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“I’m shivering in my boots,” he said, then dipped his head and kissed her again.
When Maddie pulled back, color was back in her cheeks—a pretty pink blush.
“We better get back inside, baby. Try to act as normal as possible. Get that chore list out, and assign someone to the dish.”
Maddie drew a deep breath and nodded. “Here we go.”
Maddie worked on a whiteboard,divvying up chores and assigning names. When she reached “Check the dish,” she paused and ran through her crew in her mind to figure out who seemed the most suspicious, which angered her because before any of this mess had happened, she’d have sworn to every member’s integrity—which just went to show what a bad judge of character she actually was.
She liked and had trusted every one of them. They’d spent months together, working and playing. Doing good work for the benefit of humanity.
In the end, she didn’t have anyone who raised any doubts but chose the person who had the most to do with the dish…Eric. Any other choice would seem weird to her team. So be it. At least, she might be able to scratch him off the list. One down.
Then she went to work cooking breakfast for everyone to keep up the façade that everything was normal—or at least as normal as it could be with them knowing one of their number might be a killer.
When the scent of bacon drew her crew from their rooms, she smiled and invited them all to help themselves to the bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast she’d left warming on the stove.
“Meat for breakfast?” Eric said, smiling widely as he entered the room. “What’s the special occasion?”
Maddie shrugged. “After days of being cooped up, I thought we might splurge. You know, for morale’s sake.”
Nate patted her shoulder as he passed her on his way to the stove. “You’re a good boss, Maddie.”
“I’m not your boss,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just the babysitter.”
Perry placed his plate on the table then scratched his head and stretched his shoulders before seating himself. “Don’t know about you, but I barely slept a wink with that roof panel knocking all night.” His gaze went to the chart Maddie was just finishing. “Oh shit, guys. Mom’s got a chore list ready.”
There were groans, and Maddie relaxed a bit, smiling at their disgruntled complaints. “If we’re stuck here in the camp, we might as well tackle the housework and close-in repairs.”
Sitting beside Gunn throughout the meal, she felt oddly set apart. They shared a secret. And since she knew she wasn’t the killer, she leaned into the feeling of connection with Gunn. She hoped he didn’t have any doubts about her but would’ve completely understood if he did.
Then a thought sprang into her head. Was he keeping close to her because he suspected her? The old adage, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” played inside her head.
No, he couldn’t have been with her last night if he thought that. Gunn had too much personal integrity to sleep with the person he suspected had committed a murder.
When the meal ended, everyone stopped to read the list she’d made then trudged away.
Eric glanced around at Nate. “I have the satellite, so I’ll be outside.” He held up two fingers. “Work in pairs?”
Nate nodded. “I have to get on the roof and check that panel that keeps rattling, so yeah. Let’s tackle your dish first.”
And off they went.
Gunn disappeared for a minute and then returned with his tablet. “Who all’s outside?”
“Nate and Eric—satellite and roof repair. At some point, Perry and whomever he tags to accompany him will have to pull rations for the week from the garage shelves.”
Gunn tapped his screen and pulled up the cameras. “I really need to install a surveillance camera pointing toward the dish.”
“You’ll have to wait until Nate and Eric are done. Then we can head out and top off the snow machines and slip around the back of this building with a ladder so no one sees us.”
He nodded. “Sounds like a plan. In the meantime?”
“Help me with dishes.”
They were just finishing drying the last of the morning’s dishes when Nate and Eric burst into the kitchen.
Maddie stiffened at their expressions, studying both their faces. Both men’s brows were lowered, and their gazes locked on her.