Chapter 16
Sixteen
“WE ALL CAUGHT UP?” Iz asked Cassie as the four remained in the room with Brady.
Cass nodded and looked to Joel, who nodded too.
“Why do I feel like I’m the only one out of the loop?” Jayce asked.
“Because you are.” Iz ruffled his hair.
“Care to catch me up?” he asked, looking like a little kid waiting for the big reveal.
“Fine.” Iz huffed. “But then we need to turn our attention to Brady.”
“I’m quick on the uptake,” Jayce said.
“Really?” Iz cocked her head.
Jayce rolled his eyes.
“Okay, for the speed lesson,” Iz said. “May I?” she asked Cass.
“Be my guest.” She didn’t have the wherewithal to go through it again.
Iz moved through at the pace of a bullet train—unfortunately, her normal pace—hitting high notes that blasted their ears.
“Only-dogs-can-hear level,” Jayce said, rubbing his ear. “Bring it down a notch.”
“Sorry.” Iz took an actual breath. “You get it?”
“Yeah.” Jayce leaned against the far wall. “A friend or family member is not who we believed them to be.”
Iz shrugged. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
“Any idea who?” Jayce asked Cass.
“No. I hadn’t considered it being someone close to me.
I mean, in the beginning, we went through anyone and everyone, but I settled in to it being someone who obviously knew me but who I didn’t really know.
However, someone close to me would help explain how he always seems to know where I am.
Where I’ll be. But who here could be that cruel? ” She gestured to Brady.
“Not to get sidetracked,” Iz said, pacing the oriental rug on the floor in front of the hearth. “But everyone is going to freak when they realize Brady’s dead, and we’re effectively trapped in this old lodge with his killer and Cassie’s stalker.”
“That’s why we aren’t telling anyone,” Joel said.
Cassie frowned. “What?”
“We tell them Brady had an accident. He must have gotten turned around in the storm and took a bad fall.”
“Why?” Iz asked. “Never mind. Dumb question. I get it. Prevent mass hysteria.”
Joel nodded. “We can watch the guys’ faces. See who reacts differently. The person who killed him will know we’re lying.”
“Double whammie,” Iz said. “I like it. Now, what do we do with Brady?”
“I’m going to do an exam.” Joel strode toward the bed.
“What for?” Iz stepped back.
“It’s a murder investigation. After we’re rescued, I want to hand the case off to the cops, knowing I did everything I could to help.”
“I’ll help too,” Cassie said.
“You sure?” Joel asked.
“Positive. It’s my job too.”
Between Joel’s first-on-the-scene details and her minimal autopsy exam—the best she’d be able to do under the circumstances—they’d have a solid start for the cops when this nightmare was over.
“Since I’m not needed . . .” Izzy said, moving for the door.
“Jayce,” Joel said over his shoulder. “Go with her.”
“And do what?”
“Tell them we found Brady, and we’ll be out soon.”
“They aren’t going to leave it at that, bro.”
“You’ll think of something.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I trust you.”
“Thanks.” Jayce sighed on a whistle, then locked and shut the door behind him and Iz.
“Okay.” Joel cracked his neck and knuckles. “Let’s do as much of this by the book that we can. We’ll have to find a way to examine him without leaving prints.”
“I think we just get as close as we can with our gloves on.” She leaned in. One of them would have to hold and position the flashlight just right to get the best pics. “Take zoomed-in pics on your phone, which I’m guessing still has—”
“Zero signal,” he confirmed. “The avalanche must have knocked the cell tower out like we thought.”
“Or the blizzard. But at least your phone still has power. You can get some good shots for the cops. I’m guessing you got some of where you found him?”
“Yeah.” He handed her his phone, and she swiped through them. “Man, poor dude. Looks like he has two wounds based on the blood splatter.” She pointed. “His head trauma from the fall, along with his neck in that region, but also lower down . . .”
“Yeah, his lower back . . .” He looked at where the blood pooled in Brady’s snowsuit at the back of his left kidney. “If we can determine which cut came first . . .”
“We can recreate what went down.”
Someone rapped on the door.
“It’s me,” Jayce called.
“Hang on.” Cassie moved to open the door.
Joel looked up at his bro. “What’s up?”
“Most people aren’t buying the story. I’m going to head out and see if I can find where the murder took place. I’ll sneak out and check the outer buildings.”
Joel clapped him on the shoulder. “Great idea. Use the passageway.”
“Will do. I’ll be back,” Jayce said.
“He’s enthusiastic—” A soft smile curled on Cassie’s lips.
“That’s for sure,” he chimed in.
“I was going to say like you.”
“Nah. I’m not that revved up.”
“When it comes to a case, yes, you are.” She shifted. “What passageways are you talking about?”
“They run throughout the lodge. They were built so staff back in the day could move about without bothering guests.”
“Oh. No offense, but that sounds creepy.”
“Housekeeping has a master key at every hotel you stay at. It’s the same thing. There are periodic doors that open up into hallways or bedrooms for cleaning.”
“So someone could walk into my bedroom from the wall?”
“Yeah, if one of the doors leads there.”
“I bet that’s how he’s getting around unseen.”
“I’ll go in and search for him as soon as we complete the autopsy. Well, the best we can do with what we have.”
Forty-five minutes later, they wrapped up.
Performing an autopsy on a friend was something Cassie had prayed she’d never have to do on the job, and yet here she was.
More than a few tears had been shed, and more were sure to come in the days ahead, but for now, they had to focus on staying alive and catching a killer.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
“For goodness’ sake. It’s like he’s on Red Bull around the clock.” Joel opened the door for Jayce.
“What’d you find?”
“I’ll tell you, but you got an angry mob coming this way if you don’t go in and say something. They’re eating up Izzy and Talbot, who are struggling to keep them calm.”
“Okay. We got longer than I’d anticipated. Quickly tell me what you found so I can direct the conversation appropriately.”
“Brady was killed in the upper shed next to something big. I’m guessing a snowmobile.”
“Guessing?” Joel frowned.
“Whatever it was has been moved.”
“Why a snowmobile?” Cassie asked.
“The space was large, and the dust had settled around it, leaving an imprint.”
“Very smart.” Joel typed it into his phone, where he’d put all their other notes and pics.
“I’m thinking the person knifed Brady from behind, then cut his neck.”
They’d come to the same conclusion. “Why do you think that?”
“I could be wrong . . .” Jayce shrugged.
“But the way the blood was on the floor and the space of the shed. I think Brady’s killer came up behind him, knifed him in the back, and then, when he was down or at least hurt, sliced his throat.
That’s not an easy thing to do. The throat muscles, the ligaments. It’s tough, I’ve read.”
“So not something a woman could do?” Joel asked.
Jayce blinked. “A woman? When did we go there?”
“Exactly,” Joel said. “We’re ruling out half the people in the house without even considering them.”
“But the women stayed inside while the guys went out to check the sheds,” Jayce said.
Guest room doors started opening and shutting, footsteps tracking down the hall.
“They’re coming,” Jayce said. “One more thing . . .”
“Yeah?” Joel shifted.
“Someone has been watching you.”
“That’s a given.”
“No, I mean there are footprints at most of the windows. Some are big, but some are small. A woman’s size seven if I had to guess.”
Cassie widened her eyes. Was he suggesting a woman was involved? That would . . . That didn’t seem right. The messages all had a manly vibe to them. Maybe she was wrong. Wrong about it all, but . . . Or maybe he had a helper?