They spent the evening in the sunroom, which had a great view of the lake and the woods. Diana would have rather spent time anywhere that didn’t have a view of where she found Judd and Cassie.
“Out of sight is out of mind, and you need to stay out of everyone else’s sight for a little while,” Fay told them, and Billie agreed.
So Diana accepted it. Grudgingly.
Billie brought down her laptop, the battery of which was nearly dead. She flipped through her production photographs, searching for clues. She hadn’t found anything damning.
Diana paced and drank too much coffee. She wasn’t used to free time; it set her nerves on edge. Her youngest brother, Rocco, would advise she take up yoga. Rocco loved that shit.
Fay crocheted a blanket and sang to herself. She was so damn serene, she ought to bottle it and slip it into Serena’s night cap. Fay’s quiet serenity also set Diana’s nerves on edge.
Every so often, Diana and Billie kicked around a theory on the killer. Quietly, because Billie still erroneously thought it was Richard and didn’t want to offend Fay.
“I hate this,” Diana fretted.
“You’ve said that already.” Billie flipped through photos. “I can’t find anything suspicious in these.” She sat back and powered down the laptop.
“Think we can go to bed?” Diana put her coffee cup down.
“Do you think you can, after all that coffee?” Fay asked.
Billie laughed. “Diana lives on coffee.” She shut the laptop and slid it into a carrying case.
“I’m going out of my mind,” Diana growled. “No work, no television, no Internet, no civilization!”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Fay said wistfully. “Maybe tomorrow someone will realize we’re here and rescue us.”
Diana snorted. “I doubt it. If the RCMP were coming back, they would have by now. We’re going to have to get out on our own. The longer we wait, the more victims the killer will claim. We’ve got to get out.”
“No one wants the be out in the woods after dark . . . .”
“It doesn’t seem to matter, does it?”
Fay didn’t answer, but the hopeless look on her face was answer enough.
They were trudging through the lobby when the screaming started. Billie looked at her, and, without a word, they rushed up the stairs, Fay ahead of them.
“Where is it coming from?” Billie asked.
“It’s Richard.” Fay’s voice wobbled. She sprinted down the hall, and Billie and Diana followed.
“Do we have anything to whack Miles over the head with? I don’t think all three of us could subdue him. You haven’t seen his abs; I have.”
Billie shook her head.
The screaming stopped, and Diana braced herself to find Dick’s dead body.
A door banged against the wall, and Dick bowled them over.
“Richard!” Fay grabbed his shoulders. “Richard, are you okay?”
Dick shook his head. “Bathroom!” he gasped. “Elyse! Dead!” He wrenched himself from Fay’s grasp and dove for the communal restroom door. Retching noises followed.
“Fuck, people are dropping faster than flies around here,” Diana said. “Should we go check?”
Billie’s mouth trembled. “I liked Elyse.”
“C’mon.” Fay sighed. “Let’s get this over with. Poor Elyse.”
She led them down the hall, where a door stood open. It was dark, and Fay crossed the room and opened the curtains. Late evening sunlight filtered into the room, and a motionless form laid in the bed farthest from the door. By that time, Jenny, Brandi and Miles crowded around the doorway.
Fay shook Elyse’s shoulder, but she didn’t stir. She checked her pulse, then shook her head. “She’s gone.”
“What happened?” Diana asked.
Fay shook her head. “I don’t know. There’s no bruises, no wounds.”
Billie picked up the pillow on the floor next to the bed. “This. I bet she was smothered.”
“Where was everyone?” Miles glared at Diana.
Diana flipped him the bird.
“Diana and Billie were with me, if that’s what you’re asking,” Fay said calmly. “Where was everyone else?”
“Brandi and I were together, getting ready for bed,” Jenny offered.
“Miles?” Fay asked.
“In my room, reading.” Miles held up a paperback. “Serena can vouch for me.”
“Serena’s probably pig-drunk and passed out. A brass band could go through there, and she wouldn’t twitch. Serena is not an alibi.” Miles could give Diana all the snotty looks he wanted, but she was with Fay all evening. The best Miles could do for an alibi was a passed-out drunk.
“Where’s Richard?” Jenny asked.
“In the hall bathroom, throwing up,” Billie said.
“No, I’m here.” Dick wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve, hovering in the doorway.
“What happened?” Billie said. “You were supposed to be looking out for each other.”
“Claudia was with her, she was okay.” Dick took his empty cigarette pack out of his pocket, looked at it, put it back. “I went into the conference room to take some notes for editing—at least until the batteries died. I’m stuck here, I might as well get some work done.”
“Where’s Claudia?” Miles asked.
Dick shrugged. “She was here when I left.”
“She’s in rigor mortis,” Fay said. “She’s been dead for hours. It’s going to be hard getting her wrapped up.”
“I’ve got to switch rooms,” Dick moaned. “I can’t sleep in that bed.”
“Sleep in the other,” Diana said.
“Claudia is sleeping in that one.”
“Don’t tell me you made Elyse sleep on the floor.”
“No.”
“Then you slept on the floor?”
Dick cleared his throat. “No.”
“Oh gross.” Diana grimaced. “Your dick is poison. Everything it touches, dies.”
“We need to find Claudia,” Miles reminded them.
“And Joe,” Billie added.
“Joe’s probably in the office,” Fay said. “We need to get her in the freezer.”
“Oh, God, yes, get her out of here.” Dick was green.
“You’re going to have to help, Richard.” Fay pulled the comforter over Elyse’s face. “Miles can’t do this by himself.”
“Yes, he could,” Dick whined.
“Help me, Richard.” Miles grabbed an end of the comforter and wrapped it around Elyse’s body. “I’m not doing this by myself, and I’m tired of lugging dead bodies around.”
If Miles was tired of lugging dead bodies around, he should stop making them.
Dick sighed and grabbed the other end.
Like a macabre parade, they made their way down to the freezer and stowed Elyse’s body. Jenny and Brandi staggered around like zombies, and Richard visited the bathroom to throw up again after they put her body on ice. There was a weird moldy smell in the freezer. It wasn’t strong yet, but Diana was afraid what it would smell like after a few more days without power.
“Time to check on Joe,” Fay said after Dick finished yakking whatever portion of dinner he still had left.
They all trooped back into the lobby.
“Well, go on,” Dick told Diana.
“Why me?” Diana asked.
“The two of you spent most of the shoot together. Besides, if he’s the crazy murderer, better you than me.”
“You’re a selfish asshole.” Diana took a deep breath, marched to the office door and knocked.
Nothing.
Diana knocked again.
More nothing.
And again.
Still nothing.
She looked back at their little group. Dick made a “go-on” gesture, and Diana shot him the bird. She opened the door.
Joe sat at the desk, writing on a legal pad. He scowled. “I’m busy.”
Diana planted her hands on her hips. “I thought you were dead. Sorry for caring.”
“I’m waiting for you crazy film people to either kill each other off or leave.” Joe tossed his pencil down. “I see it hasn’t happened yet.”
Dick shoved his way into the room. “You know, I paid you. In advance.”
“Money doesn’t spend if you’re dead.” Joe raised an eyebrow. “And no matter how much money you paid me, you brought a killer with you. A killer who cooked a woman on my stove. You’re buying me a new stove.”
Richard swelled up with indignation, but Joe held up a hand.
“You owe me a new stove. And a new walk-in freezer. No one is going to eat food that came out of a freezer that had . . . how many dead bodies in it?”
“Five,” Diana said helpfully.
“Five?” Joe asked.
“Elyse. We just found her dead in Dick’s bed.”
“Well, you owe me a bed and bedding, too, then. This isn’t a place people stay because they’re hoping to see a ghost. We don’t do that nonsense. This is a place people stay for hunting, fishing, boating—outdoor recreation.”
“I don’t think Elyse is going to haunt this place,” Dick grumbled.
“I’m not taking the chance. You’re not getting your deposit back, either.” He picked his pencil up and bent over the legal pad. The pencil scratching was loud in the otherwise silent room.
Diana ushered Dick out of the office and shut the door.
Dick huffed and sputtered. “Did you hear him?”
“Just fine, Dick. I’m not deaf.”
“Well?” Fay asked.
“He’s making an inventory of all the shit he’s going to charge me for!” Dick exploded. “Not only did one of you screw up my movie, but you’ve probably ruined my insurance premiums! Once I figure out which one of you did it, I’ll . . . I’ll . . . do something!”
“I’m shaking in my boots, Dick,” Diana said.
“It probably is you, like Miles said!”
He looked pissed, so Diana skipped back a couple steps. Billie put an arm around her waist, and Diana slung an arm around Billie’s shoulders.
“Richard, Diana has been with me all evening,” Fay said tiredly. “It wasn’t her.”
“Not this time, maybe.”
“Maybe it was you, Dick.” Diana cocked her head. “We found her dead in your bed. All this vomiting is very suspicious. Once you see the results of your grisly handiwork, you puke because you can’t deal.”
“I have a delicate stomach!”
“More like a guilty gut!”
“Can we argue about this later?” Miles asked. “Claudia is still missing.”
“I need to talk to her about whether the insurance will cover all this shit Joe wants me to pay for. I don’t know if the policy covers murderous crew members.”
“Maybe you did it, Miles,” Diana said.
“Are we back to that?” He crossed his arms and frowned. His arms were incredible, and Diana was distracted. But only for a second.
“Elyse was half in love with you. Everyone knew it, she followed you around like a puppy.”
Miles fidgeted. “It wasn’t like that. She was scared. She was just looking for someone to protect her.”
“She picked the wrong person, didn’t she? You could have gone in and laid next to her, and she wouldn’t have sounded the alarm. She probably would have welcomed it.”
“Jealous?”
Billie grabbed Diana around the waist and held her back.
“You look at me like I’m brainless. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” he asked.
“That’s enough,” Fay said. “Claudia is missing, and you two are arguing like a couple of little kids.”
The front doors opened, and Claudia strolled in as if they weren’t discussing her disappearance and whether she was slaughtered by their own special psycho. She wore hiking boots and a ball cap and a water bottle was clipped to her belt.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dick roared. “I needed you!”
“Well, that’s new.” Claudia uncapped her bottle and took a long drink.
“Where were you, Claude?" Miles asked. “We were worried.”
“I’m touched, but you didn’t need to worry. I hiked out to the landslide to see if it had been cleared, and, if not, check and see if we could climb over. It isn’t and we can’t. You’re welcome.”
“You went by yourself?” Miles asked.
Claudia snorted. “Who else here is in good enough shape to keep up with me? Not your girlfriend in those ridiculous high heels.” She shot Diana a contemptuous glance. “Only you, Miles . . . and excuse me if I wasn’t jumping at the chance of being alone in the woods with you, like half the empty-headed idiots on set. Girlfriend just might be right—it might be you. But it isn’t exactly a stroll in the park, and I needed to get there and get back before dark.” She hugged herself. “I didn’t want to be out there after dark.”
Fay stepped forward. “You left Elyse by herself.”
Claudia shrugged. “She was taking a nap, and Richard was down the hall. What kind of trouble could she get into?”
“She’s dead.”
Claudia shook her head. “She was fine when I left. I locked the door. How could anyone get in? Quit screwing with me.”
“I don’t know, but she’s dead all the same. Smothered.”
Claudia bit her lip. “No, really?”
“Really.”
“Oh, God.” Claudia pressed her hands to her face. “Again.”
“I need another fucking bottle,” Serena said from the top of the stairs. Clinging to the handrail, she came down the stairs on her ass. Once she got to the bottom, she pulled herself to her feet and stood, swaying back and forth. “What was all that noise?”
“Elyse is dead,” Miles said. “Do you really need another bottle, Serena? You don’t look good.”
“We’ll all be dead soon.” Serena staggered toward the dining room. “Might as well die happy.”
“I get what she’s saying,” Diana told Billie. “The denial of reality can be very comforting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when we were in Miami? And that foot washed up on the beach? And I said ‘we’re on vacation, Bils, throw it back, no one will know,’ and you said no, we had to call the police? You remember how that turned out.”
“Yeah. Not so good.”
Dick stared at them in fascinated horror. “If you had put this shit on your resumes, I never would have hired you.”
“Please, Dick, you didn’t hire us, Claudia did.”
Billie was surprised she fell fast asleep after Elyse’s murder. She expected she’d be up all night with a bat in her hands, waiting for a killer to pounce, but she snuggled next to Diana and was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
When she woke up, it was only seven, but she felt better than she did the night before. She would rally the troops and they would get out, although Claudia said the landslide was impassable. Billie slipped out of bed quietly, took a shower, then dressed. Diana was awake by the time she was ready to leave.
“I’ll get you some coffee, stay in bed.”
“I really hope no one is dead this morning.” Diana glanced over at Fay, sleeping in Billie’s bed. “At least Fay’s okay.”
“I hope Richard stopped throwing up. He should be used to it by now.”
“I said it last night and I’ll say it again—guilt vomit. Be careful. You shouldn’t go alone, you know.”
Billie picked up Diana’s heavy flashlight and brandished it. “I’ll be okay.” She locked the door when she left. The hallways were quiet, and she had a sense of déj��à vu. If someone else was dangling in a tree outside, she was done.
She wandered downstairs, and the light outside did nothing to dispel the fear sitting in her stomach. During the day, the lodge wasn’t scary. The light wood and big windows were light and airy, but with no one around, it took on an air of an abandoned house in a horror movie.
She wanted to check the phones in the office, but the door was locked. She knocked, but Joe didn’t respond. Maybe he was in his apartment downstairs. Or dead. It was possible he was dead.
“Crap.”
She switched the flashlight on and went downstairs. There was a gym and change room, and living quarters for the lodge manager. She knocked, but there was no response. There wasn’t any blood, and no hanging bodies, but Joe was nowhere to be found.
Maybe he killed everyone and took off now they might figure it out. Billie shivered. She sprinted up the stairs like a monster was chasing her. She caught her breath in the lobby, then decided to get Diana’s coffee. She had stashed cans of Sterno in case someone hoarded them all, and she fetched one from a planter in the lobby. She grabbed a little stove top attachment out of a decorative bowl on the table, then headed into the dining room.
The coppery smell stopped her in her tracks.
“Crap, crap, crap!” She took a few deep breaths, then prepared herself to turn around. There was nothing behind the door, nothing on the right side of the dining room.
She turned to the left and screamed.
Serena was in a chair in the corner, a hand around a bottle of Maker’s Mark, and her head down on the table. She stared at Billie with dead eyes, and blood pooled all over the table and floor. A broken bottle protruded from her neck.
Billie screamed again and hurled the can of Sterno at Serena, as if warding off her death.
“What’s wrong, what is it?” Diana slid into the room, her silk robe billowing behind her. She grabbed Billie’s hand and yanked her into the lobby. “Not doing this! I’m done! It’s over! This is it!” She stomped a foot. “Miles! Stop killing all of us, I’m sick of it!”
Billie looked at her in shock. After all that had happened—Richard practically admitting he killed everyone by throwing up and Elyse dying in his bed—she still thought it was Miles.
“What’s the racket?” Richard came into the lobby, took one look at their faces and looked to the heavens. “Now what’d you two do? Camera Girl, did your girlfriend kill somebody?”
“Diana didn’t kill anyone! I’m not so sure about you!”
“Right. I need coffee.”
“Wait—!” Billie tried to stop him from going into the dining room.
“He deserves it,” Diana murmured.
A split second later Richard burst through the doors and threw up in a potted plant.
“Richard, what’s wrong?” Fay was at the foot of the stairs, wrapped in her robe. Miles was behind her, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, ready for a run. Brandi and Jenny hovered at the top of the stairs, holding onto each other.
Claudia pushed them aside as she came downstairs. “What is all the racket?”
“Oh, no. Now who did you bump off?” Miles looked from Billie to Diana.
Richard stood up and wiped his mouth. “From what I could tell, it was Serena.”
“What do you mean ‘from what you could tell’?” Fay asked.
Everyone tramped into the dining room. Richard looked green around the gills as they approached the table where Serena was lying.
“She’s got a bottle in her neck,” Billie said.
“Maybe she did it herself,” Richard suggested. “Scripties are really high-strung, and Serena was losing it. She may have decided to get herself before the killer did.”
“So she tried to decapitate herself instead of drink herself into a coma?” Diana suggested.
“I’m sure you’re an expert in decapitation,” Miles said.
“Fuck off.” Diana re-tied her robe. “She was your roommate. What’s the matter, couldn’t catch anyone else unlucky or dumb enough to be alone with you? As soon as Fay isn’t there to protect her, boom, she’s dead!”
Brandi edged away from Miles, pulling Jenny with her.
“Why would I kill Serena? She was harmless.”
“Why would you kill any of them? It’s because you’re a psychopath. Obviously.” Diana crossed her arms.
Miles shook his head. “The only obvious thing here is you’re trying to divert suspicion from yourself.”
“Would you two stop it!” Fay said. “Diana was in the room with me.”
“Maybe Billie did it,” Miles said. “They do everything together, why not murder?”
“This is ridiculous,” Billie said. “I came to make coffee. And why would I kill her? I barely knew her.”
“I still think she offed herself.” Richard nodded like he was trying to convince himself. “That’s what it looks like to me. She was so high-strung she couldn’t take it. Nothing would relax her. I tried everything. She was a basket case from day one.”
“What do you mean you tried everything?” Diana asked. “Oh, do not tell me you slept with her, too?”
“Just once. It barely counted. I thought it might relax her. She just got more paranoid.”
“You are unbelievable,” Fay murmured.
“What? There were no hard feelings, and it was on my last production, not this one!”
“Maybe that’s why she was drunk all the time,” Diana said. “Trying to wipe the memory from her brain.”
“That’s enough,” Fay said. “We need to move her into the freezer.”
The whole group groaned.
“She’s right,” Billie said. “I . . . I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it shouldn’t take us long since we’ve done it so often. Miles, get the tarp. Claudia, you grab under her arms and Diana and I will each get a leg.”
They moved Serena onto the bloody tarp and carried her into the freezer. It had started to thaw inside since the power went off days before. Blocks of ice were dripping wet, and the food was softening.
“Great, they’re all going to defrost and stink up the place.” Richard held his breath as they pushed Serena into a corner. He hesitated, then placed the bottle of Maker’s Mark in her hands. “I think she’d want it in the afterlife.”
Billie rolled her eyes. “Come on, we can’t let the cold air out. We need to stop opening the damn thing.”
“Well, if Miles would stop killing people, we wouldn’t have to,” Diana said.
“Why would I kill Serena?”
“Sex, of course. God knows it wasn’t money or revenge, like it was for Jordyn. I bet you slept with her.”
“You’re out-of-your-mind crazy. You need help.”
“You both need to quit it,” Fay said. “We’re getting out of here.”
“And going where?” Claudia asked. “The landslide is huge. It’s too dangerous to climb over.”
“We passed a ranger tower on the way in,” Fay said. “We can hike there. They usually have radios, right?”
Miles nodded. “Yeah. But maybe I should go.”
“So you can escape.” Brandi glared at him.
“We’re all going,” Fay said. “The buddy system, remember.”
“My buddy is dead.” Miles looked at Fay. “All of them.”
“Murderer!” Diana sing-songed.
“Fay’s right. We have to stick together.” Billie looked at everyone. “We’ll each bring a backpack. There’s some Sterno in the pantry. Fill a pack with food, and everyone go get into hiking clothes and shoes. We’ll meet in the lobby in thirty minutes.”
Billie threw a change of socks and underwear into a backpack, then hid her good camera in the Pelican cases under the bed. She stored her laptop there too, then filled the bag with a blanket, some Sterno, granola bars and bottles of water.
Diana looked at Billie’s shoes in horror.
“Bils, I can’t.” She stared at the Vans. “They’re just so . . . .”
“Handy for hiking?” Billie supplied.
“I still think these are a better option.”
“They are three-inch heels.”
“Yes, not five-inch. See how practical!”
Billie rolled her eyes. “It’s your funeral.”
Diana and Fay looked at her.
“Bad choice of words.”
“Clear out the closets,” Fay said. “Pack everything away so when we come back all you need to do is grab suitcases and go.”
Before Diana could stop her, Fay went to the closet.
“No!” they both yelled.
Fay yanked open the door. She pulled out Billie’s suitcases and Diana’s bright yellow ones and wheeled them into the room without a word.
Diana and Billie looked at each other.
“Um. Thanks,” Diana said.
Fay went back to packing.
Diana looked at Billie, questions in her eyes.
“Maybe she’s immune, too,” Billie whispered.
“Bils, I can’t stuff him in a backpack! Imagine the humiliation! I only transport him in the poster tube and I can’t take that!” Diana didn’t do whispering, but Fay acted like she didn’t hear a word.
“We’ll lock him in.” Billie smiled reassuringly. “He’ll be okay.”
“But us, Bils. I’m not sure his protective abilities extend too far outside the closet.”
Someone rapped twice on the door, and before they could shut the closet, Richard opened the door.
“Are you guys rea –” He paused. “What the fuck is that?”
“What?” Diana tried to stand in front of the poster.
Richard moved Diana aside and looked at Closet Sidney. He opened the closet door further and stood back. He grinned at Diana and Billie, then the poster. “You keep a beefcake poster in your closet. Have you ever thought this is why you’re single? Who is this guy?” Richard laughed.
Billie huffed in a breath and took Diana’s hand, both to support her outrage and hold her back in case Richard was about to get his t-shirt pulled over his head and pummelled. Diana was good at channelling Penguins enforcer Deryk Engelland when she was mad.
“That,” Billie said authoritatively, “is Sidney Crosby. Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, Team Canada gold medal-winning goal scorer and—” Billie paused. “And a protective force for all who live where he hangs. Do you have a problem with that?”
Richard looked at her bemusedly. “You chicks are crazy. Do you stalk this guy? Are you groupies? Is that why you have a half-naked poster of him?”
“Richard, leave it alone, we need to get moving,” Fay said. “Are you packed?”
“I got the drives and my laptop, we’re good.”
“No clothes?” Billie asked.
“They’re not important.”
“Trust me, Dick,” Diana said. “In your case, they are.”
“I bet that poster’s yours. Camera Girl only gets pissed when people come at you. You got the hots for Mr. Hockey.”
“You are grotesque.”
“Let’s go!” Fay grabbed her backpack.
“You have the hots for a poster!”
“Your dick kills people.”
“Both of you, quit it,” Billie said. “I’m not looking forward to hiking, and I don’t want to do it listening to you fight.”
“We need to organize the food before we go,” Fay said. “And we should leave a note in case anyone comes looking.”
“We need to find Joe,” Billie said.
“Joe? He’s not here?” Diana asked.
Billie shook her head. “I couldn’t find him. Maybe he left.”
“Maybe he murdered everyone,” Richard said.
“Richard, come down to the kitchen and help me gather some food. Claudia and Miles are going over the maps to find the best route to the ranger station. Jenny and Brandi are still packing. Billie, you and Diana see if you can find Joe.”
Fay and Richard left.
“Come on,” Billie grabbed a flashlight, even though it was mid-morning. “We can search downstairs.”
Diana sighed, then left the room and locked it.
“Closet Sidney will be okay,” Billie said.
“It’s not him I’m worried about. We’re going to go hiking with a murderer. And I really hate hiking.”