THE STREET LAMPS CAST AN eerie glow on the sidewalk as I walked back to my car. Wind roared through the quiet streets. It was so loud that it sounded like a jet was flying overhead. I worried about the countless hours of work that the city crews had spent twisting twinkle lights into the trees as I sidestepped falling branches and shielded my face from an assault of flying debris. I wished I had a pair of gloves or a hat. Apparently, the weather forecaster had predicted correctly this time.
I had to fight to keep my balance as I pressed on. Alex must already be home, I thought. His coach wouldn’t have let them practice in conditions like this. At least I hoped not.
“What are you doing out here?” Conrad shouted above the heavy din as I passed by his shop. He was trying to secure a sale banner that was whipping so violently I thought it might lash through his arm.
“Trying to get back to my car,” I called.
“Haven’t you heard the news?” He yanked one edge of the banner, which made it balloon out like a sail.
I tried to grab the other end. “No, what’s going on?”
“They say we’re going to get gusts up to a hundred miles per hour. No one is supposed to drive. They sent out an emergency alert. Didn’t you hear it?”
“I was at dinner.” I caught the edge of the loose banner.
We worked together to take it down.
“Thanks.” Conrad pointed inside to his dark shop. “I already lost power. Not sure what I’m going to do. I guess sit inside and wait out the storm.”
“Why don’t we go to Nitro?” I had to yell over the wind. One hundred miles per hour didn’t sound like an exaggeration. Gusts knocked over construction cones in the park and toppled two vintage rose bushes. “Maybe we still have power.”
Conrad had to use every muscle to wrangle his front door open. He propped one foot against the base of the door and tugged as hard as he could. Once he got it open, he dropped the banner on the ground before the wind slammed it shut. “Doubt it. Looks like everything on Front Street is out.”
I looked up to see the street lamps spark out. Every building and storefront went dark in an instant. “Well, at least we have gas in the kitchen. I can make us tea or something.”
“No. I’ve got to stay and protect my products,” Conrad said. “You go ahead.”
“Okay, but if you change your mind, we’re right around the corner.”
I stayed to the far side of the sidewalk, hugging the shop fronts in order to stay as shielded as possible from the unrelenting wind. Carnage lined the streets. Broken strands of twinkle lights, loose tree limbs, garbage, plastic chairs and tables. I couldn’t believe the storm had struck so quickly. I hadn’t been at Der Keller that long.
Icy snowflakes pelted my face. At Nitro, our sidewalk bistro tables had been upended and our chalkboard sign was split in two. I unlocked the front door, using my cell as a flashlight.
“Hello! Garrett, Kat?” My voice echoed in the cavernous bar.
I scanned the blackness with the single strand of white light. There was a soft yellow glow coming from the back near the kitchen.
“Garrett,” I called as I inched closer.
“Sloan? Is that you?” he answered.
Relief flooded my body. “Hey! It’s crazy out there.”
Inside the kitchen, Garrett had lit a dozen or so votive candles and placed them on the stainless-steel countertops. There was a pot of something simmering on the stove. The space looked like a beacon of warmth compared to outside.
Kat, who was scrolling on her phone, on the opposite side of the kitchen, clicked it off and ran over to hug me. “We were so worried about you. I saw your car still parked out front when we lost power and had to close the pub. Garrett went to look for you, but he couldn’t find you.”
Garrett stirred the pot. “Yeah, where did you go?”
“Der Keller. I met Heidi for a drink and dinner.”
“We couldn’t get you on your cell, so I tried calling over there, but the phone lines must be down too,” Garrett said.
“I turned it off while I was at dinner.”
Kat released me. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Alex texted me a bunch. He’s at your house with Mac. He wanted you to know. I told him that as soon as we found you, I would be in touch. Reception has been spotty in here. I’m going to run up to the bar and see if I can get a text through to him.”
“Thanks so much,” I said to Kat.
She held up her phone case; it was pale pink with white polka dots. “No problem. Don’t worry, I’ll get through to Alex.”
“I feel terrible,” I said to Garrett as Kat went to try and get better service. “I had no idea the storm would get so bad so fast.”
“No one did. We saw a few gusts, but then it started blowing and wouldn’t stop. The power kept flickering on and off, and then there was a huge boom.” Garrett pointed to the dark lights above.
“It’s starting to snow, too.” I rubbed my icy fingers together.
Garrett lifted the wooden spoon. “Can I interest you in a hot chocolate? I’m making my mom’s famous spiked peppermint schnapps recipe.”
“That sounds divine.”
Garrett measured the minty liquor and added it to his bubbling hot chocolate. It smelled wonderfully calming.
Kat returned, flashing a triumphant smile. “I got service. Alex says he’s glad you’re here and not to worry—he and Mac have a fire going and plenty of food and blankets. They say not to drive home. It’s too dangerous.”
I didn’t reply. I wanted to get home to be with my son.
Garrett dished up mugs of steaming hot chocolate. We sat around the countertop listening to the wind pound the rooftop. “I hope we don’t lose too many shingles. Those were custom clay tiles, and they aren’t cheap to replace.”
“Have they said how long the wind is supposed to last?”
Kat studied her phone. “I’ve been checking the weather update every few minutes. We’re under a high-wind warning until two this morning. The police are asking everyone to stay inside. I guess it’s going to be a slumber party at Nitro tonight.”
“When Kat checked a few minutes before you got here, they were saying that the winds have toppled power lines and dozens of huge evergreen trees,” Garrett replied.
“So I guess we’re camped out here for a while.”
“Yep,” Garrett said. “We should be safe upstairs. There aren’t any trees near enough to cave in the roof or anything.”
I warmed my hands on my mug. “We get a big windstorm like this every few years. Once we lost power for a week. I remember having to get really creative cooking in our kitchen fireplace.”
“Let’s hope that it doesn’t last that long.” Garrett blew on his hot chocolate.
“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want it to last that long.” I wished I was home with Alex now. “Do you think there’s any chance if I left right now, I could get home safely?”
“That’s a bad idea, Sloan.” Garrett frowned.
Kat reached for her phone again. “I’m trying to preserve as much battery life as I can, but let me check the latest report. Nope. No service. But the last report I saw said that the highway is officially shut down. I guess there are fallen trees and debris blocking it in both directions.”
“Damn.”
Garrett placed a strong hand on my shoulder. His touch was warm and comforting. “Don’t worry, Sloan. It will be okay.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. “Hey, new subject to take our minds off the storm. When I was having dinner with Heidi, she confessed that Kristopher invested in the Hamburg. Apparently, he had some kind of master plan to buy up every piece of property that he could in the village and turn Leavenworth into his own warped version of a new utopia.”
“Whoa,” Garrett replied.
Kat looked confused.
“She said that he’d been targeting businesses in trouble, like the Hamburg. He offered an influx of cash in exchange for a big stake in the business. She said she had heard a rumor that he made an offer to you? Is that true?”
“What?” Garrett scowled. “No. I never even met the guy.”
I took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was the perfect balance of sweet with a spicy mint finish. “That’s what I figured.”
Kat held out her hand. “Wait, what’s going on, guys? I feel like I’m totally out of the loop.”
Garrett looked to me for direction.
“We’ve been helping Chief Meyers with the investigation,” I said to Kat. “Nothing formal. She asked me to keep my ears open since Nitro is such a gathering spot for locals and since I’ve lived here for so long.”
Kat’s mouth hung open. “You guys have been working on trying to figure out who killed Kristopher without me?”
“Sorry.” I gave her a brief rundown of everything I had learned in the past few days. We had nothing better to do while we waited out the storm.
Garrett added details every so often. Kat listened intently.
“You two are like a real detective team,” she said when I finished. “I’ve been scraping wallpaper, and you’re solving a murder case. Sloan, I bow down to you.” She gave me a full bow.
“I wouldn’t say solving the case. I’m not sure I’m any closer to figuring out who did it.” I sighed. “Ross is covering up the fact that the Underground got shut down. Heidi, April, and Valerie all had motives, and Heidi also just told me that Conrad is about to go out of business. She thinks he made a deal with Kristopher too.”
“That guy gives me the creeps.” Kat shuddered. “He always has a nutcracker in his hand. It’s like he thinks he’s a ventriloquist or something. I bet he did it.”
“But what’s his motive?” I asked. “If his shop is floundering, which I don’t doubt, getting an investment from Kristopher would be the best thing for him.”
“Yeah, but then, maybe like Heidi, he realized Kristopher’s bigger plan and wanted out of the deal?” Garrett surmised.
“That’s a theory.” I paused as a sketchy thought tried to take form. “Or…”
“Or what?” Garrett and Kat asked in unison.
“Or, what if Conrad approached Kristopher and Kristopher turned him down?”
“What do you mean?” Kat looked puzzled.
“Heidi mentioned that Kristopher was diversifying his investments. He was intentionally buying into every aspect of Leavenworth business—retail, pubs, restaurants, hotels. Let’s assume that Conrad was having financial troubles and got word that Kristopher was investing. He approached Kristopher but got turned down.”
“Like maybe Kristopher already had invested in a retail shop. The other nutcracker shop?” Kat interrupted.
I liked that she was getting into trying to piece together the clues.
“Exactly. Conrad needed the money, and when Kristopher turned him down, he turned violent.”
Garrett tapped his fingers on his chin. “It’s a possibility.”
“It could be far-fetched, but it would give him a motive for murder, right?” I asked.
We all considered my latest idea.
Kat shrugged. “No idea. The guy is probably harmless. I shouldn’t make assumptions. I’m just saying he gives me a weird vibe. That’s all.”
“You know what my mom always told me?” Garrett said, not waiting for either of us to reply. “Your instincts will never lead you astray.”
“Agreed.” I nodded. “Conrad might not be a killer, but I’ve thought there was something off about him, too.”
I was about to expand on my theory when my phone vibrated in my pocket. “Hey, I have service.”
“It’s been spotty. I have it and then I lose it,” Kat said with an almost wistful glance at my buzzing phone.
I recognized the number—the Underground. “Hello?”
A strange crackling sound came across the line.
“Hello?” I repeated.
An electronic piercing hum made me pull the phone away from my ear.
“What’s wrong?” Garrett asked.
“Bad connection.” I put the phone to my ear again. “Hello, Ross, is that you?”
The piercing hum had stopped. In its place I could have sworn I heard a scream.