Seductive Suspect

“Yes, it’s fine.” Victor furrowed his brow at the darkening clouds. “If we want to attempt to find a signal, we should get moving soon. I think we’re in for another storm today.”

“So, who’s it going to be?” Paul tapped his foot and watched me, waiting for an answer.

I considered my options. Paul seemed like a nice enough guy, and eager to leave the lodge, but it might easily be an act. Plus, someone of his size would have no problem overpowering me. I wanted so, so badly to trust Adam, yet something held me back. If I had to be alone with one other person, I decided to take my chances with the middle-aged man in slippery boots. “I’ll go with Victor.”

If my choice disappointed Adam, he didn’t show it.

“Okay,” Paul said. He pointed to the opposite end of the lodge, past the fountain. “We’ll take the other side. Come on.”

I switched on my phone while they left and waited to see if even one bar would pop up at the top of the screen. Nothing. “Where to first?” I asked Victor.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He moved toward the tree line, his feet squishing in the mud. “Follow me.”

We wandered through the trees, and I stayed several paces behind him. Rainwater dripped off the branches above us. I shielded my phone with one sleeve. “How far out do you think we should go?”

“Navigating any slopes or inclines would be dangerous,especially with the heavy rain over the past two days.” He held back a low-hanging bough to let me pass, and I warily kept my distance from him when I edged around it. “I recommend we try to stick to the flatter areas and keep track of where the lodge is at all times. We’re leaving plenty of footprints, so I’m not too concerned about getting lost.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We proceeded forward, and I waited in vain to see if my phone would let me call for help. The stillness of the forest, minus the squelching of our shoes, made me uneasy again. I needed to focus on something other than the disturbing thoughts racing through my mind, or at least distract my potential killer with some conversation.

“While we’re out here, I wanted to apologize for the confusion with me not being my sister and everything.” I stepped over a protruding tree root. “I feel terrible about it, especially since…you know.”

Victor glanced back over his shoulder and offered me a nod before continuing to lead the way. “Part of the mix-up was my fault. I shouldn’t have assumed anything when you arrived.”

“I still could have said something right off the bat.” I checked my phone’s screen again. No signal. “You’ve been doing this mystery thing for a while, right? Any insights?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I know we were all supposed to act out a fictional story, but with your experience, I wondered if you had any ideas about who the killer is, or if you’d picked up on any clues.” Shaking my head, I sighed. “And now that I’ve said it out loud, I realize it sounds kind of dumb. But I’m struggling to figure out who I should trust and who I should avoid.”

“Your feelings are understandable,” he said without turning around. “However, though I do have some suspicions, I’d prefer to keep them to myself for now. It’s not that I don’t believe youare who you say you are, but—”

“No, I get it. It’s okay.” Memories of the group’s prior discussions flitted through my head, and I shivered. “We can’t, or shouldn’t trust anyone, the two of us included. Nothing personal, of course.”

“Of course.”

We plodded through the brush. Muffled thunder echoed across the skies, and I grimaced. Time was running out, and our mission to call for help had been unsuccessful so far. As I inspected my phone for what felt like the hundredth time, I heard Victor cry out.

Jerking my head up, I hurried over to where he’d been standing a moment earlier and caught myself at the edge of the embankment he’d tumbled down. “Victor!” I called from the top of the ridge. “Are you all right?”

With a loud groan, he pulled himself to his feet. Thick globs of mud clung to his suit. He attempted to brush them off but only succeeded in smearing them further. “Hurt pride more than anything else,” he grumbled.

“Can you get back up here?”

“I think so.” He took a few steps up the slope, lost his footing, and slid down a second time. “Damn!”

We stared at each other for an endless, wordless moment. A hint of anxiety flickered in his eyes. If I was the murderer, he had to think himself an easy mark, an opportunity too good to pass up. On the other hand, I reasoned, it would be equally easy for him to subdue me if I offered him any help. Would either of us be willing to take a chance?

After what felt like hours, Victor broke the silence first. “If you want to go get the others…”

I exhaled slowly. Despite our circumstances, I didn’t feel right leaving him alone in the forest at the verge of another torrential downpour. Whether or not compassion proved a stupid choiceremained to be seen. Looping one hand around a low, sturdy branch, I extended the other toward him. “Please don’t drag me down into the mud. Or, um, kill me.”

Planting my feet in the soft ground, I clung to the tree. He used my arm to climb to the top of the embankment. My sneakers slid forward, but I helped haul him out of the hollow.

“Thank you,” he said, panting for air. “I’m not sure I would have done the same in your position.”

“I figured if I was going to die out here, it might as well be while doing a nice thing. Besides, assuming you’re not the one murdering everybody, you probably have the best shot at figuring out who is, since you know the most about the lodge and who’s supposed to be here.”