When they got back to the lodge, the door was locked. They huddled on the porch, a bunch of drowned rats, while Dick banged on the door and cursed.
“Who the fuck locked the door?” He yelled over the rain and thunder, which was getting louder and closer together. Maybe they would be lucky and get electrocuted instead of charbroiled.
Diana and Billie huddled together and shivered. Judd took his coat off and draped it around Cassie’s shoulders. She wrapped herself around Judd like a clinging vine and gave Diana pointed, self-satisfied smirks. Cassie acted like she won the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes, instead of snagging a sound technician with co-dependency issues. Besides, Diana was done with him. She just hadn’t told him yet.
Miles shouldered his way to the door and hammered steadily on it. After two minutes, clicking and scraping heralded the door swinging slowly open. The lobby beyond was dark as a cave.
“Oh shit.” Diana shoved Billie behind her.
“Wechuges!” Elyse squeaked.
“No wechuges.” Inside the lodge, Joe turned on a small electric lantern. “Not yet. Maybe soon. But not yet. This is just the power out.”
“Don’t you have a generator?” Cassie asked.
“Yup.”
“Well?”
“Tree fell on it.”
“Of course,” Diana muttered. Their bad luck had followed them back to the lodge.
“I thought you were leaving?” Joe asked.
“There was a landslide,” Miles said. “We couldn’t get through to Penowa. We had to turn around. Are you going to let us in or not? Because it’s a monsoon out here.”
“I guess so.” Joe stepped back, holding the door.
The stragglers hurried into the lobby, dripping.
“You got any more lanterns?” Dick asked.
“Nope.”
“There are some candles in the office, I saw them the other day.” Diana groped her way across the lobby, Billie’s hand securely in hers.
She located the candles and lit them with Dick’s cigarette lighter—the one he wasn’t supposed to have because he quit. She passed them around, while Joe leaned against wall, arms crossed.
“I suppose we should do something about Pam,” Miles said.
“Yes, we should.” Fay looked ashen in the candlelight. “Elyse and Jenny, please go and get the bedding off Jordyn’s bed. Joe should have a key?”
Joe grunted and gestured for the girls to follow him. Elyse and Jenny looked at each other, visibly braced themselves, then followed.
“Tiny, Miles, do you think you can . . . wrap Pam up?”
“Do you want us to take the knife out of her?” Miles asked.
“What kind of question is that?” Tiny said. “We can’t leave that in her. It’s disrespectful.”
Fay shook her head. “No, we might accidentally lose evidence the police need. Just . . . do the best you can. We’ll have to put her in the freezer. Can we turn it up?”
Miles shrugged. “I don’t know. Pam took care of that stuff. As long as she’s kept cool, I think it should be okay. I just hope the power comes back on soon or it won’t matter if she’s in the freezer or not.”
Thunder crashed and the lobby was bright as day. Cassie screamed, and Judd hugged her. “Shh, it’ll be okay.” He stroked her hair. “We’re going to get out of here.” Cassie sobbed something incomprehensible against Judd’s shoulder.
“Judd is right,” Fay said firmly. “We are going to be fine, and we are going to get out here. It’s just a storm. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“Nothing to be be afraid of, except the crazy bastard who killed Pam and tried to kill Jordyn,” Brandi said. “And I bet you anything Lark was murdered, too!”
There was a long moment of silence.
“None of us should be alone,” said Miles. “Being by ourselves . . . that could be dangerous.”
Diana wrapped an arm around Billie’s waist. They never had to worry about being alone.
“Miles, I’ll stay with you, if you don’t mind,” Elyse said.
“That’s a good idea, because Judd and I will be sticking together.” Cassie went up on tip-toe to plant a kiss on Judd’s cheek before smiling sweetly at Diana.
Judd had the grace to look abashed. “Diana, I . . . um, uh . . . I, uh . . . .”
“Oh, for pete’s sake,” Diana snapped. “I’m pre-pre-engaged and am not in a position to be in a long-term relationship.”
“What?” Judd asked.
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “What’s pre-pre-engaged?”
“I’m engaged to be engaged to be engaged.”
“To who?” Cassie asked.
“To whom,” Diana corrected. “And that’s none of your business.” She linked arms with Billie. “C’mon, Billie, we need to build a barricade.” She looked at the rest of the stragglers. “Don’t anyone bother trying to get into our room tonight. You won’t be successful.”
She and Billie swept toward the stairs, their candles lighting the way.
“Oh, and Cassie?” Diana called over her shoulder.
“What?”
“You’re welcome.”
When they got into their room, Diana locked the door, then tried dragging the dresser in front of it.
“Shit, I think this is bolted to the wall.” She leaned against the dresser. “Who the hell does that? Bolts a dresser to the wall?”
Billie sat on her bed. “People who run hotels and don’t want people moving the furniture.”
“How do they sweep under it?” She opened the closet door and gazed at Sidney. She was relieved he was fine. “You know why there was a landslide?”
“No.” Billie rummaged through her bags. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“We didn’t bring Closet Sidney with us. If we had, his aura would have protected us.”
Billie stopped going through her bag. “What?”
“He would have protected us. You remember, when that axe murder was after us—”
Billie shuddered. “Actually, I try not to remember that. And that was a coincidence.”
“No it wasn’t.” She patted Sidney’s bare abs. “It was Closet Sidney.”
“Closet Sidney is a poster.”
Diana shut the closet door. “You know how I feel about you saying things like that.”
“Sorry.” Billie went back to rummaging through her bag.
Diana sat down on the bed beside her. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for something we can use as a weapon.”
“We should’ve gotten a knife out of the kitchen.”
“There was only one decent-sized one, and it’s buried in Pam’s back.”
Diana winced. “I didn’t bring anything. I couldn’t have gotten anything on the plane or through customs. It’s not like we can run to Target and pick up a shotgun or something.”
“I know. Too bad we’re in Canada. I liked their gun laws before this. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. I mean, why Pam? The food and coffee were decent, and she minded her own business. At least she wasn’t banging Dick, like half the girls on set.”
“But she was putting stuff in his food to make him sick. And he was sleeping with Lark.”
“Yeah, but no way he was sleeping with Jordyn. Grady just about had a heart attack if Luka looked at her sideways, let alone any other guys on set.”
Billie bit her lip. “It wasn’t for lack of trying, though.”
“Bils, you’ve got gossip you didn’t share with me?” Diana tried not to pout, but if Billie shared this with Fay and not her, she would be aggravated.
“I saw him hitting on her. I don’t think anyone else saw, but she told him off.”
“How long was that before she was attacked?”
“A couple of hours.”
“Well, it’s definitely not one of Dick’s enemies. If whoever it was hated Dick, they would have left Pam alone. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”
Billie nodded.
“Maybe it was Miles.”
“Miles?”
“Well, he’s got a strong motive to kill Jordyn.”
“Just about everyone on set had motive to kill Jordyn.”
“But he’s got a stronger motive than most.” Diana warmed up to the idea. “He moves quietly, and he’s strong—both important attributes in a serial killer.”
“Yeeeeah.” Billie wasn’t buying it.
“Well, who do you think it is?”
“Richard,” Billie said without hesitation.
“Oh, please.”
“Jordyn turned him down.”
“Okay.”
“Pam was poisoning him.”
“Fair enough.”
“And Lark was nagging him to put her in the movie.”
“Eh.”
“Eh?”
“Eh. I still think it was Miles.”
Someone rapped on the door, and they jumped.
“Are you going to stay in here all night?” Fay asked from the other side of the door.
Diana looked at Billie, who shrugged. “Why?”
“We’re having dinner. Do you want some?”
“That depends. I don’t want to eat anything that came off the stove.”
“It’s sandwiches.”
Diana and Billie exchanged glances. “Okay. Stand back from the door.”
“Okay, but hurry up. Joe is furious about putting Pam in the freezer and he’s threatening to kick us all out.”
Diana cracked the door open. “On second thought, I think I’ll just have some toast and dry cereal. How about you, Bils?”
Billie nodded.
“Alright.” Diana motioned for Billie to follow her. “Where is your partner?” Diana asked Fay. The idea Fay could be the killer and was trying to lure them from the safety of their room crossed her mind.
“Right here,” Dick said. He leaned against the wall across the hall.
“You poor thing,” she told Fay.
“Oh, come on,” Dick growled. “Let’s at least get something to eat before we get get tossed out on our asses in the middle of a storm, never mind I paid a month in advance.”
The pickings were slim without Pam around.
Billie picked up a package of saltines, fought Jenny over a granola bar and wrestled the last Gatorade from Brandi. The snacks left from the craft services stash were gone in seconds as everyone filled their pockets.
Fay and Claudia made sandwiches, and Di was getting some, so Billie sat down. Diana joined her a few minutes later.
“Ham and cheese sandwiches. Ew, I don’t want to eat the ham.” Di picked it off her sandwich. “I’ve decided no more pork until the memory of finding Pam fades. I hate to admit it, but Dick was right about not being able to eat bacon again. Ugh.”
“Understandable.” Billie was eager to hash things out with Diana. Someone here was a killer, and she’d love to figure out who, lock them in the freezer, then get the hell back to the city and let the police handle it. She was tired of dead bodies and murders. She thought Canada would be nice and relaxing, but it was just like everywhere else she and Diana had been.
She was about to ask Diana who she thought it was—other than Miles—but people sat down at the table. She clamped her mouth shut. The last thing they needed was the killer hearing they were on to them and trying to kill them over dinner.
“We’re all going to stick together, right?” Fay asked the group. “We need to support each other if we want to get out of here.”
Billie looked around. Enthusiasm levels varied. Richard looked at his sandwich sullenly, pulling the crusts off. His hair had flattened out from the rain, and he hadn’t had a chance to attack it with hair gel yet.
Judd and Cassie sat together, Cassie cried into his shoulder as he tried to eat a sandwich and comfort her at the same time. Miles sat next to them, and Elyse hurried to sit next to him before Jenny could. Dejected, Jenny sat down beside Richard, who perked up and shoved his crusts off the side of his plate, hiding them with a napkin.
Claudia, her hair pulled back into a tight bun, kept turning her cell phone on, checking for reception. She shovelled a sandwich in her mouth and downed a can of soda in record time.
“I hate this place,” she said. “I think the phones are a no-go for life. I wish you’d sprung for the satellite phones like I wanted, Richard.”
Richard wasn’t paying attention; he was too busy telling Jenny a story.
“We’re never going to get out of here,” Brandi said.
“Don’t say that,” Cassie wailed.
Brandi sat alone, shooting irritated looks toward Judd and Cassie. Billie knew Cassie and Brandi were friends, and maybe Judd and Cassie being together left Brandi the odd one out. Ordinarily that might be enough to make her suspect Brandi, but Billie felt so paranoid now she thought just about any of them could’ve done it.
Tiny sat down beside Brandi, dwarfing her. Billie was reassured the giant man could protect them, although he hadn’t done Lark, Jordyn or Pam much good. Tiny looked disturbed about everything, but particularly the small sandwich that passed for dinner.
“This sucks,” Billie said under her breath.
“I know, I hate having dinner with a murderer, too. The least Miles could do is move to another table,” Diana sighed.
“A few days ago you wanted him to set up residence in my bed.”
“A few days ago he hadn’t hacked up the caterer.”
Billie shook her head. Diana was being irrational. Miles had as much motive to kill Pam as anyone did. Billie couldn’t think of one reason Miles would want to kill her. Richard, on the other hand, had more than enough motive to kill Pam, Lark and even attack Jordyn, although attacking your lead actress wasn’t a great way to get your movie finished.
She was distracted by Jenny giggling at the end of the table. Richard whispered to her.
“He could flirt in the middle of a nuclear explosion,” Billie murmured.
“He is a nuclear explosion,” Diana said.
“What are you two whispering about?” Miles asked.
“Nothing,” Diana said hotly. “Why are you paying such close attention?”
Miles colored. “If you hadn’t noticed, someone’s killing people, and now we’re trapped here.”
“So kind of you to point that out, I’d barely noticed the body in the freezer.”
“Richard, you always hated Pam’s food,” Brandi said.
“Not enough to put a knife in her back. That’s not my style.” Richard pulled out a pack of cigarettes and swore. “Only two left. This is going to fucking suck.”
“Richard . . . .” Fay cautioned.
“What is your style, Dick? Nagging people to death?” Diana asked.
“Hey, she poisoned my food, forgive me if I’m not too broken up that she’s dead.”
“When I find out which one of you killed those girls, I’m gonna make heads roll,” Tiny said. “This shit ain’t right.”
“Ew, don’t say that, someone here will take it literally,” Diana said. “And if you’ve ever seen a severed head, it’s not pretty.”
“Why am I not surprised you’ve seen a severed head?” Miles asked.
Richard looked around the table. “Jesus Christ, someone here killed them!”
Everyone turned to look at Richard.
“That’s just occurring to you now?” Billie asked.
“No. I mean, I thought of it, but now it’s really sinking in. Christ, I hired you people! And this is the thanks I get, someone bumping off my crew and fucking up my movie? God! You guys suck.”
Everyone around the table started to argue, and Richard got up and shoved his chair back. “I’m going upstairs.”
“Wait!” Billie called.
Richard spun around.
“We need to use the buddy system.”
“The . . . what?” Richard asked. “Are we in kindergarten or something?”
“No, you just act like it,” Diana said.
“I mean it,” Billie told the group. “We shouldn’t go anywhere alone. Everyone should go in groups or two or three.”
Richard looked at her. “While normally I’d jump at the chance for a buddy, right now I have to go to the bathroom. After what Pam did, it might still be on the level of Chernobyl. I’m guessing no one wants to buddy up for that?”
Billie looked around the table. Everyone avoided eye contact with her and Richard.
“See?”
“Use the bathroom in the lobby,” Fay said. “I think we can all move into the lobby for a little while?”
Everyone grumbled, but some moved toward the lobby. Some stayed in the dining room, but the double doors were propped open so everyone could see each other.
Diana took Billie’s arm and pulled her toward a couch in an alcove.
“Bils, cover me.”
“Cover you for what?”
“I need to talk to Dick.”
“About what?”
“About giving me the van keys so we can get the hell out of here.”
Billie raised an eyebrow. “He is never going to hand over those keys to you.”
“Oh yes he is. He knew from the get-go that Lark might not have died accidentally. And the RCMP confirmed it to him the other night when Jordyn was attacked. Dick knew. I wasn’t snooping or anything, but I happened to be standing nearby when he was talking to the RCMP about it. And if everyone else knows he knew, he won’t make it out of here with his balls intact. He’ll trade the keys for my silence.”
Billie stared at Diana. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
“As if you could.” The bathroom door squeaked open. “We’ll get the keys and go for help, I don’t care if we have to climb over that landslide. Now cover me.” Diana walked toward Richard.
Billie turned towards everyone else. “Maybe we should go over some rules about the buddy system? Let’s all choose partners or groups, so we know who’s with who. I’ll be with Diana. How about Judd and Cassie?”
Billie glanced behind her; Diana was deep in conversation with a very worried Richard.