“What’s with this about Russell calling himself Barry?”
Renie picked up her plate but dumped her milk into the sink
and poured out a fresh glass.
Judith explained as they went up the back stairs. Renie
thought Andrea’s rationale was probably correct. Judith
didn’t comment further.
It was after ten when the cousins finished their meal. The
storm had not abated. Judith dared to open the window to
get a better view.
“Brrr!” she exclaimed, closing the casement quickly. “It
must be down in the teens, with a wind chill factor of minus
about a hundred. Look at the way the snow is drifting on
the windowsill.”
“It’s drifting, all right,” Renie said without enthusiasm.
“The fire’s almost out. Do you want to stoke it or go to bed?”
Involuntarily, Judith yawned. “It’s getting cold in here
without the fire. We might as well sleep. I’m tired.”
Renie tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “I’m
hyped. I always get this way after a big presentation. Finding
a dead body also makes me a little…edgy.”
Judith was leaning against the honor bar. “You’re scared?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Sure. But I’ve been scared before. After nineteen years
with Dan McMonigle, I can face almost anything.”
“You do and you have,” Renie said dryly. “Of course
nobody wants to kill
corporate highway of life.”
Judith smiled. “Roadkill?”
“That isn’t what I meant.” Renie got out of the chair and
lighted a cigarette. “One for the road,” she said. “Or should
I say one for the corporate highway?”
“If you must,” Judith responded, then turned to make sure
she’d latched the window properly. “Coz!” she hissed.
“There’s that light again!”
Renie rushed to join her cousin at the window. This time,
she, too, saw a faint, blurred light somewhere out in the
swirling snow. “Jeez! Who could it be?”
“Maybe it’s not a who,” Judith muttered. “Maybe it’s a
what.”
“You mean some sort of beacon?” asked Renie, all but
pressing her nose against the window pane.
“Yes. Some kind of weather-related signal. Did you notice
anything like that when we were outside today?”
“No. But I’m not even sure where we’re looking,” Renie
pointed out. “We were on the other side of the lodge.”
The light went out, or perhaps it was swallowed up by the
thick flakes that blew past the lodge with renewed frenzy.
Renie paced the small room, puffing and scowling. “Nobody
