Chapter 59

CHAPTER 59

T he killer had them right where he wanted them, didn’t he? Andi thought to herself as she stared at the flattened tires on their vehicles.

He’d managed to run them out of the cabin. Trapped them at the camp.

Even if they were able to get to the UTVs and snow machines, she had a strange feeling they wouldn’t be able to use them.

Would they all be out of gas? Would the shed be locked up and inaccessible?

She didn’t know. But someone had put a lot of thought into this.

“What should we do?” Simmy asked as she grasped Ranger’s arm with one hand and held onto Juniper with the other.

“We could walk to the lodge.” Juniper’s voice quavered as she stared at the building in the distance. “We’ll have to walk across the field in the snow, but at least it will be warm once we get there.”

“It’s going to be a tough walk.” Duke followed her gaze, knowing how long the hike would be. “The snow is deep. But you might be right. That might be our only choice.”

As if to confirm those words, a crash sounded beside them. The ceiling beams of the cabin collapsed.

Duke raised his arms and urged the group away from the flames. “We gotta get moving.”

As he began to trudge through the snow, the group stayed with him.

Thankfully, they’d had time to grab their coats and boots. A person could freeze out here fast.

“I just had a thought,” Juniper murmured.

“About what?” Andi looked back at her as they started through the snow.

“A story someone told me. About how a fire on Christmas made them never want to celebrate again. I don’t know why I never thought about it earlier.”

“Who told you that story?” Duke asked.

Before Juniper could answer, movement in the distance caught her eye.

Someone else was here.

Duke watched as a snowman stepped from the woods.

No, it wasn’t a snowman.

It was a man wearing all white, from his snowsuit to the white mask on his face.

But that wasn’t what captured Duke’s attention.

It was the AR rifle in his hands and the second one strapped over his chest—and a third gun at his waist.

Whoever that man was, he was prepared for battle.

Duke started to reach for his own gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man said, his voice deep and slightly familiar.

Where had Duke heard that voice before?

As the man’s gun pointed at Duke, Duke raised his hands in the air to show he wasn’t reaching for his weapon.

This guy could shoot them all within seconds if he wanted to. He just had to pull the trigger and sweep his gun down the line.

The cabin crackled as flames consumed it and more timbers fell.

Simmy gasped and jumped closer to Ranger. Tension rippled through the air as fire and ice mixed.

Duke didn’t take his eyes off the man.

Just what was this guy planning to do with them? He’d gone through a lot of trouble to get them here.

The man walked closer before stopping in front of them. Duke still couldn’t see who the man was because of the mask he wore.

But he didn’t think it was Caleb. Something about his build and voice didn’t fit.

Could it be Tim?

Maybe.

Jared?

Another possibility.

“You guys should have never come here,” the man said. “You only stirred up trouble.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Duke tried to reason with him, though he knew it would most likely be futile.

“Don’t tell me what I do and don’t have to do!” the man snapped.

This guy was already on edge. Duke needed to be careful what he said and did. He hoped the rest of the team would be as well.

“What do you want from us?” Andi’s voice sounded steady and confident as she called out to the man.

“You guys are going to be my most talked about December 6 murder ever,” he said. “I kept going back and forth as to which one of you would be the best. I even picked out one of you. Then I decided it should be all of you. But the best part? I never expected to get all of you at once.”

“What do we represent about Christmas to you?” Andi said.

His eyes widened. “So someone finally put that together, I see.”

“We did.”

“You all represent family,” the man stated. “You represent family that sticks together through thick and thin. Something I never had. Now, enough talking. Throw your guns on the ground. Don’t make me tell you again!”

Duke glanced at Ranger, who nodded at him. Then they did as the man said. They didn’t have much choice right now.

As much as Duke might want to charge the guy and tackle him, he knew how futile that would be. The man would simply shoot him, then finish everyone else off.

With one hand still on his rifle, the man reached into his pocket and tossed something into the snow.

“You.” He nodded at Duke. “Get those. Tie everybody up.”

Duke glanced at the object in the snow and saw it was a bundle of zip ties.

Once he tied his friends up, it would all be over.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He needed to figure out a way to stop this, and he didn’t have much time.