So Then There Were None

by Annie Adams

  “She’s not really—” Those perfect lips of his clamped together abruptly to form a straight line.

  “She isn’t really—what?”

  His cheeks had taken on a rosy glow, which was usually my department. His eyes focused off into the distance. He snapped his gaze back onto me. “Sorry. It just occurred to me what you meant by take a nap.” He winked and grinned at me like a cad.

  My mouth hung open as I sucked in an audible breath. “No! That’s not what I meant.”

  “I beg your pardon, milady but I’m surprised you’re so offended. Weren’t we about to do that very same thing when we came in here?”

  “I didn’t mean it to come out that way. I just meant—that’s not what I was suggesting.” My face felt hot. “I think we both need some sleep to get our heads right. Actual sleep.”

  He smiled and ushered me toward the door. He heaved a final sigh as we left the boathouse to return to the lodge.

  "Do you think Eva left with the guys?" I asked.

  "I don't know. I considered that possibility."

  "I know I've been suspicious of her being the murderer in the game, and I've been a little jealous—”

  "A little?" he said with a bit too much emphasis.

  "Anyway, as I was saying, despite those things, I don't think Eva would have taken off and abandoned us. Maybe she really was the next victim and I'm terrible at figuring out who-dunnits."

  "I'm thinking about what we need to do to get home," Alex said. "I don't believe this game has gone like it was supposed to. There's no way we would be left completely out of communication with anyone. When we get back to the lodge—and after I get some sleep—yes, you were right about that,” he nudged my shoulder with his, “I'll see if I can mess with the phones enough to make a call. I don't really know much about phone systems, but we have to try something."

  "Maybe we can wander around until we find a cell signal. Like on top of the lodge," I said.

  "We need to talk to the others and come up with a plan."

  I held his hand. "We'll figure it out."

  He let go of my hand and pulled me into him, next to his side, as we walked back to the lodge.

  "What was I thinking?" I shouted.

  He jumped away from me, startled. "What? What is it?"

  "London has a crew coming to clean up tomorrow. This is Sunday, isn't it?"

  "Yes, this is Sunday. What about London? You mean like, England?"

  "No, the other florist. She told me her clean-up crew is coming tomorrow to take down the big floral pieces. All we have to do is wait for them."

  I actually saw the tension leave his body.

  "You saved the day. This calls for a celebration. Last one to the house is a rotten egg," he shouted, as he took off running toward the lodge.

  I ran after him until my lungs burned. It was only about twelve steps, but hey, I gave it a shot. I would let him win this one outright. It was just good to have him back to his playful self again.

  Chapter Forty-One

  “Something’s wrong,” Alex said as we re-entered the kitchen.

  “You mean the security door wasn’t locked—again?”

  “It wasn’t locked, but that’s not what I meant.”

  I was beginning to think my suspicions about that door had been insignificant. Maybe it was just broken and left unfixed. Like that hinge on my bathroom cabinet door that’s loose and close to falling off. There’s another hinge on the door, so I still manage to close it, and I’ll get around to fixing it any time now, but probably not until the door falls off completely. Maybe this kitchen door was like that, just being ignored until it wasn’t possible to ignore it any longer. Or maybe someone had followed us again, like the last time we went outside together. Hard to say, and at this point, I didn’t care.

  “What do you think is wrong?” I asked him.

  “Listen to that…”

  “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Exactly.” He touched my nose with his finger. “K.C. is in this lodge, and I don’t hear anything. It’s very suspicious.”

  I rolled my eyes and gave a good-natured shake of my head at him. He was teasing, but he wasn’t far from the truth. “Maybe everyone else is as tired as we are and they’re taking naps.”

  “Together? That seems kind of weird.”

  I gave him a bland stare. “Funny, seems like I’ve heard that somewhere before. We should check in with them before we go to our room,” I said.

  We walked toward the main staircase. As we passed the garden room, I saw a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision. I stopped to look inside the open doorway, forgetting that I was holding Alex’s hand.

  I felt a yank on my arm as Alex reached the length’s end of our human rope.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure if it’s anything. I just thought I saw…I don’t know what.”

  “Let’s take a look. We’ve got all day—and night.”

  “It’s not strange that this door is open, right?” I said.

  “No, not necessarily. Although, it seems odd that this one is…”

  He walked calmly to the French doors at the back of the room which led to the pool deck. A familiar chill ran up and down my arms and I quickly joined him in an attempt to distract myself from whatever or whomever had caused my skin to get prickly.

  “C’mon.” He slipped past the French doors and I followed. We found a corner of the concrete that was shaded by the overhang of the building, near the barbeque grill. The rest of the deck reflected the midday sun in a sparkling, yet blinding, brilliance.

  Obviously, no one was there. Anyone on this pool deck would be completely out in the open. There was nowhere to hide. But I continued to feel an eerie sense that we weren’t alone.

  “Let’s come back here tonight,” Alex said quietly. “We’ll take a little rest, maybe hang out with the others, have some dinner. Then we’ll ditch the other three. We’ll try the hot tub again before we leave.”

  “Aren’t you worried about a repeat of last time?”

  “If we’re that unlucky, then we truly are living in some version of hell. I can’t imagine a repeat of that circus act. I’ll figure out a diversion for them. Even if I have to resort to bribery. I’d like us to have some perfect alone time on this trip before we leave.”

  Ever thoughtful, my fiancé. It was easy to feel undeserving.

  “We’re alone now. I don’t know how perfect the timing is. But isn’t it perfect when we get the chance to be alone together?”

  “Such a wise woman.”

  Honestly, the allure of the pool was still lost on me. Sunburn and the smell of chlorine were the memories I most associated with any trips to the cement pond. But I’m not so naïve that I don’t know why other people like the pool. Obviously people can show more skin in a bathing suit. In most cases that’s a good thing, except for the time I saw a three-ton man in what might have been a Speedo—most of it had disappeared into the abyss. That time it was not so good.

  I certainly didn’t mind the idea of seeing more of Alex. His golden skin, muscled chest, and chiseled abs with a wisp of hair trailing between the two muscle groups. He was practically meant to be in a swimsuit.

  Now that I thought about it, returning to the pool that night sounded like a pretty good idea.

  “Why are you smiling?” Alex asked me.

  “Who me?” He’d caught me thinking about him and his chest hair.

  “Babe, you’re blushing.”

  “It’s hot out here.”

  “No, there’s something more. Tell me.”

  I couldn’t help myself. I took a step toward him, then pulled his head down to mine and kissed him.

  “Wow, what did I say to deserve this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want to know what I need to do to get a repeat.”

  He covered my smile with another kiss and backed us up until I was against the wall next to the barbeque grill.

 
“We should go upstairs and take that nap,” he said, his voice coming in as a low rumble.

  I whispered next to his ear, “That wasn’t what I meant.”

  “Hey, you kissed me first.”

  I tried to give him a withering stare. It didn’t work, I couldn’t do it. “Your dimples are showing.”

  “Oh yeah?” Something about the way he looked back at me made me melt inside, clear to my bones. Good thing he was pressed against me, holding me up, or I would have spilled into a puddle on the patio.

  He dipped his head and kissed me again, and then said, “C’mon. Let’s go upstairs.”

  “There you are!”

  I shrieked and Alex whipped around. From the partial view I had around his shoulder, I could see a scarlet-faced Pam. She stood a mere three feet away from us. Her change in color didn’t appear to be from embarrassment. Her furrowed brow, taut mouth, and eyes drawn into slits said that she felt something more aggressive.

  “What are you doing here?” Alex actually shouted at her. I wasn’t used to that volume from him. After the initial shock, I felt like clapping him on the back and cheering. She’d finally pushed him to the limit.

  “I thought you guys were looking for Eva. Instead, you’re out here—” Her lips twisted, seeming to fight against what her mouth wanted to say. Her arms were extended, hands pointing rigidly at the spot where we stood.

  “Were you just standing there, watching us?” Alex said to her, disgust saturating his voice.

  “No! Of course not, I was just—”

  “Wait.” Alex’s posture softened and he held his hands up in a non-threatening, “I give up” gesture. “I’m sorry, Pam. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. You just startled us. I apologize.”

  Don’t let her off the hook! You’ve got nothing to apologize for. My kind and noble fiancé. I probably didn’t deserve him. But my vote was still on yelling at Pam and calling her out on the lies and stalker behavior.

  Pam’s expression switched in an instant. “I’m sorry I startled you.” I noticed she put an ever-so-sly emphasis on the word “you.” She stared directly into his eyes and didn’t acknowledge my presence. She looked like someone who’d volunteered to go on stage at the hypnotist show at the state fair.

  I stepped out from behind Alex. “Did you guys find Eva?” I asked.

  Obviously annoyed, she glanced my way and her face became a flinty, cold, slate. “No, of course not. We’re done looking for her.”

  She explained how they’d found Eva’s charm dangling from the handle of one of the garden room doors.

  “You must’ve just missed us,” she said sweetly.

  “So, what are you doing now?” Alex asked directly but gently.

  “I…was just getting drinks for everyone.” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the garden room behind her. “I was going to the kitchen next to get a beer. Can I get you one, Alex? I know Quincy doesn’t drink.”

  Quincy was also standing right in front of her.

  Alex reached around me and cupped his hand over my shoulder, then pulled me into his side.

  “No, thank you,” he said. “We’re going to go up to our room for a while. Right, babe?”

  “Right.”

  “You know she’s got a doll that looks like me that she pokes with pins,” I said after she’d left.

  “I don’t think it’s that bad. Maybe she throws darts at your photo, but not a Voodoo doll.”

  “You think you’re joking, but I don’t. She’s got at least one of the two in her room upstairs, I’m sure.”

  “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset with her, though. I can’t control the things that she does, but I can control the way that I react.”

  “That’s very Zen of you,” I told him.

  “That’s me,” he said. “Mr. Zen. I noticed she did pick up a tray from the bar before she left. At least she wasn’t lying.” I raised my eyebrows in disagreement. “About that, anyway,” he said.

  “She would have needed time to mix or pour or whatever you do with those kind of drinks. She didn’t have time between when she left us and when she left the garden room, just now,” I said.

  His mouth hitched on the corners.

  “What?”

  “You’re cute when you talk booze.”

  “My point is, she was in that room before we entered it. And if she was innocently mixing drinks, why did she hide from us?”

  “She was hiding in the shadows and then listening in and—watching us. How much do you think she saw?” He shook his head and held up a hand. “Never mind, I don’t want to think about it. It’s scary.”

  “And what happened to people not doing things alone?” I said.

  “It’s hard to tell whether or not anyone’s still playing the game.”

  “I had Eva pegged as the murderer, but if I had to guess from the people who are left, I’d have to say it’s Pam.”

  “You don’t think it’s Audra?” Alex asked me.

  “Why? Do you know something I don’t?”

  He began his reply on a laugh. “No. I don’t know anything. Nothing has gone like I thought it would. I was just going through the possible options.” He shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t assume anything, but I never thought it was you, so they’re the only two left, not including K.C.”

  “Aww. You never thought I was the murderer. That means a lot to me.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “Does something seem odd to you?” Alex asked as we rounded the corner on the hallway behind the bottom of the grand staircase.

  “It’s dark.”

  “Yeah.”

  The hallway was flanked on both sides by an assortment of rooms. The study, the music room, a small powder room and a couple that I’d never been in. Since the hallway was on the interior of the lodge, it didn’t get much natural light, thus the need for overhead fixtures. Currently those fixtures were all dark. The music room, where K.C. had played the piano, was on the outer side of the lodge. I could see light shining out from under the door and assumed the curtains must have been open.

  As we approached, the all too familiar feeling of chills and goose bumps started up again. Maybe it was the presence of Pam and had nothing to do with ghostly appearances. I could definitely classify her as an other-worldly being.

  Alex leaned forward, listening at the door. “Do you hear that? I think they must be in here.” He gave a quick knock with the back of his hand.

  “Enter with reverence,” K.C.’s muffled voice called out from behind the closed door.

  Alex cut his eyes to me and smirked. “What?” he mouthed.

  I bit back a laugh and shrugged.

  He drew me close to him and whispered, “I don’t know if I dare enter at all. What does that mean—enter with reverence?”

  Suddenly the door opened. Pam stood there, staring at us, her lower jaw protruding and her mouth twisted in anger. She let loose an exasperated sigh. “Still at it, huh? You know, you can’t get mad at people for watching you make out like hormonal teenagers when you never stop. It’s absolutely incessant around here.”

  “We weren’t—” I started to explain.

  “I can’t stop. It’s an addiction,” Alex said, just before he dipped me in the hallway and gave me a blockbuster movie kiss. They’re not as easy as they look. If he wasn’t so strong and athletically adept, I would have been flat on my back on the floor.

  He hauled me to my feet and I felt the burn of my ever-present blush forming all over my face and neck—and pretty much the rest of my body. When I looked up at him in surprise he shrugged. “What? I like incessant.”

  “My mother says if you keep smirking like that, it’ll get stuck that way permanently,” I told him.

  Pam let out more of a growl this time. She’d abandoned her post by the time we got around to entering the room. We’d kind of blown the whole reverent entrance idea.

  “Enter and prepare to receive the spirits,” K.C. said in a deep and drawn-out melo
dy of a voice.

  I could barely see Alex’s face, since my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dim atmosphere just yet, but I detected a resemblance to a cornered animal in his posture.

  Save for the mellow flickering coming from five or six hurricane lamps set about the room, there were no other sources of light. The two large, multi-paned windows in the room had been covered by heavy curtains that blocked out any natural light.

  “What’s going on in here?” Alex asked. I detected a note of amusement and maybe a little fear in his question.

  K.C. sat at a round game table on the far side of the room. She wore what looked like the same head-scarf as her fortune-teller character from before, only the scarf was twisted into a turban style with the knot on top of her head this time. Her page-boy bob wig-hair poked out from under the edges of the turban like the bristles on a street sweeper. She hummed to herself with her eyes closed, her palms pressed together in front of her in a prayerful pose.

  Audra sat next to her, gazing at us with glassy eyes. “We’re having a séance.” Her voice was overly loud, and she extended the Ess sound at the end of the word.

  Certain mutterings emanated from Alex, most of which should never be repeated.

  K.C.’s eyes popped open. “Come. Sit.” She indicated with an outstretched arm toward two chairs across from where she sat.

  “Uh…that’s okay—” Alex said.

  “Don’t you want to know what the ghosts really want?” K.C. asked him.

  “Not really,” he said quietly enough that only I could hear.

  Pam stepped into the picture from the side of the room near the mini bar. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. Besides, have you got somewhere else to go?”

  Before he could reply, I took his hand and gave it a gentle tug, leading us to the table. “It won’t take long.”

  He managed to give me the side-eye and roll his eyes all at once. Very talented, that one.

  I shrugged. “Okay, maybe it won’t take long.”

  Pam put a beer at one of the places at the game table. “I got you one of these—just guessing.”