Chilled by Death (16 page)

Wow, now things
were getting interesting. He’d wanted to laugh when he’d seen the body. Like really. The guy never made it anywhere. Too bad. He’d have liked to tell the asshole that his sneaky escape was useless. And that he’d almost made it out alive. But almost didn’t count. The dead guy never knew how close he’d made it to surviving.

Stupid idiot. Look at the way he was dressed. Besides, it wasn’t his fault the guy had taken off at a dead run into the storm. Like what an idiot.

Still, he almost made it, so he’d award him a few brownie points for that. After all, the guy was dead. He could afford to be generous.

S
tacy woke in
the middle of the night, chilled, her heart racing in a panic and her nightmare still clinging like wet cobwebs to her brain. She shuddered at the clamminess of her skin. What was that all about? She rarely got nightmares. And didn’t appreciate the odd occurrence. There wasn’t a sound in the cabin but for the odd crackle of the fire in the big heater. She snuggled lower in the bed, hating the darkness. She wondered if finding the body today had set off her nightmare. Anyone normally would get a nightmare from something like that. But she wasn’t just anyone. Bodies were her business.

But there was something beyond odd about this one. Her mind had already catalogued the case even though she wouldn’t be the one working on him. She had an urge to send a text message to the coroner asking about drug tests on the victim. Although they wouldn’t be back fast enough to satisfy her.

There was also no guarantee the case would be worked on anytime soon. If the office was as overworked as Stacy’s, the coroner would be overwhelmed. And not to forget, she wasn’t even in her own country.

She closed her eyes, determined to get some more sleep. She needed it. She was feeling the cold more than she had expected. Her body should be snapping back faster than this. That it wasn’t made her look for the stressors inhibiting her healing.

Royce was at the top of that list. Then there was the poor man they’d found today. There were too many suspicious elements in that case. Poorly dressed for the weather, missing ID. No sign of where or how he’d gotten there. It could have been a body dump, but why there and when? The police had confirmed no abandoned vehicles reported in the last month. It could be spring before his vehicle was found, after all the snow had melted away.

Had someone else found him and stripped the wallet from the man’s pockets?

People did the damnedest things. Especially when stressed. So the man could have quite easily removed everything from his own pockets. As soon as hypothermia set in, confusion was the rule. Victims lost their way and what seemed to make sense at the time made no sense under normal circumstances.

And there was nothing normal about his situation. If there’d been a car close by, then maybe it would make sense, but there were no roads anywhere close except the one to the cabin.

She yawned.

And that’s when she heard it.

A door opening. She grabbed her cell phone and checked the time. It was two in the morning. Who the hell was going outside?

Or were they coming in?

If so, why?

She peered over the edge carefully. Maybe it was monkey business. She could see Yvonne sleeping beside Royce. She slept in her own bed, but close enough for him to reach out and touch her if need be.

The person who’d been outside had on a heavy pullover with the hood pulled up. She tried to look outside, but the darkness was absolute. There was a shine from outside due to the snow on the ground, but she had no way of knowing if it was snowing. But it would be cold. She’d have likely pulled her hoodie up over her ears, too. She shifted cautiously to see his head turning away from her. Shit. Had he seen her? She wasn’t doing anything wrong, but it did feel like she was peeping, and she didn’t want anyone to think that.

It was only then that she heard the heavy rasping breath below her. Waiting.

She felt the first stirrings of fear. And she realized that for all her casual attitude about choosing the warmest place in the house, she’d also chosen the one where she was alone. The most unprotected. And worse, she was trapped here. If someone came up the stairs, she had no place to go to escape. She’d be able to scream, but what if they came up while she was asleep?

She’d never know until it was too late.

*

Royce jerked awake.
Shocked into awareness, he sat up and studied the quiet room. Yvonne slept in the bed beside him. She was a quiet sleeper, no snoring or restless shifting in the night. Made for an easy bedfellow. At least he thought it was her. With the covers pulled over her head, who could tell? And they’d all been plenty drunk last night, so it could be anyone. These trips were like that.

As he sat in the dark, the chill worked its way into his bones. He wasn’t a light sleeper normally, but he’d had a hard time getting to sleep these last few nights so he had several drinks last night, hoping it would help.

Now a sense of something wrong washed over him. As if he’d missed something important.

There was an odd noise in the main part of the cabin, but it was hard to decipher over the heavy winds beating against the cabin walls. As he lay back down, his ears intent, his mind wondered why it mattered. So what if he’d heard something? People got up in the night all the time. He’d often get up to go to the washroom, get a drink, and walk around because he couldn’t sleep.

No biggie.

Then he realized it had been the outside door he’d heard. That latch made a loud heavy thunk when it shut securely. Someone had gone outside. He sat up again slowly. Walking around outside in the middle of the storm was an easy way to get lost. The group had a general rule of no smoking indoors, so maybe someone had gone out for a smoke. He went through the list of people who smoked, trying to figure out who might have gone out and whether he had to worry about them. He hoped not.

But he never heard the door open again. He waited. And waited. Then he had to consider that what he’d heard was the person coming back in. There was no way to know until everyone got up in the morning. Determined to put it out of his mind, he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

*

He loved the
night. It was his time. So was winter. The darkness and cold a perfect marriage for him. He never felt the chill like other people did and this resort was his playground – and hunting ground. Maybe he was more reptile than human. He’d long ago understood his nature. There’d been a problem accepting it. But after that…well, it was who he was. And what he was – it was pretty damn unique. He’d always wanted to be different.

Interesting that he was
that
different.

He sat comfortably in the back corner of the cabin. Out of sight of everyone and under the loft.

Where she was.

He watched as Royce slept. He’d been awake earlier but had fallen back into the deep sleep too much alcohol created.

It was great for a temporary buzz, just not so good if there was something you needed to do – or wanted to do. But for him, watching the others imbibe too much made for great entertainment. He learned a lot from watching them. Who they were really on the inside. Who they chose to cuddle up with for the night.

It amused him. People were fake. Then so was he, and that just proved his statement. Picking through the layers to find the person inside made for a great hobby. It also allowed him to assess them as potential subjects.

Most failed his examination.

A few excelled, but for this trip, there was one person that was perfect. He knew her name was up for a special piece already – even if it wasn’t his piece – but he wouldn’t let her stay as part of that homage. In fact, it might be time to take care of his friend, too. He pretended to be an artist for his buddy’s sake, but he had no doubts about what he really was. And why he did what he did.

Still, knowing that Stacy was here and available for the taking was something he couldn’t let go of. Although in a way, his friend had a prior claim. She’d complete his trio. He’d wanted to finish that one for a long time. So maybe he’d let her be part of that exhibit for a little while. Then move her to his.

He could make a move tonight. Or maybe wait until the end of the week. They were all a little more on edge after finding Brian today. He wanted to laugh out loud at that one. Talk about perfect timing.

And he hadn’t even planned it.

S
pirits were high
the next morning. To Stacy’s ear, it was almost artificially high. They’d brushed up against death again yesterday. It was sad and difficult, but everyone knew the risks of their fun-filled sport. And of course everyone pushed off the risks until it was in their face again. Last night they’d had a chance to deal with the gloominess and the sadness, but after a good night’s sleep, everyone looked more rested. Or at least they were trying to look that way.

It didn’t appear to have affected her co-worker’s moods. Then they had an edge as they were in similar line of work as her. There was a reverence for life amongst the three of them. And a very healthy respect for death.

At a distance.

When her friends died, death had become up front and personal. She’d had no idea how to deal with personal loss. That was something the others had more experience with. Kathleen lost a boyfriend apparently to a car accident years ago. George had lost a few friends in a hang gliding accident. He’d grieved for months then dealt with it with his usual aplomb. For Stacy, she hadn’t had any tools in place. She’d cared so much, the loss had stopped much of her ability to function. And the multiple losses had made every new one even more difficult. Hence, her damn slow ass recovery.

Royce stepped in front of her with a big plate of eggs and toast.

“Hey, where did you get that?”

He nodded to the kitchen, his mouth chewing through a large bite of sausage.

“Damn.” She really didn’t want to miss another meal. She couldn’t believe how hungry she was today.

“Are you coming skiing with us?” George asked.