They had to watch for both, since one of the suspects, David Fowler, still hadn’t made a repeat appearance.
Alex took short, slow steps, making sure Leah stayed right by his side. By the time they reached the doorway, his eyes had adjusted a little to the darkness. While he couldn’t make out anyone, he could at least see shadows.
“Stay put!” he ordered when he heard footsteps and movement.
He cursed the fact that there was another exit, at the far end of the room. If Leah had been a hundred percent, he would have stationed her here so he could cover that exit. But it was too big a risk to take, since she was the strangler’s primary target.
“Why hasn’t the generator started?” she asked in a whisper.
Alex was wondering the same damn thing. Fear and panic were crawling through the room, and he didn’t want people to start stampeding out of there. It would give the strangler a perfect opportunity to pick off Leah or someone else.
“Winston?” Alex called out.
“I’m on my way toward you,” he answered promptly.
“Something’s wrong,” Leah said, taking the words right out of Alex’s mouth.
Alex tried to pinpoint which of the footsteps belonged to the lodge manager, but it was impossible. Too many people were moving around, and worse, his own heartbeat was pounding in his ears. All of that, however, wasn’t enough to drown out the sound.
The scream.
A woman’s scream.
It sliced through the rest of the noise. Sliced straight through Alex. Because it wasn’t the sound of someone merely frightened. This was terror.
Beside him, he felt Leah’s arm tense, no doubt because her finger was now on the trigger. Alex’s certainly was.
“The strangler’s killing someone,” she said. He could hear the fear in her voice.
“It didn’t come from this room,” he told her, though he figured she already knew that. The sound had come from the other side of the resort, where the guest rooms were. “Stay calm,” he called out to the guests. Though he doubted that was possible. “And stay here.”
Still no generator, but Alex couldn’t ignore that scream. Leah was right; the strangler could be choking the life out of someone, and he had to stop it.
“Maybe there’s a flashlight at the reception desk,” he murmured. “Let’s go.”
Even though it was a risk to leave the guests unprotected, Alex had no choice. Leah and he raced out the doorway and made their way toward the desk. Not easily. Each step through the chilly darkness was a challenge, and it didn’t help that every shadow looked like the strangler ready to pounce on Leah.
Alex was thankful when they reached the lobby fireplace. The logs had burned down to embers, but the meager light was better than nothing.
“I’ll look behind the counter for a flashlight,” she offered. But Alex went with her, keeping watch.
“Nothing,” Leah said eventually.
At the exact moment, there was another scream, followed by the sound of someone running.
Hell. Alex would have preferred some light, but couldn’t wait any longer. “Stay right behind me,” he warned Leah, and they hurried forward. He already had one dead body on his hands and didn’t want another.
The fireplace didn’t provide illumination for long. As soon as they reached the hall, the scant light was gone. Alex paused for a second to get his bearings and to focus in on those footsteps.
At the end of the hall.
Of course. Where else? That meant taking Leah into one of the most vulnerable points in the lodge. Since the guests were in the restaurant, all the rooms would be locked, and if the strangler was using this to lure them in, Leah and he could be trapped, with the only escape route behind them.
“Help me!” someone yelled.
A woman. Maybe the one who’d screamed. Maybe not. But whoever it was kept repeating it.
Alex kept his gun ready and started down the hall. He couldn’t see his hand before his eyes, only the murky darkness. But the woman’s call for help kept him moving and praying that Leah wouldn’t get separated from him during this rescue.
With each step they took, his heartbeat revved up. So did the adrenaline, and by the time they reached the door, Alex was primed and ready for a fight.
Without warning, the lights flared on.
He did a quick check over his shoulder to make sure Leah was okay. She was, though her face was tight with pain no doubt because of her broken arm and the grip she had on her gun.
“I’m Special Agent McCade,” he called out. No response, other than the woman’s repeated plea.
Alex tested the doorknob. It was locked. With his gun ready, he kicked in the door and braced himself for an attack in progress.
But there was no attack.
The lights were on here, as well, so he had no trouble seeing that the room was empty. He did a quick check of the closet and bathroom. Nobody. He looked under the bed and spotted the source of the sounds.
A tape recorder.
It had speakers attached to it and was set at top volume. It was also rigged with a timer. So, not an attack but a hoax.
“Is this some kind of trap?” Leah asked hoarsely.
Alex hurried back to her and pulled her into the room with him. He peered out into the hall.
Also empty.
That didn’t make him breathe any easier. What the devil was going on?
“Maybe the strangler wanted us out of the restaurant so he could attack someone else,” she suggested.
Maybe. But that didn’t make sense. Leah was the one he wanted.
The recorded woman’s plea for help continued, and even though it wasn’t real, it rattled Alex’s already raw nerves. He couldn’t turn it off. It might disturb some trace evidence, or the recorder might be rigged in some kind of way.
Maybe with an explosive.
“Let’s get out of here,” he muttered.
They turned, ready to do just that, but the recorded calls for help suddenly stopped. The room went silent for several seconds, and then there was a new voice. A man’s.
“Leah,” he said.
There was nothing unique about the voice. No heavy accent or memorable tone. But just that one word made Alex’s blood run cold. He instinctively knew it was the voice of the Big Sky Strangler.
“Ready for this to end?” the man asked. He paused. “If not, I can play with the woman in room 311. She has a cute kid that might make things interesting.”
Alex cursed and wished he could reach through that recording and rip the monster to shreds.
“It’s them or you,” the man continued. “Your choice. If you want them to live, then meet me alone in the storage room at 2:00 a.m. See you then, Leah.”
He paused again.
“Oh, and Leah, this time only one of us will walk out of there alive.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
ONLY ONE OF US will walk out of there alive.
The words kept firing through Leah’s head. She didn’t try to shut them out, because she’d known it would come down to this. The trick was to make sure she was the one still standing when it was over.
“You’re not meeting a killer in that storage room,” Alex warned her as they walked back to her room. He didn’t add more until they were inside and he’d shut the door. “In fact, you’re not going anywhere alone.”
Leah didn’t argue, though sooner or later she would have to convince him that this had to happen. They couldn’t let the strangler continue to have free rein in a lodge filled with potential victims. And the storm wasn’t letting up so they could evacuate. No. This showdown was coming, and there was nothing Alex could do to stop it.
Of course, he wasn’t ready to admit that yet.
“We’ll have to find another way,” Alex went on. He started to pace, a little maneuver that reminded her of a caged tiger looking for something to pounce on. The energy coming from him was dangerous and palatable. “A way that doesn’t involve using you as a target.”
He shot her a glare that was blazing hot and ice-cold at the same time. “You’re not meeting this bastard.” Alex added more profanity. “The second you step into that storage room, he’d be on you, and with that broken wrist, you don’t stand a chance of fighting back.”
“But I can shoot.” Probably. She mentally paused. And amended that to maybe. “I could appear to go in alone, but you could be nearby. Close enough to respond the moment he reveals himself.”
Alex started shaking his head before she even finished that last sentence, but the argument stopped at the sound of a sharp knock on the door. He drew his gun, reholstering it when he’d looked through the peephole.
“It’s Winston,” he announced, and opened the door to the harried-faced manager, who was holding a large canvas bag.
It wasn’t just Winston and the bag that snagged Leah’s attention. It was the sound of a man’s voice in the hall. She looked out and spotted Joe Tarkington limping toward them.
Alex drew his gun again.
Tarkington raised his left hand in surrender while holding on to the crutch with his other. “It’s just me,” he said, as if that would make Alex and her relax. It didn’t. Tarkington was one of their three top suspects.
“What do you want?”
Alex asked the question at the same moment Winston said, “I told everyone to go to their rooms and stay put.”
“I’m in pain, all right?” Tarkington snarled. “And I don’t have any meds in my room. There’s no one at the desk, so when I spotted you, I figured you’d be the person to ask.”
Winston volleyed what-should-I-do? glances at Alex and her, and it was Alex who answered.
“Wait for Winston by the reception desk. He’ll find you some meds.”
“Wait for how long?” Tarkington pressed. His face twisted and he reached down to massage his leg.
It was a reasonable question, but Leah wasn’t in a reasonable sort of mood. She was suspicious and tried to look at their suspect with a fresh eye. Was this some kind of ruse to find out what Alex and she were planning?
“You’ll have to wait as long as it takes,” Alex insisted.
But Tarkington didn’t budge. Nor did he keep his attention on Winston, the man he was supposed to go wait for. No. Tarkington looked at her.
Unlike Patrick Harper, there was no cockiness in his expression, but he did comb his gaze over her bruises. Especially the ones on her throat. Leah put her hand over them before she could stop herself.
“The strangler did that to you?” Tarkington asked. Again, no cockiness. No accusation.
Leah didn’t answer, but her silence was an answer in itself.
“You can leave now,” Alex reminded him in a growl. He was clearly losing patience with the man.
Tarkington still didn’t go. “If he could do that to you, a federal agent, imagine what he could do to the rest of us.” He glanced back down at his cast. “I’ve got no way to fight off a guy like that.” And he fixed his attention on her broken wrist.
“You won’t have to fight him off if you stay in your room with the door locked,” Winston barked.
Tarkington didn’t even spare him a glance. He stared instead at Leah. “I need protection,” he insisted. “A guard or something. It’s not safe for me to be alone.”
Alex stepped forward, blocking the man’s view of her. That finally got his attention off Leah.
“Leave now,” Alex repeated. And there was no doubt about it—it was a warning.
Tarkington clearly wasn’t pleased with the dismissal, but after seeing Alex’s drawn gun he mumbled something about Ice Lake being a hellhole and hobbled away.
Leah was glad to see him go. Not because she thought he was the strangler; she had no clear opinion about that. But she hadn’t wanted Alex to get into a scuffle with a suspect. They had enough to do without escalating things in the hall.
Best to save that for the storage room.
“Please tell me there aren’t any more dead bodies,” Winston said the moment Tarkington was out of earshot.
“No,” Leah answered. “Just screams and then a threatening message left on a tape recorder. We’ll need protection for the female guest and her daughter in room 311.”
The manager nodded. “I’ll have my brother stay outside her door.” He paused. “For how long?”
Now it was Leah’s turn to pause. “Until 2:00 a.m. at least. The strangler wants me to meet him in the storage room then.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Alex insisted, though she didn’t know how he managed to speak with those iron-stiff jaw muscles.
Leah ignored him. “Where’s the storage room?”
“In the basement,” Winston replied. “We keep furniture and equipment down there. It doubles as the overflow laundry room.”
She got a clear mental image of a room with lots of equipment and plenty of places for a murderer to hide. Which was probably why he’d chosen it. He would have picked a place to give him the best advantage. Of course, the best advantage of all was that she was desperate to stop the killings. She wouldn’t sacrifice herself, but she couldn’t just stand by and let the killings continue, either.
“How many exits are in the storage room?” she asked.
Winston shook his head. “Just one way in or out.”
Alex’s huff let her know that her argument was getting thinner.
“What about lighting?” she inquired. “Is there a way a person could cut the power to the hotel from inside that room?” Darkness would favor a killer, and it was possible the strangler had managed to cut the electricity flow earlier. It seemed too convenient that the blackout had happened only minutes before that tape recorder was triggered to play the woman’s screams and then the threat.
“There’s a light switch for the hall outside the storage room. It’s by the stairs,” the manger explained. “But even if someone turns off the overhead fluorescents, there are some floor lights that will kick on because they’re on generator power. They’re dim, but they’d help you see.”
So it wouldn’t be totally dark, even if that’s what the strangler wanted. Of course, the darkness could also be an advantage for Alex and her.
If Alex allowed it to be, that is.
Winston reached into his canvas bag and brought out a laptop. “The internet link is still not working,” he told them. “But the computer might come in handy. I’ve turned the two security cameras at angles to cover some of the halls.” He put the computer on the desk, opened it, and a few seconds later Leah saw the feed on the split screen.
“Some of the halls” was indeed an accurate description. Two corridors, specifically, leaving two uncovered. Still, it was better than nothing.
“Any chance Tarkington or Harper saw you adjust the security cameras?” Alex asked.
Leah knew the reason for his question. If they had, and one of them was the strangler, he would just use a hall that wasn’t monitored.
“I don’t think they saw me,” Winston answered. But then he shook his head. “But I can’t be positive.”
So Alex and she had to count on the strangler knowing how to avoid camera detection.
Well, maybe.
Leah stayed quiet a moment, studying the situation. “Could one of the cameras be taken down and moved to another part of the building—the storage room, for instance? Maybe place it somewhere out of sight?”
Winston frowned. “I guess. I’d have to see how they’re wired in. But I could try.”
“Please do,” Leah insisted, ignoring Alex’s glare.
Still, he couldn’t argue with having some visual surveillance in the very area where the strangler had said he would be. As a minimum, they could capture his image, and then do something to lure him out. She wasn’t yet sure what that something would be, but they had a little time to come up with a workable plan.
If Alex budged, that is.
“One more thing,” Winston went on. “We’
ve got an old intercom system that hasn’t been used in years. There’s this woman, a guest here, who’s an electrician. She said she might be able to get it working. It could come in handy if this drags on.”
Leah didn’t see it dragging on much past 2:00 a.m. But the intercom was a good idea. At the very least, they could use it to remind everyone to stay in their rooms.
Alex obviously thought so, too, because he nodded. “Get her working on it.”
Winston reached in the canvas bag again and took out a pair of walkie-talkies. “The maintenance staff uses them, but I thought they might do you some good.”
“Thanks. They could.” Alex deposited one next to the laptop, then he handed the second back to Winston. “Keep it with you in case I have to contact you.” What he didn’t say was that he had no plans to be apart from Leah.
Joined at the hip indeed.
The hotel manager started to leave, but then stopped. His face twisted a little, letting Leah know this wouldn’t be good news.
“I nearly forgot to tell you. There are two master key cards missing from the maids’ carts.” Winston mumbled something, shook his head. “It’s possible they’re just lost. But…”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. They all knew the strangler could have taken one or both of them. And if so, that meant he had access to every room in the building.
Oh, mercy.
Things had just gone from bad to worse.
“Most folks are scared spitless, so they’ll already be using the arm latches on their doors,” Winston declared. “But until we get the intercom working, I’ll send around the cleaning staff—two at a time—to tell everybody to double latch their doors.”
It was going to be a long night.
Only one of us will walk out of there alive.
That message sliced through Leah again, and she closed her eyes a moment to shut out the flashbacks of the other attack. When she opened them once more, she realized both Winston and Alex were staring at the laptop screen.
“Patrick Harper,” Alex mumbled.
Yes, it was. Leah could see their suspect on the screen, surrounded by four other guests. There was no audio, but it was clear from the way he was moving his hands that he was agitated.
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