by Cindy Bell
“Maybe Brent bought them for the snow. The glare off the snow can be quite strong.” Sonia shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of people on the slopes with sunglasses.”
“Yes, you’re right that’s possible.”
“Ken mentioned he had to buy ski goggles, remember?” Nikki began to pace.
“I do.”
“What possible motive could Brent or Ken have? Would Ashley going through Brent’s stuff and letting herself into Ken’s cabin really be enough reason for either of them to kill her?”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t really spent time with Brent, but he seems nice enough, and Ken seems like a pretty even-tempered guy.” Sonia picked up the used wine glasses and carried them into the kitchenette.
“Anyone can seem even-tempered with a glass of wine and a little effort.” Nikki joined her near the sink. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have another side.”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t.” Sonia turned to face her. “I just think before we jump to conclusions, we need to be sure. Without a stronger motive, I can’t see him as the killer.”
“We need to know more about Ken. But I don’t even know his last name, do you?” Nikki frowned.
“Actually no, he didn’t mention it.” Sonia turned the tap on and watched as the water splashed into the wine glasses. “In fact, he avoided anything too personal while we talked. He said he didn’t have anyone to spend Christmas with.”
“Can you believe that Christmas is only two days away?” Nikki winced. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t how you planned to spend the holiday.”
“It’s not your fault, Nikki.” Sonia turned off the tap and took her hand. “I’m glad I’m here with you. None of us planned for this to happen, that’s for sure.”
“No, we didn’t.” Nikki’s mind flickered with thoughts of her parents. How would they feel if they showed up for Christmas to find out that Kyle was behind bars? She didn’t want them to go through that. She narrowed her eyes. “We have to solve this, Sonia. This isn’t how we’re going to spend the holidays.”
“What do you have in mind?” Sonia raised an eyebrow.
“Something Quinn said to me. He said, the answer is in the evidence. I’ve already gone over the evidence from the crime scene, and it hasn’t really led us anywhere. But what about the pictures that Ashley took? Maybe she was trying to leave a message, or at the very least gather evidence.” Nikki walked over to the counter and picked up the camera.
“If only we could get in her head for a few minutes, have an idea as to why she thought these particular items were important enough to photograph, we might be able to get somewhere.” Sonia joined her at the table. “But I just can’t picture what she might have been thinking.”
“Me either.” Nikki sighed as she began to flip through the pictures. “Blonde hair bleach.”
“None of our suspects have blonde hair. Betsy and Max have dark hair, Gloria has red hair, Brent has black hair and Ken’s is light brown.” Sonia shook her head. “I don’t see how the hair bleach can help.”
“Maybe we can look up the brand of wine.” Nikki looked up at Sonia. “Maybe it’s unique enough to give us some kind of clue about why she took the picture. We can also track the location of the toll booth from the receipt. Maybe that will connect to the wine somehow.” Nikki sighed and sat back against the couch. “It’s a stretch, but it could lead to something.”
“It looks like the wine is only sold at one winery, it is also the vineyard where the wine is produced.” Sonia scrolled through the website of the winery. “There’s a contact number, but I’m not sure that would help us much. The winery is in Ettowah, it’s a small town about thirty miles north of here.”
“North?” Nikki tipped her head to the side. “Interesting. The toll booth is located to the north as well, let’s see how far apart they are.” She typed in the names of the two towns and looked over the map generated. “Only about fifteen miles apart.” She tapped her fingertips lightly on the table. “I think we can assume that these two items belonged to the same person.”
“Which might mean that the blonde hair bleach probably belonged to that person as well.” Sonia sighed. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t tell us who the person is.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Nikki frowned. “But some toll booths have cameras. If this person took the time to get a receipt, we might be able to see who it is on camera.”
“How are we going to get access to the cameras, though?” Sonia looked across the table at her.
“Luckily, I have a friend in the police department.” Nikki cast a wink in her direction.
“A friend?” Sonia smiled. “I think perhaps he’s a little more than that.”
Nikki rolled her eyes as she put her phone to her ear. Seconds later she smiled at the sound of Quinn’s voice.
“Hi Nikki, how’s the weather looking up there? I hear you’re getting more snow.”
“Nothing but snow.” Nikki sighed. “It would be a beautiful, white Christmas if I could think about anything other than murderers.”
“Still no progress on the murder? Is Kyle doing okay?”
“He’s fine. So far.” Nikki winced as she recalled their last conversation. “Quinn, I’m worried the cops here aren’t really doing a thorough enough investigation. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I was hoping you might be able to do me a favor?”
“Sure, what do you need?”
“I have a toll receipt. I think it might be connected with the killer, but honestly we’re not sure yet. I’d just like to know if there’s a camera at this toll booth, and if so, can you take a look at who might have passed through the toll at the time of the receipt?” Nikki held her breath as she knew it was more than just a small favor.
“I can do that, Nikki. It will take a little time. Send me a picture of the receipt, I can get all of the information I need off that.”
“Thanks Quinn.” Nikki sighed with relief.
“Anything at all, Nikki. Just send it to me. I’ll get the information to you as soon as I can.” Quinn paused, then spoke up again. “Nikki, call me later if you have some time to talk. All right?”
“Sure, is everything okay?” Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered if she’d asked for too much.
“I’d just like some time to talk with you, that’s all. I’ll get back to you on this as soon as I can.” Quinn hung up the phone.
Fear jolted through Nikki. He just wanted to talk? What if he wanted to talk because he’d decided that she wasn’t as interesting as he first thought? What if he wanted to put the brakes on a relationship that hadn’t even gotten started? She stared at the phone for a moment.
“Is he going to help?” Sonia leaned across the table to meet her eyes.
“Yes, he’s going to help.” Nikki pushed thoughts of Quinn from her mind. She couldn’t be distracted by them at the moment. “Okay, so pretty soon we should hopefully know who went through that toll booth. It’s pretty clear that Ashley was playing detective, so my guess is she suspected this person of something.”
“Maybe she was on to something?” Sonia stood up and walked over to the couch, where Princess was curled up.
“We know that she went to a lot of trouble to hide this camera, and since these are the only three pictures on the camera, and there was no dust on the statue, that means that she probably took them very recently.” Nikki walked over to the couch and sat down beside her. “We know that she had many arguments with Max and Gloria, she had a run-in with Brent, and she went into Ken’s cabin against his wishes. The only one that doesn’t seem to have a motive is Betsy, but what was her scarf doing near the body. Did Betsy really give the scarf to Ashley as a gift?”
“Maybe Ken had something to hide?” Sonia stroked Princess’ fur. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t want her in there. It could be that he is just a very private person, though.”
“Let’s say that’s all that it is.” Nikki shrugged and reached over to pet Princess as well. “The more importan
t question is, why did Ashley go into his cabin without his permission? Presuming that Brent is telling the truth and she did go in. Something had to drive her to do that. Was it just an obsession with cleanliness, or was it something more?”
“What could it be?” Sonia shook her head. “That’s the problem. We have no idea who he is or where he comes from.”
“Which in itself, is a little unusual, isn’t it?” Nikki narrowed her eyes. “He’s made it pretty clear that he’s interested in you, so why hasn’t he told you anything serious about himself? It seems like he’s probably used to hiding things.”
“That may be, but again, we can’t know it for sure.” Sonia frowned. “I’ll admit, I’m hoping it’s not the case that he’s involved.”
“I can tell you that Max certainly has the temperament to kill Ashley, and he had a far stronger motive. I’m just not sure how any of this evidence could connect to him.” Nikki set the camera down, then looked towards the window. “I’ve been in his home, but I haven’t been in the second cabin where his dogs live. I bet if he has any secrets, that is where he would keep them. I am going to see if I can take a look.”
“I’ll go with you.” Sonia started to stand up.
“No, I need you to stay here, and chat Ken up a bit. Maybe find out his last name, or at least an idea of where he comes from.” Nikki walked over to her coat and began to pull it on. “Sonia, all I’m going to do is take a peek, I’m not going to go in. I’ll get an idea of whether we can get inside, and I’ll report back to you.”
“Promise?” Sonia walked her to the door.
“I promise.” Nikki leaned over and gave her a quick hug.
Chapter 14
The snow began to fall harder as Nikki walked past the lobby. She could hear the sound of the dogs barking. It saved her the trouble of trying to find out where Max’s other cabin was located. Their barks carried across the wide, white fields. The new snowfall made her uneasy as she was aware that it would hamper the attempts at clearing the roads. Luckily, it was fairly light. She neared the cabin where she could hear the dogs barking. Before she could get to it, she noticed a police snowmobile parked in front of it. Officer Conner stood at the door of the cabin, with Max in front of him. Nikki drew back against the corner of another cabin, and watched as the two interacted.
“I need a good accounting of where Ashley was that day. Otherwise, we can’t narrow down who might have had contact with her. So, if you know something, you need to tell me.” Conner stepped closer to Max. “Do you want this all to fall on your wife’s shoulders? Because that’s where it’s headed.”
“What about the boy, Kyle?” Max’s voice wavered with frustration. “I thought you were honing in on him.”
“We are, but his motive is weak. So, he had a few run-ins with Ashley, and they might have fought. He has no history of violent or criminal behavior. As it stands, he’s our best suspect, but we’d like to clear everyone else that had regular contact with Ashley. I can’t do that if I have no idea where she was the day she was killed.” Conner shrugged, glanced over his shoulder as if he might have heard something, then looked back at Max. “Anything you can tell me would be helpful.”
Nikki held her breath as she wondered if she’d been heard. She willed herself not to shift her feet in the crunchy snow again. Her stomach churned with fear as Conner’s words replayed through her mind. Kyle was their best suspect? Shock bolted through her as she realized her brother might really be arrested for something he had nothing to do with. Once he was handcuffed there would be nothing that she could do to stop it. He would be at the mercy of the courts.
“All right, well, I know she took out one of the snowmobiles. I was going to write her up, because she brought it back with some damage to it. They’re all equipped with GPS trackers, so there’s a record of where she went and when. I checked it, and the log said she took a trip up Fir Mountain. That area is out of bounds at the moment. I have no idea what she might have been doing up there.” Max shooed the dogs back from the officer. “Will that help?”
“That will help a lot. Where are the snowmobiles?” Conner pulled out his notepad.
“The garage is right behind the main lobby. If you ask Gloria, she’ll give you a pass to get in. You’re welcome to look at anything you want.” Max sighed and lowered his voice. “Just go easy on Gloria, she’s a sensitive person. She’s harmless, but she barks louder than my girls.” He gave Marshmallow a solid pat on the side.
“Thanks for the tip.” Conner tucked his notepad back into his pocket. “I’ll be in touch.”
“That reminds me. It seems one of our passes is missing, it unlocks all of the cabins. I haven’t been able to find it. We thought maybe Ashley had it on her person when she died. Do you have any record of that?” Max locked eyes with the officer.
Nikki’s heart skipped a beat. That pass was tucked away in her purse.
“No, there’s no record of her having it on her at the time. Do you have any idea who else might have taken it?” Conner’s voice elevated with interest.
“No, but I can deactivate it. I can also check where it was used last, and when. A record is made every time it’s used.” Max frowned. “My guess is only the employees would have access.”
“Thanks. Please let me know when you have that information ready.” Conner walked back towards the snowmobile.
Nikki ducked around the corner of the cabin and took a sharp breath. She realized that if they checked the records, they would see that it had been used to go into Ashley’s cabin after she had died. If they believed an employee had stolen it, their first suspicions would fall on Kyle. She winced at the knowledge that her actions had likely made the case against Kyle even stronger. It seemed every step she attempted to take to protect her brother ended up backfiring. But there was one good thing. She knew that she could find out where Ashley had been on the day of her death. If the snowmobile had a record of where she went, then she could travel to the same place on Fir Mountain. Clearly there was something on Fir Mountain. She could only hope that it would be enough to clear her brother’s name and incriminate the actual murderer.
Once Nikki was sure that Max had gone inside, and Conner had taken off on the snowmobile, she headed back towards her cabin. There was no way that she could get anywhere near Max’s cabin without setting the dogs off, and even if she could, the pass wouldn’t work anymore. Maybe she couldn’t get to any of Max’s secrets, but she could still figure out Ashley’s. She recalled her promise to Kyle. No, it wasn’t wise to think about going to Fir Mountain on her own, but she would do anything to protect her brother. When she arrived at the cabin, Sonia greeted her at the door.
“How did it go?” Her wide, anxious eyes searched Nikki’s.
“They are definitely focusing in on Kyle. And this keycard is useless now.” Nikki pulled it out of her purse and tossed it into the trashcan. As she filled her in about Ashley’s trip to Fir Mountain, she crouched down to pet Coco. “Hey buddy, how are you?” She smiled as he licked her cheeks.
“What was she up to?” Sonia shook her head. “Honestly, it almost feels as if she was trying to blackmail someone. But what could wine, a toll receipt, and some hair bleach have to do with incriminating someone?”
“I don’t know.” Nikki shook her head. “What’s that?” She tipped her head towards a grocery bag on the counter.
“Ken brought us some more food. He went out for a trip on his snowmobile to the nearest store before the snow gets too heavy again. Also, I found out his last name.” Sonia smiled as she met Nikki’s eyes. “It’s Berjen.”
“Berjen?” Nikki snapped her fingers. “Good, now maybe we can find out some information about him.” As she dug through the bag of groceries, she found a bottle of wine, a bag of grapes, and some cheese. “He knows his way around a cheese plate, hmm?” Nikki smiled.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited him over for tomorrow night. Since, it’s Christmas Eve.” Sonia grabbed the bottle of wine and tucked it in
to the small refrigerator. “We’ll just let this chill until then.”
“That’s right, I forgot it’s almost Christmas Eve.” Nikki’s heart sank as she checked her phone for any texts from her parents. “What a terrible holiday this is going to be.”
“Don’t give up hope yet, Nikki. This is the time of year when miracles happen, right?” Sonia gave her a light pat on the cheek. “Don’t lose that optimism, dear.”
“You’re right.” Nikki took a deep breath. “Maybe Quinn can dig up something on Ken.” She sent a text to Quinn with Ken’s name. Then she fired off a text to Kyle about the developments in the case.
When he texted back, his words were firm.
Stay off Fir Mountain.
Nikki’s fingers trembled as she typed back a promise that she would. She knew that it was a promise she couldn’t keep.
* * *
In the darkness just before dawn, Nikki made her plan. It hinged on getting out of the cabin before Sonia woke up. If she woke up, she knew there was no way that she would let her leave alone. She also knew that there was no way she could let Sonia be in danger.
As soon as she saw the faintest light peek through the curtains she climbed out of bed. She pulled on two layers of thick socks. Then two layers of sweatpants. She layered a long-sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt. By the time she was done she was already sweating, but she knew that she would be thankful for the warmth later. She slid a thick pair of gloves over a thin pair of gloves. Finally, she donned her scarf, and a coat. She felt about thirty pounds heavier, but she hoped all of the layers would protect her from the icy wind. As she stepped out the door, her heart began to pound. She had no idea what she was about to get herself into, but she knew there was nothing safe about it.