A Deadly Winter Retreat

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GINA KNEELED, extending her arm toward Dave, offering to help him up. When he didn't react, she slowly leaned over him. Her eyes widened as she came to the sudden realization that he wasn't breathing; he lay there unconscious.

"Trish, he's not breathing!" Gina exclaimed, her mouth curving downward into a frown. In a frantic rush, I dropped to my knees and pressed my ear against Dave's chest. The powerful rhythm of his heart thudded against his chest, reverberating through my ear. A wave of relief surged through me.

I scooted closer toward Dave's chest just in case I needed to perform CPR. I tapped his shoulder, but he still didn't respond. His eyes were swollen shut as if the attacker had focused on blinding him by relentlessly pounding their fists against his eye sockets.

Troy rushed out of the cabin, his feet thudding against the hardwood floors as he hurriedly ran outside and out onto the front porch. He knelt beside Dave. Gina and I both stepped back, making room for Troy.

"Hey, Dave?" Troy's voice gently spoke into Dave's ear, "Can you hear me, buddy?"

Dave lay there in silence. He didn't respond, not even with a movement of his head.

"Call 9-1-1!" I shouted, my voice trembling with intense fear.

"I'm calling!" Dale's voice echoed back from inside the living room.

I knelt beside Troy as he tried desperately to wake Dave. My knees brushed against the snowy pavement. "Dave, can you hear us?"Troy gently shook him.

"Who could do this to someone?!" Gina's cries tore through the air. Tears flowed relentlessly from her eyes, cascading down her face and creating a small puddle on the wooden floor beneath her.

Fear coursed through me, sending shivers down my spine. My knees let out a faint creak as I grabbed the door, using it for support. My body felt weak, and my stomach twisted into knots.

Gradually, Dave began to speak. The last thing we heard was, "Sh- She.. di--.. did...it." He stammered, "It.. it was-.. was.. her." his lips kept moving, but no other words escaped.

He went silent, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was gone.

Placing my hands on my cheeks, I screamed.

***

The Pine Glacier Police Department sent a helicopter out in the middle of the blizzard to retrieve Dave's body.

The rotor blades swirled through the air, slicing through the dense veil of fog and falling snow, breaking them into pieces of ice, and spitting them back into the snow. As it descended, the whirring of the engine muffled the howling winds.

As it landed on a snowy patch in front of the cabin, two paramedics in thick red parkas came running out toward our cabin. The snowflakes flew into the air with each step they took as they ran against the sleet.

"Hi, I'm Tom." The paramedic gazed into my eyes, "Where is he?"

Troy pointed to the snowy pavement where Dave lay.

Both of the paramedics quickly assessed him. We all stood there, shivering in the snowstorm, as we waited for the paramedics to give us an answer about Dave's status.

Tom's eyes were glossy and filled with sorrow as he looked up at us, already telling me all I needed to know, "I'm sorry, but he's gone."

Deep down in my intuition, I knew Dave was gone. But now, with confirmation, my mind spun in a twisted haze as images of Lena, Leroy, and Dave played in my head. I realized that with Dave gone, there was very little hope of finding Lena. I didn't know how much more of this painful situation my heart could take. It was becoming more than I could bear.

As Dave's last words played in my head, I couldn't help but wonder what he meant when he said:

"She did it. It was her."

Who was he talking about? That was the mystery.

Glenna had awakened from an evening nap due to all the commotion. As she entered the living room, she saw me standing at the front door, peering outside at all the fuss. She approached me with a dazed look etched on her face and asked, "What happened?" She glanced out the front door once more, eyeing the paramedics. She added, "Is everything okay?"

"No, Glenna," I replied, tears still flowing from my eyes and down my face.

Glenna must've noticed my tears as she placed her hand on my back and rubbed it consolingly.

"Dear, let me go and get you a Kleenex." She offered. I sniffed as I watched Glenna slowly walk into the downstairs bathroom to retrieve the box of Kleenex for me.

No more than a few minutes later, she returned with the box in her hand, "Here you go, sweetie." She said as she handed me the box.

I took a few tissues out and dabbed my eyes with it. And I blew my nose.

"Dear, what happened out there?" her inquisitive eyes gazing into mine, "It looks pretty darn serious."

"Our friend was murdered."

***

After the evening had settled down and the paramedics had hauled Dave's body away to take back to Belmont, I felt this empty void invading my body.

Troy tried his best to console me, wanting us out of the cabin and back home. The cops were well aware that Dave's body was found in our front yard, so they decided to interrogate us instead of looking for the real culprits.

A few hours later, we received a call from the Pine Glacier Police Department in conjunction with the Belmont Police Department.

"Hello, this is Officer Daniels. Who am I speaking with?" He greeted me. He must've gotten my phone number from the paramedics as I provided them with it as they had asked.

"This is Trish. Dave was a friend of ours."

I put the phone on speaker, and we all gathered around to listen in on the call. " I'm calling from the Pine Glacier Police Department. We're also working with the Belmont Police Department in connection with the homicide of Dave Wellington." The officer explained.

"Yes, Dave was murdered," I told him.

"Well, we have a few officers going up there tomorrow morning. They'll be questioning everybody who is currently staying in that cabin." Daniels said." Our lead investigator, Dominic, will also arrive in the morning."

"Are you saying you suspect us of killing our friend, Dave?" I gripped the phone tightly as I impatiently waited for Daniel's response.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Daniels cleared his throat. "However, everyone is a suspect at this time, including everyone staying in that cabin."

My eyes widened as I glanced at Troy. He shook his head in disbelief.