Now they expected her to eat at the crack ass of dawn too? “Thanks,” she mumbled and went to the stove. Surprisingly, the meal actually appealed to her. Two pancakes, link sausages and a small dish of fruit were carefully arranged on the plate. She picked it up and went to sit next to Jeremy. Although she didn’t dislike Henry, she wasn’t sure if he wore pants. He was bare from the waist up.
“You’re welcome to stay here the entire time if you’re nervous to stay at the cabin,” Natalie told her. “I fully understand. I could barely sleep last night even knowing Rick and Jeremy were here.”
Gabriela had fallen asleep as soon as her light was out. It had been a long day and even the thoughts of the killer climbing in through the window only bothered her for a few seconds.
Then again, the kiss had definitely been a good distractor.
“Syrup?” someone asked and Gabriela realized she’d closed her eyes.
About twenty people were at the barn area when she, Jeremy and Henry rode up. They were dividing into four groups of five people. Gabriela joined the group that would do clean up. One group was going out to do lights, mostly guys. One group would unload a truck; the third would bring things out of a storage barn and organize it. Her group was in charge of cleaning the main hall.
Gabriela hurried inside the huge warehouse structure to get away from the cold winds. Although it was not windy inside, it was still freezing and Gabriela wondered how much they were paying the people to work outside. It was crazy.
Within an hour, two huge bonfires were lit outside, and tall space heaters were set up around inside the space. Surprisingly, the large area was comfortable after a bit.
Gabriela had to stop several times to catch her breath after making a third trip with a wheelbarrow full of hay. They purposely had given her the easy job and still she was getting tired. Spin class had nothing on working at a ranch. Like the others, Gabriela wasn’t interested in standing or going near the fire. Walking, loading, and carrying were enough to keep her blood flowing.
In the distance, she spied a couple cars heading over to the cabins, and she stopped to watch. According to Jeremy, the murder scene would be inaccessible for weeks. It was a bit of a problem since they often housed some of the crew that worked the festival in cabins one, two and three.
The family hoped at least the three cabins would be cleared for use by the time the festival began.
“They want us to come over,” Jeremy said motioning toward the cabins. “We can take the snowmobile.”
“Oh yippee,” Gabriela replied with a flat tone. “Nothing like a nice blast of cold air.”
He ignored her comment and guided her by the elbow toward another building. The family certainly had a lot of storage space. There were barns, stables, storage buildings, and then over by the house was a garage that could house about five vehicles.
She kept an eye on the surroundings. With everyone preoccupied, the killer could return and stab her. It could be no one would notice until she fell onto the snow and bled all over it.
Upon arriving at the cabin, Sanders motioned for them to meet him near the wood line. The bags under his eyes were still huge. She considered mentioning he could use cold compresses in the morning and then decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
“Let’s walk back a bit,” Sanders said by way of greeting. She let out a sigh and followed him as he walked away from the cabin. About fifty feet later, he met her gaze. “Now show me exactly where you walked and describe what you saw.”
Gabriela sighed. “I walked here,” she said and moved to the opposite side of the road. “Didn’t see anything here. Like I said, other than a few birds or whatever.” She continued on, noticing Jeremy standing outside speaking to a woman. Probably a cop by the way she stood with her arms to her sides bent at the elbows.
“I saw the car tracks about here,” she pointed at the ground noting the tracks had been covered by snow. They continued on with her moving closer and telling Sanders where she was when noting the door open.
The closer they moved to the cabin, the more nervous she became. If he asked her to go inside, she would decline.
Thankfully he didn’t make her go inside. However, he did ask a few more questions.
When they mounted the snowmobile to leave, Gabriela sagged with relief. “Go. Before he comes at me with a few more questions.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll ponder and come back with more,” Jeremy replied. “Sorry, I know it’s not easy.”
“Why aren’t you investigating it? I mean you’re a detective and it’s on your land.”
“Precisely why I’m not. That and the fact, I’m also a suspect.”
Gabriela leaned back just as he took off. Her feet lifted from the holders and she grabbed at Jeremy’s jacket. “You almost made me fall,” she said into his ear. “That was rude.”
Suspect? Why would Jeremy be a suspect? Was that why he’d remained outside the room when Sanders had been there the night before and not asked her any questions about the incident?
Then there was another very important question. Did she walk around in the dark the night before with a very attractive killer? Gabriela gasped. Had she kissed a hunky murderer?
And now, she was riding around with a murder suspect. Her mind whirled. What if she wrote the story she’d been sent to do, and also did some investigating on her own? She could write a separate story on the murder.
Witness to a murder. It could be the story of a lifetime, a story from the perspective of an unbiased witness. Someone who knows no one involved. Her lips curved
