Deadly Getaway

by Laura Bradford

  “He said he’s here to reconnect with someone, but asked me to respect his privacy. So I am. But why all these questions about R.J.?”

  Elise turned. “We don’t know who he is.”

  Vic Stodder waved his hand in the air and snorted. “He ain’t no criminal if that’s what you’re implying. That kid has a heart of gold the way he cared for Lilly Belle last night. And he ain’t got no money so he can’t be no thief. Heck, all he had when he got here was a knapsack, an empty mug, and two blankets wrapped around him.”

  Elise’s stomach tightened as Vic continued.

  “And it’s working out great. He’s been here less than forty-eight hours and I tell ya, he’s got a real knack with them horses. He’s been just what I was looking for.”

  She reached for Dan’s arm and squeezed it, her gaze still focused on Vic. “Are you sure we can’t convince you to come with us, Mr. Stodder?”

  “I’m sure. I’ll be just fine.” The man picked up his rifle and nodded. “Ain’t no one gonna mess with me and my horses.”

  Elise managed a wan smile and wave at Vic Stodder as she tugged Dan toward the door.

  “We need to check in with Mitch. Now.”

  She was grateful Dan waited to respond until the threesome was safely away from the stable.

  “What’s wrong, Elise?”

  “That kid. R.J. He’s one of the guys who showed up at the Lakeside Inn on Thursday night. One of the guys the last victim mentioned. We need to let Mitch and Brad know so that they can question him.”

  Dan whistled low under his breath, pulled the walkie-talkie from his pocket and pressed the button.

  “Mitch, do you read me? Mitch?”

  The lack of familiar static brought a sinking feeling to her heart, a feeling that was confirmed by Drew.

  “Sounds like we’re out of range.”

  “Damn it.” Dan shoved the walkie-talkie back into the pocket of his parka and snapped his skis onto his feet. “C’mon, let’s head back.”

  Elise stared at Dan and Drew. “We can’t! We need to meet up with the rest of the skiers. We need to hit that cabin over by the airport.”

  “No, we don’t. I sent the rest of the team over to that place while we checked out the livery. We’ll meet up with them in town.”

  Tears sprung to her eyes as she watched Dan’s back glide toward the pathway in front of Vic Stodder’s property. There was no way she was going to be able to convince him to head toward her uncle’s house now. In his mind it was being taken care of.

  “Elise?”

  She turned and looked at Drew as he waited for her to follow. Clenching her hands, she willed herself to move forward. Time was wasting away as she stood there, torn between what her heart wanted and what her head knew had to be done.

  Wrapping her hands around the poles, Elise pushed off the snow and followed Dan. She knew what the other skiers would say about their efforts to convince “the hermit” to stay in town until the storm was over.

  And she knew what she would have to do in response.

  She would simply have to find a way to get back to that cabin. Alone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  10:45 a.m.

  Mitch used to love snow. Loved the way it slowed everyone down, the way it coated the bare tree branches and glistened in the sun, the way it drew people outdoors and made you feel like a kid again.

  But this snow was different. Very different. This snow made people stay indoors, locked inside and huddled by a fireplace waiting for the power to return and the snow to stop falling.

  In fact, the snow had become a sort of jail cell for everyone on the island. Everyone except the psychopath who was out there, somewhere. Waiting. For him the snow meant freedom.

  Mitch exhaled slowly and strained to make out any sign of movement, any indication that Elise and the other skiers were on their way back. But the long, narrow pathway that ran in front of all the hotels and businesses in this section remained empty. No sign of life anywhere.

  “Mitch, why don’t you come away from that window for a while and have some coffee. Your Elise will be back soon, I’m sure of it.”

  He looked down the road toward the woods one last time, squinted in an effort to see further. But there was nothing.

  “Ah, Sophie, where are they?” He turned from the window as he spoke, met Sophie’s troubled eyes with his own. “They’ve been gone for over two hours and this island isn’t that big. And I haven’t heard from them in over an hour.”

  Sophie’s hand felt warm on his wrist as she pulled him toward a nearby table.

  “No, the island isn’t that big. But you have to remember that this storm—and the snow we already have—is going to slow them down.” She smiled at him. “And just because they’re on skis doesn’t mean they can go Mach two with their hair on fire.

  “And besides, you don’t know some of these old-timers around here like I do. They can be mighty S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N and set in their ways. Getting them to move into town, even with news of danger, isn’t gonna sit well with some of them. I tell you, Elise and those men have their work cut out for them this morning.”

  It was pretty much the same thing Brad had said when Mitch left him at the station thirty minutes ago to head back to Sophie’s to wait.

  “I guess I’m just mad at myself for being such an imbecile and not knowing how to ski.”

  Sophie shook her head, the corners of her mouth inching upward. “Not knowing how to ski does not make you an imbecile, Detective. It simply means you didn’t grow up around it. Be honest, how much snow do you really get in southern New Jersey anyway? Enough to make a snowman once a year?”

  She was right and he knew it. But if he’d known how to ski he could have gone with the group. With Elise. But then again, he wasn’t too sure Elise had even wanted him to come. Her eyes had seemed so vacant that morning, so distant. And if he was honest with himself, she’d been like that since they got here.

  “I’ve got a pot of coffee on the propane stove and it should be just about ready by now. Wait right here.”

  “Thanks, Sophie.” He looked up from the table and forced a smile to his lips. Sophie was a sweet lady, she really was.

  He watched the woman disappear through the swinging doorway behind the register. Coffee would be good, would help clear his thoughts. Help him focus.

  It was odd how a simple plinking of cups and saucers in the distance could bring a sense of normalcy to an otherwise chaotic setting. But, odd or not, he allowed the momentary reprieve to relax his shoulders as he looked around the empty restaurant. The picture-covered walls were such a neat idea. Photographs were fun to look at even if you didn’t know the people smiling back.

  He sought out the table where he and Elise had sat less than forty-eight hours earlier. The same table where they had sat and laughed about the possibility of being snowed in and forced to extend their vacation. Little did they know the storm and their vacation held very different plans than the ones they’d envisioned.

  “Here you go, Mitch.”

  “Thanks, Sophie.” He reached for the large mug of black coffee she’d placed on the table and took a long, slow sip.

  The diminutive woman sat across from him, her eyes tired and sad. “I heard about Annie.”

  “You did?”

  Sophie nodded. “Tom came in here for a thermos of coffee this morning on his way back to work at the hotel. I could tell he was upset. I guess you could say I pulled it out of him.”

  He exhaled slowly, ran his forefinger around the rim of the mug. “I wish I could say it wasn’t true, but I can’t.”

  “Things are bad, aren’t they?”

  Mitch raised the mug to his mouth, took another long sip of the steaming black liquid. “Yeah. They are.” He reached across the table, patted Sophie’s cold hand. “But we’re gonna figure this out, I promise you that.”

  Sophie’s mouth turned upward, her midnight blue eyes sparkled momentarily. “I thank God that Brad’s got you and the ot
her police officer. I’m not sure he could handle this without you guys.”

  He pulled his hand back to the mug, gripped the warm porcelain with his hand. “I think Brad would’ve been fine. He’s a good guy. But having Jonathan is definitely a godsend, as my Aunt Betty would say.”

  Mitch took another sip of coffee then glanced down at his watch.

  “She’ll be here soon, Mitch.”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “You’re in love.” Sophie straightened her apron across her lap. “I like Elise, she’s a sweet girl. I enjoyed her company very much when you guys were out searching for that missing skier yesterday morning. And she sure seems to be smitten by you.”

  Mitch set the cup down, ran his right hand across his eyes and over his hair. “Elise is the best. She really is. I just hope you’re right about the last part.”

  Sophie leaned forward, against the table. “You can’t be serious? You’ve got to know she’s crazy about you.”

  “Yeah, I’m serious. I sensed something with her when we were in the sled on the way to the hotel that first afternoon, but didn’t really think much about it at the time.” He slid his hand between the mug and the handle and slumped in his chair. “Then today she insisted on being part of the group to go out and round up the residents. And I mean insisted. I can’t help but feel it was a way to get away from me for a while.”

  Sophie reached across the table and touched his wrist.

  “Mitch, this whole thing has to be very frightening for her. It’s frightening for all of us.”

  He focused on the steam that rose from his mug. “I know. And it’s gotta be hitting some raw nerves for Elise. This isn’t the first time she’s been in a situation like this. And last time, she almost lost her life.”

  “Good heavens, Mitch. What happened?” The concern in the woman’s voice made his head snap up. And in that instant, he understood why he was sharing so much with a woman he barely knew. Sophie reminded him of Aunt Betty.

  “It’s a long story, Sophie. But there was a case I was working on last summer that involved four murder victims. Elise came very close to being number five.”

  The woman pulled her hand from the table and shivered.

  “It’s okay, Sophie. It’s actually the reason we came here. Elise came into some reward money after that and she wanted to take a trip. To get away.” The words sounded so cruel, so ironic to his own ears.

  Some getaway.

  “Then, Mitch, you have to know that anything you’re picking up from her right now has nothing to do with you. Her vacation has turned into an unexpected and unwanted trip down memory lane.”

  Maybe Sophie was right. But still, he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something else was going on with Elise.

  “It’s such a shame, too, because I think she really would’ve loved it here,” Sophie continued. “It’s such a peaceful place no matter what season.”

  “That’s just it. She did love it here. It’s why she wanted to come back.”

  “Come back?”

  “Yeah. She was here once as a kid. With her aunt and uncle. She said it was the best vacation she’d ever had.”

  Sophie leaned forward once more. “When was that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think she said she was nine, so that would be about fourteen years ago.”

  “I bet her aunt and uncle are touched that this place holds such pleasant memories for her.”

  Mitch picked up his cup and drained the last few drops of coffee into his mouth. “You’d think. But her aunt died in some sort of an accident a year or so later and Elise lost touch with her uncle after that.”

  He set the empty mug on the table and pushed back his chair. “Well, you won, Sophie. I stopped staring out the window for a while. But the suspense is killing me. I gotta check and see if ’Lise is coming.”

  Sophie inhaled sharply, her short gasp echoing through the cold, empty restaurant.

  “You okay, Sophie?”

  “Did you say ’Lise?”

  “Yeah. ’Lise. Elise. She said it’s been her nickname since she was a kid. As a matter of fact, I think it came from that same uncle I just told you about.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  1:00 p.m.

  “He didn’t say why the kid was here?” Mitch asked.

  “No. Only that he was hoping to reconnect with someone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Elise shook her head slowly and leaned forward in her chair, her fingers sliding down the pen as she turned it over and over on top of Brad’s desk. Mitch’s frustration over news of the young livery worker was understandable. The kid’s odd arrival and limited personal items simply raised more questions for which there were no answers.

  “Seems kind of strange someone would just show up in the middle of a storm, looking for work with nothing more than a backpack, don’t you think?”

  She looked up from the desk in time to see both Brad and Jonathan nod simultaneously to Mitch’s rhetorical question. They seemed as interested in the potential lead as she was, yet at just as much of a loss as to what it all meant. Or didn’t mean.

  “You never saw him?” Jonathan’s eyebrows rose upward as he drummed his hands on top of the empty desk where Brad’s partner usually sat.

  “No. Mr. Stodder said R.J. was sleeping.” Elise set the pen down on the desk, scooted her chair backward. “But I have no doubt by the description Mr. Stodder gave us that this kid he calls R.J. is the same guy Annie mentioned talking to Thursday night. In fact, I think our sled driver even mentioned him when we were heading to our hotel Thursday afternoon.”

  Mitch look upward momentarily, before bringing his questioning eyes back to her.

  “Don’t you remember, Mitch? Joe was surprised there was only one blanket in the sled, but then remembered giving it to a young guy who refused a ride from the airport after the noon flight.”

  “Yeah, I remember that now. But if that was the same guy, why did it take from noon until ten o’clock that night for him to try and check into a hotel?”

  Elise shrugged. “Good question. And then, when he finally showed up at the livery, he had two blankets, which matches what Annie said. Remember? She felt sorry for him without a winter coat, snuck him an extra blanket from housekeeping.”

  She stood and walked over to the front window, watched the blowing snowflakes falling from the sky. Snowflakes that seemed to bury everything in their path.

  Bury.

  The shiver that ran through her body had nothing to do with the swirling flakes or the biting cold that seeped through Brad’s partly open window in the far corner of the station. It came from the bone-chilling reality that both Pete and Annie were buried under the snow and her uncle was alone in a remote cabin, shut away from people. A lifestyle that made him a sitting duck for someone looking to hide, someone he didn’t even know to fear. Someone who had already struck twice.

  “I think one of us needs to head back out to that livery and have a chat with this kid, find out why he’s here,” Brad said. “I know he’s just one of two who tried to check in late that night, but if he’s not the one we’re looking for, maybe he passed the elusive John Smith.”

  “I agree. But without a working snowmobile and no clue how to ski, I’m kinda useless.” Mitch’s voice filtered through her ears as she continued to look at the blanket of white that covered everything in her eyesight. “How ’bout you, Jonathan?”

  Elise turned from the window and looked at the gray-haired man still sitting behind the empty desk.

  “I can’t ski either. I suppose I could try, but I might end up being more of a liability than an asset.” Jonathan stood up and walked closer to Brad and Mitch. “My father always said I had two left feet when it came to anything athletic.”

  “I say we call Dan and see if he’s interested in heading out to the livery with me.” Brad grabbed for the one walkie-talkie that was still working.

  Mitch reached out, placed a hand on Brad�
�s arm. “I’ve gotta learn how to ski if I’m gonna be of any use outside this station. So I’ll go with you.”

  Elise’s heart sank, her stomach lurched. Mitch’s inability to ski had kept him out of harm’s way so far. If he learned how to ski well—and she knew in her heart he would—he’d be taking more risks. Risks that might lead him straight into the path of a killer.

  “Do you really think this is the time to try?” Her voice, quiet and shaky, brought a hush to the room. “What happens if this kid is the killer? You might need to get away fast.”

  Mitch’s warm brown eyes bore into hers as he spoke. “I’ll be fine, Elise. You have to trust in that the way I trusted in you when you insisted on going with the ski group this morning.”

  He was right. How could she question anything Mitch did when she was holding such a huge part of her life to herself?

  “Do you guys want me to hold down the fort here, or head back to the Lakeside Inn to keep an eye on our other suspect?” Jonathan asked.

  Mitch grabbed his parka from the coat rack beside the door and handed Jonathan’s to him. “Why don’t you head over to the hotel now. If you get an opportunity to come back this way in about three hours, then do it. But if Mark’s anywhere around, don’t. And if room six finally reappears, question him.”

  “Sounds good.” Jonathan pulled his parka on and zipped it to his throat. “It seems every pair of pants I own are soaking wet from this snow. Hell, if the killer doesn’t get you, the pneumonia will.”

  He pulled the door open quickly and stepped out into the snow. Elise shivered as she watched the man bend forward against the wind, a single dash of color in a world of pristine white.

  “I just wish we had a little more information from the FBI, something to pinpoint an age or a physical characteristic,” Elise said quietly.

  “That sure would make life easier, wouldn’t it?” Brad reached for his gun and slipped it into his shoulder harness. “I feel like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “But maybe we don’t have to be.”

  Mitch stopped fiddling with his gloves long enough to stare at her. “What do you mean by that?”