Chapter 13
13
The hard look of determination on Hawk’s face took her fear to the next level. He was her self-proclaimed protector, at least until someone else took the job. The weight of it pressed down on her.
They’d send someone as soon as they could? Didn’t they understand?
Remi rubbed her arms. She’d never really shaken off the chill of their time out in the storm. But she hadn’t been chained to a wall in a dark bunker, so she wasn’t going to complain. She glanced at her friend. How did a person recover from something like that?
“Remi.” He leveled his gaze on her. “We made the call, and now while we wait, we do the next thing.”
Remi had a feeling she knew where he was headed, and she didn’t like it. “The next thing, as in, checking the lodge to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe?”
“Yes. I need to make sure the lodge is as safe as it can be. You can come along and make sure your guests are informed and comfortable. Then I’ll check the cabins.”
“We already checked them, remember?” They hiked around every one of them.
“Well, I’m checking them again. I’ll make sure everyone is okay and knows what’s going on.”
Remi pursed her lips. She knew what he was up to. He was going to try to find the attacker while he was out there. In fact, he probably hoped to find him. But they’d made it back to the lodge without incident, and the guy was only human. Well, maybe he had been a Navy SEAL and had turned rogue, and in that case, he might suffer through the cold and rain, lying in wait for her or Hawk. She didn’t want to think of Hawk out there alone, facing off with this evil, but she was familiar with the sort of determination that drove him because she felt it herself. She wanted to go back out and search for him too after she got her second wind.
But she wasn’t going to leave Jo.
Hawk put the satellite phone back in the charging station for when the power came back on. “And then I think you and I should get out of here so we can take Jo to the hospital.”
“No. I’m fine!” Jo said. “I’m not injured. I’m warming up now, and I need to work. Sitting in a hospital will only make things worse. If I’m working, I’ll get this experience out of my head faster.”
Jo didn’t look fine, but for that matter, neither did Hawk. Remi could only guess at her own appearance.
“You need me here, Remi,” Jo pleaded. “I can’t go to the hospital.”
“You’ve been training Dylan. He’ll do in this situation,” Remi said.
Jo hung her head, then lifted it. Tears streamed and she swiped at them as if furious they’d appeared. “If anything, I just want to go to Pop’s. I kept thinking about how I missed dinner. We’d had an argument, and I was going to make it up to him. And I didn’t show up. He probably thinks I didn’t show because—”
“He probably thinks you got caught up doing your job and you’re stuck here for a few days.”
Remi shared a look with Hawk. “Let Hawk make sure the place is secure. I’ll speak to the other staff, and then we’ll take you to get you checked out and then to your father’s. Okay?”
“That’s a plan,” Hawk said. “You two stick together. Stay here.”
“No, I’ll get Jo out by the fireplace where it’s warmer. She’ll be safe with others, and then I’ll find Dylan, Erika, and Shawna. I’ll let them know what’s going on. It’s all hands on deck.”
“That isn’t a good idea. In fact...” He scratched the back of his neck. “This jerk could be inside the lodge, and I wouldn’t even know it. Who is this guy? What name is he using for that cabin, Jo? Do you happen to know?”
“Right,” Remi said. “He was a guest staying here, so he could be—” Chills crawled over her.
“He could be inside, getting warm. Blending in,” Hawk said. “We have no idea who he is because he wore a mask. And if he doesn’t know we have Jo ... he might not realize that we’re onto the fact that he’s a guest.” His brows furrowed. “Am I making sense?”
“Perfect. If we take Jo out into the common room and he’s there, he could react. Take a hostage. Put everyone in danger.”
“Let me think.” Jo squeezed her eyes shut and snapped her fingers repeatedly. “He was in Cabin 12.” She opened her eyes wide. “Collin Barclay.”
Remi considered the name. “I didn’t check him in, so I don’t know what he looks like. Erika would recognize him.”
“The name is probably an alias,” Hawk said.
“He’s after you, Remi,” Jo said. “You go out there and you’re the one in danger.”
Remi rubbed her temple. “If I don’t show up, then he’s going to get suspicious and think we know he’s here. Besides, we need to know if he is inside the lodge or not. I’ll be very discreet and ask Erika to show me who he is.”
Hawk’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Or you could just wait here for law enforcement while everyone is out there. If that knife-wielding creep is here, I want him. I’m not waiting. I’ll be discreet when I scrutinize everyone who has the same build.” Moving to the door, Hawk checked his gun, then slid it into the holster. She appreciated that he didn’t want to scare her guests.
“Hawk, you don’t know what he looks like. I’ll go too and talk to Erika. She’ll know if he’s here.”
She turned her attention to Jo. “Stay in this room with the doors locked. I’ll bring you something warm to drink, then I’ll check on the guests. I’ll be back soon.” She pressed a radio into Jo’s hand. “Call me if you need anything before I get back.”
She shared a look with Hawk and nodded. They were doing this. Going on the offensive felt right. She would go crazy if she just sat in this room and waited for a deputy. Being in such a remote area had its benefits, and also its risks—they were without law enforcement, and it could take hours before anyone arrived. As for Collin Barclay, she couldn’t decide if she wanted him here so they could trap him, catch him, or if she wanted him to be long gone from this place. Regardless, his time roaming free at Cedar Trails Lodge was done.
“Remember that he’s here for you,” Hawk said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Remi thrust her S&W into the small holster at the side of her waist. “Let’s go.”
After she dead-bolted the door to the outside, she moved to the office door that led out into the lodge. He stepped in her path, and he was the one to open the door, letting her know he would face the danger head-on and still intended to protect her.
She couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t swallow.
This was real. As former military and a former deputy, Hawk had the necessary skills, which she appreciated. This had been a grueling day and looked to be an even rougher night. Telling her guests about the potential threat wasn’t the first thing she wanted to do, or even the last. But this was no ghost story told over a campfire.
Unshed tears blurred her vision, and pain erupted in her already tight throat. “Has it come to this, really?”
“Would you prefer we sit here and wait for the attacker, who cut the phone lines and who may or may not have cut the power, to come after you?”
She slid her hand up to her throat. I can’t believe this is happening. “I don’t want to scare anyone. This will be the worst experience of their lives. They’ll never come back.”
Compassion flooded his expression—compassion and wariness—as he stepped forward and pressed his palm on her shoulder. “We’re just cautioning everyone to keep an eye out.”
She nodded. This was happening and there was nothing she could do ... except remember.
Hawk secured the door, keeping Jo’s presence a secret and protecting her, then moved down the hallway. The fire raging in the huge fireplace lit up the big room. A crowd gathered around the flames for the warmth and light. Darkness prevented them from seeing the storm outside, but tomorrow would give them stunning views and memories to last a lifetime—that is, if danger didn’t rear its head in the lodge tonight. In the meantime, guests could hear the ferocity of the storm and feel the structure shuddering.
Erika moved to stand next to Remi, her eyes wide at first and then narrow. “What’s going on?”
“Is this everyone in the lodge?” Remi kept her voice low. She remembered many of the guests and spotted Mrs. Daley and Paco sitting in a plush chair at the corner of the fireplace.
Erika recounted each family, singles and couples, by name. Dylan and Shawna, along with kitchen staff, lingered in the great room, sitting on the sofas and cushioned chairs and at the tables by the windows.
Maybe they should invest in some sort of indoor firepit for roasting marshmallows or cooking hot dogs when the power went out. She’d add that to her mental checklist of things to change at the lodge.
“Everyone is here,” Erika said. “It’s only eight. Still early in the evening.”
“How long have they been here?”
“A couple hours, maybe. Most were eating dinner when the lights went out. Dylan checked the generators. We would have waited for the go-ahead, which usually comes from Jo, but she isn’t here, after all. No sign of her. I went ahead and made that call, but they only power a few lights and the freezer and fridges. We want to conserve the fuel. As for Jo, I’m worried about—”
“She’s okay. I know where Jo is. Just answer the questions.”
Relief lodged in Erika’s eyes.
“Don’t look,” Remi said. “Don’t telegraph what I’m asking you. Looks like some cabin guests are here too. Do you know their names?”
Erika stared at Remi, then glanced at the floor. Back at Remi. Anywhere but at the guests.
Good.
“Yes. Tom and Katy Mason and their kids ... sorry, I just can’t think of their names at the moment.”
“It’s okay.” Remi wasn’t doing well either.
“I’m not sure how they’re going to get back to their cabin tonight. And one other guest is here alone. A man.”
“Mr. Barclay?”
“I ... don’t know his name.”
Remi studied Erika, who wasn’t looking at her. “Did you check Collin Barclay in?”
“I didn’t. No.”
Shoot. Who checked him in, then? “So, you wouldn’t recognize him?”
“No.”
“Where is the man from the cabin now? Is he here?”
“He’s just there on the sofa, talking to a family.”
Remi glanced that way at him. Was he the one she fought this afternoon? Remi couldn’t tell. She wasn’t sure what to say and she glanced at Hawk, who frowned. He left her side and crept through the rest of the lodge. Had he decided the guy wasn’t the right build?
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Erika asked.
“I was attacked again tonight. Jo was abducted—she’s okay. Don’t freak out. Her abductor is a guest, we think. I don’t know if the guy is here in the lodge,” Remi whispered. “Just act normal. Calm. Can you do that?”
“Asking me that question doesn’t make it easier.”
“I know. Try smiling.”
Erika’s smile appeared unnatural.
“So, forget what I said. Don’t smile.”
Erika’s lips flattened, then she frowned. Remi glanced away. Raked her gaze over the others, who seemed relaxed, unaware of the possible danger. The danger wasn’t directed at her guests, but still, she wasn’t sure if she shouldn’t just tell everyone to load up their vehicles and go home. But that would be sending them out in the danger of the storm.
She squeezed Erika’s shoulders and smiled, trying to act natural. “I’ll keep you informed. In the meantime, could you get Shawna to make up three cups of hot chocolate without drawing attention? Set them at the back and I’ll grab them.”
Erika nodded.
Hawk had disappeared up the stairs. It wasn’t like he could look inside the rooms with all the guests downstairs, but it made her feel better that he was up there looking around all the same. But when he was done with the lodge, he would head outside into the night to check the cabins again and then she could worry. Remi was concerned about that aspect of his plan, and maybe she should go with him. Have his back. The guests were her responsibility, after all, and not his.
Hawk was already making his way down the stairs. Erika was over talking to Shawna, and by the look on the barista’s face, Erika was spilling everything. Her features grim, Shawna glanced at Remi. Remi slowly edged away from the gathering and toward the side door that led out to the stairway to the beach to make sure it was locked.
The door was barely closed.
Water and debris remained on the rug and then the wood floor leading into the lodge. Heart pounding, Remi followed the footprints back into the great room and then eyed each of the people there. One of her guests was the attacker and Jo’s abductor. Had come here to Cedar Trails Lodge, the place she thought she’d found refuge until she could remember.
Her breathing turned shallow, and she needed to calm down.
She had to get out of here, put some distance between her and the lodge. She’d put her heart into this place and almost forgotten her need to find what was lost.
Someone had found her and reminded her. She slowly moved around the group, making her way to the fire. Watching all the shadowed corners where the light flickered. She tried to act natural as she glanced around, looking at each of the guests, and then her eyes caught his.
He was staring at her.
For a moment, her heart might have stopped. Then her lungs screamed, and she sucked in a breath.
He wasn’t the man who’d attacked her. The eyes were different somehow, and this man looked at her with interest, not a death wish. Still, memories could trick a person. She couldn’t be sure.
Suddenly she couldn’t move. Fear gripped her. The gathering and the fireplace faded. Other images bombarded her mind. Pulse roaring, sweat bloomed on her palms as she was transported to a different time and place.
A man. Dark hair and equally dark eyes, dressed in military fatigues, stared at her from inside a helicopter. He leaned out the open door and reached for her.
He was like a ghost stepping out of the hidden places in her mind.