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1
GAGE
Bo owed me big time for this one.
My best friend was getting married at some point this weekend. The snowstorm had messed the plans up. And now, in addition to the eighty-dollar gift I’d bought from his and his fiancée’s wedding registry, I wasn’t leaving the comfort of my cabin to go to the wedding cabin. No, I was heading in the other direction—downthe mountain.
My mission, whether I chose to accept it or not, was to pick up some chick who was stranded at the convenience mart.
“Damn,” I said, shaking my head at the white sheet of snow-covered ice on the roads.
I turned left off my side street to see an SUV had slammed into the big oak tree at the side of the road. The guardrail had nothing on that vehicle, although its hood was now crumbled beyond belief.
Great. Now once I rescued the damsel in distress, I’d have to navigate around the empty SUV now blocking half of the already narrow road.
Luckily, I’d grown up in upstate New York, so I was a pro at driving in the snow. Snow-covered ice was a different matter.
I managed to make it down the mountain without encountering another vehicle or an icy patch I couldn’t handle. As I eased into the convenience mart parking lot, though, things got a little dicier.
A two-door sedan was parked in front of the door but at an angle. There was no way to tell if it was inside the lines or not, but the driver had done a good job at parking it somewhat straight, anyway.
After pulling in next to the car, I cut my engine and squinted, looking inside the car. No sign of the driver. I assumed this was the woman Bo asked me to pick up. Had she gone into the building? He hadn’t mentioned that.
The woman, named Jilly, was apparently his new server. She was staying in a rental twenty minutes outside town, but she’d driven in for the wedding. It was no surprise she couldn’t make it up the mountain. She’d barely made it past the bar where she worked with my best friend.
I nearly slipped and busted my ass on the walk from my truck to the front door of Blackbear Bluff’s only convenience store. Bart needed to get out here and salt this sidewalk. I’d give him hell about that once I got inside.
Within seconds of entering the Blackbear Bluff Market, though, one thing was clear. This wasn’t a normal day at the Blackbear Bluff Market.
“Hello?” I called out, stopping just inside the door and taking a look around.
Something was off. The place was quiet. Too quiet. And the overhead fluorescents weren’t on.
“Bart? Edna?”
No response. My voice filled the small store, reminding me I was alone.
But I wasn’t alone. Someone else was here.
Narrowing my eyes, I took several steps into the room. That was when I placed the weird feeling that had overtaken me. My senses knew I wasn’t alone. One sense in particular. Smell.
The area near the door held a faint vanilla scent. That scent grew stronger as I stepped toward the counter. I’d just keep walking in that direction.
Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked up and saw the mirror Bart used to watch for shoplifters. Not that there was much crime in this tiny mountain town?—
“Don’t come any closer.”
The female voice came from behind the counter. Frowning, I looked up at the mirror. The view didn’t quite extend far enough, but something weird rested on top of the counter. A bottle and a lump of what might be food.
Ignoring the command from seconds ago, I walked toward the cash register. The intoxicating vanilla scent grew even stronger.
Damn, could I go for some fresh-baked cookies. Maybe I’d grab one of Edna’s crullers?—
Edna’s crullers. One was on the counter, next to a bottle of one of those fruity alcoholic beverages they kept next to the beer cooler.
A smile spread over my face. “Jilly?”
Silence. But I heard the faint sound of breathing. Make that two senses now on alert.
