by Dale Mayer
“That’s fair,” she said quietly. “Was anyone very upset?”
“No. Not at all.”
“What about ex-girlfriends?” she asked, her voice hesitant.
“None serious for a very long time. None casual for a long time,” he said, not even attempting to hold back the humor. “After tasting moonlight, there was no going back to the regular fare.”
And her smile lit up the cavern. He opened his mouth to say something when a shout sounded at the mouth of the tunnel.
“We’re here,” Royce called out.
Stacy hopped to her feet and ran in the direction of the noise before he had a chance to stop her.
Then he heard Stevie’s voice and knew it was all fine.
*
Really? More shit happening that wasn’t supposed to happen. Jesus. His heart pounded, his hands were sweaty, and he knew he was in serious danger of spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He couldn’t think.
He had to act. Had to find a way out.
Kathleen was to blame. First she saw him in the kitchen, then she said something to George in front of him about him playing with the wine bottles. Like what the hell? Now he had to deal with both of them. They’d found Kathleen already. Unbelievable. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to be dead.
Dead people didn’t talk.
He’d gone to try and find George. Make sure he plugged that hole. Surely she’d have been fine here for a few moments. Like how long had he been gone? Forty minutes max. He swore it wasn’t longer. Surely not.
Just long enough for that meddling bitch and her stud to get in the way. How the hell had they found his secret place? What could he have possibly done wrong?
Now it didn’t matter, damn it. Unless Kathleen died. He brightened. That was the trick. She needed to die. For real this time.
Except considering the number of people here trying to help her, he wasn’t going to get close enough to finish the job. He had to hope that Mother Nature had already done the damage for him.
Chapter 35
Stacy rushed toward the voice. “Hello? Hello?” she cried out. There was Stevie. “There you are.”
She rushed into his arms, so damn happy that help had arrived.
“Easy, easy. I’m here.”
“Oh thank God.” She stepped back and smiled up at him. “Where are the others? She needs to get to the hospital now.”
“Is she hurt?” he asked, splaying the flashlight behind her.
“A head wound,” she said. Looking behind, she frowned and repeated, “Where are the others?”
“I couldn’t find anyone else,” he said. “I came and hoped the others would follow as they came in.”
“Oh no.” She ran out to the crevasse and stared up at the waning sun. “Surely they’d be at the cabin by now?”
“They should be there soon,” he said, worry in his tone. “But even Kevin went back for a couple more runs.”
“Hell,” she turned. “Come on, she’s not doing well at all.” She led the way back to Royce. “Where is the search and rescue team?” she fretted. “I called it in myself.”
“They’ll be here,” Stevie said. “You know they are reliable.”
“Unless someone called it off,” she snapped darkly. “Kathleen has been hit in the head. She didn’t do it to herself.”
“Whoa, what?”
She spun around, slipped, and almost went down. Stevie reached out and caught her before she hit the ground, but her knee still wrenched as she tried to save herself. “Take it easy. We don’t need another accident.”
“No.” She straightened slowly and winced. “I twisted my knee.”
“Badly?”
“No.” She tested her weight, limping forward gingerly. “I think it will be fine. But Kathleen is unconscious.”
“What is she doing in here?” He looked around as they slowly made their way forward. “And what is this place?”
“No idea. I thought I saw something like this on the waterfall pictures I took. As we’re beside the same area, maybe there are a series of tunnels connected inside.”
“Good Lord. If it wasn’t for the circumstances, this would be a really cool find.”
“Cool is not the word I’d use,” she muttered. “But the temperature is definitely working against us at the moment.”
She pulled her phone out and turned it on, hoping to see a text from someone. There was nothing. “Damn it, where is everyone?”
“Royce,” she called out. “You there?”
There was a faint echo all around. She hated the fear sitting on the edge of her nerves. She didn’t dare move faster. “Are you lost?” Stevie asked. “Surely you didn’t go too deep into this place on the off chance someone was in here.”
There was so much disapproval in his voice, she sighed. “I thought I heard something so we ventured inside.” She headed down the right passageway. “Royce?”
She wanted to run, but her knee was hurting and complaining. She made it another twenty steps forward and called out again. “Royce.”
This time she thought she heard something. She moved faster. And sure enough, there was Royce on the ground ahead of her.
She dropped to the ground beside him. “How is she?”
He shook his head. “Worse. We need her out of here.”
Stevie took one look and opened his bag, tossing down thermal heater blankets. Stacy opened it up and with Royce’s help, they bundled Kathleen into it. With the second blanket he’d brought, they repeated the action. Having removed the coats they’d covered her with, Stacy snagged up hers and put it on. Instantly her body warmed. Royce put his on, then bent and lifted Kathleen into his arms.
“Are you—”
“She needs to move. If they aren’t here, we have to get her there.”
“Lead the way, Stacy.”
She snorted. “Really? I almost got us lost finding you.”
He grinned. “I wondered what took you so long.”
She smiled and headed back toward the front entrance.
The light changed the closer they got to the outside. Instead of bright light, there was only a muted glow.
“Shit.” She ran to the edge to find a wall of snow piled in front.
As the three stared, they realized what had happened. And that this was likely why the others hadn’t come inside. “The snow from that tree must have fallen,” she exclaimed. “And remember the pile on the ledge?”
“Yeah. Shitty timing.”
While Royce held Kathleen in his arms, Stevie and Stacy started kicking away the snow. Stevie had his little shovel out, and they managed to punch through enough for them to see outside where the search and rescue team was waiting, having no idea where they were supposed to be.
Stacy called out, “We’re here.”
A round of cheers went up.
*
Royce handed over his burden to the paramedics and stepped back. The men surrounded Kathleen and quickly had her vitals checked and monitored before packing her up in the sled. They were on their way in minutes. There were two other snowmobiles. Royce insisted that Stacy catch a ride down to the cabin. He’d walk with Stevie. It wasn’t far and there wasn’t room for all three of them to ride back. The sun was low and getting lower behind the mountain. The shadowy long fingers stretched across the pristine white snow.
They started down the slope. Royce lifted his face to the cool air and took several deep breaths. “It’s good to be alive.”
“It is at that.” Stevie walked a few more steps, then the words exploded from him. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know.” Royce admitted. “I think one of us is hunting either all of us or one or two of us.”
“Shit.” Stevie glared at him. “You think one of us is killing people in our group?”
“I think so. I can’t imagine a stranger drugging our wine. It just doesn’t fit.”
“But an
yone could have had access, it’s not like we leave a guard on watch.”
“True, but they’d have to know where the wine was and who’d be drinking it.”
“Or they didn’t care. Maybe they were after the women. One went missing and one is injured.”
“Maybe.” Royce pondered that. “But why?”
“The oldest reason in the world maybe.”
“Sex? Rape? I didn’t see any evidence of a sexual attack on Kathleen.” Royce came to a dead stop. “Shit. What about George? He doesn’t know yet? What if he’s in that damn cave?”
“I saw them both together earlier. They were heading to the peak.” Stevie said, staring up the hillside and the fading light.
Royce stopped and stared. “He left Kathleen to go home on her own? I find that hard to believe.”
“She wasn’t with him there. And he wouldn’t have let her leave alone. She must have come with someone from our group. Someone George trusted. There’s no way he would let her go off alone otherwise.” Stevie frowned. “Are you thinking that the person she came back to the cabin with is the one that attacked her?”
“I don’t know what else to think,” Royce admitted. “I doubt that she went in there on her own. She hated dark spaces. She wanted to go home yesterday. But George wanted to stay.”
“Shit.” Stevie groaned. “And if she doesn’t wake up, there’s no way to know why she came here.”
“George might know. Maybe?”
“And maybe not. In which case there is no way to know who in our group is doing this, allowing him to sit among us.”
“I know. Interesting dilemma, isn’t it.”
“No, it’s bloody awful.”
*
He could only hope Kathleen died instead of waking up. Damn bitch. Damn interfering bitch. Now what the hell was he to do?
Part of him knew he needed to just pack in his plan this time around and play it safe. Just walk away. And yet…he couldn’t quite do that.
He’d waited years for this. And after this week, he had no idea when he’d get such a chance again.
It was risky.
Shitty odds.
But he couldn’t let it pass by.
He’d just have to figure out a way to make this work.
Chapter 36
Stacy climbed off the snowmobile and thanked the rescue team.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“I’m fine now that I’m back here safe and sound,” she said with a reassuring smile. “If there’s no one here, I’ll get the fire going and get a meal together. Thank you so much for coming to the aid of my friend.”
“Glad we got to her on time.”
“Me too,” she said, heartfelt relief in her voice. With a wave, the two snowmobiles took off.
She watched them go. The chill she’d never quite got rid of flared into icy awareness again. She turned to look up the hillside, delighted to see that both Stevie and Royce were in sight. She waved up at them and smiled when they both waved back, then she headed inside. The cabin was empty.
And cold.
She’d had enough of being cold. The heater stove had been turned down, but there were still embers. She opened it up and had a roaring fire in no time. It immediately chased the chill from the cabin, adding cheery comfort. She filled the coffeepot and put it on the stove to warm up. Then she wandered into the kitchen to see what food was left to put a meal together. They’d lost track of the menu days ago and with the odd schedule and problems, there was bits and pieces of different food items left.
There were big kielbasa sausages that fired her culinary imagination, and she quickly started a Hungarian stew. With lots of peppers, onions, and tomatoes, she could make this happen in time for dinner. There was a part package of uncooked pasta to use up as well.
Working and happy to be doing so, she chopped, diced, and stirred the basics together. When she heard the men at the outside door, she started in on the smoked sausages. They’d add a major boost to the dish. Actually, they were an integral part. There were a few potatoes sitting off to the side. She had to wonder if they were needed for breakfast or if she could add them as substance to the stew. Making an executive decision, she snatched them up.
“Something smells good, Stacy,” Royce said, coming into the kitchen.
“Food,” Stevie cried out. “Is that cooked?” He reached out and nicked a chunk of sausage and chewed on it before she had a chance to answer.
“These are smoked.” She reached for another one to cut up and found those pieces disappearing from her board faster than she could cut. She held up her knife in a mocking, threatening motion. “Go check on the coffee,” she snapped lightly. “And let me get this on to cook.” “The others should be here soon.” Royce sat at the table beside her. “Can I help?”
“No, I’ve got this,” she said, happy to be doing something. “It just needs to simmer for an hour if we can.”
“An hour is likely fine,” Royce said. “Everyone will have coffee when they get here. They might need a snack though.”
She pointed to the box of food off to the side. “Check in there. There are likely to be chips still, maybe bagels that could be toasted. Possibly some crackers and cheese.”
He hopped up and started digging through the box. He pulled out everything that appealed to him.
“If you open packages and set out the food onto platters, then we can hand them out when everyone gets in.”
He nodded. She could feel his gaze on her, but she kept her head down and on her work.
She didn’t want to talk about what was going on. The danger they were all in. She knew there was a killer amongst them. Maybe Kathleen would survive, but maybe she wouldn’t. She had to consider that her attacker hadn’t expected her to. At the very least, he would not be pleased to find out that Kathleen had been found.
Stacy couldn’t deal with it all at the moment. She was focusing on what she could do right now. The rest was too much.
“Stacy?”
The warm caring concern in Royce’s voice made her stop, and she realized she’d taken the first pepper and had basically diced it into nothing.
She bowed her head. “I want to go home.”
Warm hands slid around her shoulders and tugged her backwards. She could feel the tears burning in the back of her eyes.
“Understood,” he said against her ear.
And damn if that didn’t start the tears flowing. “And,” she said, her voice choked up as she fought the emotion clogging her throat and heart, “I know that I came to face the mountain, the loss of my friends, my fears, grief, you, any other number of issues, but I don’t think I want to come back. Ever.”
He tightened his arms around her. She dropped the knife and sausage she’d been working on, turned into his arms, and let a damn hiccup escape.
God, she was tired. She didn’t know what the hell was going on here, but it was scary and deadly. When would this stop? And would it stop before anyone else got hurt?
She didn’t want that to be Royce. Or anyone else she knew.
It hurt to consider one of the people she’d known for years was doing this.
And made her wonder just how well she knew any of them.
There was a heavy pounding on the cabin door. Royce released her. “I’ll get it.”
She brushed her eyes and turned back to finishing what she was doing. All the pieces could join the pot on the stove and just simmer.
She heard voices in the living room as she dumped in the last of the ingredients. She grabbed a cloth to clean up, then poured two cups of coffee and carried them out to see who was there.
She stopped in the doorway.
It was the police. One cop stationed himself at the doorway and watched the proceedings. The second cop was the same man she’d spoken to earlier. He looked over at her. The serious look in his eyes had her nerves jangling. “Do you have news about Kathleen?” Her lips trembled. In a faint voice, she asked, “Is she dead?”
<
br /> The cop shook his head. “She’s still fighting. They took her to Vancouver General. Your other friend is there, too.”
“Oh thank God,” Stacy walked forward and handed the coffee to Royce and Stevie. She asked the two policemen if they wanted some, and both shook their heads. She rushed back into the kitchen to get herself a cup.
Royce patted the couch beside him for her to sit.
“Now. Please tell us how you happened to find her.”
“There’s so little to tell, it’s scary,” Stacy said. “I’m going to have nightmares for years worrying about the ‘what ifs.’”
“Explain,” the cop asked, his gaze intent.
She sighed. She rubbed her forehead as she tried to figure out how to explain. “I’m…” and she stopped.
Royce reached out a hand and squeezed hers.
“Okay, let’s go back a bit.” She glanced over at Stevie and Royce, saw the compassion in their faces, and took a deep breath.
“Three years ago, I came here with two best friends and many others. A group similar to the one here today. We were all excellent boarders and skiers, young and stupid.”
“Stupid?”
Of course he picked up on that word. “The other two were more reckless, had little respect for rules, and felt that they could do what they wanted if it wasn’t going to affect anyone else.”
God, this was hard. She hated to say anything negative about the dead, but dammit, that’s what they’d been like. She swallowed a sip of coffee. “They wanted me to go on the backside of Gopher Run one morning and I said hell no. The avalanche risk was high, it was out of bounds, and I’m a much more cautious skier. I talked them out of it. I hadn’t been feeling all that great and wanted to cut the afternoon short.” She stared at the cop but saw instead the young adventurous faces of her friends. “I left.”
And she saw the understanding in the cop’s face. “I went into the village and did a bit of shopping then thought maybe I’d meet up with them again. I went up the lift to mid-station and texted the girls to meet me. We met up, talked for a few moments, then my brother and his friends joined us. My brother took off downhill and I went to follow thinking the girls were behind me. They weren’t.”