Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
The wind drove needles of snow into Olive’s face as she and Jason stepped back from the shed.
She lifted her flashlight, sweeping the light across the ground. The beam caught a pattern in the drifts—faint impressions, almost erased.
“Wait,” she said. “Look at this.”
Jason crouched, the light from his flashlight crossing hers. The tracks were there, just barely—boot prints, partially brushed over with a pine branch. The sweeping arcs of the needles were still visible in the snow.
“Someone came out and tried to cover their trail,” Jason murmured.
Olive followed the path with her beam.
The prints led away from the shed and curved along the side of the inn. They weren’t fresh—snow had filled them slightly—but they weren’t old either.
“Whoever cut the line didn’t leave,” she said. “Just like we thought.”
Jason’s voice was low. “They went back inside.”
The two of them exchanged a look.
Together, they trailed the faint depressions to the back door of the inn.
Olive’s pulse quickened. “So I think our fears are confirmed. The killer’s not out there somewhere in the storm. He or she is in the inn. With us.”
Jason’s jaw flexed. “I was really hoping that theory wasn’t true.”
“Me too.”
They exchanged another look and turned to check the doors and windows.
Olive moved around the inn, checking the windows and doors to make sure they were secure.
She made a mental note of every entrance as she did so.
There was the front door, of course. Then at the deck at the back, there was a sliding glass door. Locked also.
Another door came from the side of the house. It led to Mara and Warren’s personal suite.
There was also a basement door that led directly there.
However, having four entrances/exits to the inn could prove difficult to manage.
That meant four possible ways an intruder could get inside.
All were locked and secured right now, and the security on the doors was decent—more than decent, actually. The locks were strong and would be hard to breach.
Still, nothing about this situation seemed ideal—especially considering there was a killer out here.
“Ready to get back inside?” Jason asked.
She glanced at the woods one more time before nodding. “Yeah, we need to get warm.”
But no fireplace could melt the cold burst of apprehension that had settled in her chest.
Inside, the inn was lit only by the orange flicker of the fireplace, the soft fairy lights in the jars on the windows, and the few flashlights the others held.
Everyone had moved from the dining room to the great room near the fire.
Mara insisted the dishes could be done later when it was warmer inside.
Rex looked up from where he stood near the back window. “Well?”
Jason shut the door behind them, muting the howling wind. “The generator line was cut clean through.”
A ripple of unease passed through the room.
“Cut?” Tevin echoed. “As in deliberate?”
“Very deliberate,” Olive said. “Someone used a knife. And we found tracks. Someone tried to hide them, but they led straight back to the inn.”
Mara pressed a hand to her chest. “Are you saying the person who did this is—?”
“Inside,” Olive finished. “Yes.”
There was no need to sugarcoat the truth.
For a long moment, no one spoke. The only sound was the wind pressing against the windows and the fireplace crackling.
Mitzi finally broke the silence, her voice pitched too high. “At least we still have our cell phones.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. The screen glowed briefly, then dimmed.
Her brow furrowed. “That’s weird. I had a signal earlier.”
Tevin checked his too. “Nothing. Zero bars.”
Mara wrung her hands. “Sometimes the towers around here go out in bad weather. It happens more than you’d think.”
Olive’s gaze drifted toward the black windows, where the snow still whipped in blinding sheets. Her chest tightened.
No power. No signal. A killer inside the inn.
Could things get any worse?
She already knew the answer.
Yes, they most definitely could.
Olive cleared her throat. “I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I’d like to check out the rest of the inn.”
Trick frowned from where he leaned against the stone hearth. “Check it out? What do you mean?”
“I mean that whoever cut that line is probably inside this building.” Her voice was calm but firm. “And if that’s true, I’d like to do a thorough search—every hallway, every room, every storage space.”
Trick straightened, the flicker of his flashlight catching the sharp lines of his face. “I’ll help.”
Olive shook her head. “Respectfully, I’d like Jason and me to do it—alone. I think it’s best if everyone else stays together here in the great room while we search.”
A beat of silence followed.
Then Nova spoke, her voice hesitant. “Wait—you think one of us might be responsible? We were all here. Except for—”
She seemed to catch herself before finishing, but her gaze slid to Mitzi.
Mitzi’s eyes widened, and she lifted her hands. “I stepped outside to make my call, that’s it. But I didn’t cut the generator line, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“No one’s implying anything,” Olive said quickly, though the tension in the room tightened another notch. “But you all staying here while Jason and I search is just smart. If the killer’s inside, we’ll have a better chance of finding signs of them—and making sure the rest of you stay safe.”
“Or the idea is just plain stupid,” Trick muttered. “If there’s a killer inside the inn waiting to strike again, we need to stick together, not split up.”
Rex finally spoke, his voice cutting through the low hum of unease. “Olive’s right.”
All eyes turned toward him.
“She and Jason should search the place. But stay together,” Rex added, his gaze locking on Olive. “No exceptions. The rest of us will remain here until you’re done.”
For a moment, no one argued. Chairs creaked. The fire popped.
Then Tevin exhaled and rubbed his hands together. “If you two aren’t back in twenty minutes, we’re forming a search party.”
“Deal,” Olive said.
As the others settled uneasily near the fire, Olive glanced toward the darkened hallway beyond.
Then she reminded herself that danger wasn’t outside.
It was here. Inside. Hiding.
And just waiting to strike again.