him my radio and pushed on. “Fine, cool. Just get it to me when you can.”
Outside the broom closet, I held the flashlight as Chris fumbled with the keys. With a tiny tickle of apprehension, I realized it felt weird because Gary was so quiet. Normally when we came down to deliver food or blankets, he’d be pounding on the door, screaming to be let out. This time, he was silent.
Maybe he’s not feeling well, I wondered, searching for an explanation.
The lock clicked, and Chris swung the door open. I shined the light inside and didn’t immediately see Gary anywhere in the room. Every muscle tense and waiting for an attack, I tried to reassure myself that Chris was there, too. Plus, Bryan was upstairs along with, you know, the whole town. I was pretty well backed up.
“Gary? You wanted to see me?” I called out as I moved into the threshold
.
I panned the light across the tiny room and located him in the far corner to the right. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and shielded his eyes from the light.
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked again as I stepped inside. “Was he like this when you found him?” I asked Chris.
He leaned forward to see around the corner, holding himself steady with a hand on the doorframe. The sleeve of his shirt slipped down and I saw a dozen horribly deep, scabbed scratches disappearing up his arm. Although I was hesitant to, I pulled the light from Gary on the floor so I could study the wounds better.
I grabbed his other arm and yanked the sleeve up as high as I could, revealing another set of scratches. My heart thudded in my chest as I looked up to meet his eye and I knew instantly. He’d attacked Miah… these were the defensive wounds Melinda had talked about. Chris must’ve seen the realization on my face, his own expression turning stony.
A hard shove to my shoulder rocked me forward. Without letting go of the flashlight, I slammed onto my hands and knees with a cry. I didn’t even have a chance to recover before Chris slammed the door shut behind.
I launched to my feet and tested the doorknob, knowing full well it’d be locked. I pounded my fists against the door. “What the fuck? Chris! Goddamnit, what are you doing?”
There was no answer from the other side. My hand instinctively slipped down to my pocket for the radio, which of course, I found empty.
“That fucker!” I screamed.
A low, quiet chuckle reminded me I wasn’t alone in the room. I panned the light over to Gary who still hadn’t moved an inch.
“Don’t feel good, does it?” he asked with a toothy grin.
I bit my tongue. Taking a few steps back, I trained the light on the door and tried to think. Every thought was punctuated with a deep, maternal scream.
Jack!
I couldn’t focus. Without knowing he was safe, every attempt at figuring out how to get out of this room was met with a gut panic.
Why me? Why leave Bryan upstairs? God, my baby… Why is he doing this at all? Chris was the arsonist all along! If Jack is safe, then it doesn’t matter what happens to me…
Nothing added up. Nothing. And with a start, I remembered the baby monitor in my coat pocket.
I dropped to my knees and held the flashlight with my thighs. I scrambled through my pockets, pulled out the small monitor, and pressed the call button.
“Come on, come on,” I whispered as I watched the low battery light flicker on. “Bryan! Are you there? Bryan, oh, please pick up.”
I held the monitor to my ear, but heard nothing, even after several tries. Figuring he was well out of range, I collapsed against the wall and fought the encroaching panic. The only way to get out of this situation was to remain calm and clear-headed. With a few soothing breaths, I tried to focus.
“Aw, cheer up, doll. It’s not so bad down here.”
“Shut the hell up, Gary,” I muttered.
Only a few minutes could’ve passed from when Chris shoved me in to when I heard the door at the end of the hallway squeak. I jumped to my feet and readied myself. Whatever happened, I was rushing for that door with all my strength and speed.
Click.
It was a sound you only had to hear once.
“Not a move. Not a word,” whispered Gary. His voice sent a chill down my back and I knew without looking, there was a gun trained on me. “You do anything and I’ll kill you right here and now, you get me? Turn off the goddamn light.”
I nodded as my thumb switched off the flashlight. My heart lurched when I heard Bryan’s voice outside the door, talking with Chris. This situation was looking bleaker by the second. Time slowed, as it does in moments like this. All in slow motion, the key slipped into the lock, the light from outside shifted under the door, and Bryan appeared in the doorway.
His light trained on me first, standing directly opposite the opening. “What the fu…” was the only thing he got out.
Chris brought both his fists down on Bryan’s neck, a hammering blow that knocked him to his knees. I screamed and rushed forward just as Chris booted him with a swift kick to the ass. He slammed the door shut just as my fingers came within inches of grabbing it. I cried out in frustration as I crawled back to Bryan.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked as I helped him to his feet. I switched on the flashlight, figuring that if the jerkwad in the corner with the gun had a problem, he’d tell me.
Bryan’s eyes immediately landed on the glint of the gunmetal in Gary’s hands. “Liz, what the hell is going on?”
I looped my arm under his and lifted him up. “I have no idea,” I whispered. I was simultaneously glad to have him with me and terrified because it meant Jack was left upstairs with Walt or Dani. Bryan cupped my face in his hands, and pushed my hair back.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you or anything?”
“Nothing worse than what he did to you. What do you think he’s planning?” I asked, unable to hide the tremor from my voice.
“Ah,” Gary finally said. He cleared his throat as he awkwardly climbed to his feet. “That’s where I come in. I’m supposed to give you this.” With the handgun still trained on me, he reached across his chest to the inside pocket. Withdrawing a folded paper, he walked close enough to hand it to Bryan. “You’re supposed to read this out loud.”
Bryan’s jaw clenched as he took the paper. He didn’t want to drop his gaze from the old man long enough to read it.
“You read it or I shoot her,” Gary said. He sounded bored with the whole thing, as if holding my life in his hands happened every day.
Bryan unfolded the paper and gestured for me to shine the light closer. From over his shoulder, I could read the handwriting. The light in my hand wobbled before he could speak. It looked just like the arsonist’s letters… as if I had any doubt before this.
“Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” He took a ragged breath before finishing. “A son for a son.” He crumpled the paper and dropped it to the floor. “What? What now?”
Gary grinned. “Now I shoot you.”
“All of this just to kill us in cold blood?” I gasped.
“No, not both of you. Him. You’re meant to stay alive so you can watch what comes next. But more importantly, I get to get the fuck out of here.” That psychopathic tone chilled me to the very core.
Bryan and I had been in so many stressful, life-balancing-on-the-edge-of-a-knife moments that I honestly think we’ve developed a telepathic form of communication. We both knew, instantly, that we had to rush this asshole before he could squeeze off a shot. Without any outward signal, we charged at Gary full force. I went for his knees while Bryan rushed for the gun.
Just before I tackled him, I saw Bryan put his hand over the muzzle of the gun, pushing the slide back and effectively preventing Gary from firing. A sickening crack filled the small room as the old man’s hip connected with the hard concrete. Momentum carried me under his legs with the bulk of his body falling under Bryan. I recovered quickly, shone the flashlight around the room, and was horrified to see the two of them struggling for control over the gun.
Grunting with exertion, Bryan fought to pry the weapon from the old man’s fingers without exposing himself to a direct shot. One by one, he peeled his fingers away until he was able to strip it from his grip. He rocked back and landed on his ass at my feet. With the weapon pointed at the crippled old man, I helped him to his feet.
“Give me your other gun,” I said, holding out my hand to Bryan.
“I don’t have it,” he replied tightly.
I tore my gaze away. “What do you mean you… please tell me it’s locked up in your desk.”
His jaw clenched. “I gave it to Chris when we were looking for Miah.” He looked like he was about to rage but quickly got control. “Stupid.”
Shit. Fucking figures. “What do we do now?”
Bryan fiercely grabbed my arm and pulled my ear to his mouth.
Not for one second did he take his eyes from Gary, who was now alternating between laughing and crying. “Whatever comes next is only going to happen after he shoots me. So someone out there is waiting for the shot… and your scream.”
My throat tightened. “Bry…”
His features hardened as he adjusted his grip on the gun. “Scream.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d been trapped in a tiny room when a gun went off, but I hope it’s the last. The flash of the gun, the acrid scent of gunpowder, the deafening ring in my ears. I was in such shock that I didn’t immediately follow Bryan’s command. It was only until he squeezed my arm, the cry loosened from my throat.
I moved the beam of light away from the body, thankful that it’d at least been a quick death. Bryan ducked behind me and awkwardly crouched in the corner. I faced the door, the flashlight trembling in my hand. He brought the gun up by my side, just under the light so Chris couldn’t see it when he entered.
“When the fucker comes in, I’m just gonna shoot,” he whispered. “Keep screaming.”
I bawled his name again, really trying to sell the anguish. “What’s going to happen next?” I asked softly.
A key slipped into the door. The knob turned. A man walked in. Not Chris. My heart stopped.
I thought I had known horror. The things I’d been through in my life, looking death right in the eye and walking away more than once… it all paled in comparison to what I was confronted with.
This man had my baby in his arm and a gun only inches from his head. A choked sound came from my throat. My vision tunneled, the sides closing in until the only thing I could see was the weapon and my sleeping child. My knees gave out, and I caught myself on the edge of a metal cabinet. The sudden movement startled him.
“Don’t you dare come closer, Liz,” he said, brandishing the gun towards us. He glanced to the body on the ground and his expression changed. “Ah, guess it didn’t go exactly as I’d planned.”
Trapped with the Blizzard Page 22
