Chapter 20
TWENTY
Annie’s heart slammed against her ribs. Tate’s body curved over hers, his arms a shield against the frigid air pouring through the broken window.
The darkness was absolute. She couldn’t see him an inch away, could only feel the solid weight of him, the tension humming through his frame.
Somewhere in the dark, people were screaming.
His arm shifted. Reaching for his weapon. She freed her own, then gripped his sleeve before he could rise. “Wait.”
The generators needed thirty seconds to cycle on. She’d stood in this room when the electrician tested them, timed it on her phone. Thirty seconds.
She counted.
Ten. Glass crunched somewhere near the window. The wind, or a footstep. No way to know.
Twenty. She held on to Tate’s sleeve, the wool soft against her fingers. He didn’t pull away or ignore her request to wait. He stayed. God, be with us. The prayer steadied her hands, if not her pulse.
Twenty-nine. She closed her eyes, knowing they would need seconds to adjust.
Thirty—
The lights came back on as the generators kicked in.
Annie snapped open her eyes and bolted to her feet, gun at the ready.
Her gaze swept across the front of the dining room.
Glass and leaves and rainwater pooled on the tile floor.
A giant branch dangled half in the broken window, its weight resting on a table that had somehow withstood the assault.
A few people were lying on the floor. Someone was crying.
Tate sprang to his feet next to her, covering the other side of the room. “Clear.”
Evan, his body wrapped around Brooke, started to release her. Annie waved a hand for them to stay put. They didn’t know what they were dealing with yet. A simple act of the storm? Or sabotage? Without turning around, she addressed Tate. “Check the lobby.”
He gave a sharp nod and moved toward the exit. Annie headed for the broken window. Sleet hit her face and arms as she peered beyond the branches and into the yard. Darkness yawned beyond the exterior lights, the shadows thick enough to hide a person. She waited. Held her breath.
Nothing stirred.
Underneath a nearby table, Lizzie sobbed. Her complexion was ghostly pale, eyes huge. Blood stained her blouse. Harry clung to a chair next to her. He didn’t appear injured, just stunned, but looks could be deceiving. They’d both narrowly escaped the tree branch.
The radio hooked on her belt crackled. “Annie, what happened?” Dwayne’s voice was controlled, but there was a thread of urgency running through it. “Annie, come in.”
Tate raced back into the dining room, gun at his side. “All clear. Looks like the wind toppled a pine tree onto this side of the lodge.”
She nodded, but felt no relief. “Evan, we need you over here.” She crouched at Lizzie’s side and laid a reassuring hand on the woman’s trembling shoulder. “It’s okay. We’re safe.”
Lizzie lifted her head, anger flashing through the tears. “But we’re not safe, are we? He’s out there. He’s going to kill us.” Her voice rose with every word. “I wasn’t even at the bonfire, but that won’t matter. He’s coming—”
“No one is going to hurt you.” Annie’s tone brooked no argument. “Not on my watch.”
“Or mine,” Tate added, offering a hand to Harry to help him up.
Evan appeared next to Annie. “Hey there, Lizzie. You’ve got quite the gash on your shoulder.
Let’s get you into the infirmary so I can clean it up.
” He wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist and helped her stand.
Lizzie swayed, tears running down her cheeks.
Killers and ice storms were a long way from her desk job as a computer analyst. Evan kept his tone soothing.
“This way, sweetie. Come on. I’ve got you. ”
Annie watched Brooke urging Nick and his wife, Cameron, out from under another table.
The couple appeared terrified. They’d opted to stay, instead of going with Preston, and Annie could see their regret.
Nick launched into a tirade, his voice rising over the storm, his finger jabbing toward the window.
Tate started toward him, but paused to touch Annie’s shoulder while his gaze made a quick pass over her. Checking, she realized, for blood or glass or any sign she’d been injured. Then his eyes found hers. “You good?”
She gave a sharp nod, even as warmth infused her. “I’m good.”
His hand slid away as he moved to run interference, his steady voice a low counterpoint to Nick’s angry one. But the heat of his touch lingered on Annie’s skin. He’d once again protected her, taking her to the floor without a moment’s hesitation when the glass shattered.
And it struck her: in the moment of chaos, his embrace had grounded her.
“Annie!” Dwayne’s voice snapped from her radio, more insistent. It sounded like he was on the move, judging by the rumble of an engine. “Report!”
She removed the radio from her belt and pressed the button.
“We’re safe.” She headed into the lobby to get a better look at the damage.
“Pine came down on the north side. Two windows gone, one minor injury. I’ve got boards and tools in the rec room, but the limb needs a chainsaw before we can seal the breach. ”
“Five minutes.”
Annie knew he was already on his way, probably from the second the power dropped. Like her, Dwayne had an app that alerted him when the electricity failed.
She turned to address her former classmates huddled on the couch. “Everyone okay? Anyone injured?”
A series of replies assured her everyone was fine, if badly shaken.
Heather had come downstairs sometime before the incident and must’ve raided the snacks in the kitchen.
A box of crackers and a soda sat on the small table next to her.
Caleb, Annie noticed, was missing. She was just about to ask after him when he appeared in the hallway, as if he’d come from the game room.
His steps were quick, his expression concerned. “What happened? I heard a crash and a bunch of screaming.”
“A tree broke a window in the dining room.”
“Oh wow. Need help?”
“We will once Dwayne gets here.”
Two hours later, Annie’s outerwear was soaking wet, but the limb had been removed and the windows boarded. Dwayne tossed his chainsaw in the back of his UTV. Bud already sat in the passenger seat. The rain had let up to a sprinkle, but the reprieve was brief. Another band of clouds was moving in.
Tate, his poncho covering his head, hauled the last of the branches away from the building, ensuring they wouldn’t get kicked up by the wind and thrown against any more windows.
“The generators should hold for the rest of the night.” Dwayne’s gaze traveled across the darkness to Cabin 1.
The lights in the windows glowed. Since the tree only took out the fuse box on the main lodge, Preston and the others never lost power.
“I’ll check on those yahoos before heading back to staff quarters. ”
“Thank you.” Annie rubbed Bud’s soft fur, and the dog gave her a lick on the hand. “Try to be nice while you do it. Please.”
Dwayne grunted. “No promises.” Then he fixed her with a stare. “First sign of trouble, you radio, you hear?”
“Will do. Sorry to have scared you.”
He grunted again. “We’ve got a killer running around on the property. These ain’t normal times.”
“About that, did you question the staff about raiding the pantry in the mess hall? Tate said someone was in there.” Annie had thought about it, and the more she did, the more she didn’t like it.
“No one is owning up to it.”
“We could have someone squatting in one of our buildings.” Tate had suggested as much, and Annie had dismissed it, but she wondered now if that’d been a mistake.
She wouldn’t recognize Marcus, but both Caleb and Evan had met him.
If he wasn’t masquerading as a member of her staff, then he had to be hiding somewhere on the property.
Dwayne shook his head, swinging into the driver’s seat of the UTV. “I checked everything yesterday. No sign of anyone hanging about.”
“Even the old barn?”
“Yep.” He started the engine, and Annie stepped back. “Sure you don’t want me to stay at the main lodge with y’all?”
“No. I need someone I trust keeping watch on the staff.” She paused. “Be careful, Dwayne. One of them may not be who we think he is.”
“Understood.”
He pressed on the gas, the UTV bumping over the frozen yard. Tate joined her under the shelter of the awning. He peeled back the hood of his poncho. “You look troubled.”
“Dwayne says he checked all the buildings on the property, including the barn, and there’s no sign of anyone squatting.
If Marcus is here, then where is he hiding?
” She couldn’t make sense of it. “He’s not a member of staff.
Caleb or Evan would’ve recognized him. Do you think we’re too focused on one theory, and we’re missing something critical? ”
Tate didn’t answer right away. She sensed he was wrestling with the words.
“Spit it out.” Annie waved a hand to encourage him.
“Are you sure we can trust Dwayne?”
His question stopped her cold. “You think he’s involved?”
He shrugged. “You said it yourself, if Marcus is here, he’s hiding on the property somewhere. We’re relying on Dwayne’s word that the cabins and the barn are clear. That might not be true.”
The impulse to defend Dwayne rose, but Annie swallowed it down.
Tate was doing as she’d asked: being honest. And while there wasn’t any proof of Tate’s theory, it had logic.
Still, she couldn’t let the comment pass without sharing her own thoughts.
“He could be lying, but Dwayne’s never been dishonest with me before. Not once.”
Tate took that in. “Noted.” He reached out, his fingers catching hers. “And it matters.”
Gratitude moved through her, underneath the worry. She enjoyed working as a team with Tate. It made everything more…manageable.
Annie interlaced their fingers and stared at the cabin in the distance.
Nighttime had fallen, and tension built in every cell of her body.
The killer had to act tonight. Once the storm let up, and Tate’s fellow rangers, along with the local police, arrived, his murderous game would come to an end.
This latest incident had been caused by the storm, but next time… they wouldn’t be so lucky.
As if called by her thoughts, Annie’s phone pinged with an incoming message at the same time as Tate’s. They shared a look, and then took out their devices. The sender was Seth, and the words on her screen sent ice through her veins.
I’m still here. Don’t think you’ve escaped, my friends.
Running to a cabin won’t keep any of you safe.
Nor will the boards you just nailed over the windows.
Annie and Tate think they can protect you.
They can’t. Before dawn breaks, some of you will die in payment for your sins.
Who will it be? I already know. Soon, the rest of you will too.