Seductive Suspect

“I doubt we’ll starve.” Adam reached for a cheese Danish.

Brittany collected the coffee cups on her side of the table and stood up to fill them. “You don’t have to do that,” Laura said.

“I don’t mind.” She took the pot and began to pour. “Like Victor, I need to dosomethingbefore I go crazy in here.”

She wasn’t alone, I mused. With the possibility of another long day looming ahead of us, I also needed a way to keep my mind off of our perilous situation.

“Okay, then.” Laura adjusted her glasses. “But I don’t think any of us would mind if you and Victor changed out of your uniforms. We’re all in this together, remember? You don’t have to serve us.”

Brittany shrugged and smoothed her poufy skirt. “Since we weren’t supposed to be here this long, I didn’t bring any other clothes with me.”

Dylan smirked. “How about your pajamas?”

A sheepish grin spread across her reddening face. “I, uh, don’t wear anything when I go to sleep.”

He leaned toward her, his gaze drifting somewhere south of her flushed cheeks and neck. “Oh?”

I jumped in before Laura’s glower somehow caused him to spontaneously combust. “I know our packets suggested semiformal clothing, but if people want to dress more casually, it’s fine with me.”

“Same here,” Adam added.

“I don’t care, either.” Laura reached for the collar of her blouse and tugged at the crisp fabric. “I just have my normal work clothes, but at this point, I think it’s fine if people want to be more comfortable.” She shot Dylan another withering glare. “And no, I will not be running around here in my pajamas.”

“Too bad,” he said. “You’d probably have an easier timerunning from the killer than in those tight little skirts of yours.”

She slammed her butter knife down on her plate. “You really are a pig, you know?”

“Can’t blame a guy for looking.” He jerked his head in my direction. “Besides, these two have been making lovey-dovey eyes at each other all weekend and no one’s complained.”

“Hey, wait a second,” Adam said while I shrank back in my seat, hoping my face hadn’t turned scarlet.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please!” Victor placed his palms on the table and leaned forward, inserting himself between Laura and Dylan. “Arguing with each other will only make things worse. If we—”

The door opened with a bang, and Paul bounded across the threshold. “All right, here’s the story,” he said. Everyone turned toward him, and I silently thanked him for the interruption. “I didn’t get very far because there are trees down all over the place. Big ones, too. We’re lucky to even have power here.”

Isabel sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Terrific.”

“It gets worse.” Paul scratched the back of his head. “I got as close as possible to the edge of the mountain to see what else I could find. You know the cute little bridge over the stream we all drove over to get here?” He paused for a second, then continued before anyone answered. “The stream’s more like a river now. The bridge is completely washed out.”

A chill rolled over me, and I hunched in my chair even more. “So…we’re stuck here.”

He turned up his hands in apology. “For a while longer, I would say.”

Adam tapped his fingers on the edge of his plate. “Then what do we do now?”

Isabel cleared her throat. “Laura and I were talking in the kitchen about our situation, and the best way to stay alive and everything.” She glanced around the table, her nose twitching.“I know it’s a long shot, but don’t you think there’s a possibility there might be someone else in the lodge? I mean, other than all of us sitting here now?”

I nudged Adam’s arm, then yanked my hand away, my cheeks still hot. “We thought of the same thing yesterday,” I said. “Maybe the killer isn’t one of us.”

“I don’t see how someone else could have gone unnoticed.” Victor frowned. “Although the building is quite large.”

Laura’s eyebrows arched. “But it’spossible, right? Did you check every single room when you got here?”

“No,” he admitted.

“If we’re not getting out of here any time soon,” she said, “I don’t want to feel like we’re missing something obvious.”

Dylan crossed his arms. “So, you want to search this place top to bottom because you believe you’re going to find some psycho killer and convince him to stop murdering us?”