Chilled by Death (38 page)

After losing her friends, well, she’d damn near slammed the door to her heart closed forever.

Maybe George was right. Maybe Kathleen had felt a wall up between them. It was also true that she was like twelfth on that long string of George’s girlfriends, but at the same time, Stacy had shut the door to letting her in. She was just going to lose her. Like she had all of George’s other girlfriends. As she thought deeper and deeper about it, she realized she hadn’t let anyone new into her life in these last few years at all.

At work, she was polite and professional. Mark and Stevie were there, and they’d known her since before the accident and refused to be kicked out of her inner circle. But it had closed around them, not letting anyone else in. Royce was someone who had managed to get in, and she could see that over time, Kathleen would make it too, but she hadn’t yet because dear safe, cowardly Stacy was still protecting her heart.

Fool.

She wondered how many times Royce had woken her up last night to calm her down as her subconscious worked on her grief and fears. She wished she’d woken up with energy and a sense of closure, and maybe for her two friends, she had. She knew she’d never see them again. That they were never going to walk into her room regaling her with tales of their colorful evenings and the games the two of them had gotten up to. There’d been no malice to either of them, but there’d not been much ‘substance’ either, as her father would have said. “‘Flighty, frippery women,”’ he’d have called them. And maybe he’d have been correct, but that in no way devalued who they were. The world was a big place and had space for people of all kinds – even fireflies.

As she lay there, it slowly dawned on it that it was almost light in the cabin. That there were noises happening downstairs and she should be getting up. She wanted to leave, but safe in Royce’s arms, she didn’t want to move.

She slowly disentangled herself from his arms and sat up.

He shifted beside her. “Is it time to get up?”

She looked down at the sprawled lion in her bed and thought,
What a waste.

“Someone else is up, too.”

He sighed. “Well, the sooner we get moving, the faster we can get home.”

“I hear you there.” Whoever was moving around downstairs hadn’t been up long as the fire crackled cheerfully but the warmth hadn’t reached the loft yet. Moving quickly against the bite of cold air, she pulled on her pants, wool socks, and a heavy sweater. Her eyes had a gritty feel to them. A combination of a lack of sleep, too many tears, and dry air.

She turned back to Royce, who hadn’t moved, bent to kiss him, and found herself tugged down on top of his broad chest. She laughed.

“You could stay here for a little bit,” he murmured against her lips.

Her own curved in response. “It wouldn’t be a ‘little bit’ as you know. Wait until we’re home. Then we’ll have all the time in the world. I don’t go back to work until Monday.”

“So the rest of today and tomorrow is mine, right?”

“It’s a date. But I get a hot bubble bath when I get home first.”

He looked interested in that concept then said with a wicked grin, “Is the tub big enough for the two of us?” His gaze heated as he stared at her, waiting for her answer.

Images of the two of them flooded her mind, making it hard to breath. “Deadly. You are so deadly.”

She got up, plucking her sweater away from her chest as if to cool herself off, and walked to the stairway.

“Wait,” he called softly, “you didn’t answer my question.”

She smirked. “That’s because I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out though.”

And she headed down the stairs.

*

Royce lay back
down. He couldn’t stop grinning. Despite everything that had happened, life was damn good. Now to pack up and get home. That hot bath for two was sounding pretty damn fine.

Checking the time, he sat up and quickly got dressed. It was damn cold, but he couldn’t hear the wind outside anymore. That was a good thing. There were no windows in the loft so he couldn’t see out, and what he could see from the downstairs windows was nothing but sheer white. He realized they were likely going to have to shovel the vehicles out this morning. Given that, he quickly packed up his gear and left his single bag beside Stacy’s unpacked belongings. She wouldn’t need more than a few minutes to collect her stuff. He walked downstairs and lifted his nose appreciatively. There was nothing like the heady aroma of coffee on a chilly morning in the mountains. And from the intensity of that smell, it was almost ready to drink. He wandered into the kitchen to find Stacy already pouring.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said as she handed him a mug. “Just in time.”

“As you only came down five minutes ago, it’s hard to call me a sleepyhead,” he protested.

“Ha, it wasn’t hard at all.”

She grinned and walked past him toward the fireplace.

She sat down in the living room on the couch where she usually sat; he took up the spot beside her.

“So who’s already up?”

She looked down the hallway. “No idea. The fire was lit and the coffee on when I came down. I presume that person is packing up right now to leave.”

That made sense. “I’m packed. I put my bag beside yours.”

She nodded. “Okay, after this cup, I’ll go and collect my stuff, and both bags can go into the vehicle right away. Then we have to sort out the winter gear.”

“I’ll do that. I’m more concerned with how much work there will be to dig the vehicles out.”

“I’ve already been out shoveling,” George said, walking down the hallway carrying his and Kathleen’s bags. “And Kathleen is responding well. The doctors are optimistic. They also suspect she might have drugs in her system. The tox screen is pending.”

Royce stared. “What?”

George nodded. “That’s actually good news, as some of her symptoms were due to drugs and not the severity of her condition.”

Stacy leaned forward, her gaze intent. “Really? But that changes everything.”

Royce stared at her. “How? Nothing has changed. Someone drugged her. And attacked her and left her for dead.”

Stacy was shaking her head at them, her hair sliding from side to side. “No. He likely drugged her, she was realizing something was wrong, fought to get away, and was struck from behind. Left there because Mother Nature would finish the job after the drugs and the blow to the head.”

*

He listened to
the three of them talk. Shit. Shit.
Shit.
He shouldn’t have waited. Shouldn’t have let events develop to this point.

Who could have foreseen that she’d be found in time to be saved? Or that the damn doctors would consider checking for drugs? Shit. When they realized the drugs were the same as in the wine, they’d connect her attack to this group.

Their lives would be torn apart by the cops at that point.

His mind raced. What options did he have? He considered saving his ass and giving up on his plan, only to realize that the plan dominated. His matched set had to be complete. That was his goal. His purpose. If he got to continue his life as before with that goal complete, then it would be a perfect finish.

So how could he get Stacy away from the others?

S
tacy packed up
the kitchen. She’d done it many times before, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever done it alone. There were mostly empty coolers, lots of opened packages, and a shortage of tie clips to keep them closed. Breakfast had been a hodgepodge of leftovers that needed to be eaten. She’d had leftover Hungarian stew herself. A hot meal, although spicy, had seemed to fit the bill for the long drive ahead. She washed up the dishes, hearing sounds of the others packing and putting the cabin back to the way it was. It was a process they’d all done many times over.

“Okay, that’s our bags in the boot room with our gear.” Royce walked to where she was stacking up the last of the dishes. She’d have to rinse any coffee cups once they were done packing up. Usually everyone sat, had a last mug of coffee, and ran through the checklist a final time.

“Are you sure you don’t want to do a few runs before we head out?” Royce asked.

She turned to look at him, surprise lighting her face. “I actually hadn’t considered that. Is someone staying here?”

“Both Stevie and Mark are going to. We could go back with them.”

She frowned, thinking about it. She wanted to go home but – and she knew he’d be frustrated at this – she also kind of wanted to go back to where they’d found Kathleen. She couldn’t get it out of her mind that she’d been in that location for a reason. Besides, it would be completely safe now with all the mountain crews out posting warning signs and the officials involved.

George walked in. “Stacy, you two do what you want to do. I’m going straight to the hospital to see Kathleen.”

She nodded. “Understood. I presume you’ll be staying there with her for awhile.”

He nodded. “I won’t stay all day, but it could be a good couple of hours.”

She’d expected no less. She pulled the plug, letting the soapy water drain. “Royce, as we don’t have our own wheels, we have three choices I presume.”

“Right. Ride home with George and stay at the hospital until he’s ready to go home.” He ticked off his fingers. “Stay with Stevie and Mark and either board with them for a couple of hours, or go into the town and just walk the town and have coffee.”

“That’s possible.” She was here and as much as she wanted to go straight home, that wasn’t an option. She had a few hours to kill no matter what.

“And third is to go with Geoffrey and Kevin.”

“I don’t see them here. Do we know what their plans are?” she asked, hoping that maybe they’d be heading straight back and wishing she’d brought her own transportation. “And did Kevin hear from Christine?”

“Geoffrey is getting a few runs in while Kevin is heading to the search and rescue office first to find out more about Christine. I doubt he’ll leave without knowing something.” George’s grin slid out sideways and he shrugged. “If he gets answers, he’s likely to meet up with Geoffrey for a run or two. After all, our passes are still good for today.”

She nodded in understanding. And these guys lived for this. “Okay, so a few hours to kill no matter what. Sit at a hospital, ski, or walk the town.”

“If you’re coming with me, you need to be ready to leave in a few minutes.” George said, filling his travel mug. “I’ve got the SUV dug out and warming up.”

Stacy looked over at Royce. He gazed back at her. She dropped her gaze. She knew what she wanted to do but hell, it’s not likely that it would happen. But she’d always wonder. And that part of her that was so good at her job was rearing its ugly head.

“I guess another choice is to stay in the cabin, or grab my camera and wait for the first group to come back and leave with them,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Royce.

He nodded in surprise. “That can happen, too.”

She turned to her brother. “Go. I know you’re rushing to get away. Please drive carefully and let me know when you get there.”

He grabbed her up in a big hug. “Will do.”

He turned to Royce, slapped him on the back, and said, “Keep her safe.”