Chilled by Death (17 page)

“I’m bringing my camera and will do a little skiing, but I saw something the other day and I want to see if I can find it again.”

He nodded. “We’re going in two groups again.”

“I’ll be in the last one then,” she said. “I need food. And as I’ll be taking pictures, I don’t need to race.” Skiers and snowboarders alike were notorious for wanting to be the first one on runs.

“The first group is leaving soon.”

“I’ll meet up with you in a couple of hours,” she said as she filled her plate.

“That works.”

There was a flurry of activity as the first group grabbed their gear. She snuck around behind and headed to an empty seat beside the fire. The first bite was so good she almost moaned. “Oh wow, not sure who made breakfast, but these eggs are lovely.”

“Royce did.”

“Nice job, Royce.”

She glanced up to find him walking out to the boot room. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. As the door slammed shut, she figured he definitely had. “What’s his problem,” she muttered to no one in particular.

Stevie just laughed at her. She forked up another bite and ignored the rest of them.

She hadn’t slept well. Maybe that was the cause of her appetite. Or maybe she was just starting to heal. She certainly felt better. Stronger.

“Hey, did you leave anything for the rest of us?” Stevie asked, sitting down beside her.

She shook her head. “Hope not. If I did, it was a mistake.”

“Wow, aren’t you nice.”

She popped a big bite of sausage into her mouth and stood up. “I’m about to get seconds. Did you get any?”

He held up a cup of coffee. “I’ll drink this first.”

“Your loss.”

“Whoa, you weren’t kidding about extras, were you? Geesh.”

He bounded to his feet and raced around until he was ahead of her. He was busy scooping up eggs when she snagged a piece of toast and returned with a cup of coffee.

He sat down beside her.

“Did you ever notice the effect of death on the others?” He said it in a low voice as several other people were still getting dressed.

She nodded. “Just because we’re used to it doesn’t mean anyone else is.”

“It’s like their fear of mortality kicks in. Really weird.”

“Everyone likes to think we’re invincible. Instead, we’re an organic system that is way too delicate.”

“Soft shelled with no defense system against Mother Nature,” he mumbled around his food. “Such easy prey.”

The way he said that last bit had her studying his face with a sharp look. He was right. But it sounded as if a predator looking for easy prey was a great game. Something it wasn’t.

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Yvonne said from the couch across from them. “I had no idea you considered humans so inferior.”

“Not inferior. We have brains and we can think. Reason. Act. Rationalized action. That’s what saved us from extinction,” he said.

Yvonne snorted. “Doesn’t sound like what you were saying before.”

“What?” he asked in an injured tone. “It’s not like I meant it in a bad way.” He caught Stacy’s gaze and rolled his eyes. In a low tone, he said, “See what I mean? Add a dead body and everyone has an issue with life and death.”

She laughed. “Of course, it just reminds us that we can’t escape death.”

“Yep, today or tomorrow. Our time will come.” In a dark, mocking voice, he added, “The question is will we die by our own hand, old age, or is someone else going to help us along the way?”

*

“George,” Royce called
out quietly to his friend, walking behind him. “Did you hear anyone leave the cabin in the night?

“Nope.” George walked up beside Royce. “What time are we talking?”

“Between two and three.”

George shook his head. “I was sound asleep. I had trouble going to sleep but once I made it there, I never woke up until this morning.”

“I wish. I woke to something weird. Thought I heard someone walking around but couldn’t see anyone. I realized it was the outside door I’d heard, at least I thought I’d heard, but again I never could confirm that.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Chances are it was the wind slamming the door closed. You know that outside door is always being left ajar.” George shifted his pack to his other shoulder. “Besides, so what if there was someone walking about? We’ve both done that many times ourselves.”

“True. I don’t know why it bugged me but it did. It seemed…” Royce thought about it, adding with a foolish grin, “Maybe sinister.”

He expected George’s laughter, but instead George nodded and said, “I can see that. I thought I heard someone the first night we were here. I didn’t understand it at all. Why go out during the night?”

Royce stared at him. “Really? Two of three nights? That’s odd.”

“Unless someone is going out to have a smoke.”

“Then they are keeping it a secret as I don’t know anyone here that smokes.”

George plodded along, sinking into the deep snow with each step, both working harder than they had to as the path was really only wide enough for one.

“I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned the dead guy we found,” George said in a low voice.

“I would have, but there’s always someone around.” Royce glanced around to see Kathleen in deep conversation with Yvonne over the latest boards. “I’m trying to figure out how the guy got out here.”

“I know. If we’d seen any vehicles, it would make more sense. There was a mention of it on the news this morning, but they are withholding the guy’s name at this time and haven’t released much in the way of details.” George glanced back at his girlfriend. “I wish it hadn’t happened on this trip. I wanted to get Stacy away from death.”

“I hear you. Unfortunately, she’s a magnet for death.”

“Not intentionally.”

“She’s coming out today, isn’t she?” Royce asked, hating that sense of wrongness he’d woken up with and hadn’t been able to shake.

“Yes, why?” George asked.

“No reason.” He paused, thought about it, then added, “Except something feels off.”

“Yeah, glad you said that. I feel the same way.” He waved to Kathleen. “Let’s keep an especially close eye on the women.”

“Definitely. I really don’t want this holiday to involve a death again.”

George, already walking back to Kathleen, turned and with a somber voice, said, “It already does, remember?”

O
ut in the
sunshine, there was lots of laughter and teasing. Ten minutes into the trip, Stacy stopped, thinking she might have left her camera back in the cabin. She put her pack down and dug through it. After a frantic moment, she found it in the side pocket.

“Well, thank heavens for that.”

She stood back up again and realized that the group was slightly ahead. She took several pictures of them, loving the casualness of the scene. Friends walking, talking, laughing. Looking forward to the day ahead. She glanced around as she settled her pack on her shoulders. The place was pristine white. It was beautiful. Clean. So innocent looking. Except for the treachery always underneath.

Speaking of which…she lifted her camera again. Click. Click. There were phenomenal icicles hanging off the trees to the left. They were huge. And would give someone a severe blow if they came down on top of their head.

She had no illusions when it came to snow and ice conditions. They were here snowboarding and skiing, but there were no guides. No safety guardrails. They were all past that level. They had all helicopter skied and done other equally demanding sports. They were all fit.

But shit happened.

“Stacy? Come on.”

Damn, she’d gotten lost in her camera again.

She watched the group ahead of her stop and point out a snow cat slowly walking down the mountain. She’d heard the resort was opening up new runs on this side of the mountain but hadn’t thought to see the equipment actually working on it right now. From that long ski run, they could ski into the village below and hook up with other runs. And that was a damn good idea. Except the cat was walking down the hill and not up. So not the way she wanted to go.

In fact, right now she wasn’t sure she wanted to go anywhere. She waved the other group off to go on ahead then she found a spot to sit in the sun. She hated to admit it, but she was tired. Maybe this was as far as she was going today. She needed to tell the group her plans so they wouldn’t worry. Just then her phone rang, Royce wanting to know where she was. Apparently the second group had said she wasn’t with them. She turned to study the direction the other group had gone and sure enough, they were out of sight already.

She texted back, telling him exactly where she was and that she was in view of the cabin.

Shit.

She laughed at that succinct answer. He had such a mastery of words.
I’m fine. I’m just going to take a few pictures. There’s nothing wrong with me sitting here and enjoying life.

Not alone

Sigh.
Why not?

Because I don’t like what’s going on.

She glanced back at the text to reread it several times. Cautiously, she responded with,
What is going on?

There was such a long silence, she wondered if he’d planned on answering her. Then it came back,
I’m afraid that man was murdered.

*

Royce stared down
at his phone, wondering if he should have sent that text. Still, he wanted her to stay safe. The one day that George wanted to keep an extra eye on the girls and Stacy chose this day to be on her own. Like really? He was already on the other side of the second mountain. He’d be almost an hour getting back over to her.

I’m fine. I’ll be careful.

That was so not his point. He loved that she didn’t address his comment. Did that mean she agreed? Had considered it? Or thought he was making a big deal out of nothing? And maybe he was, but something was not right.

He carved left and then right. These runs were empty as they so often were at this time of morning. They weren’t the easiest to access and commanded skill to do well. George and Kathleen were closer to town. They’d decided to have lunch at the pub. He’d loved to have joined them but got the impression that they were looking for a few moments of private time.

He wished. Then he brightened. If Stacy was alone, he could get some private time with her. Hell, he could be there in less than an hour. He had to hit the bottom of the run, catch the lift going up the opposite side, and come down the seven-mile run and grab the trail leading to the cabin. He dropped lower and picked up speed. At the bottom, there was a coffee shop. He bought two cups and hopped on the first lift up. With his hands full, he couldn’t text her that he was coming. And boarding the lift with two hot cups was not the smartest move on his part. He could only hope that the coffee would still be hot by the time he reached her. It was tricky taking the corners he needed to take. A part of him was hoping she had her video camera running as he came around. What a classy shot that would make. He finally hit the homestretch and cut to the right hard and slowed. Ha, he made it.

He straightened up and searched the trees for her. Someone was up ahead on the left. He called out, “Stacy? You there?”