The snow burned my face, it was so cold. I felt her—and I knew it was a woman now—pushing my head into the ground and pulling on my scarf at the same time. She thought she could strangle me with my own scarf. I reached over my head and tried to grab any body part I could. I came away with the ski mask but didn’t slow the efforts of the maniac trying to choke me.

I remembered Seth’s knife and fought to get my hand into the pocket. I momentarily felt the scarf tighten as I only held it with one hand. I barely felt the coldness on my face anymore and it was hard to breathe. The snow was thick—a moment of fear flashed through me. Could a person suffocate in snow? I didn’t want to find out. Flicking the knife open, I reached behind and jammed it into what I hoped was a leg. The blade was too short to penetrate very far past a heavy coat, but it would go through the thin pants I had felt while grappling with my attacker.

A satisfying howl resulted when I made contact. I felt her grip loosen and she rolled off of me. Even before I turned I was certain I would see Linda.

She scrabbled away from me, clutching her thigh where I had stabbed her. I was still worried about getting Vi to safety and trying to figure out how to subdue Linda and drag Vi to the hotel when I heard huffing and snow-crunching noises.

“What’s going on back here?” Wally rounded the corner of the shed. His eyes grew large when he took in the scene of me holding a short Boy Scout knife and looming over a moaning Linda.

“Wally, thank goodness,” I said.

He stood straighter and looked at me warily. “What’s going on?” He took a step back.

“Linda just tried to kill me and Vi.” I tilted my head toward where she lay under the snow. “Vi needs to get back to the hotel.”

“She’s lying, Wallace!” Linda said. “She’s the one with the knife.”

Wally hesitated and looked at me. I showed him the Boy Scout knife, folded it, and tossed it to him. “Vi really needs help, Wally.” I pointed to where she lay, still and silent.

Wally rushed to Vi’s side and finished brushing her off. “She’s really cold,” he said. “Did she pass out?”

“I’m not sure how Linda got her out here, but we need to move Vi inside quickly,” I said.

“Right, of course,” Wally said.

He turned to Vi and picked her up. Since she couldn’t weigh more than one hundred pounds, I figured he staggered under the weight of her coat and all those sweaters. He took a few unstable steps and then put her feet down in the snow. He put his hands under her arms and dragged her backward toward the hotel.

Linda whimpered quietly as I hauled her to her feet. I kept a firm hand on Linda as she hobbled toward the hotel, making a much bigger show of her injured leg than I thought necessary.

It was a noisy procession with Wally huffing and puffing and Linda gasping each time she took a step.

“How did you know we were out here?” I asked Wally.

“I was looking out the window from one of the upstairs hallways to see how much snow was piling up.” He stopped dragging Vi so he could catch his breath and talk. “I saw Mrs. Garrett heading in this direction. She never ventures into the woods in the winter if she can help it, so I came out to see what was going on.”

“I’m so glad you did.” I smiled gratefully at him.

That seemed to galvanize him and we quickly made it to the inn.

I opened the back door and swung it wide so Wally could get inside with Vi. Then I shoved Linda in before closing it against the cold.

René met us in the hall. He stopped short, taking in the scene.

“I thought you might be Emmett,” he said. “I heard from Holly that Emmett took the snowmobile and Kirk went after him,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Vi might be hypothermic,” I said. “Please find Heather. She’s the blond one and she’s a nurse.”

“I know where she is,” Wally said. “I’ll go get her.”

René took Vi’s limp form from Wally and rushed her to the lounge.

Linda’s head hung and her hair covered her face. It looked like she had given up on the idea of escaping, but I didn’t trust her.

Dad and Seth rushed toward us as we stood in the back hall.

“We heard Vi was hurt,” Dad said. “Where is she?” Dad was breathing hard and his shock of white hair seemed to stand even taller than usual.

“Wally went to find Heather,” I said. “René took Vi to the lounge.”

Seth ran down the hall to check on Vi.

“Clyde, are you okay?” Dad asked. He searched my face and squeezed me into a bear hug.

“I need to go call the police,” I said to Dad. “I’ve got our murderer.”

Linda slumped against the wall and held her hand on her leg wound.

“She’s been hurt,” Dad said.

I looked at Linda, who had now begun to moan in light of Dad’s sympathy.

“She’ll be fine,” I said. “Keep an eye on her until I get back. I hope Wally knows a place we can put her until the police get here.”

I rushed to the front desk and called 911 from the landline. I reported the need for an ambulance if they could get through and asked her to get a message to Pete Harris that we had a suspect in custody. I then ran back to Dad and Linda.

Just as I arrived at the back hall again, Wally and Seth approached. Seth’s eyes were big and he said, “They took Aunt Vi into the lounge by the fire.” He swallowed and looked from me to Dad and back. “She’s not waking up.”

“Dad, we need to secure Mrs. Garrett somewhere,” I said. “Wally, I don’t trust her—do you have a place that can be locked?”

Wally shook his head. “Not really.” He glared at Linda. “But I know where Kirk keeps the zip ties.”

Jessica ran toward us down the hall. She was out of breath.

“Mom! I just talked to René. What’s going on? Are you okay?” She moved to examine Linda’s leg.

I stepped between her and Linda. “Your mother is under arrest.”

“What? What for?” Jessica stepped back, her hand to her chest.

“Reckless endangerment, attempted murder, and probably the murder of Clarissa.”

Jessica’s hands shook as she covered her mouth. Her eyes were huge and she stared at her mother.

“I don’t believe it,” she said. Linda dropped her head. “You’ve made a mistake. Mom, tell them.” Jessica stepped toward her mother again and I steered her back down the hall.

René must have heard the noise and came out of the lounge. He approached Jessica and turned her toward the reception area.

Linda remained silent, but scrubbed at her eyes as Jessica walked away.

40

Thirty long minutes later, Vi groggily sipped the hot tea with brandy that René had prepared. She made a face and pushed it away.

“What’s in that tea? Is it that healthy green stuff?” she said. “It’s horrible!”

I grinned at Mom. Vi would be okay.

Heather had done a quick check of Vi’s extremities to be sure frostbite hadn’t set in. I was worried about Vi’s left hand since she’d lost her mitten and I had no idea how long she’d been outside.

Heather gave a thumbs-up and said it looked like Vi would be just fine. She quietly told me it would be better if we could get her to a hospital just to be safe.

I was mulling this over and wondering if it was worth trying to get the hospital helicopter to fly in and take her, when we heard boots stomping in the front reception area. Wally’s eyes got big and he scurried off to take up his post.

I thought it might be Mac and Kirk finally returning. My spirits lifted and I followed Wally out of the room.

I rushed to the front entrance and stopped short when I saw police uniforms. Even though I had called them, my gut clenched as I thought they might come bearing horrible news about Mac.

As the sky began to turn deep purple, I knew the wind would pick up again and the temperatures would plummet. Were they stuck in the woods? Did they crash into a tree? Did Emmett have a weapon? I crossed my arms to keep my hands from shaking and stepped forward to meet the police.